Chapter 2 – Background, First Meetings

Wandering down a sidewalk near the main campus, Sarah took advantage of the glorious weather and rare occasion of having no homework due to explore the area a bit and to simply bask in the sun. She had recently been accepted to this fairly large university as an English literature and theatre double major, and this was the first chance she had had in far too long to simply relax.

Since it was the middle of the day, she was not paying that much attention to her surroundings. Honestly, she was only keeping an unconscious eye out for the magical shimmer that betrayed the presence and/or shenanigans of the various creatures that seemed to follow her around ever since her adventures in the labyrinth, but not much else.

In hindsight, she probably should have been a tad more observant.

"Oof!" All of the air left her lungs as what felt like a brick wall slammed into her. She was flung backwards, tripped over an inconvenient bush, and landed with most of her legs and lower back in an even more inconvenient mud puddle.

As she lay frozen in the mud for a few moments, she realized that with this location and recent mild weather, there should not even be a mud puddle there. Sure enough, as she glanced around, she saw fading shimmers in the mud and heard chittering laughter dancing in the wind. At least my hair didn't get coated she thought pragmatically as she swallowed a growl.

Shooting a nasty glare at the surrounding greenery, she prepared to heave herself free of the mud when a distressed blond head popped over the bush. "Crap! I am so sorry!" he exclaimed, hurrying around it to offer her both hands to help pull her from the sticky mud. "I was walking a bit faster than usual, and I guess I wasn't watching where I was going, because the first time I noticed you was when I was already bumping into you," the tall man babbled as he effortlessly tugged her from the mud and set her on her feet. "Anyway, you're not hurt, are you?"

Touched by the concern and assist, as well as reeling slightly from the onslaught of words and sudden change in position, Sarah shook her head. "No, I'm not hurt; don't worry about it. The landing was a surprise and very dirty, but I didn't hit anything hard."

She paused for a moment and realized that she should probably add, "Oh, I don't blame you," – that was reserved for the creatures who had made the puddle and possibly magicked his sneakers if the slight twinkle was any indication – "and thank you very much for helping me up."

"You're welcome," he responded with a frown. "Listen, I hear that you don't blame me, but I feel bad anyway. Would you let me buy you an outfit from the thrift store five minutes from here? I mean, you'd have to wash those too, but at least you wouldn't be covered in dried mud as you walked home. The clothes and prices are pretty good too."

Thoughtfully, Sarah considered the offer, and her desires to find a potential new place for clothes combined with the urge to get out of her filthy outfit outweighed any hesitation. "I would really appreciate that."

He grinned, lighting up his whole face in the process, and Sarah could not help but notice the good-natured sparkle in his blue eyes and how handsome he was. "Great! By the way, I'm Brenden Johnson."

"Sarah Williams."

"Well, Sarah, if you would be so kind as to walk this way, we can get you fixed up from this unfortunate accident." As they walked in the direction he indicated, he asked, "So, what are you here for?"

OoOoO

At the end of the day, Sarah was smiling as she went back to her dorm. She was wearing the flattering but nevertheless inexpensive outfit that he had bought for her, and her muddy clothes were in a bag given to her by sympathetic employees.

Brenden had pronounced the end result "beautiful, m'lady," and proceeded to ask her to dinner so they could continue their discussion of favorite classic books that they had enjoyed as kids. After accepting, she went on to have an excellent, relaxed time with wonderful food, and did not hesitate to agree to an official date that weekend.

Still smiling, she locked the door and went to deal with her muddy clothes,

She could hardly wait for the weekend.

OoOoO

Author's Notes B: My brother is ten inches taller than me and muscular. Running into him really does feel like running into a wall, and the results can potentially be spectacular depending on speed and surroundings.

The next chapter is by far the longest and is presented as separate scenes from their relationship.