"Callie...when I said that...I meant for you to move in." He swallowed hard. Having never done anything like this before he was lost and unsure of what was best to say and what was best left alone. At the same time, he had gone all his life without finding someone who he would stay with. He did not want to lose Callie, ever.

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She blinked as she looked at him. Move in? She studied him, then a slow smile spread across her face. "I would like that, Thoril." she really would, she realized as she looked at him. She was living a lonely life in her cottage, it would be wonderful to live with familiar company. Especially his.

"I realise it might seem fast. I realise there are things we have not said to eachother, but still. I also do not see the point in having such a big house for only one person to live in it." He smiled warmly at her.

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"Of course. It would be good, I think, for both of us." her eyes were lit by warmth. "Thank you, it was getting lonely at my cottage. And I know of some people who need a home, and it is just big enough for them."

"It would give us time to get to know eachother. May not be conventional, but who has the right to dictate what is right or wrong when it comes to matters of the heart?" Thoril swallowed hard again. Was it right to speak of the heart when three simple, but very large words, had not been spoken to eachother yet? He fell silent for a long moment while he pondered his feelings. He had thought about it before in the inn. It was not love yet, but it was slowly growing. He knew that he could not be without Callie. There was something about her that intrigued him. He regarded Callie thoughtfully. He loved how her long brown hair fell freely about her shoulders. Her warm brown eyes, he knew he could gaze into them for hours. Her freckles, her youthful freckles, that were such a loud sign of beauty Thoril would be stupid to ignore it, and even worse let it go.

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She nodded. "I agree." she said softly adage studied him. She knew there was something about him that set him apart from anyone else she had ever known. And she was looking forward to to the future, whatever it held. She smiled gently at him.

"Well then that is settled. Move in at your leisure and feel free to change whatever you like. I am nothing if I am not open minded." He snickered faintly. He reached across the table, taking her hand in his. He brushed his thumb over her soft skin, gazing into her eyes happily.

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She grinned "I will! I just want to get that bread sold." she nodded to the basket and smiled, blushing slightly when he took her hand. "Thank you, Thoril."

"I am sure you will have no problem selling it at all. In fact I am sure the maid at the Inn would be most pleased to accept it. Apparently there cook has been skimping on some ingredients and the loafs of bread have been coming out like bricks!" Thoril chuckled slightly. He noticed her blush and kissed the back of her hand. "My lady there is nothing to thank me for. It is I who should be thanking you." He smiled softly.

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She laughed with him. She had no expected the cook to do that. At his next words, she tilted her head. "There is no need to thank me either." she smiled back at him though. "Are you finished? I can clean up."

"Perhaps you could relieve the cook? I believe his age has caught up to him." He released her hand, his jaw dropping in mock shock at her remark. "Miss Callie you are still a guest at this moment. I would not dream of you cleaning up." He snickered to her as he stood and gathered the plates and disappeared into the kitchen.

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She laughed. "Perhaps!" then she rolled her eyes and chuckled. "I really don't mind!" she called after him, then got up. "I'll head to the inn, see what I can do." she called again before picking up her basket.

Thoril popped his head through the door. "Good luck! Not that you need it." He flashed her a smile and a wink before disappearing into the kitchen again. He listened for the click as the door closed and finished putting the dishes away. He strolled into the living room and sat down on the sofa. The letter he had been reading earlier that morning lay on the table beside him. He looked at it, all forms of disgust sprawling across his face. Someone had followed him. Someone he hoped would not have found him. Someone that was perhaps going to make his life hell. He reached for the paper and scrumpled it up and tossed it into the fire. He watched it burn with pleasure.

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She stopped in at the inn, letting the owner try her bread. "When can you start?" he had asked her with a big grin. She had told him that for at least a couple days she would be in the process of moving, but she would start right after. He had agreed quickly. She left the bread there before going to the fabric store to pick out some curtain fabric. She found them in tones of white, green, and a purple just a shade lighter than the color of the one upstairs room. She purchased them, then went back to her cottage to retrieve her various sewing items. She stick them in her basket, as well as some cotton to make thread and yarn out of. She looked at her spinning wheel.
"I couldn't possibly leave this behind..." she murmured. Slinging her basket on her elbow, she picked up the heavy object, stopping to lock her door behind her, and then began lugging it up the road to Thoril's place.

Whether it had been sixth sense or just a coincidence, Thoril did not know, but he found himself opening his front door and stepping out to see Callie struggling up the road to his house. He dashed down his garden path and down to her. "You should have came for me. I could help you move your belongings," he said as he took her spinning wheel. "How did it go at the inn?" He asked, leaning in and kissing her cheek. The movement had been so natural to him, he did not stop to wonder if it had been so for Callie. His heart lightened at the image that was before him - greeting his partner after a long day of work. It seemed like the life. The kind of life he would fight to keep.

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She looked up as she saw Thoril running towards her. "Oh! It was no big deal.." she blinked as he took it, "But thank you!" she shifted her basket so it was now in her hand. "At the inn--" she paused when he kissed her cheek, and blushed a bit, yet she found the action comforting, even normal. She smiled warmly at him. "I now have a job, but they are giving me a few days before I start because of the moving process." she giggled "They certainly liked my bread! They are making me the baker, since the cook can do everything besides pasteries and bread." she fell into an easy stroll beside him. "I have fabric for the curtains!" she suddenly exclaimed, excited.