Before she could betray them further, they rushed from the barn, bumping into Bryce at the door. He grabbed their elbows to steady them, but they pushed him away.
“I am sorry,” they murmured quietly, brushing past him.
“Zef? What’s wrong?” He called after them, but they did not answer. “Nan, what happened?”
“I stuck my nose where it didn’t belong,” she said sadly. “I was just trying to help.”
Ignoring them, Zef strode purposefully away from the barn and the party. They crossed the grassy yard, and when it ended at the barley field, they kept on walking.
Heavy footfalls chased them down, and Bryce was puffing by the time he caught up to them. “Zef, what are you doing?”
“Walking.”
“Where?”
“Away,” they said, even though it should have been obvious.
“Away where?”
“Just away!” they cried.
“Away from me?” he asked, voice soft and pained, and Zef halted abruptly.
They spun on their heels, their chest twisting at Bryce’s crestfallen expression. “Not away from you. Away from Nan. I am cross with her.”
A half-smile curved his mouth. “Okay, can I come with you?”
“I suppose,” they huffed as they turned back around and reinstated their angry walk.
Falling into step beside them, Bryce tucked his hands into his pockets. “She meddles, but she usually means well.”
“Do not defend her, or else I will be cross with you next,” they threatened, and he chuffed a laugh.
“Okay, sorry. I don’t want you to be cross with me.”
They walked for several more minutes, until the house and the people around it were small in the distance. Their temper had always been quick to burn out, and this time was no exception. No longer angry, they stopped walking, causing Bryce to stumble to a stop a few steps ahead of them.
“What now?” he asked.
“I am done walking,” they said.
“Alright. Are you still cross?”
With a shrug, they stared down at their fidgeting hands. “Only a little.”
“Wanna tell me about it?”
“She does not approve of our courtship,” they blurted, and Bryce’s brows rose in shock. “Or perhaps it is me that she does not approve of.”
Hands on his hips, he worked his jaw. “She said that?”
“Well, not in those words, but it was implied.”
“Are you sure? Because she’s crazy about you.”
Running their lower hands through the swaying barley, they swallowed around the lump in their throat. “Then why does she believe our relationship is doomed?”
“What did she say, Zef?” he asked with a hint of impatience.
