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"He said he needed time." Beth wiped at her cheeks with both hands, her eyes closing for a moment before she let out a frustrated groan.

"You cannot rush this, Beth." Claire sighed, hating to see the girl in such emotional distress.

It had been two weeks since Ian found out about everything. He had barely spoken to Beth since their conversation, and it pained the girl to not have her best friend by her side.

"Maybe I should just...go home." She stood up, dropping the needle and thread she was still so terrible at. A sigh escaped her lips as she started pacing before the window. The sun was beginning to set, Beth focused her gaze on the orange and red hues scattered across the sky.

"You shouldn't make any rash decisions. Especially not as serious as that." Brianna spoke up, biting on her lower lip as she watched Beth. Bree could see the gears turning in her friend's head. She was thinking of the positives and negatives about staying or leaving.

"Beth!" Jamie was calling her name from the hallway. He was holding a piece of paper in his hands as he peered into the sitting room.

"What's going on?" Beth glanced over at Jamie once he was standing in the doorway. He had this look about him that made Beth uncomfortable. Like he was making some kind of diabolical plan that included her.

"I'd like for ye to head into Wilmington for me. I've got some business and I thought it would give ye something to do. Get ye out of the house." Jamie smiled, hoping that the girl would say yes and agree.

"Jamie, do you think that's wise? She shouldn't travel alone." Claire spoke up, setting the needle and thread off to the side of her on the sofa before turning to look up at her husband, a brow raised up as she tried to figure out what he was getting at.

"Aye, she won't be alone." He shook his head. "Young Ian will escort her. And Rollo, of course."

Beth cleared her throat, nervously chewing on her bottom lip as she looked at Claire and Brianna before turning back to Jamie. "Is he aware of this plan?"

"Aye, he is." Jamie smiled, a bit too wide.

"Cheeky." Claire whispered under her breath, a soft laugh escaping from behind her lips as she looked over at Beth.

"When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning."

Beth nodded. "Well, I better go and prepare then." She nodded to Claire and Brianna and as she passed by Jamie she smiled. "Thank you, Jamie."

"Dinnae thank me just yet. I'm hoping this time together, away from life on the ridge, will help ye both." He told her, handing her the pieces of parchment with a nod. "This is what I need to be delivered. Instructions are written on the first page."

"Goodnight." Beth gave Jamie a quick peck on his cheek before she headed up the stairs to gather her belongings and prepare for a long journey.

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After a rather sleepless night, Beth found herself pacing her bedroom back and forth as she watched the sunrise from the window.

She was nervous about going off to Wilmington with Ian. She was surprised he had agreed to travel with her. If they were going to be traveling alone – they would have to talk, no?

Starting at the sound of the knock on her bedroom door, Beth moved to open the door slowly, keeping most of it shut as she peered through the slit.

"Ian?" She whispered, knowing that the rest of the house was still fast asleep.

She kept most of her body hidden behind the door as she was still only dressed in her night shift, which was extremely thin and left little to the imagination.

"I wanted to get a head start on the road." He told her flatly. Rollo was seated by his feet, a soft whine escaping his lips as he looked up through the open door to Beth. He wanted to get inside the room and see Beth.

Beth nodded, and without thinking twice stepped back and let Ian, along with Rollo, enter her room. Ian shut the door behind himself, a small smile forming on his lips as he watched Rollo rush up to Beth, rubbing against her bare legs.

Bare legs.

Ian visibly gulped, "Aye, ye didn't say ye were indecent!" he groaned, turning around to face the door with his hands planted on his hips. He was trying to not look back at her and was trying to ignore the funny sensation in his lower abdomen that he was beginning to feel. It wasn't sexual, in nature. Butterflies in his stomach, a warm and crackling sensation coursing through his veins. Her beauty, and boldness, was appealing to him.

"It's not like you haven't seen me dressed in just my shift before." She rolled her eyes at his theatrics. Moving over to the chair by the window she quickly slipped on the traveling clothes she had chosen the night prior. She made sure the dress was lightweight and easy to walk and ride in. The last thing she wanted was to be uncomfortable because of a corset.

Once she was dressed, she walked back over to Ian and turned to gesture to the laces in the back of her dress. "Can you just tighten this for me?"

Ian sighed, "Aye."

He turned and tightened the laces for her, though didn't go overboard because he knew she didn't like the dresses to be tied too tight. He was beginning to realize he knew a lot more about her than he originally thought.

Sure, she had kept an extremely large secret from him. He was angry and thought he had been befriending a liar – someone he did not truly know. But he had been wrong in the grand scheme of things.

"Ready?" Beth turned, silently thanking Ian for helping with her laces before she leaned down to pet Rollo's head softly. "Will he be ok making this journey with us? It's not too much on him?"

Ian smiled, "No. He's a wolf, Beth," He told her with a laugh, "He was bred to travel far. He's made the trip quite a few times. He'll survive."

With that, Ian took the bag that Beth had put together of her things and walked out of the bedroom to ready the horses that they would be taking.

"Dinna fash, Beth." Jamie met Beth at the bottom of the stairs, a smile forming on his lips. "Travels will be good. I want ye to take yer time. Enjoy Wilmington. Both of ye." Jamie now turned to look at Ian with a nod.

"We will, Uncle." Ian gave Jamie a hug and moved back outside to mount the horse he would be traveling on.

Beth chewed on her bottom lip. "Thank you... again." she whispered to Jamie, knowing that he had put this journey together for her benefit. She was hoping it would give her time to spend with Ian, time to talk with him, and get back to how things used to be between them.

Beth turned and followed Ian, her teeth still chewing away at her bottom lip.

"Aye, I ken ye'll bite that lip off by the end of our trip." Ian teased, watching the woman walk towards the him as he stood between both horses, the reigns tightly in his grasp.

"Very funny, Ian." Beth rolled her eyes. In all honesty, she was happy to have this back and forth with him once again.

Ian's grip on the reigns of both horses remained tight in one hand. With the other, he extended it to Beth and assisted her with getting up and onto the horse with ease.

Thanking Ian silently with a nod, Beth took the reigns from him and shifted around to get comfortable. They had a long journey ahead of them and Beth knew that riding horseback for that long would certainly agitate her body.

Ian hopped up onto his own horse, whistled for Rollo's attention before they set off from The Ridge.

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After riding for what seemed like forever, Beth turned to look at Ian and let out an annoyed huff.

"What is it, lass?"

"I'm hungry." Beth whined playfully, nudging the horse gently with her feet to try and catch up closer to Ian.

"Aye, I can eat too." Ian agreed. He stopped moving forward, surveying the land around them. "We can set up camp for the night over there. Right by the clearing, but close enough to the stream."

Beth watched him with a small smile. "Sure." She pressed her heels a bit deeper into the sides of her horse, shifting them towards the clearing that Ian had just pointed out.

Once dismounted, Beth handed the reigns over to Ian and grabbed their belongings so she could set up a makeshift campsite for them.

"Rollo!" Beth whistled, gesturing for the wolf to follow her. She had a few biscuits in her bag and knelt to hand him one to hold him over until they could find something near by to hunt and cook. Of course, she would leave that all to Ian.

Beth started to collect twigs and slightly larger branches to create a fire. Once a good enough collection, atleast to start off with, was set off to the side, Beth moved to stand beside Ian as he began putting together a tent.

Once he was finished, he picked up his bow and whistled for Rollo to follow.

"Wait!" Beth reached forward and grabbed onto his arm. "Do you need my help?"

Ian smiled, shaking his head. "I ken ye'll be best at startin' the fire, Mistress Montgomery."

Gasping with offense, Beth smacked Ian's arm. "That's not nice. You know I've gotten better. You just have not worked with me on it for a while..."

Her voice started to trail off as she spoke. Ian had been ignoring her since finding out her secret – that was the reason behind why he had not helped her with her archery skills.

They had traveled all day without bringing anything negative up, though to be honest most of the time they did not speak.

"Aye... I ken I've not been a very good teacher to ye." Ian cleared his throat and as he went to continue, Beth quickly wrapped her arms around his neck. She pulled him down to her and hugged him tightly.

"I'm so sorry, Ian." She whispered against his chest, refusing to let go until he acknowledged her apology.

"Ye've already told me so, Beth." Ian whispered, his free hand cradling the back of her head as he held her close to him. "I forgive ye."

Pulling away, Beth wiped at her cheeks and let out a soft laugh. "I'm sorry I'm so emotional. I know that is certainly not something you want to deal with on this trip, it's only been a few hours."

Ian smirked, his hand still resting on the side of her face. "Aye, we'll be ok. I'll go get us some dinner."

With that, Ian turned and walked through the gathering of trees surrounding them. Beth watched him go, chewing nervously on her lower lip before turning to start building a fire for them. After all, they would need somewhere to cook what Ian could catch for their meal.

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Ian was able to catch a pair of rabbits for dinner. It was not Beth's favorite, but she needed to eat something of sustenance. She occupied herself with Rollo as Ian skinned and prepared the meat for cooking. That was always something she could not handle, not like Marsali could atleast.

"Ye can turn around." Ian chuckled, watching the woman before him with her back facing him. Her hand gently rubbing along Rollo's head affectionately.

"You know I can't stand to watch." Beth sighed, turning slowly once she looked over her shoulder at Ian.

Once the rabbits were cooked, they ate in silence. Beth only nibbled small bits of the meats and slipped most of it to Rollo while Ian was not looking. Watching the fire start to die down, Beth reached into her bag and pulled out a flask.

"I was able to fill this up before we left." she grinned over at Ian, shaking the flask around to gesture to him that it was full.

Ian smirked and slipped into his own bag, pulling out another flask. "Aye, I ken great minds think alike."

Beth let out a laugh, her head falling back a bit as she did so. "Yes, I think they do."

They toasted – to what, neither of them knew – but did so anyway. After the harsh liquor spilled down her throat, Beth crinkled her nose and closed the flask back up.

"Can I ask ye somethin'?" Ian had also closed his flask and set it off back into his bag.

Beth looked over at Ian, letting herself get lost in the way the fire lit up his eyes and the rest of his face. His eyes were always bright but illuminated by the flames and they were even brighter. Beth found herself deciding that his eyes were her favorite part of him.

"Of course. You can ask me anything."

Ian's gaze met hers. A sad smile formed on his lips but just as fast as it had appeared, it vanished. Beth's own smile faltered at this. What was he going to ask her? The barely digested meat in her belly was almost about to make a sudden appearance as she shifted uncomfortably against the tree.

"Do ye plan on going back? To yer own time, I mean."

Beth found herself shifting forward, her mind reeling with what the right answer to give him would be. Did she want to go back to the 20th century? Did she want to leave Jamie, Claire, the Ridge?

More importantly...did she want to leave him?