15

                                    

                                          
            
                          
Would've updated earlier (especially since today was supposed to be my day off) but I ended up going to work for four hours to cover for someone else... Fun. Anyway, here's the next piece of the puzzle.



                          
***



                          
Maeve stays where she is, mouth gaping helplessly as she looks back and forth between me and the door Jamison just exited through.
                          
"If you want to go with him, you'd better go quick," I tell her. "He's not going to wait around."
                          
For the first time since I've met her, she looks totally overwhelmed, and I can't help but imagining her waking up to an empty house, wandering around with growing panic as she searched for her Faded father.
                          
"No hard feelings, whatever you choose, I promise. I get that this isn't ideal. But it is what it is, okay? Jamison and I made a deal with a clear end point, and this is it. I'm sorry if we weren't upfront with you about it, if we got your hopes up."
                          
I blink, realizing with a great deal of shock that there are tears streaming down her cheeks. "Maeve..."
                          
"You two are so stupid!" she blurts, balling up her fists.
                          
Dumbstruck, I can't find the words to respond.
                          
"You can't just let him walk away! You two can't just..." Frustration keeps her from finishing the sentence.
                          
"Maeve, look-"
                          
"Don't you tell me to look. I've been looking. For weeks. And I see two incredibly stupid people who can't see what they've got even though I keep throwing it in their stupid faces. You look. You need to go out there and get him back. He wouldn't say it, but I will. You owe him. Big time. He brought you back to your stupid friends in one piece and asked for nothing in return. The least you can do is help him do his stupid hero thing."
                          
I don't know if you've ever been told off by a nine-year old, but let me tell you, it stings. It's like a hardest slap to the face you could ever imagine, and then multiply it by five hundred.
                          
Especially when you know she's right.
                          
"Okay," I say.
                          
She stares at me. "Okay?"
                          
"Okay, I get what you're saying. I'll... go get him. But if he still wants to leave, it's not my place to try and stop him, you understand."
                          
She rolls her eyes. "You'll never get it. Neither of you totally get it, but at least he's a little closer than you are. You're clueless."
                          
"You... aren't wrong..."
                          
"No, I'm not. Go get him."



                          
***



                          
The door clicks shut behind me.
                          
The rain has finally stopped, but it has left its wet, fresh scent on the grass and the trees. Everything is quiet, still muffled by the heavy atmosphere.
                          
And Jamison is nowhere in sight.
                          
I take a few steps away from the house, shivering as the light breeze touches me and water build-up in the grass seeps into my shoes. "Jamison? It's Halle, I think we need to talk. Please?" I wince at how dumb I sound, but I don't know what else to say. I feel dumb.
                          
Silence meets me, and I have half a mind to just scream into the emptiness.
                          
Maybe I should.
                          
With just a bit of self-loathing, I walk across the yard to the shed. Luckily it's unlocked, and I open the doors with only the slightest rusty-hinged protest.