I sat in silence as he roughly shook awake my friends, and I stood up. I was about to tell him off before he whirled around to face me, making me falter.
He looked extremely fit, and probably could out-run any of us. Strangely enough, he had black hair and blue eyes, and tanner skin, almost just as tan as Talon.
"Don't cha even think about it, doll." he warned me, lifting up Killian as she whined, swatting at his hand.
"L-listen, uh, sir," I faltered again, sucking in a breath. "I'm really sorry we were in your land, but something happened and I saw this meadow and--just please let them go and take just me!"
He turned to me again, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "You act like me and my uncle are going to kill you. We just wanna know why there's four teens, without soul mates it seems, in our land." he explained calmly, shaking awake the two males rougher than me and Killian. "There's a large number of rebel groups recently. Seems like more and more of the hearts aren't working." he clicked his tongue in disappointment.
I nodded, glancing at the ground. It made sense, I guess.
"Lu? What's going on? Who's this?" Killian asked me, stepping closer and grabbing ahold of my arm.
"I'm Julian, and you four are on my uncle's land." he said calmly, giving an annoyed sigh when Dustin didn't wake up.
"I'll wake him up. Don't touch him." Talon snapped at the boy, whacking Dustin on the back of the head, sending him shooting up and looking around blearily.
"W-who--what? When?" he muttered, rubbing his eyes as he stood up. "When did we get a new person? Am I dreaming?"
Julian gave an irritated sigh, putting his arms behind his neck. "Alright, listen. I'm Julian, and you're all on my uncle's land. I'm taking you all back to his house, so just follow me." he repeated once again, pushing past us.
We had no choice but to follow him, everyone looking around worriedly. My heart thumped in fear as we edged closer to a house on the horizon, eventually reaching the log cabin. "U-um Julian, who is your uncle?" I asked him, my voice taking a nervous crack.
"I'd like to know that as well, Julian," Killian voice broke through, gaining back her childish pout.
"You'll see when he opens the door, doll." he said, knocking on the door. He gave a grin as the door opened, revealing a man with light brown hair and blue eyes. "I found 'em."
"Ah! Yes! Come in, come in. These kids don't look dangerous at all, Julian, what are you talking about? They look scared out of their skins, poor kids." he rambled on, motioning us inside.
I looked back one last time, as if it was my last time seeing the outside, and saw Talon standing there, frozen. "Tal..?" I asked, looking at him worriedly.
"Tal? As in, the name Talon? My sister's boy? Is he here?" the man suddenly looked up, peering over my shoulder to see Talon.
"Reese." Talon choked out, staring at him with shock. "So Julian is my cousin, huh?" he asked more to himself.
I gasped, being pushed back as Dustin rushed forwards, staring at Reese as well, his arm in front of Talon. He's the one uncle that his mother wouldn't give him to, isn't he?
"Uncle Reese. They're with me, so we're not dangerous..we can go now," Talon said hurriedly, ignoring Julian's staring.
"Nonsense, my boy! I want you to tell me all about your adventures with these three!" he exclaimed happily, motioning to Dustin, Killian, and me. "Cindy! Talon's here!" he called out, and out came a woman with medium length black hair and glasses, staring at Talon.
"Is he? Oh, that's wonderful..should I make more food, or, I don't know--" she squeaked out, holding her shoulder, her eyes fluttering over everyone nervously.
"Get back inside and make food of course!" he barked at her, and she bowed, as if he was a king, and hurried inside the home.
I stared at the strange affection he gave his wife, if any. "U-uh listen, it's not really necessary, we can get on our way--"
"Did I tell you to speak, girl? I never asked for your input, did I?" he said, turning around to face me. "Don't speak out of turn. You'll speak if I address you."
I swallowed and stepped back, nodding, flashbacks of my mother entering my mind at his behavior. "Y-yes sir.." I gave a warning glance to Killian, who was about to speak up and tell the man off.
He treated us like we were some kind of bug, but I wasn't about to tell him off.
"Anyways, come boys, I want to hear everything you've done! I heard about my sister, it's so sad, isn't it Talon? First your father, then your mother.." Reese carried on, leading all of us inside the house.
For his temper and his attitude, it certainly didn't match the interior of the house. It was a warm, cozy feeling, wooden floors along with many plants littered the side tables, the couches and arm chairs a dark shade of green. An intricate rug centered the living room, giving it a finished look.
"So, Talon, this is your cousin, Julian. I understand that you four are probably all on a journey to find your soul mate, am I right or am I right?" he asked him, a confident smirk placed on his face.
"Yes, Reese." he replied coldly, but chose his words carefully. "Nice to meet you, Julian."
As the conversation droned on, my eyes wandered the room, landing on Julian. I raised an eyebrow as he looked away, scratching his nose.
Killian gave a large groan of annoyance and sat down on the floor, earning Reese to look over at us and stand up, looking angry.
"Did I say you could sit down, girl?"
"No, but my legs are tired. It's kind of unfair that you're making us stand around while the boys get to sit." Killian said calmly, crossing her arms. "This conversation has gone on long enough. It's pretty obvious that Talon doesn't wish to talk to you. It's not much of a story anyways. They came with us, and we're on our way across the towns trying to find our soul mates. Why do you have to interrogate him?"
I tried to make Killian stop, but the longer she went on, the more angry Reese seemed to get.
"Listen young lady, you need to show more respect to your elders. That is no way to speak to--"
"Food's ready!" Cindy broke the tension as her squeaky voice cut off Reese. She clapped her hand over her mouth as she realized he was speaking. "I-I'm sorry, Reese, I didn't know you were--"
This was going to be bad, I could tell. "Thank you Cindy!" I exclaimed, lifting Killian up and dragged her to the dining room, Dustin and Talon following in tow. I hoped Cindy was following, but it didn't seem like it.
I couldn't hear anything as we shut the door, looking down at the floor. I really hope that nothing bad happens to Cindy.
"Doll, you shouldn't have done that," Julian said with a frown, walking into the dining room. "Reese will yell at you. Cindy knows better, so he'll probably just scold her."
"W-what? What's wrong with him?" I uttered, fear taking over. "Is he going to hit me?" I whispered.
"Do not raise your voice at me, doll." he scolded, stepping closer to me.
"That is enough!" Killian shouted angrily, stepping between us and glared at Julian. "Stop being an ass. We're leaving this instant."
Julian stared at Killian in shock, growled, and walked away out of the dining room.
"You!" Killian exclaimed, pointing at Talon accusingly. "Why didn't you stand up to Julian? What is your problem? You too, Dusty! Why are you acting like two newborn babies that can't talk?"
Talon opened his mouth to answer before going pale, and shut it. He just shook his head and lowered his eyes.
I stared in shock at his expression. Was he really that scared of Reese? I turned around and faced Reese, trying to see what was so scary about him, besides his size. He was probably about 6'2, or something along those lines, all I know is that he's way taller than any of us.
Reese stared at us four before scowling and shaking his head. "I have come to a decision. You four are going to take Julian with you, and I'll let you go without reporting you four for trespassing."
I stared at him in shock. Trespassing? We didn't even know that it was his territory. We're obviously not from around Orrienshire.
Killian snorted and crossed her arms. "As if. You both are assholes."
"We accept." Talon said before Reese could get in another word. "We'll take him. Let's go." he muttered, quickly leaving the room, Dustin following Talon closely.
"Whoa! Wait a minute! Who died and made you king, 'Mr. I'll keep my mouth shut until a decision is being made', huh? Get back here Tal!" Killian screamed, running after him, and most likely out of the house.
I stared at Reese for a few moments before giving an awkward wave and exiting the dining room myself, then left the house quickly, watching Killian chase after Talon while they ran in circles.
"Sorry, Lu, I didn't mean to be so silent. Just bad memories with Reese." Dustin said, standing next to me as he watched in amusement of the two running in circles. "We just have to wait for Julian to come out here." Dustin turned to me for a moment and gave a sigh. "I want to warn you, Talon will probably be how cold he was at the beginning when he first met you."
My stomach dropped at that, and I frowned. "I like Talon like this. He's awkward but he's kind of nice to me now. I thought we were starting to be friends.." I trailed off sadly, going silent as Julian burst from the house.
"Let's go, huh? All right!" he spoke cheerfully, as if we actually liked him.
I guess I'd have to suck it up and be nice to nice. "Let's go everyone!" I shouted, and they all turned to me. Julian looked at me, shocked, as if he thought that Talon and Dustin were in charge. "We're heading to...what's next Killian? Is is Rose Central?"
"Nope, there's a small town we'd probably have to stop for supplies in. I think it's named something like Oakriver Village. It's a bit hard to find, since there's so many Oak trees." she smiled at me apologetically. "I know where it's at though. People I know there."
"That's good. We should get moving, if that's all okay with you?" they all nodded, and I took off, everyone following me. "Tal, you know where the RV is right?"
"I do. Follow me." he spoke in a sharp, clear voice, and I felt my heart lurch at his tone. I missed the friendly Talon already.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><>
"So who's going to be driving first?" I asked the five, and they all looked nervous. "Fine. Dusty and Julian, you'll be driving first." I said, listing off the two male's names.
"Who said you can tell me what to do, doll?" he said, crossing his arms.
"I did, if you haven't noticed, I'm the leader of this group." I snapped, getting tired of his attitude towards females.
"You need to get that pretty little head screwed on tighter, doll. No one tells me what to do." he snarled, raising a hand.
I faltered as he raised his hand and I stepped back, forgetting to breath. "N-no don't, please.." I whispered, grabbing my shirt.
"I told you, you can't tell me what to do--" he let out a yelp of pain as Killian had approached him and punched him in the jaw. "Oh, you want to get your ass kicked now as well?" he started to walk towards her before Talon punched him, making him fall to the floor.
"I've wanted to do that for a while, huh." he stated, holding his hand as he glanced at me.
Dustin stared in shock at the scene before standing next to me, looking at me worriedly. "Are you okay?"
I nodded, dazed. "I'm sorry..I should have known he was going to do that.." I trailed off, feeling pathetic.
"He's an ass. Let's leave him here and take off." Killian said cheerfully, but she glared at the male's crumpled body on the floor.
"No! We can't..I promised to help people right? I'll help him stop being such an ass." I exclaimed.
Talon stared at me as if I was crazy. "What? Luce, you must be insane, we can't keep him. He almost hit you.."
"T-that's fine. I couldn't help my mother, but I want to help Julian." I say sharply. "Talon, help me move him. Dusty and Killi, can you guys start driving?" I asked them, and they took off after I threw Dusty my keys.
Talon shook his head and lifted him up, throwing him into his and Dustin's old room. "You're crazy. You're going to stay in here until he wakes up, aren't you?"
I nodded firmly, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I'll be fine, Tal, I swear." I told him.
He stared at me for a few seconds, before giving a growl. "Just be careful. He gets attached to people who help him easily. That's not always a good thing." he warned, shutting the door.
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I let out a sigh of relief as Julian started to shift awake. "Julian?" I whispered, almost afraid to speak.
He opened his eyes, looking around the room. "Doll?"
"Are you okay? I'm sorry about them punching out--"
"No need to apologize. I'm not used to girls ordering me around. My uncle said that women are under us so.."
"You believed him? Good luck telling that to the others. They wanted to drop you and run off.." I told him. "I can try to help you but I doubt it'll do much good. Even if you stay you won't be liked." I told him gently, giving him an apologetic smile.
He nodded, shrugging. "It's fine. I'll go talk to them. My jaw hurts though, Talon and Killian hold some punches, huh. Are they soul mates? They seem pretty close."
I shook my head, narrowing my eyes. "No! I mean, her and Dusty are more close, really. Surprisingly, Talon and I were starting to get closer and then, um, you came.." I confessed, opening the door as he got up and made his way to the door.
"I just wanted to thank you, doll, that you're a nice one here. I'm really sorry for what I did..I just have a bad temper."
I nodded, staying silent as we reached the room.
Surprisingly, they were all waiting for us, sitting in the living room.
"Lu! Did that ass hurt you? Do I need to punch him again?" she snapped, yanking me away from Julian.
I gave Julian an apologetic look and tore Killian's grip off my hand. "No, he wanted to apologize for being rude." I told them, giving them a smile.
"Did he," Dustin said, sounding skeptical.
"Yes, he does. Give him a chance to speak out. If he's going to be traveling with us, he's going to be accepted and one of our friends. Yes, that includes sleeping in the same room." I answer before anyone could question me any further.
Talon scoffed and scowled, looking annoyed. "Sure. Then he'll start beating on you again and then you'll still defend him." he muttered, though I heard him.
I looked down, grabbing the hem of my shirt. "Wow, thanks Talon." I said bitterly, turning around and leaving the four in the room.
"Lucy, I'm so sorry I didn't mean that I just--"
"Let it go, Tal. She needs alone time now. We should at least try to talk to Julian now." Killian said to him softly as I slammed my door.
I heard another knock on my door and I growled. "What do you what?"
"It's me, Lu, Dusty."
I rubbed my temples and opened the door, letting Dustin in. "I just need some time. We probably should stay here for another day or so, sadly."
"It's not what I came in here about, and you know that." he said. "Tal didn't mean that, I swear. He just got angry--"
"I know, he got angry. It was just like the time I got angry at him about the dog and told him not to choke it." I replied bitterly, turning away.
Dustin was silent for a moment. "Lucy, we don't want to give him a chance because Talon has bad memories from Reese's family. He's not afraid of him, but he's wary of him." he tried to explain.
"I want to help people, I think we can change Julian. As long as everyone is civil towards him we should be able to be friends with him! You guys were fine with Killian being a 'criminal', but you're not fine with Julian being raised by an ass? He's very nice, he just has a temper." I snapped, agitated at their reasoning.
"Lucy, that's not it.."
"Then what is it? Please, tell me." I snarled, facing Dustin. "Please, tell me what I'm missing of the problem, because I don't see one at all. All you guys have to do it be nice. I'll take care of everything else."
"You trust people too easily, Lucy.." he trailed off, as if unsure of where he was heading with that statement.
I barked out a laugh, crossing my arms. "So you want to help people, but now you are backing out and telling me I trust people too easily?" I asked. "What is the sense in that?" I asked myself, shaking my head.
"Lucy, it's not that. None of us trust him..there's something off about him."
"I told you, he was just raised wrong! Just like me." I broke off, pointing to the door. "Get out. We need to get moving." I said quickly, changing the subject.
He shot me an unreadable look before exiting my room, slamming the door shut.
I groaned loudly, pushing my hands into my face with frustration. Great, I've pissed off the median of the group. I will help Julian, and I'm sure Killian at least will warm up to him. I hope.
A/N: Heyo guys! Look! It's on time! Oh boy, new chapter. I wanted to thank all of you guys who've been reading so much. I mean, almost 630 reads? Holy hella ;W;.
Anyways, whatcha think about Julian? Reese? Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next chapter will be July 3rd!