In the end

Chapter 35 - The deepest blue

~ Jared's POV ~

We had arrived in Costa Rica a few hours earlier and I wanted nothing more than to just crawl into bed and sleep for days. Jay and Jules of course had other plans. Misha would be spending the day with the winners and I could tell he was trying to dial back his excitement for my sake. I couldn't blame him though, he lived for this stuff. Jensen had arranged for us to go on a hike that would take up most of the day before meeting up with everyone for dinner. Clif had whined about being 'too old to go running around the damn jungle' even though I knew he could handle it. Hell he could probably out me and Jay combined.

~ Sarah POV ~

I made it downtown a lot faster now that I knew the best routes to take. The first trip had taken hours thanks to me getting lost and my Spanish being shitty. I had a never changing itinerary for the trip, so much so that I was expected.

As usual I headed straight to the pharmacy first. "Ahh, Buenos dias, cómo estás?" Javier had always helped me with my Spanish while I helped him with English. "Good morning Javier, I am well how are you?" "Bien gracias." I grabbed my usual haul of female crap and counted out my money. I still wasn't used to the monetary unit here being called the Colon. I shoved everything in my backpack before saying goodbye. "Have a nice day Javier." "Que tengas un buen día!"

My last stop was this little restaurant off the main street. I paid the owner once a month to receive packages for me. It was masochistic for me to order these but I couldn't help myself. It was the last piece of him that I could still hold onto. When I first got here I devoured all the seasons he had given me. When I got to the later episodes of season 8 though I couldn't believe how horrible he looked. I know that a lot of it was makeup and lighting or whatever and that he's a great actor but I could see behind it all. I could tell he had lost weight and his eyes looked dead. Was this my fault. I knew he liked me but I also knew that he would move on. He couldn't possibly feel as deeply for me as I did for him. He was beautiful and funny and a wonderful person. I was nothing. No one special enough to miss.

I was heading towards the side street that would lead me to the trail home when I heard it. There was a restaurant with an outdoor patio on the street ahead of me and I heard what sounded like a big group of fairly rowdy people. Then I heard that deep voice that I would recognize anywhere. This cannot be happening. It's impossible. There's no way he would come here of all the places in the world. I stopped and peeked around a stall set up on the sidewalk. Sure enough I saw him sitting there surrounded by people. Misha.

I was just starting to be ok but now... I felt a flood of all the emotions that I had spent years repressing start to breach the surface. Then I started to panic, how the hell was I gonna get by him without him seeing me. He couldn't be facing away or anything he just had to pick a seat facing the street. I backtracked to a dingy store that sold touristy junk and bought a baseball cap. I quickly took my hair down and put the cap on with my hair hiding my face. I just hoped I could go by quick enough and Misha's would be distracted to the point that he would see me. There's was no point to put it off any longer it was either bike past and hope for the best or scale the side of the cliff on the other side.

I took a deep breathe and started pedalling. I could hear them all laughing and talking animatedly an hoped that would keep his attention. I forced my self to look straight ahead an keep going and passed the restaurant. Right before I turned the corner I snuck a glance in his direction to make sure. Eyes of the deepest blue bore straight into mine with unabashed shock. But worst of all, was the recognition. He saw me.