unwound
Adrian took her hand, and she pulled her eyes away from the setting sun so she could look at him.
"You've been through a lot, haven't you? Your pain still calls to me."
The physical pain had diminished but the emotional pain still lingered. "I know you have been through a lot too. Grammy told me about Paula."
"Some pain you cannot come back from. She showed me it is possible to die from a broken heart." His eyes held pain.
"You did everything you could." Jess promised.
"For her, but maybe not for you. I shouldn't have let you go. I should have trusted my instinct to keep you close."
She laid her head on his shoulder. "I'm okay."
He gave her hand a squeeze, and she smiled softly. "That's my story and I'm sticking to it." When she looked up at him, she allowed him to see her smile. "I'm okay, Adrian. After everything, okay is good."
He gave her hand another squeeze.
"You still can't come with us, can you?" She laid her head back on his shoulder. She could feel that his job here wasn't complete yet.
"I talked to the others. They are coming with you, but I must stay behind. I can't leave without her."
"I could stay and help you." She volunteered, and a part of her wished he'd take her up on it.
Even though she couldn't see his smile, she felt it. "I'm the finder. This is something I must do. I'll come as soon as I can."
They could all feel that it was a girl. A year or two older than Adrian. She was closer today than she was yesterday.
"We still won't be complete. The others are farther away."
"We'll find them." She promised him. That was one thing she was sure of.
"I think I feel their absent more than you and the others do. I need us all to be together. You say that I can ease you, but you do the same for me. More than the others do."
"I feel it too. All of this is confusing, and I'll admit that I've had more on my mind then trying to figure it out. I needed everything to be okay with my sister before I could think about anything else. I need___."
"Because you're not okay." He whispered.
No, she wasn't. "You help. You're like my Obi-Wan."
"I think there's someone who can help you more than I can." Adrian suggested with a smile in his voice.
She didn't know if he was looking at Kellum when he said that, but damn if her eyes didn't go to him. He just stood there. Had been for hours.
She played with Mel and Julian. Swam some more, then visited with the twins and Grammy, and now she was having her Adrian time, and Kellum was still just standing there. Alone.
Now and then he's lips would move, and she knew he was talking to Dezrick, but that was the only movement he made.
His eyes remained on her. She couldn't tell that from this distance, but she could feel his eyes on her.
She hated that. It pissed her off. It made her want to cry.
He forgot her. Forgot them.
"I'm tired." The words sounded sad and pathetic even to her own ears.
"I'm waiting for you to be sick and tired." Julian was standing over her with his arms crossed. "I mean it, Jess. We've been back nearly two weeks and you haven't visited Hayley and Macie once. We don't even know where in the hell they put Sin or those rat asses."
"Stop yelling at me." She waved her free arm around. "I'm here, aren't I?"
"Yeah, feeling sorry for yourself. My Jess doesn't feel sorry for herself."
"I feel sorry for you if you think I won't knock you on your ass if you don't stop screaming at me."
Smiling, Julian made a fist and pounded on his chest. "That's why you're mine, not his." He pointed at Adrian. "Homeboy doesn't know what my girl needs, or he wouldn't be sitting there letting you get all down. Today has been a good day." He sat beside her and motioned with his head until she removed her head from Adrian's shoulder and laid it on his.
She chuckled. "Babe, put your testosterone away. We are over the whole kissing thing. He's like a brother or something."
"I wouldn't say brother." Adrian injected quickly. "I just..."
Jess blindly reached for his hand. "I know."
He could feel Kellum now, too. Being forward with her now would be impossible. He didn't even have to be told who or what Kellum was. As soon as he saw Kellum, he had bowed.
So had Sean, Ritz, and Jaymes.
Julian looked Kellum's way because she was looking that way again. "I wonder what the jerk thinks about you being wrapped around two guys."
Nothing. He thought nothing of it. "Dez, I need marshmallows. A lot of them."
"Yes, my Queen."
"And music, Dez. Up loud. My girls need a night of dancing."
