A loud bang, then gunfire sounded near me. For a moment I thought I was dead or dying. But no, I didn't feel like I was fading. I opened my eyes just in time to see a dozen SWAT guys rushing through the door. I looked to the side, wondering where Santiago was, when I saw him lying on the floor, blood running out his mouth as he gasped for air. I looked around. What was happening?
"Sir, in here!" One SWAT officer called.
A tall man strode into the room as a SWAT guy untied me, helping me away from Santiago's bleeding body. I recognized the tall man as Will! He'd come for me! He passed by me without a second glance and walked straight to Santiago. I heard Santiago chuckle, which was more of a gargle with the blood spilling out his mouth.
"You caught me. Tell her father I said hello. I'll be waiting for him in the next life." With those words, Santiago was no more.
The SWAT officers rushed me out of the room to a waiting ambulance. I wanted to see Will, but the EMTs told me I could go into shock at any moment. They needed to take me to the hospital, so I willingly went with them.
After a couple hours in a hospital bed, I was dying to see Will. I needed to thank him. I needed to tell him how I felt. Someone knocked on the door of the hospital room just then and I hoped it was Will. I was surprised when instead my father walked through the door.
"Annalee, are you alright?! What did he do to you?" He fussed, holding my face between his hands.
I smiled. "He didn't do anything Dad. I'm a little bruised from the car crash, and I have a cut on my forehead from the windshield, but that's it. Though he was about to kill me when SWAT showed up. I'm just glad you're safe."
He glared at me, weathered face hardening. "Don't do that Annalee. You almost died. Please tell me you didn't do something stupid to keep me safe?"
I smiled sheepishly. "Kind of. I convinced him to kill me so he wouldn't kill you and Will."
I saw tears shining in his eyes and lost my voice. That was the second time I'd seen him cry in my life. He was crying for me.
"Don't EVER do that again, young lady. Do you hear me? If it's between us, I'd die anytime. You stay alive from now on, no matter what, okay?" His voice softened and he hugged me close. "I was so afraid I'd lost you for good this time. I promise I'll be the dad you need as long as you stay alive."
I felt tears creeping down my face at his declaration. "Okay Dad, I promise. Don't cry, you're making me cry!" I said indignantly, even as he chuckled.
"Sorry pumpkin."
I smiled at that endearment. I hadn't heard that since before mom died. It was nice knowing he truly loved me. He would have missed me if I was gone. That's a reassurance I didn't take lightly; just a few weeks ago I wasn't sure if he would.
My smile began to fade as thoughts of Will began intruding again. "Dad, why hasn't Will come to see me?" I asked, studying my hand and trying my best to sound nonchalant.
"...I don't know. I thought he would have by now. I spoke to him on the phone a couple times before I could get here and help with the search, and he sounded...very worried about you."
A shadow crossed his face at the mention of the search for me. In that moment, I pushed Will to the back of my mind and saw just how worn my dad really was. There were dark circles under his eyes and his hair was messy, like he'd run a hand through it many times.
"I'm sure it's no big deal. Why don't you go get some sleep? You look tired."
He glared at me with my words. "I'm not going anywhere. Not without you."
I rolled my eyes and glared back. "Yes you are. I got my stubbornness from you; you're not going to win this. I'll be fine here. There are police officers stationed outside my door," He still didn't look convinced, so I took another route: pleading. "Please."
He sighed. "Fine. But I'll be back in three hours."
He said goodbye to me, kissed me on the cheek, then left. I was glad he'd listened to me; even three hours of sleep was better than none. But if I was being honest, watching him walk out the door made my stomach drop. It was nice having someone here to distract me from what happened earlier. Whenever I closed my eyes I saw Becca bleeding out on the floor and Santiago laughing even while his blood was running from his mouth.
I took a deep breath. It was over now. I didn't need to relive it. Maybe it was a little my fault Lindsay and her sister died, but Santiago was the real cause. And now he was gone forever. I didn't have to look over my shoulder anymore, I didn't have to have FBI agents protecting me in secret anymore. Santiago was dead and Will was gone. If he hadn't come see me before now, I guess he wasn't coming at all. I hurt him too much to be forgiven. Maybe he regretted loving me.
After a few lonely tears fell down my cheeks, I heard a knock at the hospital door. I saw my father standing at the door yet again. I couldn't believe it had already been three hours.
"Thanks for making me take a nap. I needed it. And have you seen Will yet?"
I sighed in frustration. "No. I saw him when he came to the warehouse I was being kept, then I saw him walking away when I was being carted to the ambulance, but that's it. Do you think he hates me for rejecting him before?"
He shook his head vehemently. "No way. If he loved you as much as he said he did, no way does he hate you for not feeling the same. He'd love you no matter what you said or did. It has to be something else. Maybe he doesn't know how you'll react to seeing him again?"
"Yeah, maybe. I need to see him and tell him how I feel. I need to tell him I love him and say sorry for how stupid I was before." I rubbed my face with my hand.
"What if he said he just wanted to be friends now? Not that I think he would, but could you go back to that?" He asked, concern written on his face.
I thought for a second. "No, I can't be friends with him. I'd rather him walk away forever than be friends with him again."
Just as I said that, I heard something drop to the floor outside the door, which was cracked open. Becca stood to investigate, opening the door all the way. I spotted a bag of flowers on the floor and a DVD copy of Pride and Prejudice. My dad looked down the hallway and must have seen something because he began running. I swung my legs off the hospital bed, fully ready to jump up and join the chase, but just as I stood he reappeared in the doorway, panting hard.
"What happened? What was that?" I asked, impatient for information.
She held up her hand and continued panting for a moment. When his breathing began to settle he looked up at me with shock in his eyes.
"It was Will. He was running down the hall and I couldn't catch him."
My hand shot up to my mouth in surprise and concern. "You don't think he heard what I said...and thought I meant I wanted him gone?"
He studied me with empathy in his eyes. "Why else would he have run like that?"
I tried calling Will several times. Each time I went immediately to voicemail, so he was clearly avoiding me. I left a message, saying that whatever he thought he heard wasn't what it sounded and I needed to explain it to him in person. I know I could have borne my soul to him on the phone, but it didn't feel right. I needed to tell him in person so I could see him.
"I'll call him and ask him for you. I assume you want to explain what he heard?" I nodded, feeling hopeful. If anyone could reach Will now, it was my dad.
Just after my dad made his offer, the doctor who'd been overseeing me walked in and released me from the hospital. My dad walked with me outside to his rental car and helped me in. Once he was in, he asked where to take me, and I directed him to my apartment.
When the apartment complex was in view, my dad parked and stared at the steering wheel, clearly in thought. "Annalee, can I stay with you for a while?"
My eyes shot up to his face in surprise. He looked earnest. "Of course! Why? Don't you still have a gang to take down though? I thought you'd be even more invested in that now, after everything with me."
He looked at me thoughtfully. "I do care about it, but it's time to let other people handle it. I've spent far too much time obsessed with avenging your mother. It's put a huge rift between us, one that I want to fix. So until I find a place around here, can I stay with you? I don't mind sleeping on the couch."
I felt a smile spread across my face at his sweet words. "Of course you can stay with me. That means so much to me, Dad. You won't have to sleep on the couch; I have a second bedroom I'd been looking to rent out anyway. I'll be glad to have you around."
He smiled back and walked inside with me, grabbing his duffle bag of clothes on the way out of the car. We spent the rest of the evening setting up his sheets and hanging his clothes. It was nice to spend time with him in that mundane way. I'd never gotten the chance to do normal things with him before, and I was so excited to catch up on that with him.
When he was settled in, he finally walked outside my apartment door to call Will. I waited in the living room, pacing back and forth. When he finally came back in, his face was a mask of stone; I couldn't tell anything from his expression.
"Did he answer? What happened?"
He took a deep breath and sat down on the couch before saying anything. "Yes, he answered me. Before I had the chance to get a word in, he told me he was going to California for a new assignment. He thanked me for the opportunity to work with you and I for all this time and said he'd miss me," he hesitated, and I didn't miss that he'd said, "miss me" instead of "miss us", "He said he's flying out tonight. He's at the airport now. When I finally told him he needed to hear your side of whatever happened, he told me it didn't matter. He said it was done. I'm so sorry Annalee."
It took me a moment to process what he was saying. Will was leaving for California tonight? He didn't even say goodbye to me? He wouldn't even hear my side of the story? He must have heard exactly what I said without knowing what I meant then. This confirmed it. I had no guarantee he would ever take my calls again, which meant this was my last chance to tell him how I felt in person. I had to go to the airport and try to stop him.
I told my dad about my plan, and he agreed. He told me to be careful driving there and back, then tossed me his keys. I thanked him sincerely.
I drove as fast as I could (while being careful) to the airport and parked in the closest spot I could find before jumping out the car and running into the main entrance. I quickly dealt with the hassle of going through security, then checked the flight board. The closest flight to California was boarding now!
I began to run through the crowds of people, pushing past them uncaringly. I felt a strong sense of déjà vu as I went; this looked just like the dreams I'd had for the last few months. I ran through the terminals, rushing to see him. I had to catch him before he left, tell him how I felt. This was my last chance. I felt hope slowly creeping through my mind; if this looked the same as my dreams, maybe it would end the same too. I always caught up to whoever I'd been looking for. Maybe my subconscious knew all along that I was in love with Will, and it had been trying to tell me through the dreams.
I pushed into the terminal the California flight had been boarding and whipped my head around, trying to find the boarding gate. Finally I spotted it. Time seemed to slow down and eventually stop as I realized it had finished boarding and the plane was leaving. I was too late.
I stared out the window despondently. Of course I was too late. This was real life, not some silly dream. If only I'd accepted how I felt about him sooner, told him sooner, this wouldn't have happened. I'd been so stubborn all this time, hurt him so badly, that I deserved this. My shoulders sank and tears began to burn in my eyes. I sniffled slightly, wiping the tears that had escaped down my cheeks. I guess the only option left was to leave him a message and hope he called me back.
I pulled out my phone and dialed his number with a sad heart. I was surprised that it didn't automatically send me to voicemail; didn't he have his phone on airplane mode? I heard loud ringing from a phone somewhere behind me and turned. No way...
"Will?" I whispered at the tall, lean, man standing just feet away, his back to me.
I ended the call and walked toward him, my heart hoping beyond hope it was him. I finally stopped behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and I felt tears spring to my eyes yet again. This time, however, they were tears of surprise and joy.
"Will! I...I thought you were...why aren't you on the plane?" I stuttered, finally settling on the most prominent question in my mind.
From the moment he saw me, his expression had been stone-like. He seemed distant, and I didn't blame him after what he thought he'd heard. But once I burst into tears, he seemed confused.
"Just before I was going to board, I thought about how you'd let me explain even when you'd had no reason in the world to listen to me. I thought I owed you the same. Why are you crying? I thought..." He trailed off, staring at me.
"You thought I didn't want you in my life anymore, right?" I shook my head and let out a little laugh through my tears. "You didn't hear the context of what I said—"
He interrupted me abruptly. "Yes, I did, you said you couldn't be friends with me anymore. You said you'd rather I walk away forever than go back to being friends with me. How else was I supposed to take that?" He asked, anger and hurt flashing across his face momentarily.
"I meant that..." I hesitated, taking a deep breath. Was I finally ready to tell him how I felt? Yes, now was the time. "I meant that I couldn't be friends anymore because...I love you Will." I nearly whispered that last part, unable to speak louder with such a heavy truth.
His brown eyes bore into mine with confusion and the tiniest blossoming of hope. "What did you say?"
"I love you Will. I always have, I just didn't see it." I admitted, grinning.
His face slowly broke into a huge grin, showing off more of his dimples than I'd ever seen. He took one step toward me, eliminating all space between us, and cradled my face in his hands.
"You mean it? You're sure?"
I nodded and laughed. "More sure than I ever have been about anything. I love you Thurston William Tucker."
A laugh broke out of him and he suddenly lifted me up and swung me around joyfully. When he set me back on solid ground, his eyes were studying my face tenderly, lovingly.
"You have no idea how long I've waited and hoped to hear you say that Annie. Is that what you wanted to tell me before you were...taken?" I noticed his discomfort with saying what happened to me, so I glossed over it.
"Yes. I knew I had to tell you. I thought you'd hate me for hurting you before, but I had to say it to you. You don't hate me, right?"
He laughed, loud and full. "Of course not! Whatever pain I felt about that before is completely replaced by joy now Annie. You're my whole world, and you have been since the moment I saw you in that English class. I love you now and forever, Annalee Gabrielle Bloom."
And with that, he leaned in slowly, watching me all the while, for a kiss. When his lips finally touched mine, it's like everything finally felt right in the world. He kissed me hungrily, fervently, like I was a treasure. In that moment, I knew he was mine and I was his. I would never have to be without him again. And that was enough.
The End