But It Isn't Right (Duskwood Fanfic)

Episode 5 - Divided Attention

I would never admit it to the others, but I felt like Jake abandoned me. Or he was at least avoiding me because of our last conversation. Meanwhile, thousands of people were viewing Lilly's video. They were texting me ignorant and cruel messages, and who knows what they were saying to Jake--if they could even get in touch with him. He probably had ways of blocking unknown numbers and was just happily hacking away somewhere. 

But either way, he was gone, and I was starting to wonder if Dan was right. This was the second time that Jake had left me to deal with the consequences of his desire to keep the others in the dark about our investigation, and this time, it was putting my livelihood and maybe my safety in jeopardy. 

Now, possibly because I had almost asked him if he had feelings for me, he had gone offline and wasn't paying attention to the fact that we were both in danger. This wasn't good behavior for someone that asked them to trust you blindly. I usually gave people the benefit of the doubt, but this was a lot. 

Meanwhile, the others tried to find a way to help me, but we didn't come up with anything. I couldn't even be that mad at Lilly. She was just a misguided, scared little girl who thought she was doing what she needed to do to get her sister back. I didn't condone her actions in any way, but I could remember a time several years back when I might have behaved similarly before I decided that I needed to grow up and start adulting.

Richy came into the Legends chat to cheer me up, telling me about his visit with Alfie and Grey. It was really sweet. At least, we were able to get past our previous awkward stage and come to an understanding that we were going to try to be friends. Then Jessy cracked me up by outing him about how things really turned out with Alfie, which was a heartwarming example of how hard Richy tried to make an upset little boy feel better. This guy was just too good. I hoped things got better for him; I would have to see if I could help him somehow, but in a way that didn't make him feel like he was getting charity.

Finally, Jake came back. All he said was "Hello Li." I made a face at him.

"What happened?"

"Just take a look in the group chat," I said. I was not in the mood to give him a rundown; he knew how to read, didn't he? "That's not good," was his response when he came back. I said nothing. "I am going to take care of it," he told me.

"Please hurry. I am going to let the others know."

I told them, and a few moments later, Thomas said the video was taken down, and Dan immediately assumed that Jake threatened Lilly to get it done. I didn't know how he had "taken care of it," but I didn't believe it was by threatening her. I was already annoyed, and Dan seemed like a good target for my frustration. At the end of our argument, Dan said, "I really only have your best interests at heart, Li."

My anger deflated. "I know." I believed that about him. In his own way, Dan was showing that he cared.

But I didn't believe his assertion that Jake was behind Hannah's disappearance. Even if I was mad at him right now, I knew Jake wasn't accosting me in alleyways or dragging off Hannah and then pretending to witness her kidnapping. It just didn't fit with the rest of his behavior.

The only good thing resulting from Lilly releasing the video was that it caused Jake to have an honest conversation with me about things that he'd kept from me previously. He admitted to me that he was wanted by the government, but didn't tell me before because he was afraid I'd stop trusting him. 

It frustrated me because it was such an illogical choice for him, and therefore out of character. But I was also starting to see a pattern here. He would make bad, possibly emotional choices revolving around pushing the boundaries of my trust. It made me sad for him, too, because he said that I gave him hope. Here I was, surrounded by a family that loved me, friends I could count on, and even fans, who were strangers, but they still uplifted me when they liked the music that I worked so hard to create. Meanwhile, he had only me to support him. At that thought, my anger faded away.