Chapter 12

Just a few more hours and the fall festival would be over. So much hard work for only a weekend of festivities... Faith thought as she walked around the different stands. She was exhausted and was forced to take it easy for the day. But she had an amazing event planner and staff in charge of everything, which made her feel more at ease.

As she walked around, she saw Callum helping some kids at the pumpkin carving station while on a break from the medical tent. It was a very endearing sight seeing how Callum was with kids and how comfortable they were around him too. As if sensing her presence, he looked up and smiled. One of his usual charming smiles that made her heart flutter.

"Gawking at the doctor, are you, Fay?" Josh appeared beside her, out of nowhere, while nibbling on a pumpkin muffin. "No judgment. If I wasn't happily married, I would be gawking too."

"Go away, Josh." Faith turned around, hiding her blushed cheeks from Josh. She was indeed ogling the doctor, but she wasn't about to admit it to anyone. Especially not to Josh.

"Never. Pestering you is my favourite pastime."

"Don't I know that?"

"Do you want to go apple bobbing with me? Or to the candle workshop?"

"You won't leave me alone until I say yes to something, right?"

"You know me so well. So, which one?"

"The apple pit is closer by. Let's go."

In the midst of the crowd surrounding the pits that were filled with water and apples, waiting for the next round of the game to start, Faith lost her balance. Before she could even realize it, there was a sharp pain in her ankle and suddenly she was covered in cold water and surrounded by red apples, while Josh snapped a picture of her. After quickly taking the picture, Josh grabbed Faith, pulled her out of the water, and took her away from the crowd.

"The headline tomorrow will be something like, town princess falls into apple pit, or something like that, right?" Faith was freezing cold, her ankle throbbing, and she wanted to burst into tears.

"That is indeed a good title. Thank you for the suggestion. But for now, let's focus on you. You hurt your ankle, didn't you?"

"It's nothing." Faith just wanted to go home, change into dry clothes, and crawl into a hole where no one would ever find her.

"Come on. Let me help you to the medical tent." Josh grabbed Faith and started dragging her away. "Your handsome doctor will take good care of you."

The last thing Faith wanted was for anyone else to see her in the embarrassing state she was in, especially Callum, but she had to agree that her ankle was probably in need of some medical attention. Josh left after Callum looked at Faith and told them that it was just a mild sprain and that it would be healed in no time. It certainly would heal a lot faster than Faith's mental state after such an embarrassing moment in front of at least half the town.

"Put this on for now," Callum said while handing her the flannel shirt he was wearing under his medical coat.

"What?" Faith looked up, lost in her thoughts.

"We don't want you to catch a cold."

I suppose a cold wouldn't be a bad thing. Some days in bed without having to see anyone would be nice... Faith thought as she held Callum's shirt. He turned around and Faith replaced her wet cold sweater with a warm flannel shirt that smelled like Callum.

"Remember, no weight on that foot for two or three days. Ice. Wear the compression sock. And let me take a look again, ok?"

"Yes, Dr Grant." Faith got and up and was ready to leave. The faster she could hide away and never been seen again, the better.

"Hey, Cinderella, you're forgetting your shoe," Callum said holding Faith's boot. "And I said no weight."

"Well, I need to walk home somehow."

"I'm carrying you."

"What?" Faith's eyes opened wide. "Who's going to take care of things here?"

"Nurse Claire can be on her own for a while."

"But-"

"Come on." Callum turned around, his back facing Faith. "Wrap your arms around my neck." Embarrassed, Faith sighed, but did what she was told. Truth was, she had no energy left to argue with anyone.

Faith was used to putting herself in embarrassing situations, and yet, for some reason, this had taken quite a toll on her. She wanted the weekend to be perfect. The festival had to be perfect. Everything needed to go according to plan. But there she was, being clumsy and being a mess, as usual.

"You okay, Rapunzel? We're almost at your tower."

"You're really need to stop with the princess jokes. I'm clearly the furthest thing from one."

"Why do you say that?"

"Come on," she said in a whisper with her voice trembling. "Look at me."

Callum placed her on the floor and turned to face her. "I am looking."

For a split second, Faith could swear that her heart skipped a beat as Callum looked at her. Butterflies... She thought. Damned butterflies. She cursed.

"Clearly very princess like." She cried while pointing at herself. At her damp hair. While wearing Callum's shirt that's too big and made her feel like a sack of potatoes. "I'm a mess. I'm always a mess." She cried again.

"I still don't see what you mean. You look cute with my shirt on. You should keep it." Callum winked at her. "Come on, princess. Climb back on. Let's get you to your tower."

"Didn't you hear what I just said?"

"I did. I just don't agree with you. And you are tired and injured and grumpy so let's get you to room so you can change and rest, ok?"

"Ok." She pouted.

"Let's go. Don't make me care you on my shoulder."

"You wouldn't."

"I most definitely would. Come on. Climb back up."

They finally reached Faith's room, and Callum couldn't help but notice that it was indeed very similar to a fairytale room at the top of a tower. The room was huge, and it was very high up, giving Faith a privileged view of the entire property. Standing in front of the window, Callum could see exactly what Faith saw every morning when she woke up, and he finally understood why everyday she would stand there and embrace the morning sun.

"You truly are Rapunzel." Callum turned around when Faith didn't answer by calling him dork or complained about the princess jokes. "Are you okay, Faith?"

Faith nodded. She was sitting at the edge of her bed, shoulders down, looking at the carpet.

"Do you want me to stay a little longer?"

She shook her head. "I'll be fine. And you have work to do."

"Keep my shirt, princess. You look cute in it." Callum said with a grin while gently touching Faith's chin, making her look up at him. And again, he couldn't fight the urge to stare at her lips. Faith felt her heart skip a beat. "I need to go back to the medical tent. But I promise I'll come see you later." He winked.

Butterflies were starting to fly in Faith's stomach and the only thing she could do was nod as Callum stepped away from her, which made him even more amused with the situation. How adorable... He thought as he left her room.

***

Once the festival was over and the gates had closed, Callum made his way towards the house to check on Faith. She had seemed awfully down. It seemed like something else was going on. He got the sense that it wasn't just the sprained ankle and it had made him uneasy to see Faith distressed despite his attempts at cheering her up.

"Hi, Cal. You here to check on Faith?" Lydia was going down the steps as he was going up.

"How's she doing?"

"She hasn't left her room since you dropped her off. I'm a little worried, to be honest. She didn't eat dinner and didn't even want to come down to eat some pastries I baked for her."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, love. Let me know how it goes. Good night."

Callum found Faith, alone in the dark in her room, lying in bed and watching romcoms on her laptop while pretending that the outside world didn't exist.

"Lydia, left these for you." On a plate, there was a slice of apple pie, a cinnamon roll, and a blueberry scone. All of her favourites. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. It doesn't hurt and I haven't put any weight on it. I'm following your orders, doc."

"I didn't ask how your ankle was. I asked how you were."

Faith took a deep breath. "Dreading tomorrow's headline. But I don't even blame Josh for it anymore. I'm the one who's a mess. He's not to blame for that. I'm just tired of being a mess all the time."

"You're not a mess."

"Then why do I feel like I'm a freaking disappointment all the time?"

"Because you are too hard on yourself. No one else sees you like that, Faith. Just you."

Fatih swallowed dry. Her throat was starting to hurt from holding back the tears, but she didn't want to cry in front of Callum. She didn't want to look like a bigger mess than she already was, not in front of him. His words were echoing in her head. Am I really the one who's too hard on myself? She wondered as she looked away and took a deep breath.

Callum sat beside her and gently touched her head, leaning it against his shoulder. "It's okay, Faith."

Faith could feel his warmth, and even though she was doing her best not to cry, she just couldn't hold it in anymore. Despite her fear of embarrassing herself in front of Callum, she felt safe around him. With her head on his shoulder, her nose brushing against his neck, Faith let the tears roll down her face while Callum put an arm around her and held her tightly.

"Can I eat those now?" Faith asked as she wiped her tears.

Callum laughed. "Of course. Can I have a bite?"

Faith nodded and put the plate between them. "Thank you, Callum."

"Anytime, princess." He winked at her and smiled tenderly. "So, what were you watching? Do you want to play it from the beginning, and I'll watch it with you?"

"What?" Faith's eyes opened wide, and her heart started thumping. She suddenly realized the situation she was in. Callum was in her room, alone with her, in the middle of the night, she had just leaned on this shoulder to cry. They were both sitting on her bed, and he had just asked if he could watch the movie with her. All of this just one day after they had almost kissed. Faith felt her cheeks getting warmer.

"Are you okay, princess? You're looking a little flushed. Did you get a fever, too?" Callum smirked and touched Faith's forehead with the back of his hand.

"Totally fine. No fever," she said hastily, blushing even more. "Don't you need to go back home? It's getting late."

"I can keep you some company for a little longer. Unless you don't want me to."

"No, that's not it..." Faith turned to the plate of pastries, took a huge bite of the cinnamon roll, and then pressed play on her laptop. "Let's watch it." Callum chuckled and turned to the screen.

Halfway through the movie, Faith fell asleep leaning against Callum. He slowly moved away, turned off her laptop, put away the plate and the napkins, and covered her with a warm blanket. She was sound asleep as the exhaustion of the weekend took over. Callum smiled tenderly as he glanced at her, before closing the door behind him as he left. It saddened him to see Faith not valuing herself enough, and how she saw herself in a much worse light than everyone else. If she could only see herself through my eyes...