Gracie Abrams is eking out a solitary existence, fighting day-in, day-out against the drain of working customer service and nursing two newborn kittens in her off time. Out on her own ever since her sister moved in with her boyfriend, the burden of...
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"There are three locations for the winterizing ceremonies," Bella instructed, mere moments after pulling up in front of my door with a giant humvee-looking thing. Were we going to war or something?
I thought our goal was to not be seen by anyone. Driving this thing around would make that infinitely more difficult.
"Okay." I blinked.
Bella's boots stomped past me, nearly cutting off my pinkie toe. I had just gotten home from work, raced to the shower, and diligently fed the tiny monsters. I hadn't fed them fast enough, so I was still wiping off stray flecks of blood from my knuckles when she arrived.
"Talia will meet us there," she said.
Muffled greetings echoed from the room where Sam was changing into warmer clothes. Hopefully dark ones, too. Could plaid-girl wear dark?? Did she own any neutrals?
Kirishima was out on a frigid run. Two nights ago, when Kakashi had ventured back to us for a brief, stolen moment, he'd made sure to separate himself and the teenager for an encouraging chat. I think he'd given him a training regime. Why he hadn't done it before, and why he was doing it now, when we were so close to finishing this, I couldn't say.
I think...Kakashi held some regrets. I think he'd kept himself separate from us all this time, walls fitted against his heart. I understood. It was only reasonable.
But then he'd left. He said he came back every night to check on us. Even admitted he'd been to my store just to see me. Now, that was embarrassing. The idea of Kakashi watching me flounder about like a dehydrated chicken was...a bit of a shock. I definitely wouldn't say that side of me was my most charming.
It seemed these last two weeks had been different for each of us. I had to pull myself together and decide if I was going to help a man who seemed uninterested in receiving help at all.
Kakashi, on the other hand, had made himself be alone. But he didn't want to be. He really didn't want that.
What other reason would make him give in when I asked if I could stay at his side for the remaining time we had?
The door burst open, a tall, bouncy redhead strutting inside, heaving like a long-forgotten dinosaur. My thoughts broke, and I was effectively jolted from the musings of my mind.
"How far did you go?" I asked the boy, whose legs trembled something fierce. He held onto the counter as he made his way to the hallway, disappearing down the creaky slats. Each of his lumbering steps sounded like a rehearsal for a ghost movie.
"I made it...to the...river."
My brows rose in surprise. "That's pretty far."
But he wasn't done. I wedged a hip against the hall's entrance as his parched voice continued, "On the...Kessler...Highway."
