All That Matters: A Duskwood Fanfic

9: Eyes On Me

I finally managed to pull myself out of the group on the dance floor, plopping myself into the bar stool next to Thomas I raised my hand to signal Phil. He gave me a quick nod before returning to the drinks he was currently making. He'd been pretty flirty all night, but with the bar full his attention was no longer on me.

"You know... I'm still not sure if I forgive her yet, but I still love her." Thomas wasn't looking at me as he spoke. Instead, his eyes were cast downward at nearly empty glass of whiskey. He'd be quiet all night, not joining in many of Jessy's required activities for the night. Activities that had ended with all of us taking far too many shots.

"There's nothing wrong with that." I replied gently resuming my duty as the group therapist. Okay, maybe therapist was too strong of a word but sometimes it felt like it. Not that I'm complaining; it was a role I took on without thought. It didn't hurt that it felt good being the person that they confided in. When he didn't say anything, I touched him arm. "People make mistakes Thomas, that doesn't mean you just stop loving them. It also doesn't mean that they aren't worth loving."

Thomas swirled the last dregs of whiskey before swallowing it in one gulp with a sigh. "You're right."

"I'm always right." I laughed as Phil dropped a glass of some blue drink, and refilled Thomas's drink. Phil had made it his mission tonight to make me try as many of his specialty drinks as possible tonight.

Thomas chuckled as Phil stepped away to attend to another customer. It was the first real smile I'd seen all night. A smile I'd barely seen in the weeks we'd known one another. His eyes roamed over my face, lingering on my red puffy eyes that I'd only been pretending to hide, and his smile faded. Guilt churned my stomach, and I had to look away.

"I'm sorry about Jake."

"Me too." The guilt settled deeper in my gut as I lied effortlessly. I hated lying to them. I'd spent weeks lying to them about small things as I'd worked to gain their trust, and here I was being the liar they had believed me to be.

But I had no choice. I would not risk Jake again.

"You love him." It wasn't a question, so I sipped my drink instead. Blue raspberry. "He's a good guy. I couldn't see it at first. I'm sorry I let him go into the mines, and I'm sorry I asked you to go."

I turned so that my back rested against the bar, uncomfortable. I didn't blame him, not really, I couldn't. He loved Hannah, and just wanted her back safe and sound whatever the cost.

When I located Jessy, she was dancing around Dan's wheelchair with a giant smile on her face. He was moving his arms in a rather awkward movement, and the others laughed. He beamed in response.

Originally, I hadn't trusted Dan, with his rough around the edges personality he was the perfect suspect in Hannah's kidnapping. Once I'd chipped away as his wall made of sarcasm and brutal honesty, I'd found the nice guy he was hiding. Dan just wanted to make people laugh.

Pride filled my chest as I took in their genuine smiles. I had done it. Brought Hannah home, repaired the fractured parts of their friendships. I'd done the right thing; I'd made a difference just like my dad always told me too.

Turning sideways to Thomas I said, "You couldn't have stopped him. He'd made that decision long before we knew it was a decision to be made."

It was truth.

"That's the one thing I still don't understand." Thomas set his glass on the bar and turned towards me. "Why did he work so hard to find Hannah?"

"Sorry Thomas, that's just not my story to share." I quickly slurped the rest of my drink down before pulling my hair off my neck into a high ponytail.

The hair on the back of my neck prickled, and a cold feeling dripped down my spine so fast I shivered. Looking up for a vent my eyes narrowed as I realized the sensation wasn't due to any cold air; someone was watching me.

I slipped away from Thomas towards Jessy while my eyes swept the crowd as I tried to pinpoint the culprit. My eyes scanned over groups and groups of friends laughing, dancing and playing pool. There. Near the stage, sitting alone at one of the few elevated tables. I looked away as our eyes met and turned slightly away watching him out of the corner of my eye. His gaze lingered on me just a few seconds longer than I liked.

He was older than me, most likely in his thirties in a rather nice button down and khakis. It wasn't the outfit that made him stand out though. It was the way he surveyed the room, watching Thomas near the bar before his eyes shifted back on me and the others.

Damn. He was definitely watching me. I knew that my performance at the police station wouldn't be enough to convince them I didn't know where Jake was, and I was relieved that I'd convinced Jake to leave Duskwood.

They wanted Jake badly, but I still had no idea why. Somehow, I was curious and didn't care all at the same time. We'd spent so little time together I hadn't wanted to waste one second of it on the past. I'd worry about that later, right now I had to get through this.

"Charlee, come dance!" Jessy waved at me, pulling my attention away from the mysterious man. I shook my head and gestured towards the door, waving my hand like a fan to let her know I was hot and getting some air.

I could feel the man's eyes on me until the door swung shut behind me. I stepped away from the door, and from the group of people who were smoking right outside. I rounded the corner into the dark alley that separated the bar from the store next door and bumped right into a tall figure.

"I'm sorry!" I exclaimed, stepping back to see Phil leaning against the stone wall with a cigarette hanging off his lips. With a relieved breath I greeted him, "Oh, hey Phil."

His long straight hair was pulled back, a hair tie holding it together against the back of his neck. Sunglasses placed at the tip of his nose, which I really didn't get because it was dark outside. Literally, there was barely any light in this alley, and he wore sunglasses.

"Charlee." He smiled as he tossed the cigarette onto the ground, pushing off the wall and stamping it out. "I've been wanting to get you alone all night, but it seems my sister is attached to your hip."

I shook my head as he offered me a cigarette, he shrugged pulling one out and lighting it. "Didn't you just have one?"

He nodded but took a long drag anyway before blowing out the smoke. I wasn't a big fan of cigarettes and was thankful when he was careful to blow the smoke away from me. I stepped up next to him and leaned back against the wall taking a deep, shaky breath.

"You good Charlee?" Phil cocked his head at me.

"Of course." I smiled, hoping he couldn't see that it was fake in the darkness.

We stood in silence for a few minutes before Phil stubbed out his second cigarette and turned towards me. "Charlee. How would you feel about going out with me?"

"What?" I blurted before I could stop myself. "Uh, I mean I can't. I-I'm kind of seeing someone."

"Alright, cool. No worries. I got to get back, my customers aren't going to serve themselves." His smile was so easy, and I'd expected him to try a little harder. Not that I wanted him too. In fact, it was kind of a relief that I could tell Jake he needn't worry about Phil hitting on me anymore.

I waited a minute, took a deep breath and reentered the bar. The second I walked back into the bar I could feel the man's eyes on me. Crap. 

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I'm hoping to up my posting to at least twice a week-what do you guys think?

XOXO