Taken Away

Unanticipated Arguments

A/N:
Date 7-14-17

Hey everyone! I thought the quote above was funny because of the cliffhanger from the chapter before this (ch43)

Sorry that this chapter is being posted later in the evening (if you're on my time, it's almost 11pm).

I completely forgot that I was supposed to publish a chapter for this story today. I was busy hanging out with my grandma all day, and then when we got back to the house I remembered but I didn't have a minute to spare on Wattpad. So I waited until my grandparents went to bed.

And congrats on making it this far in the book! The next chapter is the last one :')

Word Count: 2795

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Chapter 44: Unanticipated Arguments

"Um... I don't think so." I answered the woman when it became apparent that Zane wouldn't immediately. He looked startled and nervous all of a sudden. I just felt confused. The woman put a finger to her chin and looked dramatically thoughtful. "You're new in town, aren't you? And you're staying with that boy, Austin." It only took me a moment to remember that in the hair dresser shop, Ash had given us fake names. His was Austin. I nodded at her, hoping I didn't look too enthusiastically relieved.

Zane seemed to relax a bit. His shoulders and back weren't ramrod straight anymore. "That's what I thought!" The waitress exclaimed. Then she leaned toward us and put her elbows on the table, like she was about to share something secret. "Just between you and me, there's a bet going around about how long it'd take for you to come back to town." "Oh?" I said, because I had no idea what was expected after a statement like that. The waitress just shrugged like it was no big deal, which it really wasn't compared to other problems we're having.

"Remember, it's just between us." She repeated. Zane finally jumped into the conversation. He smiled a 100 watt smile at the waitress. "Of course." I noticed then that the waitress couldn't be over 22 years old. I guessed Zane did look a little older than he actually was. She was close enough to Zane's age that she flashed him a flirty smile, oblivious that Zane was there with me. "Then welcome to our little town! I could give you a tour, if you'd like." She told Zane. I sat back, pulling my hand away from his and letting him deal with this one. I listened with my eyes averted and hands in my lap.

"Actually, Austin said we'd look around more sometime with him. But thanks for the offer." Zane said as happily as he could, although his smile wasn't as bright anymore. The waitress straightened up lazily, as if she didn't care that Zane had just rejected her. In fact, she was such a good actor that I could only tell from her eyes that she was hurt. "Okay. Have fun!" Zane nodded once, then the waitress finally walked away. I was looking down at my hands, feeling the sudden urge to laugh. That woman only came over to flirt with Zane. We weren't in danger.

I'd never been this relieved before. Even when we escaped Storm's reach, I hadn't felt this way. I'm sure that's because our escape still hasn't exactly settled in. "Alicia?" Zane whispered to me quietly so no one would overhear. We didn't want it to get out that we'd lied about our names. "Yeah?" "She's gone." Zane said. "I know that." I answered a little too sharply as my head snapped up to look at Zane. That's when I realized he'd said that to get me to look up. "Is everything okay?" Zane asked me earnestly.

I knew exactly what he was asking, and I knew I didn't want to talk about it. I wasn't mad that the waitress thought he was attractive. I wasn't. "I feel like that was a close call." I said instead of trying to plead my case. By the look in Zane's eyes, I figured he understood me. "We're safe. They're not coming or they'd already be here." I sighed and tried to let go of the sudden anger that was rising inside of me. "Yeah, I guess I'm just paranoid." "No, you're just being careful. You're not paranoid." Zane said it like a fact to reassure me.