บท 19: Chapter 18: The Twin

"You really don't want her to see your wound, huh." Mary said while unrolling the bandage.

"Well, yeah." Beck huffed, while sitting down on the settee, "She probably feel really guilty already, it will it worse if she see this." He unbuttoned his white shirt that he was wearing and removed it, so that she could see his wound.

"You're really thoughful." Mary complimented as she carefully removed his bandage and then the sterile gauze pad to reveal a jagged wound on his torso. "Hmm, it's healing but you still need some rest, are you sure you want to follow us tomorrow? It's probably better if you stay here. I mean, if there's an attack, you won't do well."

"I'm fine." Beck reassured with a soft smile, "And I'm sure it will be fine tomorrow."

"Hey, I'm the medic here. You shouldn't deduce anything when I'm around, you know." Mary scrunched her eyebrows and squinted her eyes towards him. "Seriously, how are you feeling? Any pain?"

"Not really." He bluffed as Mary cleaned his wound with damp cotton balls, before placing the sterile gauze pad on it. She then began wrapping his torso with the unrolled bandage. He grimaced when she went close to his wound, but quickly pursed his lips.

"You're lying, aren't you? It's true that you're healing, but there's no doubt that it hurts. Especially since Yukiko is the one that did this. She's one of the Yumemiya's family assassins, her attacks aren't huge, but they are, more than often, fatal and you know that." Mary said as she threw away all the used materials. "You should tell me the truth."

"Well... it hurts a little bit?" Beck admitted with a nervous smile.

Mary eyed at him suspiciously before letting out a tired sigh, "At least, you're making progress."

Chuckling, he stood up and put on his shirt. "Thanks." He let out while buttoning up his shirt.

"You're welcome." She answered while keeping her other materials. "Oh yeah, make sure you don't make any rough movements. I can't guarantee that your wound wouldn't open up."

"Got it." He complied with a nod.

"Well, from the looks of it, it might leave an ugly scar. Andddd it might hurt from time to time since it's quite the fatal blow." She informed before skipping to the door.

"Alright, I'll be going now. I'll tell Emily I'm done if I see her and dinner will be serve in an hour and a half. Get some rest in the meantime." Mary instructed with a smile. She turned back and waved cheerfully, "See you later."

Mary left and shut the door, leaving Beck alone.

*****

Emily walked around the castle for a while now, looking at the paintings that were hung around the hallways. She walked further and further into the castle, scrutinising every inch of the ancient structure, "The castle is much bigger than it looks from the outside."

"Yeah, it is." A whisper brushed past her left ear, sending her goosebumps.

She jumped and turned around to see who it was.

It was Ben.

"You scared me!" She yelled while clenching onto her chest.

Looking at her reaction, he could not help but to break into laughter, "I didn't expect you to react this way."

Folding her arms, she scrunched her eyebrows as she looked at him, "How are you always coming out of no where?"

"Well, I sense your presence and ta-da, here I am." Ben replied as he gave her a wink, "Besides, why are you roaming around here?"

Before she could answer, he cut in, "Looking for me, perhaps?"

"Well, no. Mary is changing Beck's bandage. So, I'm just out here exploring." Upon hearing that, Ben pretended as if he was literally having a broken heart.

He then clenched to his chest painfully, "Ouch, you should've just act, you know."

"Oh. Sorry." She apologised, "Um... Yeah, I was totally looking for you."

Ben looked at her with a surprised look on his face, before bursting into laughter again. He hid his mouth behind his hand, in attempt to stop laughing, "I... Lavi was right, you're interesting."

He approached her to close the distance between them. "I might actually be falling for you." He proclaimed as he placed one hand on her chin.

When she felt his touch, her face instantly went red. "W-what are you doing?"

He grinned charmingly and lifted her chin up, "I was just kidding. I wouldn't steal things that belongs brother."

She jumped back and steadied herself. It was weird for her to see Ben doing that, because he look so much Beck. She know that Beck would not do such things, but... It was just weird, especially because of what happened in the morning.

"You should head back now, Mary is probably done by now." Ben suggested with a playfully pat on her head.

Emily wanted to go back but she was lost. She stood there staring at Ben, too embarrassed to admit it.

Ben wanted to leave but noticed that she was not moving. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "You're lost?"

"Erm... Yeah." She mumbled while rubbing her elbow.

He gave her a chuckle and walked in front of her, "Alright, follow me."

She did and after a few turns she ended up back at the same mahogany door. "Here." Ben said, "How about thanking me with a kiss?"

"Um..." She could not tell if he was joking or not.

"It's a joke."

"Oh, ah ha ha." She laughed dryly. "Thank goodness."

"You're too innocent, huh." He stated as a grin was tugged on the side of his lips, "Alright, I'll see you later, at dinner."

"Yeah and thank you for helping me." She smiled.

"No problem." He waved with his back facing her as he walked away.

She opened the door slightly, to take a peek inside.

"Ben was right, Mary is done."

She then carefully swung open the door and entered. Beck was lying on the settee, asleep. His legs were hanging off the armrest of the settee and his head were in the other end. Since he was tall, it did not look like a comfortable position.

She wanted to wake him up, but he seem to be in soundly asleep, so it was probably bad for her to do so. "I should wake him up when he's uncomfortable. Right now, he seems to be fine."

She looked around the room and spotted a closet. She approached the it and pulled its doors open. Inside, there were lots of clothes that seem to be hers. She took glance of the clothes inside and spotted something... else, something that she thought she would never wear.

It was a night dress that was way too short and there was a small note at the side of it, written beautifully in cursive, saying:

"You're welcome. Have fun! (Not too much though, your dad might be angry.)

-Mom."

Her face flushed after she read that, "What the h--" She quickly placed her hand over her mouth, because she didn't want to wake Beck up.

But, it was too late.

Beck pushed himself up and called out for her, "Emily?"

She jumped when she heard him, she did manage to stuff the piece of fabric back into the closet and hide the note behind her. "Yeah?! Hey! Hi!"

He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times, "What were you doing?"

"Me? Nothing much, just..." She tried to think of something to say that could get her out of this situation.

"Just?" Beck questioned while tilting his head to the slightly to the right.

"...Chilling." Emily blurted out, as she kept a straight face. "Seriously, Emily?!"

"Chilling?" He repeated with a raised brow.

"Yeah. Just... You know, relaxing." She explained as she leaned against the doors of the closet.

"Next to the closet?" He asked as he stood up and slowly walked up to her.

"Yeah! Look at its doors, aren't they sturdy? Good for chilling." She laughed uneasily as patted the wooden craft.

Beck stood in front of her looking straight into her eyes, he clearly know she was hiding something from him, but he was just figuring what it was. Well, she was not a good liar from the start. "Dear Emily... You're screwed, just tell the man what's going on."

Just as she was ready to reveal what was going on, Beck's lips curved up to form a smile, "Yes, they are sturdy. Have fun chilling, I guess."

He walked away from her and headed to his trunk, "I should probably unpack my things now."

"You don't want to know what I'm hiding?" She questioned with her eyes widened.

"Not really. You can tell me when you want to, I don't want to force it out of you. It wouldn't be fun for you or me." He answered as he opened his suitcase to reveal his belongings.

She was taken aback by his answer. She knew Beck was a nice guy, but he being WAY too nice. Like, this is a whole new level of nice. She really want to tell him the truth but, was too embarrassed to do so.

"...He really is husband materi-- Wait! Emily! What the heck are you thinking?! Why are you accepting this already?! GOSH! YOU'RE SIXTEEN FOR GOD SAKE! She shook her head a couple times to get the unnecessary thoughts out of her.

She hurried towards him while shoving the note in her pocket, "I'll help you unpack."

"You don't have to." He grabbed a couple his nicely folded clothes, which she eventually pulled out of his hands.

"No, no. I insist." She forced, "Just sit down and tell me where should I put them."

Emily took out more of his clothes and held it, waiting for Beck's instructions, "Soooo, where should I put them?"

He could barely seen her face with all the clothes she was holding onto. He grabbed half of the stack before giving her a smile, "I can do it myself, you know."

She wanted to do something for him to repay him for everything he had done. "I want to help. Actually, I need to help you, to make things up."

A sigh escaped his lips as his expression softened, "Well, alright. I guess a little help wouldn't hurt."

Upon hearing that, her eyes lit up. "I'll put your clothes in the closet then." She informed as she rushed towards the its doors while making sure that his clothes does not fall. Beck could not help but to crack a smile seeing the girl rushing around the room, being enthusiastic over unpacking.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Even though he thanked her, in reality, she should be the one thanking him. He did so much for her, when they only knew each other for a few days. She didn't care if it was because he needed to or wanted to, but, at the end of the day, it will not change the fact that she was saved by him.