Benefits

Ch. 100: How It Ends

How It Ends- DeVotchKa

And in your heart- you know it to be true; you know what you got to do. They all depend on you. And you already know. Yeah, you already know how this will end.

-

I sit at the steps with a coffee mug in place of both of my hands. My fingers tap steadily at the side. It's been nearly an hour, and my anxiety continues to grow and grow. The coffee is growing colder because I'm too busy staring at the door, hoping he walks in at any moment.

So much has happened in the last few hours, I begin to worry that this is all a dream. I'm going to wake up next to Jake, and he will have to fight Ledger again. And this time, he may lose. I want to leave the house in search of him, but Martinez's men surround it. Hopefully, my mother won't notice when she gets home.

My phone rings off on my lap, and I turn the phone on it's back to see the screen.

Alice: Have faith.

What does that even mean, and why is she texting me? I should of went after him; demanding what the problem was. Everything's falling apart before my eyes, and before I can react any further; I receive another text.

Alice: I need you to think clearly.

Before I can dissect any further of Alice's weird messages, my doorknob begins to shake, and I panic at the thought of it being anyone else except Jake, but by the stumble of their feet, I know it's him.

"Oh my god." I sigh out in relief, placing my coffee mug on one of the steps, and walk right up to Jake. His head hangs low, but that doesn't stop me from encircling my arms around his torso. He squeezes me back, and I revel in the heat. "Is everything okay with, Andrew?" I ask.

"I don't know." He mumbles in my neck.

"Well, what happened?" I laugh.

"Because I didn't see Andrew."

I knew Jake was lying, and he knew as well. "So who'd you see?" Slight anger fills my voice, but I'm also afraid of the truth. He has no reason to lie to me now.

"Serena." He doesn't miss a beat.

I pull back from the embrace, and my eyes try to connect with his, but they're covered once again. "What?" Confusion lacing through my brows.

"You heard me." His voice is soft.

I try to snatch his glasses, but he steps back. I don't need him to take them off; his tears are already falling across his cheeks.

"You're lying," I call him out. After all the hardships we've gone through, he lies to me again and again, but what's the reason for it this time.

"I'm not." His voice quiet once more. His feet are backing up to give us space.

"You are." I feel the water form in my eyes, but it's out of anger this time around. What isn't he telling me?

"Jake-"

"It's not over." He says.

"What do you-"

"It's not over." He voices much louder, and he clears his throat before saying again, "It's not over."

It's not over.

It's over.

It's not over.

The game we've been playing since the beginning of our relationship isn't over. Something happened. And it wasn't stupid Serena or Lauren this time around. Something more sinister is at play. This is at least what I hope it to mean. The riddles we've written for ourselves are hard to decipher. I'm going to go mad if I'm not right at my assumptions.