Chapter Seven

Ana stared at Paul, stunned for a moment. "What?" she asked faintly, even though she had heard perfectly well what he had said.

"We have to go back for Frank," Paul said.

"But we just got out of that place," she said anxiously. "Paul, we can't." Even to her, her words sounded whiny and she felt a little ashamed. She was quite aware that her feeble protest would not make Paul change his mind.

Paul ignored her. "We have to go back," he repeated. He saw the despairing look on Ana's face and tried to comfort her. "I have to watch out for Frank," he said. "I can't just leave him with that witch. All we have to do is get back into her house and find Frank."

But then how do we get out? Ana thought, panicking.

Paul seemed to sense her unspoken question. "We got out of there once; we can do it again."

"I don't want to," Ana said stubbornly, trying to hide the fear in her voice.

He reached out to put an arm around her but she turned away from him.

"Don't touch me."

Ana knew she was acting spoiled and uncooperative. She knew that Paul was right to take so much responsibility for his brother. And she knew that it was necessary for them to find a way back to where the witch-woman lived. But even so her anxiety was overpowering her common sense. She and Paul had barely escaped from the woman's traps moments before; who could say for sure that they'd be able to do it again, this time with Frank too? She could see Paul's inner conflicts reflected in his face. He could tell how must she didn't want to go. He didn't want to leave her to rescue Frank, but at the same time every second ticking by might make a difference to whether or not Frank survived.

Paul took a deep breath and began to speak. "Ana," he said gently, "I—"

This was the moment Ana was fearing. She could tell exactly what he was going to say. Just like what had happened the other day in the tunnel, Paul was going to go off on his own to get Frank. So Paul cared more about poor little Frank than about her, the person who truly loved him. Instead of feeling glad that Paul was kind enough to take risks for his brother, jealously began to creep into her. How dare he choose Frank over me! she thought bitterly. How dare he leave me by myself alone again while he goes of on a heroic adventure? She became scornful of him. Of course, Paul the hero. Always looking out for people. He probably doesn't even care that much about me anyway.

In the back of her mind she knew this was just a foolish thought, but at the moment that it came to her she seized it and manage to convince herself that it was true. "Do whatever you want," she spat angrily at him, not letting him finish what he was going to say. "You don't even give a shit what happens to me, do you?" At this point she could no longer hold back her emotions and broke down in tears.

Paul hesitated, unsure what to do, not knowing whether or not to approach her. "Look, Ana…" he trailed off as she glared at him fiercely before another wave of tears washed over her. Ana couldn't understand how she felt. She didn't really want to fight with Paul, but at the same time she felt as if he was betraying her by wanting to leave her behind. Because that was what he wanted, wasn't it? That was what he was going to say to her. She didn't even want to hear. Let him go. At least he'll feel guilty knowing what this is doing to me.

Paul gave up and just stood silently near her, watching her. Ana gave herself over to her emotions completely. She heard the still air around her and didn't even bother to look up. He's gone, she thought. He's actually gone. The rage she had felthad disappeared and what was left was only sadness. She wished she could take back her words, but it was already too late, she knew. He's gone! She just couldn't seem to get over it. He actually left me! Sadness overwhelmed her again.

Then she felt strong arms wrapping around her as Paul eased himself onto the ground next to her and held her tight. Ana let herself fall into his arms, "Paul," she whispered in an anguished voice, realizing in fact how afraid she was that he had left. "Paul, I am so, so sorry." She felt awful. She wanted to apologize for everything she had just done. She wanted to let him know that she believed in him and that she wasn't angry. Guilt tore at her, reminding her how selfish she had been. Frank could be dying right now. The thought brought her back to her senses. Instantly she decided she was going to go with Paul after all. She made a weak effort to stand.

"I wouldn't leave you again," Paul said to Ana, helping her get up. "You should know that."

"Yeah." She took sighed deeply as once again guilt crept into her. "I'm sorry," she said again. "I'm just…frightened."

"Don't worry, we can do this together," he reassured her. "You ready?" he asked, brushing a stray tear away from her face.

"I guess." And Ana wished with all her might that they would find Frank before it was too late. If they didn't, she would be haunted by guilt for the rest of her life.

A/N: I know it isn't a very long chapter, but I thought this was a pretty good place to stop and I really wanted to update. Basically there's not a lot of important stuff going on, but I thought it would be more realistic if they finally got mad at each other for something. Sorry if you were expecting more of a cliffhanger. So tell me what you think, I'll try to update the story soon! Again, thank you sooo much for reviewing! It means the world to me!