^^^ LOML once again ^^^
Chapter Twenty One –
Ella's POV
I didn't get much sleep last night.
I tossed and turned as the small black words from the text kept crossing my mind like flashing road signal.
Dylan was working with them this entire time. The one person I told every detail of my day to was working with the people that wanted to make sure I had no more days to live.
It was nearly 5AM by the time the initial shock left my body and I jumped out of bed in defence mode. There was no way I was going to be able to stay here. Dylan's parents may be the sweetest people in the world – after Leyla – but they were probably in on Dylan's plan. Who could blame them? I would probably do anything to keep my loved ones safe as well.
I sighed to myself as I picked up my small carry-on bag. There was no way I was going to be able to pack all my belongings and leave in the short time span I had.
I really didn't blame Dylan for making the choice he did; no matter how betrayed I felt. He wanted to protect his family.
My train of thought trailed back to the one person who had been on my mind since I step foot on the bus back in New York. Caleb was probably still pissed at me and sleeping at his dad's house. Would he have even noticed I was gone?
My heart clenched as his intense glare occupied my entire conscience, and bit my bottom lip while shaking my head to get him out of my mind. This was not the time to be thinking about him, no matter how much I wanted to just grab a phone and hear his voice again. It was better this way – for all of them.
I tried to pack as many items of clothing that would fit in the bag as possible and, by the time the material of the bag itself was stretching out from the suffocating amount of contents, the sun had begun to rise.
"Shoot." I whispered to myself, blindly looking for the pair of shoes I had been wearing the day before to quickly slip on. The layout of the room was still familiar to me – yet I still managed to stub my toe on the corner of the wardrobe and make a thud noise as my fingers found the material of the shoes I was desperately searching for.
Quickly slipping them on, I made sure to open the door as slowly and quietly as I could, before popping my head out to look for any sign of life. By the sounds of things, everyone was still fast asleep – meaning I was clear to go.
My stomach grumbled as I passed the kitchen on the way out, and I bit my lip before quickly dashing in and grabbing a banana from the fruit bowl Dylan's mom always had on the table.
I exited the house and gave it one last longing look before I began to walk to the front gate. The gate was always creaky in the type of loud-horror-film fashion, so I threw my bag over it and began to awkwardly climb over the cold metal.
Then, a voice made me freeze mid-climb. "Ella?"
I stayed frozen for a moment longer with wide eyes before my head fell in disappointment.
"What the hell are you doing?" Dylan asked in a hushed tone, looking at me with his head tilted to the side and an amused grin plastered onto his evil face.
"Leave me alone, Dylan." I grumbled, still trying to make it to the other side of the gate.
"Oh believe me, I will. This is better to watch than the Netflix marathon I was just having inside." He laughed quietly.
My other leg somehow made it over to where the rest of my body was on the other side of the gate and I fell onto my bottom, wincing in pain before getting up and slinging my bag over my shoulder.
"Seriously, what are you doing?" Dylan asked with a frown. He began to walk towards me, and I shook my head and took a step back.
"You don't have to play nice with me anymore Dyl. I know." Just the thought of his betrayal brought on a thick feeling to my throat and tears fill up in my eyes.
His frown flinched for a moment before his eyebrows went up in realisation. "How... how did you find out?" He asked, keeping his face straight from emotion.
"I read the text messages. At least it gives me a better explanation as to why you were so desperate to get me to come back here."
"I was just trying to fix things-"
"No, no, it's okay. I mean, I get why you did it. You're lucky you still have your parents Dyl. I don't think you realise just how much." I sniffed, taking another step back to leave.
"Wait, what?" Dylan's look of guilt turned into one of confusion.
"They're amazing people, and you did it because you love them. I respect that – so much so that what you did doesn't hurt as much because I love them just as much as you do."
"What do my parents have to with anything?!" He exclaimed, looking even more confused than before.
"But that doesn't mean that I'm going to stay here and let myself get killed. So I'm leaving, and I'm going to find a way to get justice for my parents. I can't stay and let you bring them here to take me-"
"Jesus." Dylan muttered to himself while shaking his head. "Ella, I don't know how your brain led you to the conclusion you're currently at; but you need to stop and come back inside so we can talk properly."
I let out a harsh laugh. "Do you really think I'm going to go back in there with you? You betrayed me Dylan! You were the one person that knew everything that had happened and the only one who I could turn to and you-"
"Ella, will you listen to me for one damn minute?! You've got this all wrong!"
"Don't bother making up some lie just to get me to stay Dylan. I told you, I saw those messages." I wiped my eyes and tried to glare at him through my blurred vision.
"Then you'd know that those messages came from Jasmine!" He snapped, looking pissed off.
"You – wait, what?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion before glaring. "Nice try. I'm not stupid, Dyl. The number wasn't saved, and you told them when I arrived in Michigan and that you were going to tell them when I arrived!" I told him angrily, reciting the words that were engraved in my mind.
"Yeah, because I wanted you to meet her and approve of her before I told you that we were getting engaged!"
My eyes went wide in shock as I let his words sink in. "You... you're getting engaged?" I repeated softly, unable to believe the words.
Dylan's angered expression slowly turned into a small, happy smile. We decided it after a fight we got into a few hours before you called and everything happened. I didn't want to freak you out or anything so I put my own news aside – even though I so desperately wanted to tell you – and focused on getting you here and safe."
"I..." I trailed off, lost for words. "Dylan... are you serious?"
He nodded, his smile growing wider. "We're not getting any younger Ella; and she's the only girl – apart from you, obviously – that has tolerated my habits for this long."
"But yesterday... when I told you I should leave to keep you and your family safe. You told me they wouldn't harm you or your family with such confidence and assurance like you had made a deal with them." I spoke up, doubting his words again.
"I meant that I wouldn't let anything happen to them! And that's because I've installed security cameras all over the house – both inside and out. That's how I knew you had left." He explained.
"Oh my God... I feel like such an idiot right now." I murmured, more to myself than Dylan, whilst shaking my head.
"You are one. I can't believe you'd think I'd throw you under the bus like that Ella! You're my family as well, you always have been. Remember that." He told me in a stern tone, walking up to the gate.
"Dylan, I'm so sorry. I can't believe I assumed the worst of you without confronting you about it. I guess I thought if I did... you would call them and get them to me quicker or something..." Saying it out loud made me realise just how stupid the scenario in my mind sounded, and a goofy grin made its way onto my lips as I looked into Dylan's eyes.
"I'm guessing you just realised how stupid you sound."
We both laughed as he opened the gate for me. It made a loud creaky noise, but cars had begun to drive on the road; muffling the sound a little. "So... you're really serious about Jasmine then?" I asked, studying his features to make sure he wasn't lying about this.
"I'm in love with her, and she is with me. Plus, I think it was about time I got off my ass and did something that made my parents proud, don't you?" He chuckled as I shook my head before sobering up. "I didn't realise how much she meant to me until we got into this massive fight about our relationship. She wanted to end it for good, and I could tell she was serious this time. She looked so tired of my shit and it hit me at that moment that I was about to lose the one person that loved me back in that way forever. So I asked her to marry me, and she said yes."
My eyes started to well up again – from happiness this time – as I pulled my best friend into a bone crushing hug. "I'm so happy and proud of you!"
When we pulled away, Dylan was blushing slightly, so I decided to take advantage of his vulnerability. "Aw, who knew Dylan Johnson had a romantic bone in his robot body."
"Shut up." He grumbled, avoiding my eyes.
"Dylan and Jasmine. I can see the wedding invitations already. It has the perfect ring to it." I grinned, squeezing his cheeks – which were turning redder by the second.
"So? When am I going to meet the lucky lady?" I asked as we walked back into the house and made our way to his bedroom.
"I was going to take you out tonight for pizza and text her to come and surprise you but, if you had kept that mindset you had 15 minutes ago, I don't think that would've went well."
I laughed and rubbed the side of my arm awkwardly, feeling ashamed that I assumed the worst. "Right, sorry about that again."
"Don't worry, I would've come up with something even worse if I were in your shoes. By the way, I think it's best that you don't mention this to my parents. Keep it between you and me. " He dropped his voice to a whisper as he closed his bedroom door and I sat cross-legged on his bed.
"Right, so meeting her?" I brought to his attention again.
"Oh, right. Well, since it's out in the open with you now, I guess she can just come and hang out here with us tonight. It'll give you a chance to know her properly and I can be on my laptop and not die of boredom from you two talking about girl stuff the entire time."
I rolled my eyes and tried to push him off the bed. "We're not going to be that bad."
"Believe me. I have a feeling you've already planned half the wedding in your mind, and she's going to want to swap her ideas with you as well. Imagine we were out in public while that happened? I'd have no proper technology to turn to for comfort." He looked distressed at the thought alone, making me laugh at his reliance on the gadgets all around his room.
We fell quiet after that and I found my mind trailing back to the people I left behind just over 24 hours ago.
Dylan sensed my sudden change of mood and put a comforting hand on my knee. "I'm sorry you had to leave so suddenly. I could tell how happy you were when you were there; I stopped warning you to get attached because I could see that it already happened. I'm sorry you had to leave everyone without saying goodbye..." Dylan trailed off, turning serious.
I sighed as I thought of everyone's smiling faces back at the college – even Portia was making my heart squeeze in longing. I dwelled on it for a moment longer before shaking my head and smiling at Dylan. "Never mind it. I'm just so happy for you! When do you want to get married?"
Dylan studied me for a moment longer, and I could see the doubt in his eyes about my request to drop the subject, however he did so and shook his own head in disbelief. "It's going to be a while before that happens. We're not even properly engaged yet."
"So about a year. Maybe a year and a half if we're really desperate for time." I spoke out loud to myself.
"I should've just let you think I was handing you over to the people after you." He muttered.
I let out a fake offended gasp before the conversation came back to me. "Hey, if you installed security cameras, how come I don't see a monitor showing the cameras anywhere?" I asked, looking around the room for a monitor that would show the familiar layout of the Johnson house.
"Ah, that's the best part." Dylan said with a smug smile, before reaching for the drawer in his bedside table and pulling out a small remote.
He was just about to aim it at one of the many screens within his room before a soft knock sounded at the door and Dylan's mom's head popped into the room. "I thought I heard voices. What are you kids doing up so early? Its 7AM, I thought the day started after noon for college kids." Amy joked.
Dylan rolled his eyes and his mom's attempt at humour, and I shook my head at his behaviour towards him and answered her instead. "He was already awake, and I just came to join him." I smiled, the lie sliding off my tongue easily.
"He was up all night watching movies again, wasn't he?" Amy asked me directly, ignoring the presence of her son in the room.
I rolled my eyes. "What else?"
We both laughed at that while Dylan muttered something under his breath.
"Anyway, you father is just leaving for work, and I'm about to cook breakfast before heading off myself. I'll call you both down when it's ready since you're up. You can have a quick bite." Dylan's mom told us.
"That sounds great. Thank you so much." I smiled, grateful to have her around.
"Oh hush! There's no need to thank me. We're family, this should be expected behaviour." She waved me off, before leaving the room and closing the door shut behind her.
"See, even she knows you're practically a Johnson." Dylan pointed out, raising his eyebrows at me knowingly.
"Okay, okay. I get it. Now show me your sixth sense inspector gadget." I teased.
The smug look dropped into a look of annoyance at my comment before he pointed the small black remote to one of the larger monitors across from us, and it instantly flashed to life. "There you go. Safer than high school."
"Holy shit Dylan, how did you even manage to set this all up? Wasn't it expensive?" I asked, observing each square in fascination.
"I have my ways." He commented mysteriously. I raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for the truth. "Pocket money from my dad."
"Money well spent." I spoke up in approval, nodding as I watched the squares switch up to the next set of cameras. "At least this time you didn't spend it on more Game of Thrones merc-" My sentence dried up in my throat as I watched the square that belonged to the camera located at the front door.
"Why do you bag on me so much for getting Game of Thrones merchandise when you love the show and get excited every time I show – you've stopped listening a long time ago." Dylan cut himself off, before he followed the trail of where my eyes were currently glued.
"What are you so interested in? The setup isn't any different to one that you would see at a dentist or something." Dylan frowned as he looked back to the monitor, which had switched cameras again.
I shook my head and swallowed in disbelief, unable to let my brain fall for the illusion in front of me. The cameras changed again, grabbing Dylan's attention.
"Is that-"
I ran out of the room before Dylan was able to finish his sentence, blinking in disbelief as I ran towards the front door. Swinging it open, I stared wide-eyed in disbelief at the person standing in front of me, looking more pissed off then their usual glare.
"Caleb." I breathed, too afraid to say anything more.
"No, the fucking Grimm Reaper. Who else do I look like?" He snapped in annoyance, slipping his phone into his pocket and glaring at me.
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Hi guys! How are you all?
So yaaaay! The next chapter is up! See, I told y'all I'd be back to my regular weekly updating schedule ;)
HAHAHAHAHA DYLAN IS GOOD I BET YOU ALL DIDN'T EXPECT THAT RIGHT?! I liked him toooo much as a character to keep him bad. So I thought to myself, why not have a little fun with you all before the truth came out ;)
How did you guys like this chapter? Sorry it's a little short – the next one will be a longer! I hope you enjoyed it! I'm in a really good mood right now, so hopefully it reflected in my writing LOL!
There's only a few chapters left woohoo! OMG BTW you guysssss I had the BEST chicken burger I've ever tasted yesterday. Oh my god I was in food heaven until I realised I finished it :'( so that's my life. Hope you guys had a great weekend!
Btw again - after I finish this story, I'm going to stary focusing on Hating Ashton Wesley (for those of you who have read that!) So i'm excited about starting that up again! If you haven't checked it out yet, do so and let me know what you think!
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So I'm dedicating this chapter to Love-Daniel-Seavey for being A LOTR fan from the start I LOVE YA :D
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Thanks for reading lovelies! Xx