𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐘 𝐈 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔, 𝗷𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝗯 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲¹

𝟬𝟮𝟵, whenever you go, I'll go

( CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE )
WHENEVER YOU GO, I'LL GO

✧

THE WINSLOW GIRL FELT . . . pretty good at this precise moment. Nothing out there looked good compared to the paradise she imagined in her head. No, in fact, she didn't imagine it. She was lying in John B's arms, her head buried in his neck while her hand was placed on his heart where she hear it beat at a perfectly stable rhythm that made her want to go back to sleep. She had slept with the boy who . . . loved her. Eden had only been repeating these words in her head since last night and this morning. It felt good to finally be able to think about something other than the murder still fresh in her mind, or Caden, or Rafe. She finally had the power to just stare at the Routledge boy and repeat those words to herself, and then all her bad nightmares would go back to bed.

It was still difficult for her to believe it. It must have taken them two years, a game of fake dating, a treasure hunt, a murder, becoming fugitives, for them to finally admit their feelings towards each other. But she didn't regret anything they had gone through together to finally get to this point. If it hadn't been for this treasure hunt . . . No, correction : if it hadn't been for that letter hanging on her door when she got back from the Boneyard, none of this would have happened, and she never would have had the courage to go back to John B for a second time. So yes, Eden believed that everything was happening because it had to happen.

Of course, Eden had some tough times in the early days. She was lost in her family, her not-really-boyfriend was a real manipulator, she didn't like her life, she didn't feel up to what was happening to her. She often thought about ending it before it became too much to bear. And one thing she was certain of was that what happened was only the beginning of something much more serious. But, she didn't regret at all having taken this route in her life. Going back to the Pogues, going back to John B was probably one of the best decisions she had made in a long time. She was finally herself, back in what she called home one day. She was back with her favorite people, even though she knew that this whole war between these two tribes in her life had just started. She was very well aware that by returning to the Pogues, her life would be completely turned upside down. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. But . . . she was there.

    There had already been this hatred between Pogues and Kooks for longer than she could remember. And nothing was going to work out for the best. In the only months she was on Figure Eight's side, she knew how their world worked. There was no in-between. It was either them or nothing. And Eden, she chose nothing, then she left for the side of the Cut. She knew what to expect now. Rafe was going to be completely furious when he would see her take John B's side. Eden's friends — Drea and Josie — were going to be either absolutely against her, or accepting of her choice. Either way, the group of Kooks was over for the girl, and she was going to have to live with the consequences. But at least she had him.