Chapter Thirteen ~ Goodnight Kisses

Robin led us up the 'children's wing' as Loveday had called it on the previous visit. Loveday said that her and Uncle could share. It was only then I realised how late it had gotten. I glanced outside Loveday's window and saw that night had fallen.

"What about Marmaduke and Wrolfe, Uncle?" I asked.

"They'll be fine." Uncle reassured.

"I spoke to Marmaduke before we left, informing him that if the weather get's bad we may not return for the evening." Loveday smiled. "They will be fine for tonight." I nodded and said my goodnights to them both. Out in the hall, Mrs Heliotrope and Digweed were trying to decided what room they were wanting to sleep in. Robin had shown them every room and Mrs Heliotrope was trying to decide which one she liked the most.

"Yes but have you seen the bed in this room?" Mrs Heliotrope asked, poking her head inside the room next door to Robin's.

"What about this one?" Digweed suggested. He was standing by the door of the room opposite Robin's room. Mrs Heliotrope walked over and poked her head inside that one. Robin, who was leaning casually against the wall by his room, rolled his eyes at me. I grinned.

"Oh I say!" Mrs Heliotrope cried. "This room is perfect." Digweed's face lit up as he had chosen the perfect room for his wife. Mrs Heliotrope turned back to me. "Maria, dear. I shall see you in the morning. Remember, if you need anything I am just in this room." Digweed had already gone inside. Mrs Heliotrope took a few steps in before pausing and peeking her head back around the from to face me again. "Remember to knock first, though." I nodded and said goodnights. Mrs Heliotrope finally went inside and shut the door. Robin sighed.

"Well, that was hard work." He muttered. I grinned at him. "Now to sort you out." He glanced up and down the corridor. Four rooms left to choose from. He made his way towards the room opposite Loveday's, next to his, and opened it. I couldn't see into it as it was dark. Robin took a candle from one of the hanging lights and went inside. I stood by the door as he proceeded to light the candles in the room. Finally he had done and he blew out the candle in his hand.

The room was much smaller than his or Loveday's, though I didn't mind. The bed was huge, nether the less, but every bed in the castle seemed to be big. Tapestries hung down from the wall, pretty and light like Loveday's. Other than the bed, the only other furniture was a dressing table, a small chest and a chair in front of the dressing table.

"I didn't think you would want anything big and fancy." Robin shrugged. I smiled at him.

"I love it." I said. He seemed to relax a little. I paused for a moment. "Do you have anything I could sleep in?" He stared at me.

"Of course, I'll just go check my collection of night dresses." He muttered. I giggled.

"I don't have anything to wear though." I began. "Do you think Loveday will have anything?"

"I doubt it, when she stays here, she brings the clothes she needs." I sighed. Robin watched me for a few moments, eyebrows creased together. "You could wear some of my clothes?" I looked at him, up and down.

"I don't think leather would really suit me." I said, raising an eyebrow. He chuckled.

"Come on." He sighed, heading out the room. I followed him to his room. When he went inside I was taken back.

"You tidied?" I cried, shocked. Robin walked over to a large chest.

"I decided to take your advice." He said. He opened the chest and began to rummage through it. I walked over and stood by him. He would pull something out, glance at me then put it back in again, shaking his head. Finally, he pulled out something and stood up, shoving it in my hand.

"What is it?" I asked, unfolding the black material. He shrugged.

"Just a shirt." He replied. "It'll probably be too big for you so you can wear it as a very short night dress." He paused. "If you want to." I looked up at him. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and watched me, with a nervous and embarrassed look on his face. I wasn't sure if it was very 'lady-like' to wear a man's shirt, though in the current situation and said 'man' being Robin, my mind was made up.

Whether Mrs Heliotrope would approve or not.

"Thank you Robin." I smiled, I reached up and kissed him on the cheek. Robin looked slightly taken aback for a few moments before he recovered and grinned.

"I better go check on Father." He said. "See if Henry can manage to take him up to bed." I nodded. I kind of hoped that he would stay up with me, as I wasn't very tired.

"Will you come back up?" I asked as we stood outside his room, Robin preparing to head back down the castle and me into my new bedroom for the night.

"I will be doing." He nodded. "After I've put Father to bed." I nodded, smiling.

"Come say goodnight before you go to bed." I said, slowly backing down the hall, towards my room.

"Or I could just say it now?" Robin suggested. I just smiled and stopped as I had reached my door. I opened it.

"Don't forget." I reminded him. He watched me, slightly confused, before grinning.

"Don't go falling asleep then."

"I won't." I gave him one last smile before I slipped into my room.

Waiting for Robin was torture. He didn't half take his time.

I was currently laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling. Robin was right about the shirt. It was much too big, though that was obviously Robin's plan. It smelled much like his jacket.

Before putting it on, I couldn't help but inhale his scent. I knew that if anyone was watching, they would of thought I had gone completely mad. Though I didn't care too much.

With a sigh, I rolled over onto my side and pulled the blanket tightly around me. I had figured I had waited for Robin long enough. He would be turning up any second now anyway. So I let my eyes close. I was only going to rest them for a few minutes.

"Maria?" A soothing voice said. My eyes opened instantly. Robin was by my bed, sat in the only chair in my room. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"Wake me?" I frowned, sitting up. I stretched and yawned when I didn this.

"You were asleep when I came in." Robin told me. But I was awake just a second ago? I must have drifted off. I didn't know I was that tired.

"I'm sorry Robin." I groaned.

"Don't worry about it." He smiled. "I'm the one who's sorry. I didn't mean to wake you, I thought you were awake because you…" He trailed off and stopped talking.

"What?" I asked. Robin looked slightly nervous.

"You were talking in your sleep."

"What did I say?" He hesitated before answering.

"My name." I froze for a second. I talked in my sleep? What did I say? Oh heck, it must have been something embarrassing! "You weren't dreaming of kissing me again, were you, princess?" Robin asked, grinning. I felt relieved that he had turned the situation around.

"You wish." I shot back. He didn't reply, he leaned back in the chair and lifted up his feet to rest on my bed. "Where was Mr Gomez at dinner?" I asked suddenly. I hadn't realised that I was curious about the whereabouts of Robin's tutor until now. Robin shrugged.

"Father let him have the day off today, so I expect he's probably getting drunk somewhere."

"I'm surprised you didn't join him." I muttered, I leaned back against the head board of my bed. He grinned.

"I have duties at the moment." He replied dryly. He looked away from my gaze and at a spot on the wall. I frowned at this.

"Is it your father who's making you track this creature?" I asked quietly. Robin's eyes glanced at me and back at the previous spot.

"I know the forest better than anyone." He sighed. "It's only right that I be a part of it." He hadn't answered my question.

"He can't make you do something that's dangerous." I cried. He smiled softly and looked down at his hands in his lap.

"I'm offended that you think so little of my ability to stay alive." He muttered.

"I don't… you know that's not what I meant." Robin looked up at me. "I just don't want to see you get hurt." Robin didn't reply for a while. He just watched me.

"I won't get hurt." He said finally. I shook my head.

"You can't know that." I said quietly. His eyes narrowed slightly.

"This is why I didn't want to tell you." He sighed. "I knew you'd worry. If I hadn't of told you today, you would have been no wiser. You would not of known I was the one tracking down the animal."

"Yes, but now you've told me, so I do know what's going on!" I glared at him. "Of course I'm going to worry, you're my best friend!" He chuckled.

"I'm glad you care." He nodded slowly, staring back down at his hands. I studied Robin. Beneath his soft brown eyes, he looked sad. Upset almost.

"Robin, what's the matter?" I asked.

"Nothing."

"Yes there is." I sighed. "I can tell."

"How?"

"Your eyes." He looked up at me when I said that. His eyes staring into me.

"What do you mean?" He asked, confusion on his face.

"I've known you for over a year now, spending pretty much every day with you." I began. "I've learnt that though you're good at hiding what you're feeling with your body language and what you say, your eyes are a different story." He didn't say anything. "You keep things bottled up too much." After a long silence, Robin exhaled deeply and smiled.

"You're the complete opposite." He chuckled. "When you're happy, you're happy. When you're sad, you're sad. When you're angry, you're usually beating me with something." I laughed at this, though I hadn't failed to see Robin's attempt to change to subject. "This is the first time you've stayed here isn't it?" He asked suddenly, before I could restart the conversation.

"I've only been here twice before this, Robin." I nodded. "One of those times you threw me in a dungeon and called me a witch."

"You did kick me in the shin."

"Oh yes, defiantly the work of witchcraft there!" Robin laughed.

Robin stayed up with me for a while. I had only expected him to stay for a little while and then head off to bed but he remained sat in the chair, making no sign of departing.

We were in the middle of discussing whether we thought Mrs Heliotrope was older than Digweed when I yawned.

"Looks like someone's tired." Robin teased.

"I'm fine." I yawned again. "I promise." Robin chuckled and stood up. He walked around the room and blew out the candles. Finally they were all out apart from the one by my bed. He returned the chair back to it's normal place and sat down on the edge of my bed. "What are we doing tomorrow?" I was trying to keep conversation so he wouldn't leave. He must have known this as he chuckled and sighed.

"You need rest." He said quietly, reaching out and brushing some hair behind my ear. I stared at him blankly, waiting for an answer. "I'm busy tomorrow." He said finally.

"Doing what?"

"Father's sent me out on patrol." Robin sighed again.

"You're tracking." It wasn't a question though Robin nodded. "Can't you get out of it? Lie and say you're ill." He laughed again.

"I can't." He shook his head slowly. "The sooner we catch it then the sooner everything will go back to normal." He stroked my cheek. "I promise." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"And in the process, you get yourself killed?" I raised an eyebrow. He grinned, leaned over and blew out the candle on my side table, plunging the room into black.

"Goodnight Maria." His voice said from within the darkness.

"Can't you stay a little longer?" I begged. He chuckled again.

"I'm sorry." He spoke softly. With a hand still on my face, I felt him pull my head forward slightly.

"What are you…?" I didn't get any further. Before I could continue Robin pressed his lips to mine, sending shocks through my body. He ran a hand through my hair and drew me closer. This wasn't happening.

But it was. No dream this time.

Though this kiss wasn't as forceful as the dream, it was real and the touch of his lips made the butterflies within me flutter about uncontrollably.

This wasn't happening.

All too soon, Robin pulled away. I was glad it was too dark to see my face as it was probably pouting like a fish still. I heard Robin chuckle softly.

"Goodnight, Maria." He whispered, kissing my forehead. I felt the bed creak as he stood up. His footsteps seemed to echo through the room as he made his was to the door. Light poured into the room as he opened the door to leave. With one last glance at me, he left, shutting the door quietly behind me.

What was this boy doing to me?

(A/N) Thank you all so so much for your feedback. I will stick to the original storyline I planned, though I will warn you again, it may be a little long. If at some point you think it's dragging out, please tell me and I will fix it. I don't want to be boring you all! :)

I know that I update quite quickly with this story, but I'm going to warn you in advance that chapter updates may not be as frequent, it being Christmas and everything. So I will apologise now and I promise you I will update when I can! I've only written abit more after this chapter, so the next update may be slightly less rapid as the usual. Though I hope this chapter will keep you going until I return! :D

Anyway, I shall leave you all now. Don't forget to review!

-jemlou-