(Written by HM)
"What?"Assumpta looked sideways at him, smiling but serious. Peter looked out across Glendalough, drinking in the fresh air and trying in vain to clear his head of muddled thoughts."Nothing...just thinking"He sighed and looked her in the eyes. "Where did it all go wrong?"
Assumpta looked confusedly at the her feet imprinting the white sand below her. "Well, it hasn't yet..."
"I know " Peter's response was quick, wanting to agree with her. Not wanting to upset her again, as he had last night in Niamh's kitchen.
He tried to smile, but his face ended up falling again. "It will though, won't it?"
Assumpta sighed, half exasperated, half desperate to proove that this wasn't true. "Well I don't know Peter, I don't know what you want"
It was the perfect opportunity..."You", he wanted to say "You're what I want"...but he let the opportunity pass and instead came out with, "I'd like some sleep"
They both grinned, though each of them knew deep inside what the real answer had been.
Peter's face grew serious and he looked at her again. "I want to do the right thing."
Assumpta kept her eyes on the ground and her voice light."By who?"
He stared at her "Well by *you*"...then he thought about it and added" and the Church."
She grew impatient...this wasn't getting them anywhere..."Well you can't love us both!"
As soon as the words were out Assumpta wished she had kept her mouth shut. Peter's face fell and his forehead crinkled in anxiety.
She stopped walking for a moment, wanting to kick herself. "I'm sorry, that was stupid"
Peter shook his head and waited for her to rejoin him " No, it wasn't, it really wasn't..."
They stood facing each other. Peter continued."You must know how I feel about you."
Assumpta decided to make him tell her, wanting to set her mind at rest that she had not in fact been imagining his affection.
"How would I know that?"
Peter started at her in amazement. "Assumpta are you serious?"
He could tell she wasn't, but wanted to tell her in his own words anyway.
"I think about you every minute of every day. It's like I'm working on auto-pilot. I take a wedding, or a funeral; I hear confession, I say Mass...I say the words...but it's You that I'm thinking of.
Assumpta looked like she was already on the verge of tears. To hear those words spoken, with such love...to her...by him. It was something she had never even dared to dream of.
"I can't sleep because you keep me awake...am I getting through to you?"
Assumpta let out a shuddery sigh and gave him a watery smile.
"But apart from that you mean nothing to me..." Peter said casually.
Assumpta stopped him from moving on. "Well I had no idea..." and it was true...she hadn't. Hadn't known that her feelings were so strongly recipricated. Hadn't known that those sleepless nights were something he had suffered too and hadn't known that he had been capable of making her feel so sorry for marrying another man.
Peter looked at her in earnest. "I thought the dogs in the street knew"
She frowned with regret. "Do you think I'd have got married if I knew how you felt?"
It broke her heart to see the pain flash through his eyes when she mentioned it.
Peter swallowed hard. "If you were in love with someone else then sure, why not?" He looked across the lake. "Were you?" He almost didn't want to hear the answer...
Assumpta sighed, wrestling with her thoughts. "Ohh, I...I liked him. I thought perhaps in time..." She paused. Finally looking him clearly in the eyes."...he would drive you out of my head."
Peter let out a suppressed breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.
He glanced down at her and saw she was looking back down at the ground again.
"It's weird, isn't it?" he commented softly, reaching out and gently taking hold of her arm, pulling her towards him. "How something can sound so exhilarating...and depressing, at the same time."
She chuckled, a tear running down her cheek as Peter pressed his lips to her forehead.
Assumpta slowly slid her arms around him and pressed her face to his chest, getting used to the feeling that it was right for her to do that now. Not forbidden, not wrong.
Peter rested his head on hers and closed his eyes, letting the sound of the lapping lake water lull them into companionable silence.
(Written By LB)
They held each other for several moments, each immersing themselves in the moment, in their feelings for one another. Then, silently, as if they were pre-programmed to move with each other; they turned and walked with their arms each other back towards the bus.
They walked slowly, marvelling at the peace and rhythm they found here: and now, within themselves.
It was as though time had stood still for them, offering them a window of  completeness; of fulfillment.
(HM)
Peter turned to Assumpta.
"I want to make you happy Assumpta...and I promise you I won't let you down in any way, I just want to..."
Assumpta stopped at Peter's voice trailed off as he realised she wasn't at his side.
"Peter, don't you *ever* doubt our my happiness...no one could meake me more happy than you..."
She took his hand.
(LB)
"When I was a girl," Assumpta began, "I used to have this dream...I'd be walking with my Mum and Dad in the mountains, but they'd outstrip me. I'd call out after them "Mum! Dad!", but they'd just keep going; they couldn't hear me.
The trees would start growing all around me. I'd lose sight of my parents. The trees would just envelope me and I'd just be this little girl all alone surrounded by these gigantic trees and the clear blue sky above me.
But you know what? I'd just feel calm. Completely happy." She paused and looked directly up into his eyes.
"I've never felt like that again until now"
(HM)
Assumpta saw complete love and joy in Peter's eyes...
"I love you Peter." She whispered.

THE END