Trapped

Leave with Me?

Stella's POV

Dean lays on his bed, still a bit worse for wear. I let Jonah lead me out of the room to show me what he's found. I'm still the tiniest bit angry at him for looking at the body because he felt like it. He was lucky, but he could've been caught. I don't understand why the cell room door is always unlocked. I mean, the front door of the entire jail might as well be bolted shut, so no one could ever escape. But still, most jails never let anyone out of their rooms. I guess since Linkin's dead there's not really anyone else to do the job. The thoughts continue flowing through my brain as we approach the body, and although I've never been one for dissection, I'm determined to uncover this mystery. 

Linkin's pale skin is littered with bruises and cuts, some gashes deeper than others. You can tell that he's lost a significant amount of blood. Jonah leans over and tries to show me something. I have a mini panic attack when his finger is nanometres from touching Linkin, but Jonah sees me panic and rests his other hand on my shoulder. His thumb rubs circles into my shoulder blade and I exhale. He shoots me a quick smile and gives my shoulder a squeeze, to which I react by taking in a sharp breath. I lean over with him, his hand moving from my shoulder to the small of my back, I still somehow manage to be soothed by his gestures even if we're hovering over a dead body. It makes me feel like no matter where we are, or how shit our lives may seem, we will always have each other.

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Jonah's POV

As I guide Stella to what I'm trying to show her, I try to calm her by putting my hand near her lower back. Her eyes flutter closed, and she inhales. She opens her eyes when she exhales and I get the warm feeling in my gut that I've been feeling every time I'm with her. I move my finger back to where I was pointing, at a wide gash on his chest, near his collarbone. Stella follows my finger and grimaces when she sees the wound. "Look at this, try to remember how wide it is and what it looks like, even if the thought is rank." She giggles slightly but agrees. She studies the wound for a second and nods for me to continue. I lift up Linkin's shirt slightly, and Stella swats my hand away. "What do you think you're doing?" She whisper-shouts. "You said you didn't touch him!" She starts to panic and I don't know what to do. "Stella, my hands are clean, I promise that my fingerprints won't leave any marks." I scoff. She glares at me. "Oh my god Jonah, you don't get it, all fingerprints are detectable!" She begins to storm off, but I grab her by the arm and pull her down. "Just let me show you." I plead. Her breathing slows slightly, and she nods. 

I resume lifting the shirt up, until another gash, identical to the one on his collarbone is revealed, except on his left side, near his last rib. "Do you remember the gash you saw before?" I ask. She nods again. "Does this wound not look the exact same?" She frowns. "It does." She looks puzzled. But I take the chance to tell her my theory. "These wounds, are exactly the same. Same size, same width, and they are roughly the same depth. My theory? I think these wounds were from the same weapon." There's a split second of silence. Then out of the corner of my eye, I see Stella's face change, and that's when I know we are thinking the same thing. Her eyes are wide in shock or surprise, or distress, maybe all of them combined. She turns to me, her deep hazel eyes welling with tears. "Stab wounds. A knife." She whispers, and tears slowly spill down her rosy cheeks. I still don't quite understand why she cries when she didn't even know Linkin that well, or for long and if anything he was more bad to her than good. But I console her anyway. I pick her up bridal style, cliche I know, and carry her back to the cells.

We lay together on Stella's bed, my arm secured around her waist, pulling her as close to me as possible. Her head rests on my chest, and her hair smells like vanilla bean and coconut. Her eyes are closed, and she looks so peaceful. We've stolen a couple of moments like these lately, but each time feels better and I grow more connected to her than I thought possible. I smile into the back of her head and softly kiss her shoulder, trailing my lips up to her neck. Her hand runs over my hand which is on her stomach. She turns around in my arms, so she's facing me. Her eyes stare into mine, and her eyes flick down to my lips, then back up. On instinct and on the spur of the moment, I close the gap between us. Our lips move in sync, and my eyes close, taking in every ounce of the pleasure. Even when we finally come up for air, we are still in each other's embrace, and I slowly drift off to sleep.

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Stella's POV

I wake up in the middle of the night, actually, I have no idea what time it is, all I know is that Jonah has left my side, and I start to panic. Where is he? Is he inspecting the body again? Could something have happened to him? I get up and start pacing the room, something I do when I'm nervous. After all these unexpected intimate moments together, I can't help but think the worst when he leaves without me knowing. I try to calm myself down, and I wonder how Jonah and I got this 'relationship' level when not all that long ago, I was scolding him for being a nosey dick. I laugh to myself, but it comes out shaky, obviously still not calm. My anxiety returns and just as my hyperventilation slowly spins out of control, I hear a crack. All the breath seems to leave me, and I try not to make any sounds. The room is dark, so I try to find my way when two arms wrap around me. I freak out, but the embrace feels familiar. "Jonah?" I question, seriously doubting that it's actually him. "Yeah, it's me." I fling my arms around his neck and hold him tight. "Look, Stella, I don't know what came over me, but after all this drama with the no girl thing, Linkin and even Dean, I just wanted to get the hell out of this place. When I left you, I remembered this tactic I used to use to sneak out of the house when I was little. Let's just say I'm a master at picking locks, I just never thought there was any point to trying to escape. But this time I had motivation. You." I'm on the verge of tears when he finishes this sentence. But his voice darkens. "Stella, you made me stronger, now all I want is to get the fuck out of this hellhole. The front door to the jail? It's open. I actually opened it, and I want to leave..." My face falls when I hear he is going to leave, I really thought we had something. It's good to know I gave him motivation, but it will hurt to see him go. "...But not without you. I love you, Stella. Will you leave with me?"

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A/N: Holy crap. Wow. Shits going down. I love this chapter. I think it gets more dramatic, better and better. I'm so happy I wrote something!!! I told you guys I would start up again when I finished my tests, did I come through on that promise, or did I take too long? Chapters may be a little more spaced out now, but I will still write, I promise. I actually had one really bad day and I considered discontinuing the book, but I remembered my friends who had supported me and told me they loved the book, so here I am!!! Love you all sooooo much. Can't wait to return with more chapters, more love, and more drama!!!

Kisses,

A