Cody's POV
"No, you're not cooking. Yes, I'm ordering pizza. Yes, you can try to stop me, but No, you will not succeed." Chase announces to Devin as soon as we enter the hotel room and Devin heads straight for the small kitchen.
Devin glares at him and mutters a few choice words under his breath before walking over to the couch, snatching up the TV remote and beginning to flip through channels. Grumbling under his breath the entire time as he does so.
"What did you even plan on cooking anyway?" Thirteen questions as she tossed her backpack onto the table. "There's no food here."
Devin grumbles some more under his breath and flips her off. She raises an eyebrow at him and smiles, shaking her head as she pulls a water bottle out of her bag.
"Alright," Chase says as he walks back over towards us, pocketing his phone as he does so. "Pizza's on its way. It'll be here in like half an hour."
"Did you order cheese?" Elaine questions and Chase looks at her like he forgot she was here. Thirteen snickers under her breath and for a second I think I imagined it.
Chase shakes his head. "No, I didn't."
"I only like cheese," Elaine announces, a frown on her face.
Thirteen rolls her eyes. "You say that like we should care."
"Just pick off the toppings," Jason grumbles at the same time as Thirteen.
Thirteen grins at him and he holds his hand up for a high five. Chase rolls his eyes in annoyance.
The ringing of a phone cuts through the momentary silence and Devin nearly falls off the couch trying to dig it out of his pocket.
"What's up Chief?" He questions and nods his head along to whatever Zero's telling him. "Yeah, I'll tell her."
He puts the phone to his chest, muffling the mouthpiece as he turns his attention to Thirteen. "Zero's been trying to get a hold of you."
"I've noticed. I've also been actively ignoring." She responds.
Devin turns his attention back to the phone. "She says she's ignoring you...oh so you knew that?"
He turns back to Thirteen. "He says it's important."
"I'm sure it is."
"I promise he's not going to yell at you for stabbing him."
"Unless I hear him promise it himself, that means shit to me."
"She doesn't want to talk to you," Devin says bluntly back into the phone. He turns back to Thirteen yet again. "He says sorry."
Her face is the perfect mirror of shock. "Really?"
"No."
She gives Devin a flat look as he begins to laugh loudly. He takes a minute to calm down and faces her again.
"Seriously, I don't want to be the messenger caught in between all this. Just take the phone." He holds it out to her and she walks over slowly and takes it from him.
She puts it to her ear with the perfect expression of a child who's being forced to do chores when they'd just rather be playing with their toys.
"What?" Her tone of voice is firm but surprisingly polite at the same time.
She tilts her head to the side and frowns as he talks to her. She shakes her head a couple times and sighs a few more.
"Is that really what you called to tell me? That was the important thing that couldn't wait?" She hisses into the phone, an angry frown on her face.
It's silent on her end as he talks and she actually listens. I notice the change in her expressions immediately.
Her face goes to shock and surprise so quickly. She stands there with a hand over her mouth and a look in her eyes that wasn't there before. The phone slips from her hand and onto the floor but she doesn't even seem to notice.
Before any of us can ask her what's going on. She bolts. She throws open the door and just leaves, snatching the car keys off the counter on her way out.
"Thirteen!" We all call after her but there's no response. She's gone.
Devin picks up his phone from the floor and puts it to his ear when he notices that Zero's still on the line.
"No. She just took off out of here like a bat out of hell." He says into the phone. "What did you say to her?"
He lets out a string of curses and holds the phone away from his ear. "He hung up on me."
"Did he say he happens to know where she's going?" I question and Devin shakes his head.
"My best bet would be the agency...probably to yell at him."
"What does that mean?"
"More pizza for me."
We all shoot Devin a glare and he holds his hands up in surrender with a wide smile on his face.
***
Three days.
It's been three days since Thirteen ran out the door and we haven't seen or heard from her since. I've tried her phone but it keeps going straight to voicemail.
Three days of Devin and Chase playing chess, only for Devin to switch the pieces on the board every time Chase turns away for even a second as usual.
Three days of Elaine's nonstop whining followed closely by Jason's snarky remarks.
Three days of sitting in this room or occasionally going down to the pool. Same thing over and over and over. Nothing new.
"Relax," Devin tells me as he notices me bouncing my leg up and down as I sit at the table reading over a newspaper. "I just spoke to Zero about an hour ago. She is in fact at the agency, and has not been kidnapped, killed, tortured, robbed-"
"Please stop talking," I mutter, closing my eyes and pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration. "I don't need a list of everything that could happen, and I don't need you jinxing it either."
"Oh please. I bet Thirteen's just waiting for some idiot to rob her so she can take her anger out someone. I bet she lives for that kind of stuff." He replies as he tosses his phone in the air and catches it. "She does have a knack for finding trouble."
"You're not helping."
"I wasn't trying to." He continues to toss his phone in the air and catch it. "Want to play chess?" He questions after a moment of silence.
"Not with you." I retort. "You cheat."
He puts his hand over his chest dramatically and pretends to be offended. "I do no such thing. How dare you accuse me of such."
I roll my eyes and smile. The door to the room opens and Jason walks in.
"Where have you been?" Devin questions.
"I went down to the grocery store to get us some food-no you are not cooking." Jason finishes quickly and Devin's smile turns into a childish pout.
Jason places the grocery bags in his hand on the table before proceeding to empty their contents and put them in the fridge or cabinets.
"It doesn't take that long to go get food," Devin says. "You were gone forever."
Jason just shrugs. "Stopped to chat with Thirteen for a while."
I sit up straighter and turn to look at him. "She took your call?"I ask in shock.
Jason shakes his head. "No. She's sitting on a bench just outside the hotel."
"When did she get back?" Devin interjects and Jason shrugs.
"I was talking to her for about fifteen minutes...but she was already sitting there before that." He shrugs and continues to empty the bags. He pauses for a moment and shakes his head before going back to what he's doing.
"What?" I question.
He shakes his head again. "It looked-and don't quote me on this-it looked like she'd been crying."
Both me and Devin have identical looks of surprise and confusion painted on our faces.
"What?" Devin questions, shock lacing his tone. Jason just shakes his head again.
"I said it looked like it. But she wasn't exactly full on bawling and beyond that, she's pretty good at covering up her emotions so I don't know for sure that she was."
I get to my feet and walk towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Devin asks.
"Where do you think?" I fire back.
"She might want to be left alone."
"If she does, she won't be down there when I get out there," I reply with a shrug and walk out the door.
Sure enough, she's right where Jason said she was. Her back is to me as I come walking out. Her hair isn't pulled up into her normal ponytail and instead is left falling down her back. The slight breeze causing it to sway back and forth. She's still wearing the same black jeans, tank top, and boots.
One hand drums her fingers on her leg, the other clutches at her phone which she continuously checks. She's unaware I'm standing behind her watching.
I close the remaining distance between me and her and sit down on the bench next to her. Her snaps over to me and for a split second I see the guarded blank face she used to wear so often before it softens when she realizes it's me.
I take a second to study her face. Her eyes are slightly red-rimmed and glossy, but the expression on her face is anything but sad. There's a look in her eyes that wasn't there before, and it takes a moment for me to pinpoint exactly what it is.
Because though I've seen that look on many people, I've never seen it on her...happiness.
"You alright?" I ask her anyways and she laughs. It's not forced, it's just light and carefree.
She smiles at me. "I'm really beginning to get sick of you asking me that question." She says while shaking her head, but her expression doesn't change.
I smile back at her. "Then don't give me a reason to ask it," I reply in a light and teasing tone. She smiles. "And for the record, I only ask when I can't tell what you're feeling."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah. I can tell when you're angry-that's pretty freaking easy." She laughs again. "I can usually tell when hurt-but you're pretty good at hiding that."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"And I can tell when you're happy, even if it's just for a split second."
She just nods thoughtfully before turning towards me. "So what am I now then?"
"You look...happy." I finally say, staring right into her eyes and she stares back. "Which completely contradicts what Jason said upstairs."
She laughs some more and shakes her head. "He looked kind of worried talking to me. I figured it was only a matter of time before you came down."
I smile at her as she leans her head on my shoulder, just staring off into the distance.
"You going to tell me what you were doing these last three days that caused you to go AWOL?"
She nods against my shoulder. "Yes." She replies honestly. "But not today. Tomorrow."
I nod in response even though she's not looking at me. I put my arm around her and pull her closer to me.
She rolls her eyes. "The three centimeters between us too much for you?" She teases.
I nod in mock seriousness. "Definitely."
She laughs softly and she reaches her hand up, placing it on the back of my neck and pulling me down so our lips meet softly.
"Better?" She continues to tease, whispering against my lips.
I lean my forehead against hers. "Not quite," I mutter before crashing my lips onto hers and my arms snake around her waist.
She smiles against my lips before responding, moving her lips in sync with mine.
Suddenly she pulls back and grabs hold of my shirt, spinning us off the bench and onto the ground. She lands on top of me just as water splashes against the bench, several of the droplets landing on us.
Devin stands behind the bench with a now empty bucket.
"Dammit. I almost had you both this time." He complains.
"You're lucky you didn't." Thirteen responds simply, giving him a glare.
Devin smiles widely. "I still win."
"How-"
Thirteen's question is cut off as freezing cold water is dosed over her head and mine as we both still lay on the floor. Luckily for me, her body shielded most of it.
She stays frozen in open mouth shock as Devin snickers and I look around her at Jason. The bucket's on the floor next to him and he has his hand shoved deep in his pockets, a look of 'innocence' on his face.
"I'm going to kill both of you." Thirteen grumbles before rolling off me.
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