Dismissing Dakota | ✓

»23. Fukk Sleep«

"What did you do?"

"She wouldn't let me deal with them at the moment. Diana never liked it when I got into fights because she knew how much stress that put on our mother. I wasn't done with Maven though. So, after I dropped her off, I waited at home until it got dark. I texted a few of my friends, asking around if they knew where Maven was, and they said they spotted him at the Smell. By that time, I got into my car and decided to pay him a visit."

I didn't have to ask where this was going. I could recollect what Hunter told me last year at my grandmother's house. He told me Dakota cut Maven off the road and began beating him to a pulp. It made sense why he did it, seeing everything that led up to that moment. Hunter painted Dakota as a lunatic for what he did. If only Hunter knew what got to that point.

I wasn't saying this to justify the attack. I wasn't one to side with violence. If I had a say, I wouldn't ever resort to hurting someone. The only time I did see that as the only option were in dire situations that required self-defense.

"I'm not finding anything new in this," Dakota snickered, gripping the steering wheel hard. "We've gone through, what? Like six of these letters so far and none of this is new info. Not for me at least."

"Relax," I soothingly patted his thigh. "We just got them. We haven't made a substantial dent in the pile yet. Let's make more progress before we get to the point of giving up."

"I didn't say I gave up."

"You're not being patient either." I noted, collecting the letter off my lap. "We have a lot of work ahead of us."

"We?" his eyes sparkled and latched on to my hand, tightening his hold on me with a loving squeeze. "You really want to go through all of it with me? Even after we get back to Crescent Heights?"

"Yes," I nodded without a pause. "I want to be here for you through the entire process. You don't have to go through this alone."

"Thank you. Thank you so much, Silvia." We came to a slow stop. Traffic was building up on the freeway. Seeing this as his only chance, Dakota craned his neck to kiss me, grinning against my lips. "I love you."

"I love you." I muttered into his mouth.

I couldn't help but smile, too. Nothing could make me let go of his hand, intertwined in mine. I held on harder if anything, hoping for the drive to never end. I never knew it was possibly to fall in love with someone for a second time, but here I was, coming to my knees in adoration.

....

Two weeks passed since our trip to central California. Dakota and I stayed close. I lost count of how many times I came over to his house after school, looking through old diaries and reevaluating the letters we got from his dad.

Dakota's under eyes got darker. His room's unclean state told me that his attention was glued on finding answers instead. Dakota's hair was an unruly mess, sticking up in all direction like a maniac.

He tugged at his wrinkled black shirt, scratching his scalp with his eyes fixated on the diary, dangling a blue highlighter above the page. With the number of blue streaks on the sheet and side notes he added in, I could see this wasn't the first time he reread this particular portion.

In order to cover my ass for being here, I had to lie to my dad once more. Lately, my falsehood was that I was busy at study hall. Dad didn't question my desire to focus on school more. He encouraged it even, giving me extra money to pay for food.

Second semester didn't matter so much, considering I passed all of my courses last term and had a good feeling that I'd do well this semester. I had already submitted my applications to my top five universities.