Cabin 13 ~Book 1~

26

*Jesse's POV*
I couldn't look at her. I knew what her face would be like, I knew what she was thinking. I just continued to look down at my own hands. They were shaking now.
Minutes passed and she still hadn't said anything else. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and I glanced up at her, only a little. She was crying.
"Syd," I said, my hands automatically reaching for her wrists. The moment my hands touched her though, she flinched, and took a step away from me. I felt like she'd just punched me. Actually, I'd prefer if she had.
"Syd-"
"Don't call me that." She snapped, one of her hands reaching up to wipe away the few tears from her face. She hid her face, looking down at the ground, as if she couldn't bear to look at me anymore.
"Sydney, don't do this." I said, my voice breaking at the end. "I'm still the same person you've known for the last few weeks."
"You can't honestly expect me to agree with that." She said quietly, still not looking at me.
"Even if I didn't... even if I never told you, it doesn't change that it's who I am."
That did it. She looked up then, and I could see her eyes were full of anger. "That's just it Jesse! I didn't know about this. Which means that to me, everything about you has changed. Do you not understand that?!"
"No! I can't understand why that's changed everything between us."
"You're a murderer." She hissed. "I slept with a freaking murderer. Not only that, though that should be enough to end all of this between us, but you're a liar too. And I don't, no I can't be with someone who would lie to me."
She started to head towards the door, but I grabbed her arm, and pulled her back to me. "You said it yourself before. You said that it wasn't my fault, that I was only trying to do what was right for my family."
"That was when I thought you had only beat him up Jesse. This is completely different. Now let go of me." She said, not looking at me at all anymore.
Part of me was tempted to hold her there, to make her change her mind and forgive me. I knew I could if I wanted to. But that was the part of me that got me in the whole mess with Faye in the first place. And I could never hurt Sydney on purpose.
I let her go. I think that surprised her because she hesitated slightly. Then she turned towards the door and left.

*Sydney's POV*
I ran down the steps of the cabin, leaving Jesse standing there in the door way. I started walking, walking anywhere, and before I knew it, I ended up in front of Ethan's cabin. I knocked on the door.
I wasn't sure why I came here. I felt exhausted and could use some sleep, but it was too late to turn back, since he'd already opened up the door.
"Sydney?" he asked, and I could tell I'd woke him up from sleep. His voice was groggy, and he was rubbing at his eye, as if to wipe away the exhaustion.
"I..." I hesitated, not sure what exactly I was supposed to say. Do I tell him about Jesse? Do I tell him about what had just happened? Suddenly, I felt like an idiot for coming here and glared down at the hard wood porch of the cabin. "Never mind. I don't even know why I came here. Sorry I woke you up." I said, and then turned away to go.
"Wait. Let me just grab a jacket. You seem like you need to talk."

He hobbled back inside, with his still broken foot, and was back in less than a minute. I helped him sit down and then took a place beside him.
"I don't even know where to start..." I muttered. I knew I needed to talk to someoneabout all of this. Alyssa was a definite no, and Tara probably wasn't wanting to talk to me anytime soon. Plus, I didn't think I could handle the whole "I told you so" speech.
Which really only left me with Ethan, my only other "friend" here.
"Why not start at the beginning?"
And that's what I did. I started from the very beginning. I told him about when I first met Jesse, and then Alyssa, and then the whole murder case. I told him about Jesse and I growing closer, and Alyssa disappearing, and then what she'd told me about the Brandon Faye.
"I confronted him about it."
"And?"
"And it's true. He murdered Brandon. And Alyssa got rid of the body."
Ethan was silent, and I glanced over at him to see his face.
He'd changed a lot since I'd last seen him. He'd gotten taller, and a little skinnier. He was bigger, like he'd been working out a lot. But, most of all, his eyes were different. They looked softer, kinder almost. His eyes used to hold a sort of anger in them before.
"Sydney?" He asked, confusion strong in his voice.
"Wha?" I stuttered, looking away. I'd been caught staring, and I felt the flush of red in my cheeks. "What is it?"
"I said you should tell the police."
"I mean... I know what Jesse did was wrong, but I don't think he'd do it again..."
"That doesn't mean that he shouldn't pay for what he did. Brandon's family still don't know who really killed their son. They might still be grieving his loss, and if they are... I mean, putting away the guy who did this could help them move on. And besides, you got proof that he did it, don't you? Didn't you say you recorded that conversation you had with Alyssa?"
I nodded slowly, still not sure if I should show it to the police. I knew what he was saying was right.
"I'll think about it, okay? But... right now I'm really tired and kind of want to sleep first." I said, getting up.
He nodded. I put my hand out to help him up, pulling him to his feet. He tripped a little which brought us closer together, our faces only inches apart. We stood there for a moment, me helping him stay off his foot while he balanced most of his weight on the other. I was caught up in those same brown eyes that I'd loved when we were dating, the eyes that hadn't changed but seemed so different at the same time.
I was so far gone in those eyes that I didn't even see him lean forward until his lips met mine.