Warren:
"What was that?" I whispered, barely daring to breathe. I took a cautious step back into the room. I was stuck there, frozen in time.
Through thickly lidded eyes, Max muttered slightly louder, "Stay."
It still took me a few seconds. I couldn't believe it. Whether it was luck or an Act of God or something else, Max wanted me to stay. Take a deep breath, Warren. I took a moment and breathed. Once... twice... Okay. I'm ready.
I stepped forward and slowly set my backpack on the ground. "Okay. I'll take the couch," I whispered delicately.
"No," she whispered. She lifted her left hand and patted the bed with it. "Here."
I swallowed the lump in my throat. Nervousness, anxiety and excitement coursing through my veins. I literally pinched my wrist to check if I was still awake. I half expected to wake up in my dorm on Friday morning after a bizarre yet exciting dream. Fortunately, I'm wrong.
What are you doing, idiot? Go lay down!
It was a relatively short distance from Max's couch to her bed, yet it felt like a long journey. I never thought in a million years that something like this could happen to me. I kick off my shoes softly. I slide onto her bed on my back, awkwardly and stiff. Max didn't care, however, as she lifted her head slightly and put it on my shoulder. She draped her arm over me and her hand fell over my heart, which was beating like crazy. Gently, I pulled the blanket over to cover both of us and I throw my left arm around Max's shoulder holding her to me firmly.
Deep breaths, Warren. Holy shit. You're actually cuddling Max.
I take one deep breath. Two. Three. Finally, I start to relax and the adrenaline wears off. I'm beat tired and my eyes are starting to get heavy. I think about what I've been through and what Max told me today, and I'm still reeling. It still makes sense, despite all the conventional logic thrown out of the way. I'm not sure how much I knew about Max before today, but something, some inner wisdom I never knew I had, tells me that everything she says is the absolute truth. It's like that other Warren, the Warren Max mentioned that defended her from Nathan and helped her with that pipe bomb, is telling me, this is what Max told me too.
I almost fall asleep, but I then I almost gasp out loud as I remember what she said about going to Jefferson's Dark Room. I quickly get my phone out of my pocket and set an alarm for 5:45 in the morning. It's only about 9 p.m. and I'm struggling to keep my eyes open. I understand why Max is so tired, but my only guess is from all the revelations I've heard today has made my mind reel so much it needs rest to comprehend it. They say the best way to retain information is to sleep right after. Perhaps that's it. Maybe I just need to catch some z's.
Max shifts slightly beside me. She whispers something, something inaudible and she somehow gets even closer to me. She holds me tighter and grabs a fistful of my shirt. Somehow, she still looks beautiful as she sleeps. Like an angel. Totally creepy, Warren. But at this moment, I don't care. I think after all I've heard today, that I think I deserve a moment to contemplate. It's like I'm trapped in some weird Twilight Zone/Doctor Who thing. But I'll disregard all that with the thought that Max Caulfield is in my arms. Once again, I find myself blissful. Somehow, in some way, the universe decided that I would be the one to be here for Max. I already liked Max before today, but this feeling...
Today, is my favorite day.
I fall asleep in Max's arms.
Max:
The wind is howling. The rain is pounding. It never stops. It never ceases. It's uncontrollable and it's chaotic. It's all because of me. I caused this! I caused all of this!
And there's Chloe... Everything becomes quieter. Everything becomes calmer, clearer. She's walking towards me and extending her arms.
I'm ready. I'm ready to hug her and never let go. But just before I can reach her, someone steps in front of us.
It's Nathan Prescott and he has the gun to Chloe's abdomen. She screams and he fires, killing her.
"No!" I scream and reach my hand out...
And nothing happens. Nathan disappears and Chloe hits the ground. I can't move. I'm rooted to the spot. I scream and I shout but nothing comes out of my mouth. I'm silent. An observer.
"Why didn't you help me, Max?" Chloe asks, menacingly, before she dissolves.
I try to chase after her, but still, I can't move. She reappears. This time she's firing the gun at the bottles in the junkyard. She turns to me and asks, "Where should I shoot, Max?"
I want to scream: "Don't shoot anything Chloe! Put the gun down and walk away! You'll die!"
But I don't say that. I hear myself say, "Shoot the hubcap."
Chloe aims and fires. I watch in slow motion as the bullet ricochets and strikes her in the chest. She collapses in the ground screaming, "Max! Rewind, rewind, rewind! Goddammit, rewind!"
I raise my hand. Jesus Christ, please make it work! Please!
And nothing happens.
She dissolves. Is the nightmare finally over?
I'm not even close. She reappears. This time, she's on the train tracks. She's stuck and I'm pulling the lever, trying to free her.
"It's not budging, Chloe!"
"Rewind and try again! Please Max! I don't want to die!"
I raise my hand to try on last time. It's hopeless. The train crushes her. All that's left of Chloe is a bloody smear on the train tracks. The tracks dissolve, and now I'm at the junkyard. Chloe is waving the gun and looking around.
"Where? Where?"
A gun fires at Chloe. I cry out in horror, but this time she doesn't get hit in the forehead like I expect her too, she instead gets shot in the knee. Why is it different? Jefferson killed her. He shot her in the head.
I cry out. My eyes are wet, but I still can't do anything. All I can do is search frantically with my eyes for the person with the gun. Where is he?
"Why, Max? What did I ever do to you? All I wanted to do was be your friend! You left me, and I welcomed you back with open arms! Then what do you do? You leave me again! Forever!"
I'm sorry, Chloe! I try to shout. But she isn't talking to me. I look to my right, and I see her.
The person holding the gun is me.
The Max that's holding the gun looks at Chloe in the eyes and presses the gun to Chloe's head. She looks at the real me in the eyes. I try to reach out to Chloe, and she says, "Why do you have to be so selfish?"
I try to lift my hand, but it won't move. I try to open my mouth to tell her I'm sorry, but instead I hear my voice say, "You deserve this." And then, I start to laugh.
The look on Chloe's face is one of betrayal. One of pure hatred.
"You never loved me!" I hear it over and over, from every direction. It's all I hear. Over and over and over.
"I'm so sorry, Chloe. I'm so sorry." I feel tears fall down my face.
Chloe appears in front of me and everything goes still. She's holding the gun. She lifts it slowly and points it at my chest. "You let Nathan shoot me in the heart. Now, I shoot you."
I want to close my eyes. But instead I see her face. It has that look of pure hatred, of disgust. Then, a hand grabs her wrist. I turn and its Warren. He forces Chloe to put the gun down, and looks me in the eyes. He mouths something I can't hear. Then, I hear him, "Max, get up, please!"
I see him toss water on my face.
Max:
I open my eyes. They're wet and puffy. I had been crying. Warren is holding me tightly with one arm and has his other hand on my cheek. I'm clutching onto him for dear life. Our foreheads are touching and I find myself starring him in the eyes. His eyes are moist like mine. The wetness I felt in my dream is real. He was crying and trying to wake me.
He's saying something, but it's inaudible. It's white noise. I'm brought back to the other Friday.
"For luck," I tell him. I kiss him then. It's a quick kiss. A sad kiss. One that meant so much to me.
But this one means so much more.
Warren:
She's kissing me.
And it's amazing.
It catches me by surprise, but with today being like it's been, I shouldn't be surprised. After a few shocked seconds, I kiss back. It's intense and it's desperate, haphazard, but it's amazing. My entire body bursts with energy. Heat rose everywhere and I could feel it everywhere. I felt alive, for the very first time. My head felt like it was going to explode with happiness and bliss. It's a live wire. Kissing Max is fireworks in the sky. Ice cream on a hot day. The warm sun on the back of your neck. The smell of flowers. It's all the best things in the world in one moment. She took my breath away and I never want it back.
But I still found the strength, to make her stop.
I gently put my hands on both of her cheeks and I gently pulled away.
"Max, we can't do this."
She looks at me, with hurt in her eyes. "Why?"
"This isn't what you want. I know it. You're upset and I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you. But you're confused; you've been through so much. I just don't think it's what you want," I said, trying poorly to mask the sadness in my voice.
She shook her head and looked at me with tears in her eyes. "No, Warren. I want you. In the other timeline, when I came back to you for the picture, I didn't just hug you. I kissed you before I went to Chloe. I had to. I care so fucking much about you, and I've been too scared to show it. Everything has fallen apart for me. I lost my best friend and my sister. But for some fucking reason, you are always there. No matter what timeline, no matter what shit I put you through, it's always you. Whenever I'm with you, you take my breath away. You're my hero, Warren Graham and I need you. I realize now that you never know when you're going to lose something. Life is strange, it won't give you any time to figure things out. I know how I feel about you. I need you. And I need this."
"Max... I..."
"Shut up and kiss me, you dork."
And then we kissed. I don't know how long it went, but we stayed like that, our lips locked and neither of us stopping for breath. We were delirious, we were excited, we were the only two people that existed in the world.
And I never wanted it to end.
Max:
I woke up before he did. We were in spooning position. Fully clothed, one arm around my waist and the other arm under my head.
I still couldn't believe what happened last night. But I didn't regret what happened, not a single moment of it. Even if I could rewind, I know I never would. Not for a million years.
"So, you finally kissed him." Chloe appeared before me wearing her trademark smirk. Just like when we were kids.
Yep, just a little. I said, smiling from the memory.
"Well, it's about damn time, Mad Max. And, I see that you're finally starting to smile again. Good to see. I was getting hella scared for you. And you know much I hate getting scared. Gives me anxiety."
I think that's a natural part of being scared, Chloe. Just a little bit.
"Cut the shit, smart-ass," She said laughing. "You and I both know what anxiety feels like. Now, that we got the gross lip-locking out of the way, we should get down to bidness. You gotta wake that nerd up and get Jeffershit."
In just a second, I thought carefully reaching for my bag I left by my bed. Cautiously to not wake Warren up, I slowly rummaged in my bag until I found my camera.
"And here I thought you were done with the selfies To The Max."
"Whoever said I was done?" I whispered to myself. I lifted the camera at the apropos shot and took the picture. I wanted to capture this moment. The first morning after our first night together. Warren honestly looks so adorable asleep. Much more relaxed. He stirs beside me and I grabbed the Polaroid while looking at the alarm clock beside my bed. 5:39. The sun was starting to rise and I slowly detached myself from Warren's arm and stretched a little.
"Wake up, sleepyhead," I said, poking at his nose and shaking my new picture. Kissing Warren last night didn't make everything better, after all, I was still hearing Chloe in my head. Plus, I still had a mission to take care of. But at least for the time being, I could be honest with myself and what I wanted. And, I could enjoy this moment while I could.
"Mummosa salmon." I believe he said, as he stirred. In all actuality, he could have just been begging me for 5 more minutes. I took off my jacket, which had become hot on my arms after last night. Funny how I didn't feel embarrassed at all about it.
"Seriously, David Tennant, rise and shine." I opened the blinds and the small amount of sunlight shone through directly onto Warren's eyes.
"Ugh, seriously?" he groaned as he sat up slowly.
"You're cute when you're asleep," I say smiling and sitting on the bed at a comfortable distance.
"You took a picture, didn't you?" he said with a lazy smile.
"Sure did," I said kissing him on the forehead.
"Well, at least it'll last longer," he said swinging his legs and sitting beside me. He looked at me in the eyes seriously for a second before saying in a faux serious voice, "Please tell me I didn't drool on you."
I punched him in the shoulder lightly, "Maybe a little."
"Well, good to know I can be of service," he laughs lightly.
"You're disgusting," I said smiling and we kissed again, this time delicately and loving.
Now I look at him seriously, "We do have to get moving."
Warren sighs and rubs his neck, trying to work out the kinks. "I know. Let me at least brush my teeth and organize myself."
"By all means, my companion," I smirked.
He smiled at me affectionately and good naturedly, getting my limited Dr. Who reference. He disappeared into the bathroom after I told him no girl would be up this early. With some time alone, I sighed deeply. Still, I didn't regret a single thing about last night, but I needed to be focused. And I needed to remind Warren that we need to be focused. I'm sure he'll understand, although I know there's nothing he wants more then to spend the day together.
I guess we're both getting our wish in a way.
I sigh, but this time it's one of... happiness? It's a great feeling. A feeling I've never had before. Like a lightness in my chest* and a weightlessness throughout my body. He makes me feel... safe. He makes me feel free. Kissing him is like opening my chest and giving the universe the finger. Kissing him is like capturing the perfect picture on the most beautiful day. It was definitely a feeling I could get used to.
Focus, Max, I remind myself for the umpteenth time.
Then Warren's phone goes off. I guess it must've fallen from his pocket last night. I blush as I grab his phone. Good thinking, setting an alarm for us. God, I can't resist. I tap the screen and turn off his alarm and it unlocks his phone.
I look at the door. Set it down, Max. He'll probably be back in any second. What do you need to know anyway? You know how he feels about you.
The temptation was too strong. I need to. I sit down on the couch and swipe through his apps until I find what I'm looking for. I open his photos first, and there aren't many. There's one with him and another girl. A flare of jealousy goes through me, before I see the name of the caption. It says, "Me and My Sister". I feel stupid now, and I quickly scroll past. There's some pics of cats, probably some from his home. There's a couple of memes, some of whom he's sent me to try to make me laugh. There's a rad pic of what looks like a science project, possibly from earlier in the semester. There's one last picture, and it's one of him and I together. My heart skips a beat as I look closer. It's the same one I found in his locker when Chloe and I broke into the pool, and it was edited with a rad looking effect that makes me pop out. It brightens the color of the photo and honestly? It makes me look like an angel. I look beautiful, and I don't mean that in a narcissistic way. From an artistic standpoint, it looks gorgeous.
I guess you were right when you said you could add cool special affects to my photos. It looks amazing.
I closed out of his photos before going to his messages. He doesn't have very many when it comes to variety. There's a lot to me, which doesn't surprise me honestly. I look at the ones to Kate, which seem to be frequent. I smile to myself, most of them seem to be about Warren worrying about me. Even some with Warren and her planning to get me the necklace. I make a mental note then to wear it before we leave.
I continue to snoop. There's some text from his sister, and from his contact information, I can tell her name is Penelope. I don't see too much. She, however, is apparently enrolled in Harvard and is in law school. I guess intelligence runs in the family. Warren also tells her about a cute girl in some of his classes that he's thinking about asking to the drive-in. I smile with pride at this.
Then, it gets a little upsetting. There's some texts from Brooke. Most of them of the same context. "Why are you asking, Max? Dude you're obsessed."
"She's never going to date you. You're better off going with me."
"Sooner or later, you're going to see that Max doesn't like you."
It does upset me, but it also makes me laugh because of the irony. Though, this is only the start. His texts from his parents are the worst. His mom texted him reprimanding him for his grades. Even though I know from Wells' files he has a 4.0 GPA, she berates him for an A- on a math test. An A-! She tells him over and over he needs to get ready for college, while Warren always has an excuse to do it later.
His dad only left one text. Something that Warren has saved for about a week. "I wish you were more like your sister."
Ouch. I never knew how pressuring his parents were. That's because you never asked, Max. You've always assumed he had it all figured out. All he's ever done is worry about you. You never once asked him if anything was wrong.
I sigh. Maybe I am selfish.
As I'm looking at his dad's text, I hear the door click and Warren walking in casually murmuring, "Sorry it took so long, I couldn't seem to fin-. What are you up to?"
I try to hide the blush that heats my cheeks as I try to tell a half truth, "Oh, just turning off your alarm."
Warren smiles, and for a second I think I get away with it. Until I see him glance at my alarm clock, which reads 5:48. "Oh? It took you 3 minutes to turn off my alarm on my phone? You know all you need to do is tap the screen, right? It isn't that hard." He smiles, letting me know that I'm had.
"Okay, okay, Dr. Graham. I admit it, I may have looked through your phone."
"An ordinary person would be pretty upset, Maximus. But I trust you. Although, if you wanted to look through my phone, you could've asked." He said crossing his arms. "It's kind of rude for you to be sneaking through my phone without permission, like you're Sly Cooper or something."
"I'm sorry, Warren." I meant it. I knew I'd be upset if someone went through my phone without asking. And now, I can't rewind to save myself.
Warren considered me for a moment before uncrossing his arms. "I'll forgive you, but on one condition."
"What is th-?" I try to ask. He surprises me by grabbing me, one hand behind my head and one arm around my waist. He pulls me to him and right as I realize what he's doing he kisses me. I smile into his kiss and I run my hands through his hair. He smiles back and puts his hands on my waist. I drop my arms to his shoulders and we kiss for a few more seconds. I open my mouth and we kiss that way, our mouths together and our tongues sliding into place. It feels so natural and so good (not in that way, like a happy, butterflies' way. Okay, maybe in slightly that way), that I let it happen for a little more...
He's the one who breaks it. "Condition fulfilled." He says with a rueful smile.
"It was that easy? I expected something more... Like going to a movie... Or a drive-in of some sort?"
He smiles. It's a knowing smile, he knows what I saw. "I'm assuming that's a yes?"
"Of course, you idiot," I say punching his shoulder. "We'll go in your car. After our mission. We should get going by the way."
"Already ahead of you," he said, taking the keys out of his pocket and showing me. He smiles. It's a smile of reassurance. A smile of determination.
"Then let's go." I move past him and grab the necklace from my backpack and putting it on. We walk silently through the hallways. I stumble over a roll of toilet paper and almost fall before Warren manages to break it.
"Thanks," I whisper, blushing. "I'm clumsy. I'm sorry."
"Well, it's lucky you have me, Maximus Prime. I'm not very coordinated myself. We'll be clumsy together." He puts his hand on the small of my back as we walk onto the grounds. I take his hand and we hold hands until we get to his car. I squeeze it as he opens the car door for me. He kisses me on the cheek, "We're going to stop him Max. You and me."
We get in the car and we drive off. He holds my hand the entire way to prevent me from being lost.
He keeps me grounded.
Warren:
I'm in love with Max.
There's no denying it, not anymore. It sounds stupid, I barely know her a month. But it feels like I've known her my entire life. Maybe it's the multiple versions of me speaking for me, but whenever I look at Max, I see an angel. She's so beautiful in every single way. The way she carries herself, the pictures she takes, the way her voice sounds when she talks to me, the way she cares about everyone, the way she spaces out, the way she dresses, the hipster way she uses the word "Wowser". The way she angles herself when she takes a photo. The way her eyes light up when she talks about photography. The way her hair angles her face. The way she feels when I hold her. The way she kisses, like it's the most important thing in the world, the only thing that matters. Like it's the last one she'll ever have.
I could go on forever. She's amazing in every single way. When she walks into a room, she's the only one that matters. When she says my name, my heart skips a beat. When she laughs, all I feel is euphoria. I want to make her smile all the time, it's the best sight in the world.
These are thoughts I mull over while we drive to the Dark Room. Max is silently stroking my thumb with hers, and for some odd reason, it feels fantastically relaxing. I sneak a glance at her. She seems contemplative and determined. She also seems sad in a way, but it's much less pronounced. The Warren of yesterday probably wouldn't have noticed this, but somehow, I feel like I know her completely, but that doesn't make any sense. I can't even remember her parents' names. If she ever told me.
I resign myself to driving. I'm going to do what I can to help her, even if I'm not entirely sure what that is. She didn't tell me too much about what happened here, probably because she didn't want to talk about it. Or hell, maybe she knew how I'd react. All she said is that Jefferson kidnapped her and that David Madsen rescued her. There were obviously weirder goings on surrounding that, like needing me to give her that picture and etc. but when it comes to the Dark Room my knowledge is limited.
That might be a good thing.
I slowly pull in thanks to Max's directions. She's quiet. I'm not sure what to say to fill the silence. So I stick to the sound of silence.
Max lets go of my hand and we get out of the car. She tells me quietly that I should follow her and she leads me under the yellow CRIME SCENE police tape and into the shed.
It's musty and quiet in here. She leads me to a cellar and guides me down some steps. I don't ask her how she knows the code, based on what she's already told me and we step inside.
Max grabs my hand and I let her take it. I squeeze gently and gain my bearings by looking inside the room and acquiring my first impressions.
My first impression of the room is very... clean. It was obviously sterile. Jefferson was very good at cleanliness.
My second impression was it was very creepy. The cleanliness added to this feeling. It was almost too clean. It also gave the impression of being soundproof. The lack of air and the sense of confinement gave the room a claustrophobic, trapped sense.
I couldn't blame Max for shaking. I may not know many details of what she went through, but I know it was hell. Her breath was shaky and she struggled to compose herself. I decided to be the brave one and I slowly walked into the room. Thankfully, there was a box of latex gloves available. We didn't want to contaminate any evidence. I pointed to Max and she nodded, letting go of my hand and grabbing a pair. I followed suit and grabbed a pair, shoving them onto my hands.
"Let's split up and get out of here as fast as we can," I suggested. Max nodded and went off to investigate. The first thing that caught my eye was the shelf of folders.
Max:
I want to break every piece of expensive equipment in this fucking room. I'm a mixed bag of emotions. It takes everything I have not to break down in anger and grief and frustration right here. It takes everything I have to not break into a million pieces. The only things that keep me from a breakdown is Warren and the unquenchable thirst of vengeance on Jefferson. How could he do this to me? To Rachel? To Kate? Poor, sweet Kate. I look around for something to put him away, but of course in this timeline, I would have never been here.
That doesn't stop me. I look at everything. I even look under the sofa in there and check the camera's memory. There's nothing there. Everything is deleted.
I check for what feels like forever. I get more and more frustrated with every passing second. Every second felt like hours, every minute felt like days.
Just before I knelt to a fetal position to cry in frustration, I hear a familiar voice at the other end of the room say something, "Max? I think I found something."
Warren:
I inspected the folders on Jefferson's shelf. There were a lot of names here and each one made me more disgusted. Rachel, Kate, Lynn, Kelly... There are way too many names here to be Nathan. Unless he started before he was even enrolled, there would be no way...
I spotted a computer over at the far end of the room. I walked over and went on. I signed in as a guest and opened a web browser. I went to the Blackwell website and looked up the alumni. Kelly and Lynn were students from last semester. Nathan was still in school at the time. I looked at some of the other names. The oldest name was from a few years ago, the year Jefferson started at Blackwell. That's a huge red flag.
But it's not enough to put him away. I need more. I start to search through his desk. There's got to be something...
I think I've found something. There's a hidden compartment directly under the desk, but it looks like it has a small code. What could the code be?
"Max, I think I've found something."
I go back to his computer, and I run a Google search on Mark Jefferson. Max comes up to me, shaky. "What is it?"
"There's a secret compartment underneath the desk. There's a code. Crawl under and I'll give you some numbers. It's a 5-number code."
"Okay," she says. She slides underneath the desk.
"Try this: 41175."
"Doesn't work," Max said sounding frustrated.
I knew his birthday wouldn't work. That would be too easy. Maybe...
We then tried multiple codes. The day he graduated college, his first publication, the day he became a teacher. Pretty much everything. Max continued to get frustrated and at one point starting to hit the desk in rage. I calmed her down for a bit. She told me she was going outside for some fresh air.
I was getting frustrated myself. But, there was one thing I haven't tried. I looked at each name on his binders. They seemed to be in some sort of order, though it obviously wasn't alphabetical. Maybe they are organized by date?
I looked at the first one. Deanna. Could it?
I checked the alumni page again. There were two Deannas. I looked at the folder. It was in black in white, but she clearly had an angular face and shorter hair. Deanna Boston had longer hair while Deanna Montgomery had shorter hair and an angular face. I looked back at the binder. There had to be a date...
Yes! There was one. 9-27-2010. Eureka! This might be it.
I laid down on my back and slid backwards and typed in 92710. After a soft click, the door released. I pushed it softly aside, and a small pocket notebook fell out and onto my chest.
I slid back out and walked upstairs and to Max. She was sitting on the hood of my car with her face in her hands.
"Max?" I said awkwardly. She looked up. Her eyes were red, she was crying earlier. She also must've been livid. She ripped up and kicked in the fencing near where we parked.
"Yeah?" she said hesitantly.
"I think I found something. I haven't opened it yet, but it looks like a personal journal from Mark Jefferson."
"Come here." She opened the car door in the back and I climbed in on the other side. We sat close to one another and opened the notebook.
I was right, mostly. It was a personal journal with dates and everything. He talked about using Nathan and the Prescott's fortune, his victims, and his future "models" including Max. I tried, I believe successfully, to keep this from her. But I'm sure she already knew.
There were also statements. He wired some money from the Prescott's bank account and kept the records here. Everything was here. If this wasn't enough to put him away, for years, then I must also be a woman. It seemed like Jefferson's need for control was going to be the death of him.
"This is it, Max! We can put him away for good!"
I expected her to be happy. I expected her to be relieved. I don't know. I guess I wanted her to jump for joy, pump her fist, do something. Maybe I watch too many movies and anime.
And she was happy, somewhat. "That's great, Warren. We can finally put that fucker away." She didn't say this angrily. She sounded depressed. She sounded sad. I didn't know what else to do, so, I put my arms around her.
She let me. We spread out over my backseat and I held her. She closed her eyes tight, probably to prevent herself from crying and she curled up to me.
I gently stroked her back and ran my hand through her hair while she calmed down. Eventually, she nodded into my chest.
"Okay," she said. Her voice was muffled. She took her face out and kissed me lightly on the cheek. "Thank you. Let's get going."
She climbed into the passenger seat and sat down. I climbed after her and gave her the journal. She hesitated slightly before grabbing it and putting it in her bag. I placed my hand on the stick and put it in reverse. She put her hand over mine and I let her lace our fingers. She turned and starred out the window in silence while I drove to the police station. This time the silence was more... respectful. I knew she had a lot on her mind. When she's ready to talk about it, she knows I'll be there. Until then, I know I'm going to be here for her.
Always.