Our Soul Divided

11| Patience Runs Out *

*This chapter contains the beginning of explicit scenes and the influence of alcohol. If either of these is a trigger or something you would not like to read, please skip the end of this one.*

Athena

"Are you having fun?" one of the guys, Ryder, asks me.

"Yeah, I am," I answer without taking my eyes off Stetson across the field. He's talking to someone and he has a bottle in his hand. I've been watching him wander around for an hour or so trying to talk to everyone. He looks for me every few minutes and his glances have become more and more intense each time.

"You looking for Stetson?" Ryder asks.

The rest of the group wandered off to dance, though I think that Rain and her friend Kasi disappeared soon after for what I'm sure was sex. They hadn't been able to keep their hands off each other earlier.

"I see him, just... watching him," I say and press my lips together.

"Stalker, much?" Ryder teases.

My face screws into agitation and I shoot him a glare.

He raises his hands in surrender, "Relax, it was a joke. He's been watching you, too."

"I know," I say and look down at the soft grass beneath me. "All these people..." I observe aloud. "I don't think I even know this many people," I whisper.

"Stetson has been kind of a light to us all. He dedicated his time to helping people for the last decade. For those that didn't meet him directly, someone else told them about him," Ryder explains. "He's kind of a hero," he finishes with a mumble.

I watch Ryder pull a few blades of grass out with his fingers and begin to rip them apart.

Ryder is a bit younger than Stetson and I, but he's handsome. His dark hair and hazel eyes remind me of Dorian when I met him. He's not rugged, but disheveled. He looks like he's needed a haircut for a while as his hair is so long on top that he has it pulled into a small bun, but it falls out over his forehead in the front. His right eyebrow has a small piece of metal shoved through it and his ears have countless rings on both sides. He has small tattoos all over his skin that is exposed.

Most everyone around here has tattoos and piercings all over their bodies. Even Stetson has changed tremendously since I last saw him. Tattoos covering his arms and poking through the collar of his shirt. I'm curious as to why. So I ask Ryder, hoping he'll have some answers.

"I like your tattoos," I say. "Everyone has them around here, I almost feel left out."

Ryder freezes for a moment, "Stetson will likely make you get a few," he says without regard.

I am surprised by his assumption, "Stetson would never force me into anything."

Ryder snorts, "You don't know him very well."

"Getting acquainted with my girl?" Stetson's voice makes me jump and Ryder snaps to attention.

"Uh... yeah. Rain disappeared a while ago and she told me not to leave her side," Ryder rushed out.

Stetson is agitated, I can see it in the tenseness of his muscles and his hard jaw. "Should have known she couldn't follow orders with Kasi around."

Orders? The way he said that makes him sound abusive.

"It's okay, I'm fine," I stand and take his hand.

"I've got it from here, Ryder," he says to the kid still sitting on the ground, "Watch your mouth." His voice is almost cold.