THE PHOTO TRAVELER (THE PHOTO TRAVELER SERIES - BOOK 1)

CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

 

“Gavin!” Alanna shouts when I appear in her bedroom. Then she catches herself and lowers her voice and runs over to me. It’s late at night, and she’s wearing a neon-green tank top and white silk pajama pants with pink hearts printed all over them. We throw ourselves into each other’s arms and hug so tightly that I feel the amethyst I gave her last time dig into my chest. “You scared me! Where’ve you been? It’s been over a month!”

      I cannot believe how happy I am. Everything else disappears. “Hey, it’s not my fault.” I finally press my lips to hers and then come up for air. “If you’d taken photos of yourself every day of your life,” I joke, “it would’ve made it a lot easier for me to get back here!”

      She giggles and puts her lips to mine again. “If you really knew me, you’d know I practically do!” She pauses. “Is something wrong? There’s something different about you...”

      I decide not to hold back. I feel an unwavering trust between us. I know I can be who I am with her, so I sit down on her bed and have her sit next to me, and I start telling her everything—about Bud, about the people who are after us, even about Mel.

      She listens wide-eyed, but the first thing she says is, “But what if they come after you guys? You know they will. You should call the police.”

      “It’s not that easy. Can you imagine what they’d think? ‘Hey, there’s a bunch of time travelers after us. You mind taking care of that?’ No, that’s not happening.”

      “What are you going to do? What if they hurt you? Or worse...”

      I grab her hand. “Hey, no one’s going to hurt me, okay?”

      “If anyone does, I swear I’ll kill them!”

      “Oh yeah?” I smile, “And how are you going to do that?”

      “I don’t know. But I will!”

      I kiss her on the nose. “Okay.”

      She takes a deep breath. “Oh my gosh, I forgot! Happy birthday, babe!” She gives me a hard kiss on my cheek. “And… I am so sorry. About your grandfather, about everything… Is there anything I can do to help?”

      I can’t take it. I sink back against her bed pillows and start to cry. “Just be here. Just be here forever.”
      She crawls up next to me. “But I am! And I always will be! Whether it’s to help you somehow or to talk or hold your hand, or just listen. I’m here for you!” She strokes my cheek and gently wipes my tears away with her thumb.

      “You know,” she whispers, “for me it’s only been a couple of months since I’ve met you. But there’s something so special about you... and the way I feel when I’m with you… and the even stronger feelings I have when I’m not. All I do is think of you.”

      I take her fingers from my wet cheeks and kiss them. “Alanna, I think I love you. I’ve never loved anyone before, so I don’t have anything to compare this to, but… I think this is what it’s supposed to feel like.”

      She surprises me by suddenly pushing herself up onto her elbows and off the bed, then turning around to look at me. Her hand is clutched around the amethyst.

      Did I do something wrong? Was I too honest? Have I scared her? Have I lost her? I don’t want to ask anything because I’m afraid of what she might say, but I have to. “What’s wrong? Did I say something—”