Isabella had imagined meeting some of her favorite characters her whole life. In some of her fantasies, she was the main female character, in some others; she was a completely new character that happened to have what was needed to save the world, and then there were some where her favorite characters suddenly appeared in her world and she had to teach them how to live in a modern society. The latter one had been one of the funniest, she had imagined Lorcan –and his big ass hands- trying to type a text message and miserably failing, resulting in him cursing the phone and throwing a very child-like tantrum. She had also imagined Fenrys going to the shopping mall and developing an unhealthy obsession with the latest fashion trends –and a very ridiculous tendency to wearing sunglasses everywhere, even indoors-, his looks earning him a lot of awed glances and phone numbers from strangers. She had also visualized Gavriel, sometimes with Aedion –his son- spending some time together, trying to reclaim to fate some of their lost time. And then, there was Rowan. No matter her scenario or her fantasy, he was always there. He was always hers, the same way she was his.

It had been stupid and utterly impossible, and yet she had found herself, many times, trying to escape her reality and wandering through her mind until being somewhere else entirely, surrounded by very different people.

In fact, those fantasies had helped her a lot during the last three years. It was a break, from her cruel real life to a world where things were dissimilar, where she was something she was not; where she could be all the things that she could never be in real life, where she could be loved as passionately as in the songs; and where things were right.

It was all a lie. A lie. A lie. A lie.

But she had been happy, if only for some minutes, while living a lie.

And it was beyond her knowledge to understand how she had ended up in that situation. In front of her #1 book boyfriend.

And even though she was filled with joy, and a bit –lot- of incredibility, she also felt very awkward. And her current state of clothes was not helping. And her mind replaying the incredulous and puppy-in-love eyes she'd had when he had first looked at her was even worse. Maybe she should have been well beyond caring, after everything she had experienced, after everything that had been forced on her; but the human mind was extraordinary and unreasonable. Even after all, she was indeed not beyond caring or worrying. Maybe she should be glad, for feeling such things; it reminded her of her humanity. It made her feel, almost, normal. Or as normal as someone could feel, given her situation.

They had tried talking to her some more, but it had been fruitless. She could not understand them and vice versa. After the 100th try, they had all finally given up. Lorcan had looked angry but Isabella had realized that that was probably his rest face, Gavriel looked defeated, Fenrys seemed unbothered and still very curious and Rowan remained her of an iceberg. His big arms crossed over his chest, his feet slightly separated and his back straight. A soldier's posture. But it was his challenging expression, boarding ire, what made her keep her gaze averted from his. Even if the only thing she wanted to do was to stare at him. Her still very present embarrassment was a great help, though.

And her hunger, that was even worse, stronger and more distracting than any kind of shame. She wanted to eat, anything. She would accept anything they gave her, she wouldn't even worry if it was poisonous or not. Though she doubted they wanted her death before getting some answers from her. If they found a way to actually communicate.

Isabella still hadn't heard from the soldier that Rowan had ordered something from before, which was making her anxious because she wanted to know what kind of order he had given him. Gavriel had talked with Rowan a couple of times, Fenrys had also chatted a little and Lorcan's only contributions had been several growls. She could only imagine some were meant to express his disapproval or agreement.

The smell of food was still present in the air. Indication that they had just finished eating when they found her. How they had found her was still unknown to her. And what they were doing in the forest, too. Things would certainly be easier if there wasn't a language barrier between them. And although those were very concerning matters, the main reason why she wanted to be able to communicate right now was just so that she could ask them for some food and water. She was sure they had plenty, and even if they ran out of it, she was also sure they would have no problem hunting animals for cooking. Surely those muscled arms had to be worth something apart from looking insanely attractive...and killing other beings.

At least Gavriel had given her a chair for her to sit. He had always been described as a gentleman in the books, and his attitude and gentler tone were only proof of that. But Isabella couldn't shake the thought that a gentleman would also offer her some food. Especially with her deadly looks. Her aching stomach and the delicious scent in the air were almost suffocating. Like dry earth and rain. She needed it desperately. The awkward silence that reigned in their tent was only helping to drive her more crazily desperate. So she concluded to herself that she would be given food, or at least try to.

Isabella opened her mouth to speak, all the males in the room went tense, oddly expectant of what she had to say. She almost laughed at the sight of them. All muscles tensed, shoulders brought closer to their necks. And Lorcan, who had let his hair down and had some of it covering his front, actually looked as if he had no neck. Just some big guy. She really almost laughed at her thought then. But she feared she might look crazy if she did so. Since her appearance already betrayed her there.

She considered speaking, but it would be pointless so she closed her mouth and brought one of her hands to her stomach. Surely mimicking should be enough. They all opened their eyes wide in surprise, Isabella heard Fenrys speaking, asking them something and she could have sworn he stuttered. Nobody moved or spoke but Lorcan, who flared his nostrils and gave Fenrys a sharp answer. Gavriel said something too and moved a little closer to her. He brought both of his arms together, as if holding a baby. Isabella's eyes almost popped out of her face due to how wide she had opened them. She started shaking her head.

Fenrys turned to his side and motioned with his hands as if he had a pregnant belly and then did a question mark in the air.

"No!" she said, and made a negative cross with her hands. "No baby"

They all sighed in unison, clearly relieved. She imagined that taking care of a pregnant woman was obviously out of their comfort zone. She tried to explain herself again. This time, she pretended she was cutting a piece of meat and then eating it with an invisible knife and fork. Fenrys let out a long "oooohhhh" and proceeded to laugh. Lorcan brought the palm of his hand to his face as an expression of incredulity. Rowan grumbled something in response, as if agreeing with him. Gavriel smiled at her and walked out of the tent, hopefully he had gone looking for food.

A couple of minutes later, a set of footsteps entered the tent and a mouth-watering smell filled the air. Gavriel had brought a plate full of potatoes and a piece of meat in one hand and a canteen in the other. He set everything up on the only table, careless of the papers scattered on it and motioned for her to get closer.

She almost crawled to the table. She couldn't remember when the last time she had been offered a full plate of food. She could have cried. She had been so caught up with the idea of food that she didn't notice she hadn't carried her chair with her to sit. But she had already started digging into the food. She moaned after taking the first bite, it was the tastiest piece of cooking she had ever tried. She ate bite after bite, she wasn't even sure she was swallowing; it all went directly through her throat. She had been famished.

She didn't stop until there was nothing on her plate. She might have licked it too. She grabbed the canteen and drank as much as she could. She almost choked but kept drinking until it was empty. Who knew when she would eat again? She leaned back in her chair. She hadn't even noticed it when Gavriel had brought it back for her to sit. She closed her eyes, totally satisfied. She turned her face to look at Gavriel and gave him a thankful smile before muttering a truthful "thank you", regardless of the fact that they could not understand her. He nodded in response, a polite smile adorning his face.

She averted her gaze to look at the others and was not surprised when she regarded their expressions. Lorcan's eyebrows had shot upwards, Fenrys was playfully leaning on one of the tent's poles and Rowan was only staring at her. She had no idea what that expression on his face meant. But she didn't have much time to think more of it when a sick sensation rose in her throat. She tried to cover her mouth and stop herself from throwing up but failed. She vomited on Rowan and Gavriel's shoes since they had been the ones standing closer to her. It's not like she had directed her vomit to fall on their shoes, in fact, she had tried to stop herself from that but it had been years since the last time she had eaten so much; and her stomach had got unused to it. Her puke had been unstoppable.

She looked at their shoes and then at their faces, a corner of her mouth still a bit dirty with her vomit and whispered an embarrassed "sorry".

Lorcan let out a loud howl of laugh and Isabella was almost completely distracted by the smile on his face. It made him look younger and prettier. The sound of someone struggling to breathe made her look to her left, and she found Fenrys on the floor, a hand on his stomach. She might have worried about him if she hadn't noticed he was laughing. Rowan shouted a –Isabella was 99% sure- curse. She didn't know if it had been directed at her or his comrades. Gavriel looked pale, as if he were about to puke now.

"I'm so sorry" she said, and cleaned her mouth with her shirt. It was the only thing she had for it. Rowan snapped his head at her and narrowed his eyes. He left the tent with no word. Gavriel followed him close.

Fenrys managed to stop laughing and got up from the floor, wiping a tear while doing so. He said something to her and she didn't have to speak their language to know he was praising her for the show she had just mounted. The joyful and still playful smile on his face and his breathless tone were enough for her to fully comprehend him. She was glad they seemed to have no intention of punishing her for what she just had done –not that it was truly her fault, she couldn't have controlled it anyway- but she couldn't quite shake her embarrassment. Who wanted to throw up on their crush's shoes?

Isabella brought her hands to her head, and then cupped her face. She was exhausted, and she still felt quite sick. She let out a low sigh. Would they let her sleep? Or would they keep trying to interrogate her? Or worse, would they just stand there staring at her?

Lorcan walked to her and demanded her attention by kicking one of her feet with one of his own. Not threatening or angry, but rather...as an offer. She looked up at him and he tried to say something at her. Then he remembered she couldn't actually understand her and proceeded to mimic as if he were washing up. He finished his act by pointing at her.

"A bath?" she asked him, and she herself made her own act of bathing. He nodded. "Yes", she said and nodded too, effusively.

He turned around without much of a glance at her or a word and she followed him out of the tent. She was surprised to see that many people had already gone to their own tents to rest for the night. Some soldiers doing their night patrol were the only people apart from Lorcan and her. They sent some odd looks in her direction but kept to their duties. She followed Lorcan to another tent, where he motioned for her to wait outside. Less than two minutes later, he came out with a bag and handed it to her. She grabbed it and opened it a little to peak at what was inside.

Towels, lotions, clothes. She was really going to get a real bath. Not like what they used to allow her to take in the past. She smiled at him, as in thanks for the bag. It meant nothing and yet it was everything.

He took her back inside the woods and guided her until they reached a small lake. It wasn't as beautiful as the one she had seen before encountering Rowan, but it still looked brilliant. He turned around and left her alone. She stripped herself once she knew he was nowhere close, and got in the water. It was still night, and the moon was shining high in the sky, its reflection in the lake, and Isabella in the middle of it all. Somehow the thought made her feel like a goddess. She laughed at her own stupid thought. She savored every minute and every rub with the lotions. When she got out the water and had already dried herself, she noticed a subtle scent of trilliums. She smiled.

She found Lorcan close to the camp's entrance after getting dressed and following the path he had shown her. He took one quick look at her clothes and new appearance and started walking back to the biggest tent. Once inside, he gave her a roll bed for her to sleep with and then left her alone. She wasn't stupid enough to believe they would truly leave her completely alone. She noticed the subtle shadows of the soldiers guarding her tent.

She went to sleep anyway. She should have been terrified -and a part of her was-, but she felt grateful too. They had fed her, let her wash out and given her a roof on her head to sleep. She hadn't had any of that in years. They had shown her more kindness in the short hours they had met than she had faced in the last three years.

So she had no troubles in her mind when she finally fell asleep. She felt somehow whole.