Defect

[chapter 19]

Hey, all. Okay, so before you start yelling, I promise I am trying to write! I don't know why, but this chapter was especially hard for me... So as always, and for this chappie especially, if you see something you think I could improve on, feel free to point it out. I would totally love the feedback. Anyways, that's all for the moment--enjoy!

A week later, we were in the same old truck, hurtling towards my childhood home.

"How long do you think we have before this thing craps out for good?" I asked, still half-trapped in a daydream as I watched rolling hills whiz past.

"I dunno," Alex responded, his eyes skimming the area, looking for any signs of something being wrong. "I think I bought us some time with that minor fix-up, but I really can't say for sure. It could die in an hour or in a month."

"Let's hope it holds out for at least another two weeks."

"Agreed," he said, smiling over at me. My stomach twisted, butterflies staging a revolution, and I lost myself in the comfort of the moment. Over the past few weeks, I'd become numb to the pain of living with Alex, always near him but unable to lose myself in his sunshine smile or hold hands under the table. He'd been right next to me, but he may as well have been halfway across the country.

And it felt so completely, indescribably good to have him back.

"How far away are we?" I asked, trying to shake my distracted thoughts away.

"Maybe half an hour?" Alex estimated, glancing at the sky. "How come?"

"Just trying to figure out how long I have before the merciless teasing begins," I joked. We both laughed, sitting back in the seats and letting the residual discomfort from the past few weeks float out the windows.

"It feels good to be back in the swing of things," I commented, hating myself for feeling hesitant. Still, it was hard to jump back into things--part of me was terrified of losing any progress we'd made.

"Yeah, it does," he said, smile as soft as silk. Conversation floated between us for a few moments, words unimportant other than to get us back in practice, and it was too soon when the brick-faced house came into view.

Aretha stood outside, glancing up and down the street nervous as she waited for us, and relief blossomed on her face as we pulled in. "Where were you guys? You're almost three hours late!"

"Sorry," I said, climbing out of the car. "We got held up."

"Well are you okay?" she asked, concerned.

"Yeah," Alex said, joining us with a backpack of vital information thrown over one shoulder. "We should probably get inside, though. We have big things to talk about."

***

It took them all of twenty minutes to figure it out.

"So, we aren't sure exactly what Rot-Core Con is, but it's big--the whole city is already in preparation, and we think we found a really good place to set it off. There's a huge courtyard in the middle of the city where most of the prep work is happening--manual labor being done by Evos, that's how secret this thing is--but right nearby is a huge conference hall. It's take a little work, but if we could herd them into--"

Alex's explanation was cut off by Sofia's shriek of delight. "Oh my god! You two are together again!"

"Thank god! I totally thought I was going crazy thinking the exact same thing," Jax said, excited.

"Yeah, me too," Aretha agreed.

"Um, guys, if we could just back on topic here--" I began. It didn't work; they were already too deep in questioning-mode.

"So when did this happen?"

"Forget that, why did this happen?"

"Were you guys, like, running from danger and lost in the moment or something?"

"Was it a romantic trip?"

"Don't ask that, of course it was romantic! Why else would they be together?"

"Um, maybe because they still like each other and we all knew it?"

"WOULD YOU ALL PLEASE SETTLE DOWN?" Alex bellowed. "We have more important things to be focusing on than romance."

"Jeez, Alex, wait to kill the mood," Jax mumbled.

"Yeah, we were just trying to be happy for a few minutes," Sofia said. "Don't you two ever get tired of all the doom-and-gloom?"

"Do I ever get tired of trying to save the world? Hm, let me think," I said, sarcasm lacing my tone.

"Okay, you know what I meant," Sofia said, sighing.

"Yeah, I do," I said, my voice softening. "But this is important."

"Can I just say something while the room is all depressed?" Aretha suddenly said,

"Um, sure," Alex said, startled and confused by everything that had just happened. "Knock yourself out."

"Look," she said, standing and pacing, "I've been thinking about why the Evos found us when they did. I mean, isn't it a little bit odd that they burst in right as the Wrobel is gathering support and information it hadn't had access to for over a decade? It was a pivotal moment--so how did they know to interrupt?"

"They didn't--it was just a coincidence," Jax said, frowning slightly.

"I don't believe in coincidences that big," Aretha responded, mouth set in a grim, straight line.

"Where exactly are you going with this?" I asked, frowning slightly.

She took a deep breath. "I think there was a mole. I think they knew we were there."

So, I already have a plan for the whole 'mole' thing. But I've gotta admit, I'm curious... What do you guys think? Who is it?

As always, comment, vote, and follow!

And, can I just take a moment to say WOW? I mean, this time last year I was excited about almost 1K reads. This year, we've got 20.8K reads AND 1.5K votes. How freaking fantabulous is that?!?! You guys are just the best :)

See you in a few, my fellow Wattpadians.

--Earthstone