𝐈'𝐌 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 ►𝐒.𝐃 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅-𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏

𝙁𝙄𝙁𝙏𝙀𝙀𝙉 𝙔𝙀𝘼𝙍𝙎.

► 𝙈𝙮 (𝙋𝙊𝙑)
—

(𝑹𝒊𝒏𝒈.... 𝑹𝒊𝒏𝒈!)

Awaking to the sound of a phone, I opened my eyes in the early morning of a Sunday. Or at least that's what I thought it was. It was Saturday when I got sucked in the game. Anyways, glancing over at my phone, I noticed that it was only 𝟔:𝟒𝟓 in the morning. I shuffled to the side of the bed, then leaned over to grab my phone. I groaned, answering it. "Hello?"

"𝑨𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂... 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈."

Wideneding my eyes at the voice, I noticed I wasn't even in my room, but somehow also knew it was. "Comin' a**hole. I was supposed to sleep in on my day off." I scoffed and decided to finish the call with Nate. My eyes narrowed softly, whilst I picked what I wanted to wear. Shortly after, they had me dressed in light colored jeans, Wolverine work boots, and a dark blue knock off of a Carhartt long sleeve shirt. How did that happen? I wore this to work. How did they know I would wear this? Anyway, I grabbed my phone, keys, and a snack. Heading out the door shortly after.

—

Pulling my truck in a space, I sighed and put it in the park. Opening the door, I smiled at the faint smell of the river by Nate's workplace. Sliding out of my truck, I then closed the door. Walking up towards the deck, I took one glance at the figure next to Nathan. "Nate, is this -"

"𝑨𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂?"

"Sam?"

I started to walk faster, my eyes shifting towards the figure that was coming closer to me. As soon as my eyes met, Sam's I beamed. "Sam!!" My enthusiasm showed as I basically collapsed into his arms. When his arms wrapped around my shoulders, I started to cry. I hadn't seen him in fifteen years. "Ohh, you're here." Hearing his chest rumble with a deep chuckle, I made eye contact with him.

"𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈?"

I was. "No..." I lied horribly before laughing softly. However, it got cut off with a deep kiss. Our lips clung to each other as his hand clasped the back of my head.

(𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉)

"𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆?"

"𝑯𝒖𝒉? 𝒐𝒉𝒉, 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒉."

Peering around Sam's arm, I eyed Nathan. "For now... but is Sam why you called me down here? I could've been cleaning stalls."

"𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒌?"

"Yes, I took over my grandpa's place outside the track. Had to keep myself busy when you 'Died'. But Nate here, also kept my a** busy with loads of stuff." I replied quietly, then slowly stepped aside. It was strange for me to be around him, or so it felt. I almost felt uncomfortable. "So, when did you get out? I want to know. I've got a place for you to stay too."

"𝑺𝒐, 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆?"

"After you shower, of course. You stink like my daddy when he smoked..." I smirked.

"𝑫𝒊𝒅 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕?"

"No." I looked at Nathan before leaning against the railing as Sam resumed his previous conversation. "I wasn't around during the Avery hunt. I have been at the track pretty much since then. Nate and I did some traveling afterward... but my absence was becoming suspicious at the race track." I crossed my arms, then stepped aside when Sam stood back up, I watched him lean against the railing. He was something. I couldn't believe I was this close to him. Our eyes met, and his hazel eyes twinkled softly at me. My own dark brown eyes wavered gently, and then I looked away. I was starting at the ground when I heard Nathan's voice.

"𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒂?"

"𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏."

—

"Ohh, Sam. This is bad." I murmured quietly but knew the whole story was not a lie. Wait? Did I just say that? Yes, it was a lie! Feigning a frown, I eyed Samuel again. "Now, why is it that you're here?" Looking at what handed me, I grabbed the print of the crucifix. "Is this what you boys were doing?" I sighed quietly before lifting my gaze back towards Sam.

"𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔."

"𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒕."

"I don't understand -"

"𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓?"

I glanced between the both of them before zoning out a little. I think I knew how to get home. I'd have to help them find the treasure. That was probably the only way home. Their conversation went unheard.

(𝑬𝒍𝒃𝒐𝒘)

"Mhm?"

"𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈."

"𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒆, 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚... 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆."

"So you don't trust your brother?" I smirked, my soft gaze on Samuel's. "Alright. Well, wherever we're going, I gotta tell my -" I narrowed my brows. "Fine, I won't tell my bosses." Watching Nate move away, I felt Samuel's hand reach for my own. "Time for us to catch up, huh?"

"𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖."

Oh, his smile made me weak in the knees. But I pushed past it. "I'm sure Nate told you, but with the pillars of Iram, I got shot when we were leaving the city -" My eyes widened a little. Did I just say that? Yep. Noticing the smirk on Sam's face, I flushed.

"𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒆."

"See what?" I knew what he was poking at. "You're not getting a peek at my scar. In fact, it's ugly." I snorted before speaking up again. "After that, I've been working at the track ever since. Haven't had a day off since I don't know when." I added, my eyes focused on the river, feeling his fingers intertwine with mine. A smile crept onto my face. Enjoying his company, I settled into his touch. Just as I got comfortable, I flinched at Nathan's voice.

"𝑷𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒈𝒔 𝒘𝒆'𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝑰𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒚."