Moving On [SwaggerSouls]

/Chapter Twenty-Eight/ Safety Net

Ugh...

I rolled over with a groan, my hands automatically moving to my head which seemed as if it were almost pulsing.

In short, it felt like the world's worst hangover. But the funny thing was that I didn't even have all that much to drink last night.

"Scream all you want- no one will hear you."

"I just wanna go home..."

"You don't move to a whole other continent to get away from your inner demons man; you move to a whole other continent to get away from whatever or whoever that is fucking with you- and it's not your war to fight if those demons somehow figured out how to tail her."

I groaned yet again as I recalled last nights events in a series of quick flashbacks. Oh yeah, I almost died.

"Christ..." I drawled, my arm reaching towards the other end of the bed trying to find Eric, only to realize that I was alone.

"I believe you, Lyss. I knew something was wrong, I just didn't know it was something as shitty as that. I'm so sorry. For both that and tonight. We'll get to the bottom of this, I swear it."

His words echoed through my mind as I began to remember the events after my traumatic experience. I don't know how, but something good definitely came out of last night. The truth was out, and ironically, I felt free.

There was still so much left to sort out- Hell, someone had tried to abduct me last night. They knew my name, meaning someone had to have put them behind it. And who knows just what their objective was.

While that truth was yet to be revealed, mine was out. These guys now know exactly who I am and why I'm here. They believed me and because of that, they decided they wanted to keep me around. Despite everything I'd put them through, they wanted to make me a part of their family.

I have a family now..?

It sure sounded like I did, but I feel like I don't feel like I'm nearly as happy about it as I should be.

In fact, I'm terrified.

Family, to me at least, is the greatest gift that one can ever receive. It means you have a safety net throughout life. It means that you'll always have people who will support you through whatever it is that you do and vice versa. It means that you have to be committed to those you refer to as family; That you'll love them as if you knew them for the entirety of your life.

But, whoever said that family was permanent?

Even after nearly a decade of calling Kimmy family, the safety net that was our friendship still somehow managed to crumble.

Therefore, there's a very strong chance of history managing to repeat itself here. They could get tired of me in a matter of years or even months. They could realize that my whole "abduction" crisis isn't worth putting up within a matter of days. They could realize I'm not worth dealing with after a matter of hours...

A vibration from my phone snapped me from my depressing train of thought as I forced myself to sit up and vigorously shake my head in effort to clear my head.

"Ow," I whined, regretting my actions as I somehow managed to forget that I had the worst headache I've ever had in my life at the moment.

Just got to somehow stay positive. These guys gave you a gift, stop questioning it and just fucking take it already.

Taking my phone off its charger, the first thing I noticed was a text message from Eric:

6:41 AM
"Good morning beautiful. We were forced to head out early in order to make it to PAX on time. I'm sorry I didn't wake you up, but I figured you'd prefer not to be after last night's events. We're all so exhausted and basically begged Ryan to let us sit this one out, but he basically told us to shut the fuck up and do our jobs, so here we are. Granted, we would've lost a lot of money, but still. I feel like I'm dying. If I'm completely honest with you, the only thing that's made me completely happy is the thought of you asleep, happy, and safe back in our hotel bed. I know last night was terrifying- for all of us, of course- but especially for you. I just hope you're feeling just a little bit better when you wake up. Or at least just a little bit better than us. We'll be back around 6:30 and I think I'm just gonna crash as soon as we get back. No partying tonight. I think staying in is our best bet."