**In Progress**

Keep Running!!! I tell myself as my lungs burn and my feet pound against the ground. There are branches and thorns clawing my arms and legs, ripping at my clothes, as if they are alive. The sun breaks through the tree branches, in the most beautiful way but I have no time to study it. Adrenaline rushes through my body, giving me barely enough energy to keep going. I glance back to see how close he is, but he is nowhere to be seen. I scan the forest around me as I come to a stop; every nerve in my body tingling with the energy now pulsing through my veins. I try to quiet my breathing and the constant pounding of my heart to listen for any sign that he is near. The only sound I hear is the birds chirping and the occasional rustle of leaves telling me the forest is alive with animals. Then, I hear the faintest snap of a branch to my right. I swing around just as he comes sprinting out of the trees heading straight towards me. I turn to run but it’s too late; he flies past me so fast I can feel the wind whip past me. I sprint after him, laughing between gasping breaths. We slow down as we reach our treehouse; the adrenaline of the run starting to pass out of my system. He turns and pulls me into his arms, gently brushing his lips against mine.

He smiles and whispers, “I win.”

A huge smile breaks across my face as I shove him slightly. We walk to the base of our treehouse, the spot where we first met. It happened about six months ago…I found the treehouse when I was wandering through the woods trying to find a quiet place to think after that horrible day.

While walking through the trees I notice an old knotted rope hanging down from the branch of a tree. The tree is huge towering above me, with many different trunks and branches spiraling up the tree. The rope is connected to a treehouse that spirals up the tree with two separate rooms. The main section nestled against the largest section of the trunk, held up by two large branches that spans out and seems to tangle around the tree next to it. The smaller room of the treehouse is nestled much higher in the tree with another knotted rope connecting it to the main room. I know I should leave it alone but I just can’t help myself. I start climbing up the rope to explore the old treehouse. The entrance is a small hole in the corner of the floor, I poke my head in and look around to see if anyone is there. As I had expected, it is abandoned. There are a couple of old wooden stools, a shelf, and a table scattered around the small room. The crooked window on the far wall is letting in just enough light to see. I cautiously pull myself up and take slow steps across the floor as it creaks beneath me, but seems to be strong enough to hold my weight. I notice an intricate jewelry box sitting on one of the shelves across the room and make my way over, picking it up. Inside is a beautiful heart shaped locket, it is a faded silver, flat, and about the size of a golf ball.Inside are old black and white pictures of a stunning young woman and a gorgeous man who I assume was her love. I lay the locket back into the box and retrieve the other item, which is a round, smooth stone, with a gold design running over the soft purple surface. I can feel I have never seen anything like it before. It has no notches or openings as far as I can tell. As I examine the object I take a step back and hear the floor creak then crack under my weight.

I clutch the jewelry box to my chest and let out a scream as I start to fall through the floor towards the ground. I close my eyes knowing this is going to hurt but instead of hitting the hard ground I feel warm flesh catch me then fall to the ground cushioning my landing. Confused I open my eyes and staring back at them are a dazzling pair of green eyes.

“Are you ok?”, his eyes say, though it’s not the eyes talking but his mouth beneath them.

“I think so,” I gasped.

I sit there mesmerized by those striking green eyes. After what seems like forever I realize I am still sprawled on top of him on the ground. I awkwardly smile at him as I scramble to the side. Now that I’ve broken out of that haze I realize I am shaking and breathing hard.

He raises his eyebrows and gives me a worried look, “You sure you’re ok”?

“Umm, ya just rattled”, I mutter still a little dazed.

Suddenly I jump up remembering the jewelry box I clutched to my chest as I fell. I must have stood up too quickly, because the earth swayed then went black. I open my eyes and realize, once again, I am sprawled out on the ground. The boy with the green eyes are leaning over me with a concerned look on his face.

“You passed out, I caught you just before you hit your head,” he says in a quiet voice.

“Thanks...“, I respond with a shy smile. Sitting up slowly, with his help, I lean against the tree. I notice blood on his shirt, with a panicked voice I ask, “Did I hurt you?“, motioning at the blood on his shirt. He looks down just noticing it, and touches his chest where the blood is.

“No.” He looks back at me. “You cut your arm when you fell”. I look down and my left arm and there is a small stream of blood running down to my elbow then onto the ground. Before I know what is happening he pulls off his shirt and starts wrapping it around my arm. “That should help but we should probably go back to the city to get it cleaned up.” I know he is talking but I can’t focus on anything but his bare chest. He touches my shoulder. "You still with us?" he jokes.

“I .. uh …. ya I’m ok... thank you.. again,” I feel the blush creeping up my cheeks as he smiles at me again.

“Come on, I’ll help you up so we can get back and get you cleaned up, I don’t live very far from here.” He helps me stand and again I remember the jewelry box.

“I had a jewelry box when I fell, I need to find it”. We look around the tree and find the box, the lid was broken off and cracked and the locket was underneath the base. We had to look a few more minutes to find the other object because it had rolled a few feet away. I put the items into the base of the box and set the cracked lid on top.

Now that I can think clearly I glace over at him with a smile, “You saved my life and I don’t even know your name,” I say in my prize winning, sarcastic tone.

A huge grin breaks out across his face, he does an exaggerated bow and replies, ”Archer at your service my lady.”

I smirk at him and respond with a small curtsy, “Thank you, kind sir, I’m Aria." He then leads me through the forest to his house. I know what you’re thinking, I just met the guy and I’m just going to follow him into his house. Give me a break he saved my life, or at least saved me from some broken bones, and he’s cute so that makes everything ok. When we get to his house he has me wait at the kitchen table as he retrieves a first aid kit from the bathroom. Removing the shirt, he had wrapped around the cut, he uses a wet cloth to wipe away the blood that had been running down my arm.

“It’s really not too bad, you must have grazed it on the tree as you fell. I don’t think you’ll need stitches.” Archer’s words calm me down a bit, I really hate needles. He wipes the wound with an alcohol swab making me wince away from him. He gently touches my elbow pulling my arm back towards him and pulling me a little closer to him as well. I look up at him and my breath catches. It’s those striking green eyes again. He just laughs and finishes cleaning it.He whispers to me, “Just breathe, everything is ok.” For a second nothing else exists… suddenly I notice that I had started leaning towards him as if to kiss him. I jerk away and end up falling off the stool I had been sitting in. Once again sprawled across the floor I look up at him embarrassed all over again.He looks down at me with his eye brow raised, and I think I might see just a hint of disappointment in his eyes.I shake my head at him as if answering his silent question.He places a couple butterfly bandages then wraps a thin cloth around my arm to secure everything.

“Thank you so much for helping me. I guess you really are a knight in shining armor.” I say with a small giggle, as he walks me home.

The next day I decide to go back out to the treehouse hoping to see him again. When I arrive, I am a little disappointed because he is nowhere to be seen. I am about to turn back and head home when I see the incredible boy with the green eyes pop his head out the opening in the floor. He grins at me and I try to act like I am not excited to see him again but I probably have a stupid smile on my face and I can feel the blush starting to brighten my cheeks already.

“I thought you might come back here.” He says, climbing down the rope to meet me.

“I hoped I might find you here, I never really thanked you for that knight in shining armor thing.” I say with a smirk, trying to sound as confident as I can. “Can I take you out for dinner sometime?”

“I thought you’d never ask.” He says with a smile.

Ever since then we have met here at the treehouse almost every day. We started repairing the old treehouse, bringing out new wood, painting it, and adding some furniture. If I had to go back to that day I would fall out of this treehouse every time, if I didn’t I never would have met Archer.

To be continued...