Fighting with Fire #2 ✔

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟏 - 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐨

According to what Abi told us, Ember had killed a total of 12 people in order to escape. Whether it was an accident or not, Abi didn't know. But all of us sure as hell knew that it had left Ember broken; she was seriously hurting.

She slept out in that hut for a couple of nights, with Abi taking her constant supplies of food and blankets. Though I doubted that she actually ate any of the food.

And I was getting close with Jade again. I don't know quite how it happened. Ever since Chris gave us that vial of cure, and after we'd found Maia and she'd snuck in my room and kissed me, it was like things went back to how they were before my pack was taken.

But nothing could be the same again; if there's one thing we can't repeat, it's the past — contrary to what Jay Gatsby insists.

At that point, my night terrors had gotten so bad that I was now resorting to not sleeping at all. And so, insomnia controlled me by night, though I'd got into the habit of reading classics such as The Great Gatsby (hence my reference to good, ol' Jay). Most nights, Jade snuck into my room, mostly just to talk, but sometimes neither of us could bare talking, so we just kissed instead.

I lay in bed one warm night, with my windows thrown wide open and wearing only a pair of boxers, yet I was sweating uncontrollably. The moon was a tiny sliver in the dark night sky and over a hundred stars were shining, creating a gorgeous night for stargazing.

I bet Ember is seeing these stars as well.

God, it was like being on a different continent to her again. She was in Montana with me, a few hundred metres away from the ranch in a tiny wooden hut. So why does it feel like she's a world away?

"Hey, Theo." Jade stepped into my room, wearing a silky, black bathrobe, her hair tied up in a ponytail on her head, clearly as hot as me.

"Hey, Jade." I sighed, dragging a hand across my sweaty forehead.

"Hot tonight, isn't it?" She sat down on the bed beside me.

"Yeah... I'll be right back," I told her, going to the bathroom between Jason and Ryder's rooms.

Running my wrists under cold water, I instantly felt myself cooling down. Then, I splashed the water over my face.

Staring at myself in the tiny mirror above the sink, water dripping off my face, I wondered if Ember was hot tonight, or if she was just as cold as she usually was. But, with her fire returning to her in the powerful way it did, surely, she should be warm now?

"You okay?" Jade called to me, knocking lightly on the door.

"Yeah, I'll be out in a sec," I responded and patted my face dry with a towel.

"Can't sleep?" She asked when I reappeared from the bathroom.

"You know there's no point in me even trying." I huffed, standing in front of her and stroking loose strands of her messy, thick hair back behind her ears.

Her hands rested on my forearms as I kissed her on the forehead.

"Tomorrow's Monday," she told me — as if I didn't know the days of the week.

"Yeah, I kinda guessed that," I smirked. "You know, today being Sunday and all."

"What I'm saying." She rolled her dark brown eyes at me. "Is that tomorrow's Monday, and you've got basketball practise tomorrow night."

"Hmm," I responded, flopping onto the bed, Jade following suit.

"You're thinking about her, aren't you," Jade spoke in a soft, sad tone; it was a statement, not a question.