Chance Encounters

twenty-two

[a/n: a massive thanks everyone who's still reading this. honestly. i'm overwhelmed with all the support and comments this is getting, hence, the (relatively) early update. :) 

this is a bit of a filler chapter, but it's somewhat necessary to keep the pace manageable and to set up the coming chapter, where, i think, the story takes a 180 degree turn. i'm not sure if i can promise regular updates since i'm still trying to juggle writing along with, you know, the rest of my life, but i'll try. 

this is unedited (hahahaha what's new) so um yeah sorry about that.

love, 

sam xoxo] 

Chapter 22

By the time we pulled into the parking lot of a twenty-four-hour convenience store by sixth street, the gnawing feeling in my stomach had escalated into more than just a knot of nerves. I couldn't sit still, nor could I think straight, and Austin had been mostly quiet in an attempt, I assumed, not to stress me out even further.

Sometimes I would catch him sending me furtive glances, almost as though he was worried about me, but we didn't talk much.

In the little time that had passed after Austin's first phone call with Lewis, the two of us had circled around all the way back to my street. We had driven to my house to check if Tori had gone home, but my car was nowhere in sight, so decided to check her house as well.

She wasn't there.

She was, for the second time tonight, missing, and unlike the worry I felt earlier, this time was worse. Earlier, I hadn't been worried so much as I'd been irritated, and the more I got to know Austin, the more I felt safer with the thought of Tori spending time with Lewis. They weren't necessarily bad people, I knew that now, and to some extent, I must have been subconsciously relying on Lewis to keep Tori from doing something she'd regret.

Now, though, with Tori out all on her own, the worry was back in fearful waves washing over me. I had hoped to find her back home, but she hadn't been there, and now the possibilities kept running over and over in my head.

We had agreed to meet up with Lewis here, and as soon as the car stopped moving, I had immediately begun to fidget. It felt as though every passing second could change everything. Five seconds could mean one more shot of tequila, or a spur of the moment decision to get into the backseat of some stranger's car, or, even, a miscalculated step that could lead into a concussion.

Every minute seemed to evolve into hours, and as much as I didn't want to fret, the same feeling I'd had the night of the incident was beginning to take over. The dread, the guilt and the never-ending worry were all familiar, and I just wanted to rid myself of them.

I just wanted to find her—all other things be damned.

"Stop it."

I felt a hand on my own, snapping me back to reality, where I realized that I'd been absentmindedly picking at the fraying leather seats of the car. I stopped, and Austin let go almost a fraction of a second too late.

"You're going to drive yourself crazy if you keep this up," he told me.

There was no condescension in his voice. In fact, he seemed almost amused, one corner of his lips lifting to an almost imperceptible smile. How he could possibly be amused when I was obviously freaking out was beyond me, but I did appreciate the fact that he was calm, and his placidity was keeping me anchored by the shore; from drifting away too far out the water.

Any other time, I could have ignored the amusement glinting in his eyes, but the stress was taking its toll on me and I couldn't stop myself from fixing him with a vehement glare. "If I could help it, don't you think I would have done so already?"