Gilan just stared at her, stunned by her sudden presence.
He glared at the girl whose name he couldn't even remember and then looked back at Jenny.
He saw the pain in her eyes, her insecurity. She was unsure what to do. He wasn't sure what to do himself frankly.
They stood there for what seemed like hours. Then, all of a sudden, Jenny regained her courage and famous temper. She walked towards him, hit him in the face and ran off, leaving him with a glowing cheek.
What had he done? He didn't even care about this girl. She was pretty, he had to admit, but he didn't love her. He just needed some warmth to escape the darkness he had felt ever since…
Gilan shook his head. He couldn't think about it anymore.
He grabbed the bottle and drank all that was left. Then he grabbed the girl, pulled her close and fell with his back on the grass. They continued where they had left, until everything went dark.
Gilan got woken up by a furious Will who had emptied a bucket of water above his head.
The girl, who had still been there with Gilan, screamed and ran off, very upset, and wet.
Will helped Gilan up and then pushed him down again.
"Heey, what's that for?" Gilan began.
But when he saw Halt's disappointed glare, he fell silent.
He got up again, still unsteady, and walked away from them. He couldn't deal with them now, but Will stopped him.
"How can you be so stupid Gil! Crowley will undertake action. Don't you understand? He doesn't want to, but he has to!"
Gilan swallowed.
Finally Halt started speaking.
"I think we'd better discuss this in you cabin Gilan."
The trio rode to the forest in silence, but it wasn't a companionable silence.
When they got to the cabin, Gilan remembered the mess he'd left it in. He watched his friends as they took in everything they saw: the empty bottles piled up in the grass, dirty plates and cups in his kitchen, unopened letters covering his desk.
Halt didn't show anything, his face remained a mask. Will however, who hadn't seen this before, made a disapproving sound. Halt had taught them discipline was everything. The ranger lessons had started with cleaning for a reason.
Halt and Gilan sat down at the table and Will started cleaning cups and making coffee.
Gilan's former teacher took a letter from under his cloak and handed it over to Gilan. The ranger stamp was unmistakable. He sighed and opened it. Crowley… The young ranger scanned the letter quickly. His pounding head disabled him to understand it fully right away, so he gave it back to Halt.
"Please…" He sounded weak.
Halt pulled up an eyebrow and started reading.
"Crowley wants you to come to Araluen. He's got to talk to you."
Gilan nodded and covered his face with his hands.
"I'm a wreck."
Will put the coffee on the table and looked at Gilan. He had always looked up to him, admired him, but somehow that Gilan was gone. He wanted him to return.