Slivko was here. He wasn't just back in America, back on dry land, he was here. Unless I finally snapped and this was a hallucination. My heart skipped a beat and then made up for it by beating like crazy and I felt dizzy.
"Jared!" I said frantically as I grabbed his shoulder, not taking my eyes off Slivko who was just walking around the car to where Mason and Conrad were standing. "Do you see three people standing there, two guys and a woman?"
"Uh, yeah- what are you doing?!"
As soon as he confirmed it I started taking off my shoes. I left them and the two boys behind as I ran down the grassy hill. Slivko was looking at the large group of people, not in my direction. Mason noticed me first and waved frantically before hitting Slivko on the arm and pointing to me.
"Here she comes!" I heard her say.
Slivko's expresion brightened when he saw me and I felt tears fly off my face. I was almost to him and he opened his arms to catch me as I launched myself off the grass and flung my arms around his neck.
"Well hello to you too!" He exclaimed as he tightly wrapped his arms around me and held me off the ground. His scent confirmed that this really wasn't a hallucination and happy tears filled my eyes.
"You're here!" I exclaimed into the crook of his neck. "How are you here?!"
He chuckled, still holding me off the ground since I was barefoot.
"The boat got in day before yesterday and after all the paper work I had just enough time to make it here. So, here I am," he explained.
"You're here!" I repeated.
"We're here too," Mason pointed out.
"Maybelle!" Jared's chastising voice was heard before he hit me in the butt with one of my shoes. "You need to get off your boyfriend and put your shoes on, you're gonna cause a scene!"
"Oh gosh, you're right," I said sadly.
He put my shoes on the pavement and Slivko set me down in them.
"Who's this?" Mason asked with a raised brow as she looked Jared up and down.
"My cousin, Jared," I answered as I unwillingly let go of Slivko and turned to greet her too.
"Thank you so much for coming, it's so good to see you."
I hugged her and then Conrad before finally facing Slivko again, still not over the fact that he was standing right there in front of me. He had a cute smirk as he just stared at me softly.
"So this is Mason and Conrad, then?" Jared asked.
"Yeah," I confirmed, still looking at Slivko.
"I'm Reg," Slivko said as he extended his hand. "But she calls me-"
"Slivko, yes. I know," Jared nodded as he shook his hand.
Slivko looked both amused and confused.
"How are things now that you're home?" Slivko asked me with his head tilted adorably.
I was about to answer when Jared jumped in.
"Not too good," He said, causing me to give him a miffed glare.
"What's wrong?" Slivko asked, head tilted the other way now, looking concerned.
"It's not that bad," I tried to recover.
"Grace kicked her out," Jared threw in.
"What?!" Slivko took a step forward, looking between me and Jared while Mason and Conrad observed all of it.
"Shut up," I hissed at Jared.
"No, I'll hear the un-sugar coated version of things," Slivko said as he turned to Jared.
"Her parent's won't really talk about things, they've been preoccupied with Grace, Grace has been cold and distant to her when she was staying with her to help out and then sent her home when she started having nightmares," Jared hit the highlights as I squeezed my eyes shut and hung my head.
Slivko sighed and ran a hand down his face before wrapping me in another hug.
"I'm so sorry, May," he said with such a sorrowful tone.
"Oh he is definitely an upgrade from Steve," Jared noted.
There was a pause as Slivko's shoulders drooped.
"Who's Steve?"
"Jared, you need to stop saying words," I told him.
"It's her ex-" He started but I cut him off.
"He's irrelevant, has been for three years, will continue to be for the rest of time."
I assured Slivko as I squeezed him a little tighter.
"Dude, your mom's coming!" Jared warned me, slapping my arm.
I quickly pulled back and was met with a confused golden retriever face.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"I'm so sorry, things were so weird when I got home that I haven't been able to tell anyone about you. I mean, I talked about you but I haven't found the right time to tell anyone-"
"He knows," Slivko pointed to Jared.
"There was eavesdropping and blackmail involved," I said with a wave of my hands to which Jared just nodded nonchalantly.
Slivko seemed genuinely baffled but there was no time to explain further because my mother was upon us.
"Maybelle," She called as she walked up beside me. "Who are your friends, dear?"
"This is Mason Weaver, the photographer I told you about," I began as Mom reached to shake her hand.
"Oh!" Mom exclaimed. "These are the ones that were with you!"
"Yeah," I nodded. "This is Slivko- Reg Slivko, the pilot. And James Conrad, the tracker."
"I just want to thank you all for helping my little girl get home safe," Mom said, misting up as she shook their hands.
Slivko gave me a pained look once my mom had moved from him to Conrad.
"Oh no, we're entirely indebted to your daughter for saving our lives," Conrad said.
Mom breezed right over this by stating that it was going to begin soon and won't we all come find a seat.
"Are you upset with me?" I asked Slivko quietly as we trailed the group.
"No! No, of course not," He started out, inconspicuously placing his hand on my back. "I just- I pictured meeting your parents going a little differently. And I'm so mad that you're having nightmares and no one is taking care of you- I swear, I will go pawn my grandfather's pocket watch, get another plane ticket and take you home with me if you want."
I stared up at him as he spoke so passionately, his brows knotted and a red tinge to his ears.
"You really would," I noted with a melting heart. "It's tempting, like really tempting, but I think that things might get better once the funeral is over. I should wait a little longer and give it a chance."
Slivko sighed.
"I knew you'd say that. I can't promise I won't come back and kidnap you, though."
"It's only kidnapping if it's against my will," I didn't get to hear a witty reply to this statement as we were now invited to find our seats.
"I'm gonna sit between you two and make sure you keep your gosh darn hands to yourselves," Jared stated as he squeezed between us.