Stress Relief

13: Hideaway

"It better be, for your sake." The threat was empty but he still didn't like how many roots were just lying in wait for his unsuspecting feet to trip on.

With a little cockiness in his posture, he leaned forward and waved with a fancy swirl of his hand for him to move forward. "Would you like to lead then?"

He swatted his arm, earning a teasing chuckle as they kept moving. "No I need something to land on if I trip on another one of these damn roots."

"Wow, I'm just your personal safety net then?"

"Yep."

He scoffed. "Some friend you are."

"Says the one leading me to a secluded area like a serial killer." Chase said nothing on that comment but huffed before the endless sea of trees suddenly wasn't so endless.

Following Chase out, he stared in wonder at a small clearing, completely covered with lush green grass and other small foliage. Tiny white flowers scattered here and there like patches of stars. Then there, sat in the middle of it all, was an old tree stump. It was so simple, and yet he felt compelled to set his stuff down and rest on it. Hell, he felt like he could stay here and nothing outside would change at all. Like here, time somehow stopped.

He didn't realize he had been staring until Chase nudged his arm. "Pretty cool right?"

"Yeah." He nodded, speechless. "It's beautiful." The word was but an afterthought as they walked toward the stump. Chase was the first to set his bag down and sit on the grass. Elijah followed, leaning his up against the side before he sat down too. Leaning back on his hands, he breathed in the air there, and let out a long sigh of content that felt far overdue. It was calming to be able to feel the grass underneath his palms and between his fingers. He really needed to go outside more.

He hadn't notice Chase was looking at him until he did the same. There was a smile sticking to his face, and it stayed as he broke eye contact to look at the stump they sat by. "Emily showed me this place while we were dating, said Sam had shown her." Following his gaze he noticed the small carved letters in the rings of the wood. There was one pair that wrote E + C, then another opposite of the first, E + S. He figured the E was for Emily.

Chase tapped the first caving with a smile. "I made that one." He stated fondly. "Emily got the idea to do one for her and Sam."

Elijah found himself smiling at that. "That's sweet."

"Yeah. Later that day she came out to me." Chase's smile didn't falter as he said that. "We stayed friends after that, and so now we're here."

"I'm glad, you two seem close." If the way they spoke back at Diego's during their little pool party showed anything, they've moved past their relationship.

His smile brightened. "We are." But as quickly as it grew, it shrunk. "How does Kayden know? About what happened to you?"

Elijah's mood soured, but he realized he didn't feel so horrible with the change of scenery. Maybe it was the nature. Sighing, he let his head fall back for a moment. To soak up the dapples and patches of sunlight to get him through this conversation. "He was passing by when I...y'know." Chase nodded, understanding his lack of detail. "He was the one who called the teachers in the first place, and so he started hanging that over my head. Saying I "owed him"."

"You don't owe him anything, any person with basic human decency would've done what he did." Elijah snorted.

"Right?" He leaned over his crossed legs, sighing tiredly. "And now he's saying he'll tell the school that it was me, and he'll expose me for my...habits...I picked up during my recovery."