All That Matters: A Duskwood Fanfic

13: And Again

When I got back to Jessy's only a few people of the group had arrived. Cleo was tied up with her mom again; I hadn't gotten to spend as much time with her as I had wanted. Thomas, Hannah, and Lily had shown up, but Dan was nowhere to be found. Since Jessy was still pretty pissed at him, he had let me know in a private text that he wasn't going to come. I'd texted him back that he was a scaredy cat. It had earned me a middle finger emoji.

They all looked up at me expectantly as I walked into the room. Goodbyes were hard, I didn't know what to say. So, I went with a half-truth.

"The guys after Jake...they sent me a threat last night." Hannah gasped at my admission, her fingers tightening around Thomas's. "I must leave tonight. In an hour." I admitted.

Hannah stood, wrapping her arms around me. "Go give Jake the life he deserves." She whispered in my ear before pulling back. My heart thumped in my chest; with a raised eyebrow I glanced at Lily who shrugged. Somehow Hannah knew. How did she always seem to know?

How was a girl I barely knew able to read me so well?

One by one everyone gave me a quick hug before Thomas lugged my new backpack out to my car. It only had a few items of clothing in it, as we'd only picked up necessities at the store this morning, but Thomas had insisted on carrying it for me. Always the gentleman.

He dropped the backpack in the passenger side of my car before turning towards me. "Thank you, Charlee. I don't think I will ever be able to repay you for bringing her back to us."

"There's one thing you can do for me." I admitted, popping the hood of my car. I pulled a small white object that was slightly bigger than a coin and handed it to him. "Hold onto this until tomorrow night. After that destroy it."

There was no doubt they already had all the info on the tracking device. It had been a safety measure at one point in my life. Now it was dangerous. Hopefully it would confuse them for a little while. Alan had already texted me letting me know that the detail following me was currently at the office packing up.

As I drove away, watching as Thomas got smaller and smaller in my rearview mirror. A tear slide down my cheek as he disappeared. I wasn't a crier. I'd been able to get through the saddest movies without even tearing up, yet here I was crying.

No one followed me as I pulled out of town. I pressed a button on the steering wheel and put the volume up and the AC on full blast. It was going to be a long drive. Jake was more than just a few hours away. And so was our meet up spot.

When I finally pulled up to the cabin it was early morning. Every cabin I drove by was dark and quiet. Our cabin was the very last cabin-far away from all the other cabins giving Jake and I privacy. We'd been lucky to find this place, as it was a cabin in the middle of the woods that actually had internet access. Something Jake would need.

I know what you're thinking. A cabin in the woods- after what happened to the others? It might seem stupid but it's the last place anyone would expect us to go. Plus, this cabin wasn't in Duskwood. Or anywhere close to it.

Jake was already inside, all I had to do was knock on the door. My hand trembled as I knocked three times. Nothing. Had he fallen asleep waiting for me? He'd texted me only twenty minutes ago.

The door swung open, and there he was. All five foot, eleven inches of him. He was only a few inches taller than me, but it felt like he towered over me. He was barefoot, in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Dropping my bag on the porch I rushed into his arms, my arms circling his neck, pulling his lips to mine. My body sank into his as his arms wrapped around my back, his scent enveloping me. He spun us, my back pressed against the wall. I barely heard the cabin door shut as he pressed into me.