No More Secrets (Book 2)

14. Letting It Out

I stayed in bed until I knew for sure Dylan was asleep. I would have stayed and continued to cuddle with him, but my mind was going too much to try and sleep.

Climbing out of bed, I pulled on a pair of loose shorts and carefully covered Dylan's naked body with the blanket. As soon as I had gotten up, he had taken over the entire bed. For someone missing a leg, he sure was good at spreading out.

Leaving the bedroom, I made my way out into the living room. I couldn't get the thought of that ghost woman coming back out of my head. Dylan said he took care of her, but he keeps saying that and she keeps coming back. Despite his insistence this time, I still had my doubts.

I sat on the couch with my laptop. We had planned on doing some wedding research this afternoon, but somehow ended up in bed. The sex was good, but probably not exactly what we needed right now. One of us really needed to start planning this wedding, otherwise we'd never get married.

I wasn't sure how long I sat there looking at potential wedding venues when Dylan came out. He had also only pulled on a pair of my shorts and was using his crutches, probably not wanting to bother with the leg again.

"Hey," he said, sitting next to me. "What are you doing?"

I showed him my screen and started flipping through the few tabs I had open of the places I had liked. "What do you think? Like any?"

He shrugged. "They're nice. Beautiful. But they look so big. And expensive. Do we really need to go broke just to get married?"

"Dyl, we're not going to go broke for this. We have money."

"Are you sure? Because last I checked, I'm still unemployed and you're making what? A dollar or two more than minimum wage? I love you to pieces, but this isn't realistic."

I sighed. I knew he was right, but I didn't want to believe it. Even with the help of our parents, these places were too big and too fancy for our small budget. I guess I was just too much of a romantic. "So what should we do?" I asked.

"Honestly? I'd be okay going to town hall right now and signing those papers. We don't even have to dress up."

I let out a short laugh. "Yeah, that would be great. Except for the fact that we'd have to deal with your mom and my step-mom. They'd be devastated if we didn't have a real wedding."

Dylan leaned his head on my shoulder. "I know. But I don't know what else we can do." He sat back up. "I kinda don't want to wait, either. I almost lost you this week, Trav. With everything that's been going on, I don't want to not be married to you. I'm terrified something is going to happen to one of us before whatever date we manage to reserve, however many months from now. I can't wait that long."

I looked him in his eyes. They showed so much emotion, more than I think I've ever seen them hold before. "I don't want to wait either. But nothing is going to happen to either of us. It won't. It can't. She doesn't know about me, so we have the advantage now. We'll be okay."

He nodded, resting his forehead against mine. "Why is this so hard, Trav? I just want a normal life. I want to be married to you and not have to deal with all this shit. I hate not knowing if she's going to keep coming back to make our lives miserable."

I pressed my lips against his for a second. "Tell me why she's seeking us out. I can't help if you're leaving me in the dark."

He pulled himself away from me. "No, I can't. It's way too dangerous for you to know anything."

"You keep saying that, and yet, I know nothing and she still almost killed me."

For a moment, Dylan didn't say anything. He just sat there, staring at the floor. I wanted to say something else, but I didn't know what to say. It was true - Dylan kept telling me that knowing the truth was dangerous, but I was the one who almost died. How could knowing be any more dangerous than that?

Eventually, he looked back at me. "Okay. You're right." He sighed. "So, remember when I had to die to talk to Death and rescue the ghosts?"

"Of course." How could I forget?

"Well, apparently, I didn't rescue all of them."

It took me a second to understand. "So Death kept some of the ghosts? And that woman is mad about that?"

Dylan nodded. "She said someone close to her was still trapped. She won't leave me alone until I promise to save them."

I hesitated before asking my next question. "How is that dangerous for me to know?" I wasn't sure I wanted to like the answer.

"She threatened your life and anybody that I told. She needs me to go to Death without anyone knowing. Didn't want him being influenced by anyone, I guess. Not that he would be. But she said she'd kill anyone who knew my plan. But it's not my plan, Trav. I promise, I don't want to die again. But I don't know what else to do."

He started crying. At first, it was just a single tear. Then the dam broke and he was bawling. I pulled him close to me as he sobbed, gently rubbing his back. He had been holding all that in for weeks now. I was surprised it took him this long to finally break.

I had no clue what to say, though. How could I tell him to stand up to this ghost woman when she has already proved how dangerous she is? But I didn't want him to die again either. I've almost lost him twice and he's almost lost me, now. It wasn't fair for either one of us to risk our life again, especially for people who were long dead.