IITS ch12

A/n: Let's hear some of Lonerward's thoughts, shall we?

PS I'm soooo in love with him...and her...which is rare for me...and I'm so excited that so many of you feel the same way;)

EPOV

She had a child.

But, she had no husband and her child had no dad.

No wonder she looked so tired and sad.

"Do you bring her to this park?" I asked for lack of anything better to say.

She took a drink of her coffee and then looked back towards the playing children before she spoke.

"Um, no this is the first time I've been to this park. I haven't lived here very long, actually." She seemed hesitant to say anything but spoke with a hollowed tone to her voice.

I thought maybe I should leave her alone, as she seemed to be very guarded and maybe I bothered her.

"Would you rather I leave you alone?" I finally asked as I thought about how little I had spoken to someone socially. It had been a long time and I didn't want to push myself on to her if she wasn't ready for that.

She looked down at her hands and the cup she held, "No, it's nice to have some company, actually."

"Okay." I said and then took a drink from my cup.

"I'm sorry. I'm not really good company." Her voice sounded defeated.

"Neither am I." I said without thinking.

She turned towards me and looked at me, like really looked at me.

She was absolutely beautiful as she sat in the sun with the breeze blowing her soft mahogany hair, gently.

"You seem fine to me." Bella said and then took another tentative sip of her coffee.

"Thank you, I'm sorry I've interrupted your lunch." I felt guilty that maybe she was just being polite. I don't know what it was about her but for the first time in a long time, I wanted to know more about someone.

"You didn't, it was nice to have someone other than my mother or my daughter to talk to." She shrugged and looked back to her hands.

"Well, then I'm glad that you sat on my bench." I said with a smile.

She smiled back at me. It felt genuine and it was beautiful.

A/n: I love a slow burn...and I hope that you are all on board with that...both of them are battling their own baggage...but, they've made a connection...I flove it;)

See ya in a little bit;)

Kyla