All These Years

Chapter 6

The next morning I awoke alone. Shane had left after our amazing first kiss and I found myself huddled in bed thinking of our evening.

I decided to call work and tell them I was taking a sick day. I just wanted to lay in bed and think about the life I was walking into. The sun arose and light filtered into my bedroom.

A few quick knocks on my door made me jump out of bed. I quickly scanned my reflection in the floor length mirror and walked to the door. My stomach was filled with butterflies as I anticipated Shane coming to tell me good morning.

The smile on my face dropped as I flung the door open and there stood the short man I had seen rush into Shane's office that night he took me there. I quickly tried to remember his name.

" Hampton, " He declared as an introduction striding past me and into my kitchen, my face full of surprise, " in case you had forgotten. Thea, you have no idea how happy I am to finally officially meet you!"

I shut the door behind my chipper intruder and joined him in the kitchen.

" Well it's nice to meet you as well Hampton. Can I ask why you're in my house so early in the morning?"

" Everyone calls me Ham. You and I, were gonna be friends, so I expect the same from you." He smiled broadly. His smile was infectious. I couldn't help but smile in response.

" Ok Ham, why are you here?"

" Well I noticed that you had called out of work today, and Shane has a day full of business. So I wanted to take it upon myself to get to know you better."

" Wait, you knew I had called out of work? That fast? How much about my life do you know?" I stared at him in amazement.

" Thea, it's my job to know your daily life. Where you're at so our business doesn't interfere with you and to make sure you're safe. I do my job well. "

I wasn't even sure what to say. I knew all of this was done out of love for me however it still felt beyond creepy having someone I'd never met know my entire life.

" Go get ready, do whatever you gotta do. I'm taking you out today." He declared as he scribbled his number on a napkin " I'll be downstairs waiting. Text me when you're done." He smiled his huge smile again and walked out the front door.

I couldn't help but wonder what just happened. I chuckled to myself and went and did as he told me. Thirty minutes later I was dressed in a a pair of jeans and a long sleeve tee with boots and a fur hood down jacket. I texted the number Hampton had left and walked out the door. As I walked into the cold January air a black suv pulled up to the entrance of my building. I climbed in and Hampton sped off.

The only things I'd learned about Hampton was that he was a twin, he loved his friends and he was a speed talker. He could tell an entire story in what felt like seconds. I desperately tried to keep up. But the main thing I had learned was that he was impossible to not like.

Lost in my thoughts I wondered what this new life would hold for me. I knew I'd have love and anything I could imagine but I wondered if Id Have friends outside of Shane. Would his friends be my friends? And if they were would it be because they had to?

I shook the lingering thoughts out of my head as we pulled up to the planetarium. Excitement filled my body.

" What are we doing here?"

" Well. I've learned a lot about you over the years. And you know I was thinking, you know nothing about me. If we're gonna be friends that's gonna have to change. So I found common ground. I know you have an obsession with space, and I love space. So I figured we'd start here."

I was beaming from ear to ear. I had loved anything space related since the 2nd grade when we took our first field trip to the space and science center. I was immediately captivated by how the universe dwarfed me. All the beautiful colors of the sky and the amazing constellations made me speechless.

In the beginning of my junior year of high school, Shane had surprised me by cutting school and driving us out to a secluded lake miles away from the city. We sat there all day eating snacks and swimming in our underwear. Then we watched as the moon eclipsed the sun and the world around us turned dark. That was the best day of my life and I owed it all to Shane. 

" Is that ok?" I heard Hampton asking, pulling me out of my trance and back to the present.

" Absolutely. I'm glad we share this in common." I told him with my smile growing.

I was more than grateful for this distraction. In the past month my life had drastically changed and it showed no signs of slowing down. I was happy to not be stuck in Jason's clutch any longer and even more happy that Shane had entered my life again. But it was definitely a whirlwind of events.

" Thanks for this Ham" I told him genuinely as we walked into the dark planetarium. " things have been sorta crazy. This is really nice"

Out of everyone I'd met up to this point, Hampton gave me this feeling like we were already best friends and that we always would be. We sat for a showing of the night sky and then walked around the museum. Learning about one of Shane's closest confidants was intriguing and definitely insightful.

" So you met Shane and Finn on a job?" I asked during our stroll.

" Yep. We ended up working the same job. Back when I use to run jobs. Harley and I ran across his guys at the time and we beat them to the punch. Shane was impressed with our work and offered us a job. He quickly saw my potential though and took us off running jobs. Now I do the managing of people in the organization. And jobs like you."

" That's intriguing. I have no skills like that"

" If you wanted to be used and you wanted a part in the organization, Shane would give you a role. You're a survivor and a fighter you're not just useless Thea." He turned to face me as we stopped at a statue of an astronaut clutching the flag

" Thea I knew the situation you were in with Jason. I cheered you on from the sidelines as you secretly got your apartment weeks before you left him. I stayed at the hospital after the incident with him. I made sure that he didn't come to finish what he had started. But I also saw that no one came to be with you. I never wanted to be your friend more than that moment.
" But the resilience you showed as you walked out of that hospital and into your new apartment facing the world on your own, that's what I admire. This life won't be hard for you. You're stronger than you give yourself credit for."

Tears had formed in my eyes. This man knew me better than I knew myself. And wanted nothing more from me than my friendship. He saw who I could become and cheered me on. Ham and I would be close, that I knew for sure. He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close.

" Ah, don't cry." He said " come on, Shane will be done with his meetings soon. We're all having dinner tonight"

We walked out of the planetarium laughing as he told a story of why Finn has such disdain for small dogs and I felt more ready than ever to walk into this new life. One that included guns, illegal activity and most of all comradery.

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Thanks for reading commenting or voting! Let me know what you think. I love this story and I hope you all do too.

I'm trying to update more than once a week so stay tuned for more!!!

Pic above is Hampton Phillips!!