The Path

Chapter 10

<--- Alex

Jamie's POV

She stared at me, worry in her eye. She honestly thinks she's done something wrong. Sure, that question earlier was unexpected but she deserves to know. Right? I didn't want to keep anything from her. I wanted to trust her. Could I? This could get me in the future but I didn't care. Somehow I had developed feelings for this girl and I was going to do anything to keep her.

"You haven't done anything wrong" I reassure her. I see the worry on her face fade and she relaxes. "You deserve to know". I turn on my side, so that I'm facing her. Our faces are a few centimetres apart.

"No, I don't. That's something for you to hold on to. I don't need to know unless you want to tell me. It's just that the lyrics in the song got to me. Maybe they didn't mean anything at all but..." Her sentence fades as she thinks of something to say. She was so beautiful, even when she had a frown on her face. I smoothed out the lines on her forehead with my thumb.

"I want to tell you. You're the only person I trust". I tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear.

I see her blush slightly. It's hard to see because the light's fading outside, but I can make out a smile and a blush. Wait, outside? I look over my shoulder, to the screen on the wall. I can see outside perfectly, as if it were a window. My brows knit together in confusion.

"Must be one of those one way windows. We can see out but they can't see in". Taylor must have gotten curious to what I was looking at.

"Probably". I turn back to her and she's looking into my eyes. It's taking everything I have not to kiss her right now. That would only mess things up. I take a deep breath and close my eyes. I've never told anyone about my life. She'd be the first. I feel her hand wrap around mine for support. They're warm and comforting. I open my eyes and look straight into hers.

"It's not been easy" I start. "I lost my family at 16 and I've been on the run for 3 years. I lost my mother, my father, my younger brother and my older sister. She was just about to move out. She could have made it"

Taylor's POV

He shuts his eyes and his brows knitted together. He looked angry. I put my hand on his face to calm him down. Jamie moved his hand and held my hand to his face. He sighed and opened his eyes. Sadness overflowed from his sea blue eyes.

"She could have made it" he whispered, tears rolling down his cheeks. I've only seen one man cry and that was Jake. I wasn't used to seeing men cry but I would still comfort him. We all have to be weak at some point.

"Shh, it's okay" I say soothingly, moving my thumb to stroke his cheek.

"If she had moved out the weekend before, like she planned, she could have made it. But I asked her to stay. How selfish can I be? I asked her to stay because I had a fight with my parents and I wanted her there to comfort me. I'm a disgusting human being". He'd closed his eyes again and was trying to control his breathing. I moved my hand, it wasn't helping anymore. Instead I moved closer to him and put my head on his chest. I felt him pause, then he moved his hand to rest on my shoulder.

"You're not selfish" I say. I've never been good with advise or anything along those lines, but I was about to try my best to make him feel better about what he's done. It wasn't his fault and now he's sitting with the burden of him thinking he'd killed his sister.

"I would have done exactly the same in that situation. How were you to know? You shouldn't blame yourself. What if it had happened the weekend before? You'd only say she should have moved out the weekend before that. This isn't your fault, but you're looking for someone to blame."

There was a comfortable silence for a while and I could feel my eyes getting heavy. I hadn't slept in over 24 hours. I was exhausted. I closed my eyes while he thought about what I'd said.

"You're right. I'm looking for someone to blame. Seeing as I was the one that asked her to stay, it looks like it's my fault. It isn't though is it? But if it isn't mine, then who's is it?". His voice started to sound sleepy towards the end. I could tell he was tired and that this conversation was almost over.

"That's an easy one" I say with a yawn. "It's them. They're to blame" I was struggling to stay awake. I was so comfortable laying here, my head on his chest. It felt right. Whatever 'right' was. After waiting a few minutes for Jamie to answer, I decided he wasn't going to and I let myself fall asleep.