Love or Die

Going Nowhere

After walking Liz to her car, Travis took Jade home, deciding it was the safest place for her to be. Mandee couldn’t get to her without being invited in and Jade didn’t open the door for anyone she didn’t know so she would be safe from Mandee’s helpers too. He ordered pizza for her and answered the door when it came to be on the safe side; once they got the food, Jade flipped through the channels until they agreed on a movie and started to relax. Without either of them realizing it, hours had passed and Jade grew progressively tired until she finally fell asleep a little after midnight.

            Travis noticed her slow, even breathing and turned to tell her to go to bed when he saw that she was already asleep. He smiled at how peaceful she looked before slowly and carefully picking her up to bring her upstairs. She mumbled his name as he did and he thought he had woken her up but she only stirred slightly and laid her head against his neck. Bringing her to her room, he found books and her laptop spread across her bed and he tried not to laugh. He laid her on the side of the bed bare of her many things and quietly walked around to clean the rest of. Bed newly cleared and Jade sleeping, Travis walked towards the door to leave when he heard his name again; this time a whisper rather than a mumble. He turned to see Jade sitting up slightly and looking at him.

            “Are you leaving?” she asked him groggily.

            “Yeah,” he answered. “Go back to sleep.”

            Jade stayed silent and Travis thought she had fallen asleep again when she spoke. “Can you stay?”

            “What?”                                                        

            “Stay,” Jade said. “Please? I feel better with you around.”

            Travis walked back to her and kneeled on the floor across from where she laid on the bed. He knew she only saw him as a shadow but when he looked at her he could see all her features as clear as he had hours before, in the light. He could see the hopeful look on her face and wondered why she woke up. “Jade, you’re safe here, you know that right?” he asked. “Mandee can’t get in without being invited and you would hear it if anyone else tried to get in.”

            “I know,” she answered, feeling a little self-conscious that he could see her when she couldn’t see him. “But… I have this really bad feeling.”

            “You shouldn’t,” Travis responded. “You’ll be fine here.”

            “I’m not worried about me,” she said into the dark room. “I’m worried about you.”

            “Why?”

            Jade stayed silent for a second, not wanting to tell him about the dream she had just had. Thinking of the dream, of how Travis was gone from her life, made her heartache and a chill run down her spine. “I don’t know,” she said. “I’m scared that if you leave, I won’t see you again.”

            “Why would you think that?” Travis asked her, eyebrows coming together with confusion.

            “Like I said, it’s just a bad feeling I have.” Travis saw her look down at her pillow and trace shapes into it worriedly. He reached for the lamp next to him, and turned on the light so that she could see him when he spoke. He grabbed the hand tracing the shapes and locked his fingers with hers, making her look up at him. Her brown eyes seemed watery and he wasn’t sure if it was because of what was bothering her or the exhaustion from the day’s events.