Unholy Gestures

Chapter 8

"Really? In the tree?" He asks

"Well, I had to hide somewhere, you weren't getting the hint."

"I got the hint, I just chose to ignore it, Di, let me explain, please." Desperation leaking into his voice, "I can't live without you, it was an honest mistake."

"Jax, Claire, the clearing, I'll be there, bring my things please." I say blankly, if any emotion were to be shown it would be sadness, tears would be streaming down my face, my voice cracking and breaking and rising into hysteria. I can't talk to him. I can't show him how broken I am.

"What do you mean?" Cole asked, confused.

"We'll see you there." Jax said before leaving the room, he would have to pack my stuff up while Cole wasn't in our room.

Before anyone could say anything else I looked down the tree and found an easy path down. It's like it was made for people to climb. Maybe this was Cole's room when he was younger, and he would climb out at night.

The thought only made me want to cry even more.

"Hey, Addi, wait," Cole began to climb out of the window himself but in his rush got tangle in with the curtains.

I make it down the tree with minimal damage, only some scrapes on my knees.

I look back to the window and see that he has disentangled himself and was making his way to the front door, luckily I didn't have to go to the front yard, I could walk around the side of the house and go down a path that happened to be there and exit onto one of the many streets and it was a short detour on my way to the clearing.

I walked the path in silence. What else could I do? I used to walk humming to myself, looking at everything. But now, my last time walking down this path and I couldn't do anything but stare ahead.

The one place I ever wanted to visit, my dream holiday destination, was ruined.

xX---Xx

It felt like hours before I heard Claire and Jax make their way into the clearing, they weren't carrying anything, just walked right into the clearing.

"Uh, not to be a bitch, but where's my things?"

"Oh, we made a stop at the hotel before coming here, hoping to put Cole off our trail. He wouldn't let us leave that house."

"And taking my things would have pissed him off." I responded.

"You have no idea, he blocked us from leaving, until Tamika yelled at him. We made it out of the house and I think someone was restraining him because when we were in the car just about the end of the street he's come charging out of the house. Did you hear him at all when you were coming here?"

"Just yelling, I managed to get out of the street before he could see where I was going, I think when he realised what I asked you to do he booked it back into the house." I turned my gaze back onto the view, the last time I would be seeing it.

How could the best trip of my life end so disastrously?

"Hey, it's going to be okay, we're here for you." Jax says, pulling me into his arms.

"You can't know that. I still actually have to talk to him. Maybe what he did wasn't him, maybe she dragged him up against the cliff."

"No, don't you make excuses for him. He was not forced, we learned that much. The only reason he would be so defensive about loving you, and wouldn't do it. Not once did he say that she kissed him. I know it hurts, but sometimes its better for the harsh truth than the easy lies." Claire says.

"I know, I just. I thought he wouldn't do this. He knew my past. He knew me." Already the past tense hurt me, the ache in my heart building with every moment. "I thought he loved me."

"Oh A, I wish you never had to go through this, no one should. But to go through it more than once."

"It's the worst feeling in the world, J, I don't know how I can recover this time. After James I thought I would die, but Cole brought me out of it. Now I only have the two of you."

"We will always be here for you, A, but now we should get to the hotel, this place is close enough to the house and the car is sitting near the entrance and if he is out patrolling the streets we don't want him to find this place." Claire says, I remove myself from Jax's arms and shake myself, I need to get out of this funk. It will take time but until then I need to fake it until I make it.