We'll Survive

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chris

"Hello?"

"Mission."

~ o ~

I played with my locket as I waited for others to arrive. My mom was walking by when she spotted me and stopped dead in her tracks.

"Chris. You're... early," she said the last word carefully.

I craned my neck to look up at her. "I'm sorry. Do you want me to come back later or-"

"No. No. It's okay... I was just surprised. You're usually never early." she said.

I leaned back in my chair. "Yeah. Whatever." I muttered.

She approached me slowly before setting her papers down and sat beside me. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine."

"You've been quiet since... that day. You're usually never quiet," she said chuckling quietly.

"Just..." Think of something! Aside from being tired. "Peachy."

My mother burst out laughing. "Peachy? Seriously, Chris. It doesn't take a psychic to know that you're lying." she said.

"Mom, it's okay. I'm fine, really. It's nothing you need to be worried about." I told her.

She was about to protest when Marlie came in and followed by the others. I looked down as my mom sighed before standing up and went to the center of the room.

"Good to see you again, team. Your mission will be..." I tuned out and my eyes went to the person seated across from me.

He was paying close attention while nodding from time to time. I looked away and tried focusing on what my mother was saying but my mind never registered anything. It was like everything was muffled and all I could think about was the jewelry that was around my neck. I started tapping my foot on the floor.

"... murder... by someone... find him... the end... understood?" those were the only words that came to mind.

I was suddenly not feeling well. "Great! So, are we done?" I asked, my voice coming out a bit too loud.

They all stared at me.

"Um... no. We're not even halfway there yet, Chris." my mom said.

I exhaled. "Oh, sorry. ADHD kicking in." I said. "I thought you said we were done."

I fiddled with the locket once again as my mom continued with our mission, but this time I could feel a pair of eyes on me and I immediately knew it was him. He's staring at my locket! There was a part of me that wanted to look in his direction and stare back but another part of me, the stubborn part is saying to look away.

I chose the latter.

~ o ~

"So... what are we suppose to do?" I asked.

Jess, Marlie, and Lucas stared at me as if I just grew a second head.

"Haven't you been listening?" Jess said, accusingly.

"She's Chris. She never listens." Lucas muttered.

Marlie just shook her head. "We're supposed to find this guy who so happens to be killing people and selling illegal drugs. We're ordered to catch him and interrogate him. Not kill him." Marlie said.

I nodded. "Okay. Piece of cake."

Marlie gave me a worried look and I smiled brightly at her. Soon we were on our way to the said location where he was last spotted at.

~ o ~

We stopped right in front of a prestigious hotel. It looked fancy and... well... pricey. But who cares? My mom can do so much better. Marlie parked our van behind a bush to keep us hidden and then she looked back at us.

"Okay, here's what's going to happen; Lucas and Jess, you two will come with me and find as much as we can about this guy. Landon and Chris, you two stay here and check the cameras," she said.

"WHAT?" All four of us said in unison.

"Why?" Lucas asked. "We're not trained to do fieldwork."

"Yeah, Marlie. We wouldn't know how to fight if ever.... something happens." Jess said.

"It's okay. I'm here. I'll help you guys out." Marlie said.

"How about we go with you?" I asked. "As tempting as it sounds, I don't want to stay in the van." With Landon, I wanted to add.

"No. You two will come with me and you two will stay here and work things out," she demanded and with that, Marlie grabbed Lucas and Jess's arm and left. Leaving me alone with Landon.

Awkward.

I sighed and to my surprise, Landon did too... We looked at each other before looking away and proceeded to work.

~ o ~

Thirty minutes.

Thirty minutes and we still haven't found anything. I was getting tired and the silence was just too loud to bear. I was tapping a pencil while Landon was fiddling with his pen.

See how bored we were?

Every once in a while one of us would sigh, either in frustration or irritation or just plain boredom. The silence is killing me! I started humming a random tune, just to fill the awkwardness. I stopped after I realized how horrible I was.

I heard Landon let out a deep sigh before throwing his pen muttering "Screw it." and faced me.

I looked at him, expectantly.

"Let me just make things clear; I still hate you. That will never change. What you read behind that locket was years ago. What happened inside that dark room, stays there. That is only for us to know and for us to hear. Just like this conversation. I want you to hear this because I'll probably never be able to say this again... I like you. I don't know why, but I do. And there is nothing you can do to stop that or prevent that. Instead, it'll only push it farther. And we don't want that. Because this," he gestured between us.

"Whatever it is, it's forbidden. And as much as I want to be with you, I can't because of... all of this. If we ever go farther than frenemies, I'm afraid that I'll put you into more danger than you already are. I li- who am I kidding, I love you and I wish I could say it every day but I can't and I won't. I shouldn't. And what you found behind that locket is true and would last forever." he was out of breath the moment he finished.

I just stared at him, unsure of what to do. The next thing I know, I was wrapping my arms around his neck and pressing my lips to his.

It was the best moment ever...