Canadian Sniper [ON HOLD]

8: Dylynn

"I'm gonna move schools," Derek told Dylynn.

"I'm perfectly safe," Dylynn insisted.

Derek shook his head. "No, you're not."

"Will you two cut the lovebird shit out?" Jesse asked, exasperated.

Derek kissed her temple. "I'll keep you safe."

"Once again," Jesse said through clenched teeth, "CUT. IT. OUT."

"Fine," Dylynn said, although she knew her cheeks were flushed. "Derek, you can't just switch schools."

"How are we supposed to make sure nothing's going to happen to you when you're at school though?" Jesse asked.

"Just trust me," Dylynn sighed. "Believe me, if I just act like I don't know anything's up she'll leave me alone. The minute I suspect she's going to do something, I'll let you guys know."

"That's not exactly helpful, seeing as we're almost an hour's drive from Ashburn," Jesse grumbled.

"Well I'll be with her," Kacey said.

"That's not a reassuring thought, Kacey," Jesse admitted.

"Gee, thanks," Kacey muttered.

"It's better than nothing," Derek told Jesse.

"Again, thank you," Kacey said sarcastically. "Fine, Dylynn isn't very well-protected. But it's not like we can let anyone else in on this."

Damien leaned forward on his elbows, pressing them on his knees. "Fortunately for all of you, I don't go to school anymore."

"That's right, you were drafted last spring," Dylynn remembered. "Sixth round, by Carolina?"

"That's the team," Damien agreed. "So if I need to stay in Ashburn a little more often, that's fine. Besides, like I said earlier, I can tell Juliette that I'm upset that Jesse's not a little more injured and see if I can get her to think I'm on her side, kind of be a source of information for you guys."

"That's gonna blow up if she sees you with us," Derek said. "But it's the only thing that sounds okay at this point."

"Can we trust you?" Kacey asked, but she was looking at Dylynn.

Dylynn hesitated. She glanced at Damien, who's gaze held steady, before flicking over to Jesse. He gave a half shrug and non-committal jerk of his head. Dylynn bit her lip. "Can we?" she asked him, echoing Kacey's question.

"Like you said, my future rests in your hands. If he's the best option we have at this point, I say we go for it," Jesse said. "Meanwhile, Derek and I can try and pry information out of Max. I don't think Juliette will trust him with that information though, seeing as we're all teammates, whether I'm playing or not."

"And what are we gonna do?" Kacey asked Dylynn, who raised an eyebrow. "Juliette's going to be on warpath after what we did to her the other day."

"I don't know," Dylynn said. "But let's just leave her be. I have a feeling she'll try and get to me the way she did last time."

"How?" Derek asked her.

Dylynn shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it."

"We need to know what we're going to be dealing with," Jesse tried.

"No. Jesse, I'm sorry." Dylynn couldn't meet his eyes. "I can't."

"Do you want me to-"

"No," Dylynn interrupted Kacey. "Don't." She stood up. "Are we done here?"