Daniel watched her with concern as the girl trembled a bit with a small whimper.

“Daniel, do you think you could ever see me as more than a friend?” she asked, slowly glancing back to him with saddened eyes. Daniel opened his mouth to speak, and then paused as Triska watched him with a tear forming in her eye. The lantern kept their area of the cabin well-lit, with Daniel looking at Triska from head to toe while she was facing away from him. It became apparent to him at that moment that she was actually leaning forward onto her bag while arching her back slightly, perking her rear up and out towards him while she kept her legs together. Her hips and waistline became clear to see while her hair gently rested down her back and shoulders, her figure being more noticeable to him along with her pants which hugged and outlined her rear.

“I… uh…” he said as he tried to keep focused on their conversation. Triska turned her head more to look at him with wonder as he glanced up and down her body while words failed him.

“Daniel… you’re staring at me,” she said softly as she felt a blush forming on her cheeks, realizing that the boy was ogling her like that. Daniel jumped a bit then looked down while shutting his eyes.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to, I wasn’t trying… uh…” he stammered.

“No, it’s ok,” Triska said, with Daniel looking to seeing the girl slowly turning to face him with a gentle expression, slowly brushing her hair back around her ear and shoulder before holding her hands together in front of her, her arms pushing her breasts together more while she slowly moved towards him.

“Daniel, have you ever… looked at me like that before?” she asked.

“Looked at you… like what? What do you mean?” he asked nervously.

“When we lived at home, did you ever… did you ever look at me? Did you ever… think anything about me?” Triska asked as she got closer to him and sat down on her feet. Daniel glanced away for a few seconds as he thought about it then slowly shrugged and looked back to the girl with uncertainty.

“I… I don’t remember… I mean, I don’t think I ever did. If I did I’m sorry, I…” he replied unsurely, with Triska tilting her head slightly while watching him with hopeful eyes.

“Daniel, it’s ok, I want you to look at me,” she said with a small smile forming. Daniel watched as she looked down while perking her chest up a bit, the girl glancing up to him with a timid smile while her hands fidgeted a bit together.

“I don’t want you to see me as just a friend, Daniel; I want to be more than that for you. I love you, I always have. The truth is, I’ve stared at you a lot in the past, more times than you could imagine,” she admitted.

“You did? Me?” Daniel asked with a small jump. Triska nodded and looked down with a gentle smile.

“I’ve been in love with you for so long, you were the only boy I ever looked at back home. But I was such a coward, I couldn’t say anything to you no matter how much I tried to, could never work up the courage to tell you how I felt. But whenever you were around, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of you,” she said softly before glancing back up to him. Daniel looked at her with wonder as he thought about what she said, being surprised to hear that all this time she had her eye on him like that and never said anything. Triska then looked down and away while showing a troubled frown.

“I wanted to tell you for so long, but never could. And now, I fear that you’ll only see me as a friend, that thinking anything more about me would be too strange for you. I’m scared that… I waited too long to tell you the truth,” she confessed. Daniel watched her with sympathetic eyes as the girl slowly turned around and held her arms around herself.

“I want to be your girlfriend, I want to be your wife, I want to be your everything, Daniel. I love you so much, but I’m so scared now that all you’ll see before you is just a friend, and nothing more,” she said softly with a whimper. Daniel looked down while remaining silent while Triska looked at her sword she had set against the wall near her bag.

“I’m going to help you out here on your quest, I promise I won’t let you down, just please, try to see me as more than just a friend, if you can,” she pleaded before closing her eyes. She slowly leaned forward on her bag while holding onto the strap for it, feeling her heart aching with each passing second that Daniel didn’t respond.

‘Daniel, please, I don’t want to be just friends with you, I want to be so much more.’

She then jumped a bit as she felt Daniel hugging her from behind, the boy holding his arms around her gently while resting his head on her shoulder. She then held his arms with one hand while taking a shaky breath.

“I love you, Daniel, I really do,” she said dearly. Daniel remained silent for a while before lowering his head on her shoulder.

“You know, we had such a strong friendship for so long, surely this is going to put that at risk. There may be no going back to how we were afterwards,” he warned softly.

“I don’t care, I need you, I’ll do anything to prove it, anything to have your love,” Triska said shaking her head. Daniel held her gently for a moment then looked over her shoulder with a solemn expression.

“To tell you the truth, I always wondered what kind of guy you would have been attracted to, or rather what kind of guy would be able to handle having you as a girlfriend,” he admitted, with Triska looking down with concern as she held onto his arms.

“Even just being friends you could be pretty rough, but I never thought you were mean, if anything you were like a fiery, tough, slightly dangerous sister,” Daniel said with a small smile. Triska almost gave an amused smile to that thought before she remembered that Daniel did think of her more as a sister than anything. Daniel leaned back from his embrace, slowly moving his hands down to her waist as she let go and rested hers on her bag.

“I had often wondered, so many times, what kind of guy could tame someone like her?” he asked softly. Triska slowly glanced back to see him looking at her with a solemn gaze.

“She’s so full of energy, so wild and daring, and she could probably kill me with her pinkie.