The moment when Penelope’s eyes met his felt like an eternity to Crow. So many thoughts rushed through his mind that he couldn’t keep them all straight. Was she mad at him? Had she figured out his feelings towards her? Why wasn’t she moving? Why was just staring at him like that? He felt like he was in a trance. He wanted to avert his gaze—to look anywhere else—but he was transfixed on her startled green eyes.

Penelope was the one to break the spell. She pulled away from him, freeing his arm so he could sit up. He nodded wordlessly at her apology, unsure of what to say. Part of him wanted to take the blame for what had happened, since it was technically his fault, but he didn’t know how to do so without revealing what he had done last night. He didn’t want to tell her that he had put his arm around her while she had been unconscious. If she wasn’t already feeling creeped out after waking up beside him, that information would definitely do it.

[color=fff79a][b]“Oh gods, we need to head back to the inn,”[/b][/color] Penelope’s urgent voice startled him. [color=fff79a][b]“If Hartley’s awake, he’s probably freaking out.”[/b][/color]

“Oh, no,” Crow paled and clambered to his feet as another thought came to him. “Hartley isn’t the only one we need to worry about.” He picked up the satchel from the ground and slung it over his shoulder, then turned back to Penelope. “We need to get back quickly, so I can hide this before the owner wakes up and realizes it’s gone.” They had slept for too long in the open. As soon as the peasant noticed his money was missing, the next step would be to alert the local knights, and that would make their trip back much more difficult.

“Let’s go,” the thief said, putting the awkwardness of the night behind him as the adrenaline set in. He took off at a brisk walk back towards the inn, fast enough to cover ground quickly without drawing attention to himself or causing the coins in his bag to make noise. He just prayed that the victim of his stealing wasn’t an early riser.