In the end

Chapter 47 - Tether

A/N - Sorry this update took soooo long. I lost all motivation and it woulda sucked if I tried to force it.
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My bones felt sort of rubbery. It was a weird contrast to certain muscles that were a bit sore. In the best possible way. I also felt really spoiled. After being able to spend as long as we wanted in bed how was I supposed go back to be a "normal" member of society. I didn't want to let him get out of bed, let alone put clothes on. I tried not to dwell on it because I knew Jared had to go back, he had responsibilities and a whole life back there. None of that even mattered though, it didn't matter that I'd screwed everything up or someone may after all this time still want to hurt me. Wherever he went, I would follow. Forever.

~ Jared POV ~

Before I was even really awake I reached for her but she wasn't there. And the sheets were cold. I sat up immediately wide awake and slightly freaking out until my eyes found her. She was sitting on the couch with a steaming cup in her hands, watching me with a look of concern. She looked away trying to hide her face. She looked ashamed as she little more than whispered. "I'm sorry." It broke my heart to see her like that. I knew how guilty she still felt, it was just who she was to feel responsible for everything. "Don't be sorry. Please don't feel like this. This is my own insecureness crap that I have to deal with. I know you won't leave me." She put down her cup and came towards me. I lifted the bed sheets and she crawled in and wrapped her arms around me. She tilted her face up and held my chin until our faces almost touched. "You never have to worry again. I'm never going anywhere without you."
It wasn't until I kissed her that I realized my cheeks were wet. I don't know how it was physically possible for my body to contain all the emotions running through me. I felt like her arms around me was the only thing keeping me from bursting or floating away.

She sighed heavily and when moved to stand I noticed what she was wearing. "You're dressed?" She went back to her coffee and and sat on the couch. "I just realized that I need to get some things I left at my place. Since I'm not staying." She smiled widely when she said 'staying'. I immediately jumped out of bed and searched for my clothes. "I'm going with you. I mean, if you want to." I could hear angels sing in her laughter and I paused to soak in the sound. "Of course I want you with me. Always." She stood and walked to where I was standing with an armful of clothes. "But-." She took the clothes and tossed them in a corner. "I think you need to shower first, you smell like... you know." Her face flushed as she pushed me towards the bathroom. I paused in the doorway and turned back to her, drinking in the way she still manage to look so shy after everything. "I happen to love how you smell. Especially on me." Her mouth fell open and her face somehow managed to get even redder. As I ducked into the shower I heard her embarrassed groans and couldn't help but chuckle.

I was seriously glad that Jensen had talked me into renting the 'car' we ended up with. Bree's place was outside of the main city and was pretty much only accessible by foot or bicycle. Or a monster jeep made for off roading. I not that big into man-toys or anything but I'll admit this thing is pretty awesome. "Woah." Bree was staring at the tires and she looked to small compared to beast of metal next to her. I just shrugged and explained the only way I needed to. "Jensen." She nodded once and laughed. "I figured." I went to help her in but she was already hauling herself into the drivers seat and had strapped her harness on before I could even move. Then giggled when she had to help me figure out how to stamp myself in. "Aww. The big, tough Texan boy has never been off-roading. That's so cute." "It's not my fault. I've been acting since I was 16 and its actually in my contacts that I can't do dangerous stuff." She gave me sweet little 'oh sweetie look' and gunned the engine. "It's not dangerous, if you know how to drive." She peeled out fast enough that my stomach stayed in the parking lot. I felt very unmanly as I gripped the side of the door and the seat as she sped along the dirt roads out of the city.
We weren't technically off road yet and I was almost pissing myself. "You okay Jare?" She had to yell over the roar of the engine. As hard as I tried to pretend I wasn't nervous as shit she took a quick glance at me and laughed again. "Don't worry. I'd never let anything happen to you." I started to calm down once I realized she knew what she was doing. I watched her as she shifted perfectly and navigated the terrain like she's done it a thousand times.

She pulled off the main road and eased the jeep onto the edge of what could only be described as a small cliff. There was about 6 feet of space between the side of the jeep and the edge with nothing to keep us from going over the side. The path winded steadily downward at a steep enough decline that I could feel my heart pounding in my ass. I didn't relax and breath normally until we finally got to the bottom and we were level again. "See babe, nothing to worry about." She was grinning like a hyena and I automatically felt better.

We drove along on what looked like a private beach with little houses spaced out unevenly until there was nothing but the cliff on one side and the ocean on the other. She pointed towards a tiny house in the distance and sped up. It couldn't even be called a house really, more like a large hut. It looked like someone had taken pieces of different houses and slapped them together to build a shed. We stopped in front of it and I realized that I was open mouth staring at it while she unbuckled me. "It's not bad." She quickly freed herself and hopped out before I'd even opened my door. I got out and followed her the door when I saw her open it quickly discovering that there was no lock. "Oh my god. You didn't even have a lock on your door!" She just pulled me inside and closed it behind me. "Didn't need one. People know not come here. Even if they did I have nothing to steal." She said like it was the most normal thing in the world. I could feel my blood rushing in my ears. "Steal?! What if someone tried to hurt you. Oh god what of a man tried to-." She grabbed my hand and put it on her chest over her heart. "Shhh. It's ok. Trust me okay. I was perfectly safe here. I'll show you one day." She maneuvered my numb body into a chair and started grabbing things and putting them on the bed that was against one wall. I tried to calm my heart as I looked around for the first time.

It definitely looked like a place someone would use to hide out. There was a twin sized bed and a tiny kitchen area and I could see closet sized bathroom tucked into one corner. "How long did you live here?" She stopped and looked around for a bit and shrugged her shoulders. "The whole time." My god. She had spent 3 years living in this one room shack and it didn't seem to bother her in the slightest. "Trust me I've stayed in way worse places than this. Besides I had everything I needed." Her face fell a bit before she found my eyes with a look of love so fierce my breath caught in my throat. "Well almost everything." She blushed again and went back to gathering her things. I watched as she pulled a duffle bag from under her bed and tossed in a few pieces of clothes and a laptop before kneeling down beside the bed. She pulled away the rug and I watched in awe as she used a pocket knife to pry up one of the floorboards. She reached in a pulled out a small metal lock box and replaced the floorboard and smoothed the rug back in place. She saw the look on my face and again gave me the no-big-deal look. She sat on the bed and fidgeted with box on her hands. "Don't freak out okay." At this point I had no idea what to expect. She turned the dials of the lock and opened it. When I saw what was inside I jumped to my feet. "Holy fuck."