"Maybe we can leave soon," I offered. "Why don't we go find Cameron, see if he needs help and if he doesn't, we can go home."
I didn't really know what happened after these sorts of things, especially since it was Dylan but I knew, and glanced behind me just to be positive, that Cameron was still inside. Travis sighed into my hair.
"Do you trust me?" he asked.
Did I...what?
Was he serious?
"Are you on drugs?" I asked because they'd implied it earlier and now he was asking me this. Did I trust him - I had been sure I trusted him back when he dropped me from a window. Which, looking back was probably not the best display of said trust but he never let me down.
"I walked into jail for you," I added before he had a chance to answer.
"Then trust me when I say you don't want to go inside the house."
I deflated at his words, realizing he knew what I was aiming for with my suggestion. I didn't see me winning this argument and if Travis didn't want me to see the body that much, perhaps it was that bad.
"Okay," I said. "You can find Cameron and tell him you need to rest and we'll leave."
Travis pulled away from me like he was thoroughly offended.
"I'm fine," he stressed.
"No, you aren't," I said, scrunching up my face at him because who was he kidding?
"Yes. I am."
I rolled my eyes at his need to seem okay. It wouldn't be the end of the world if he wasn't at 100% all the time. I didn't want him to push himself too hard.
He grabbed my hand and led us back to the house.
"Stay here with Ben," he said and was gone through the open front door before I could answer.
"Cameron!" I heard Travis yell once he was inside. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
I couldn't hear Cameron's answer after that so I looked at the guys next to me. Ben offered me a small smile which I returned and I waved at Carlos.
The two of them were talking to each other softly but I could tell it was in another language. Spanish, I think. I looked between the two of them, enthralled.
When they stopped talking to each other, I finally spoke up.
"I didn't know you spoke Spanish," I said to Ben because there was a lot I didn't know about Carlos.
Ben smiled, "My mom was Spanish."
My eyebrows rose. I heard Travis talk about Ben's parents all the time but Ben rarely did.
"Does Travis?" I asked because if he was as close with Ben's family as he was, maybe he learned.
Both Ben chuckled while Carlos snorted.
"Travis can barely speak English," Ben joked.
A smile found its way onto my face but I still made sure to say, "Rude."
Annabeth was seated on one of the steps but she didn't make any moves to start up conversation or join in. Instead, she kept her eyes on the ground or would glance up and down the road before looking at the ground again. I looked up at the dark sky, looking at the few stars that were visible through the puffy clouds still in the sky.
"Who else is here?" I asked, not sure how many people were inside.
"Tom," Ben said.
I nodded, remembering Annabeth mentioning him on the phone.
"He's here to clean up?" I recalled Scully's words to Dylan during one of the interrogations. Scully had advised to target Tom and take him out of the equation.
"Not originally," Ben began. "He came to make sure there wasn't anything obvious from this morning but kinda found more than he bargained for when he showed up."
I turned around to get another view of the sky and almost tripped as my foot slipped off the edge of the brick walkway and landed on the front lawn grass. I only stumbled for a moment before righting myself. There was a commotion coming from inside, voices getting louder but they were ones I recognized.
"Just go to the doctor already!" Travis yelled.
"I don't have any STDs!" Tom argued back. I could hear Finn laughing in the background while trying to tell them both to drop it.
Ben narrowed his eyes before walking into the front door.
"Okay, bye," I said sarcastically when Ben was out of view without a word.
I walked over to where Carlos was leaning against the wall, his shoulder pressed against the brick. I rested my back against it, crossing my arms over my chest and looked back up at the sky. This time I wouldn't fall over.
"Did you go inside?" I asked him quietly.
"No," he said.
"Why not?"
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him shrug.
"Doesn't really matter, does it?" he answered.
"I guess not," I said as I thought it over.
"You didn't tell me Cameron was still in the picture," Carlos spoke up but it didn't sound like he was mad.
I looked to him. "You didn't tell me you spoke Spanish."
The corner of his mouth turned up in a smile. "I also speak Japanese and I'm learning French."
The guy who rarely spoke knew three languages and was learning a fourth?
"Why?" I asked.
Again, he shrugged before saying, "I like them. And I work with a lot of different people."
I wondered if he meant as part of his job when he went to talk to the suppliers. Instead of asking, I just nodded.
"I think we need to work on our communication," he said but again, despite the words he was saying which sounded mean on their own, he sounded amused. "This isn't the way to start a relationship, Annie."
Quiet laughter erupted out of me at his words. "I forgot all about that."
"Ouch," he said. "First we're keeping things from each other and now you're forgetting me."
"I didn't mean it like that," I said and Carlos laughed.
Travis came through the door and I watched as he glanced at the general spot I'd been in when he left before he flipped around in a quick circle looking for me. When he did spot me, he didn't hesitate to march over with the others pouring out of the door behind him. He held his hand out to me.
"Put this in your phone," he said placing the battery Cameron has previously taken from me in my hand.
I didn't see what the big deal was. Especially since he was right here with me anyway and I was usually out with at least one other member of the gang anyway but if it helped him stop shaking, I would do it. I put it in my pocket and reached out to grab his hand, linking his fingers with mine. He was still a little shaky but not nearly as bad or as noticeable as before so that was progress.
"We can go. Tom's staying to clean up. Carlos, I need you to set up a time to meet with some of the suppliers tomorrow. Whoever we can meet with," Cameron said immediately.
Carlos nodded and pulled out his phone. "Am I giving you a ride back to your car, Finn?" he asked even though his attention was on his phone.
"Nah, Annabeth and I can go get it."
"Come on," Travis said, his breath close to my cheek. I turned my head to find him closer to me than before. He tugged on my hand in the direction of the car.
"Is Cameron...?" I trailed off, letting him pull me but glanced behind me as we walked, looking for the man in question who I came here with.
Cameron was trailing behind with Finn and Annabeth on either side of him. Carlos and Ben were behind us.
"Are you coming with us?" I asked, finding Cameron's eyes.
He nodded.
"I can drive," Travis offered as I pulled the keys out of my jacket pocket.
"No," I answered quickly. "You drive too fast."
Travis rolled his eyes. "I'll go slow."
I shook my head.
"Fine, Ben can drive."
I didn't ask how he knew Ben was coming with us and not going with Finn or Annabeth.
Instead of answering, I walked over to the driver's side door, keeping the keys in my hand. Travis walked around to the passenger seat and stood outside of the door.
"You can't sit there," I pointed out because Cameron had enough room in the front seat to stretch his leg out and if someone else was in the backseat with him, I wasn't sure he'd have room.
"I can't sit here?" he asked like I was joking.
I shook my head, wondering how much Cameron wanted me to tell the others when it came to how much his leg hurt.
"Move," Cameron said before I had to answer with anything. He hit one of his crutches against Travis' back. "I get the front."
Travis rubbed his back with a glare stuck on his face but he didn't argue with Cameron. I unlocked the doors and we got in. Travis got in the backseat, scooting over so he was behind my seat with Ben piling in after him. Cameron didn't explain himself so I didn't either. If Travis asked me privately, I would probably tell him but I didn't want to rat Cameron's pain out in front of everyone. Travis had acted offended enough when I suggested he needed to sleep. I figured it was the same type of thing.
It was silent until we were on the outskirts of Melkin. I was getting onto the road that would lead me to the endless supply of empty fields. Nearby, I could see a small town to the right, where an illuminated sign for a grocery store and some gas stations shone in the dark night. Beyond that, trees cut off my vision of where the houses most likely would be. What interrupted the quiet ride was a tapping.
Travis started tapping out a song on my seat headrest. As the noise progressed, showing no sign of stopping any time soon, Cameron sunk lower in his own seat and I wasn't sure if it was from annoyance at Travis or he was just trying to get comfortable.
"You'd make a good teacher," I told him quietly.
Cameron glanced at me for a second but didn't say anything. Surprise, surprise.
"You have a lot of patience," I clarified without waiting for the words he was never going to ask.
"Give me a hint," Ben stated and I wasn't sure what he was talking about.
Travis immediately answered, "The Beach Boys."
"Well, I know it's not Good Vibrations," Ben said.
I squinted my eyes at the road as I listened to them talk nonsense.
"No."
"That surfing song?" Ben continued.
Travis just kept tapping. I looked in the rear view to see him shake his head, no, before he looked at Ben in anticipation.
"I don't know...Wouldn't It Be Nice?"
"Nope."
"Why do you even have the Beach Boys stuck in your head, Travis?" Cameron interrupted.
Travis didn't let that stop him from tapping the song but he gave Ben his answer when he ignored Cameron and said, "It's Kokomo."
Ben made a noise like that answered all the questions he would ever have in life.
"Weirdos," I said under my breath but it amused me.
Cameron sounded like he was about to snickering but held his hand casually against his lips, silencing himself.
Ben and Travis started talking to themselves about songs. I focused on the bumps in the road but out here, the roads weren't so bad so it was pretty easy. Still, no one had brought up the possible elephant in the room, aka Dylan dying meaning more cops would show up. I know Cameron recognized that and I think Travis had even brought up the possibility of it once to Josh so I knew the idea was there. But I didn't know if they were actively avoiding talking about it and future plans for what to next or if they were trying to lighten the mood. Especially if whatever Scully did was bad, I could understand wanting a moment of not freaking the heck out.
My mind went back to seeing Annabeth sitting on the curb waiting for us and then again when she was sitting on the steps to the house. She looked just like a normal person in that moment, not someone who frequently sped away from crime scenes hauling boys loaded with guns around. Travis might still be shaking for all I knew right now and was covered with bruises on his neck and face from someone twice his size trying to choke him. I thought about Cameron when he walked down the alley with Josh in it, not a limp in sight but then how he needed to use me as support to even make it back to the car.
None of them were supernatural. They were hurting and possibly running out of fumes. I was worried about Travis running out of steam but maybe I needed to worry about all of them reaching that breaking point. I glanced again at the store off on the side of the road as we came up to it.
"Do you think we could stop at the grocery store?" I asked quietly.
"No," Cameron said.
"Why?" Travis asked.
"Is everything okay?" Ben added.
"Just go home," Cameron said.
I pursed my lips to the side as I thought, eyeing the store.
"Okay, but I'm driving so..." I said before I put on the blinker and turned on the side road that would take us to my new destination.
Cameron had said 'Lacey' and 'Turn around' and 'Listen to me' about five times each by the time I pulled into a spot in the parking lot.
I turned the car off and held the keys out to him.
"I'm going in to get some stuff for breakfast tomorrow. You can wait in the car if you want," my eyes glanced at his leg because I doubted he'd want to follow me around. "But you aren't allowed to leave without me."
Cameron just grunted and crossed his arms.
"Promise?" I asked because I really didn't want to get left in the middle of nowhere with a bag full of uncooked bacon at the end of this.
He didn't say anything but grabbed the keys out of my hand.
"Words are nice, too," I whispered at his lack thereof as I got out of the car, making sure to grab my phone and pop the battery in it as I did so.
I heard two doors open and close and then Travis and Ben were on either side of me as I walked through the lot to the door.
"He won't leave," Ben reassured me as we walked through the sliding glass doors.
Personally, I was relieved that the store was even open. I hadn't realized they might be closed until we got close to it and then I'd look like an idiot in front of Cameron.
"What are we getting?" Travis asked like this was normal.
I bit my lip as I thought about it. Was it a stupid idea? Maybe.
"I was thinking about getting breakfast I can cook for everyone in the morning. Since it's been a long day, I thought it might be nice. I don't know...is that dumb?"
Travis' grin filled his whole face. "I think that's a great idea."
"Let's get waffles," Ben suggested.
"And eggs," Travis added and started walking in a different direction from me. "I'll go get some."
Ben ran after him whisper-yelling something about orange juice.
I watched as they practically ran away from me, happy with my idea. A smile stuck on my face the whole way over to the meat section where I grabbed sausage and bacon. Somewhere in the distance, I heard a laugh that sounded a lot like Travis' but I tried not to pay too much attention to it in case he did something that was about to anger the employees. For the next five minutes, I could pretend like I didn't know him if it kept me out of trouble with staff. I walked down another aisle, looking for the waffle stuff because neither of them had seemed like they were headed that way when they split off from me earlier. I grabbed two boxes of waffle and pancake mix, figuring we could have more for a later date.
I was walking down an aisle, skimming over the spices and trying to remember if I saw any in the kitchen when I heard them.
"Aruba, Jamaica, oh I want to take you to Bermuda, Bahama-" Ben half sung, half spoke in a low voice under his breath.
"Come on pretty mama," Travis continued to sing, squeezing one side of my hips from behind.
I spun around to see between the two of them, they had multiple different juices, two cartons of eggs, one apple I wasn't going to ask about, and can of whipped cream.
"Are we ready?" Ben asked, looking over what I had which was pretty boring compared to their spread.
I nodded because I could only cook so much anyway, this would have to be good enough. We followed Travis to the registers, only veering off once as we went down an aisle for him to grab a box of hot chocolate mix. I had a bag in one hand and a giant smile on my face still as we exited the supermarket. The guys had the other bags and Travis took the one I was holding as we walked up to the car.
We all climbed in and they put the bags on the floor between the two of them. Cameron, the grump that he was forever convinced he had to be, even managed to turn around and peek in some of the bags as I got back on the road.
Then the humming started.
"We'll get there fast and then take it slow," Travis muttered, humming the next part for just a moment before continuing, "Way down in Kokomo."
"Would you stop?" Cameron sighed. I didn't even have the heart to tell him he was probably singing or tapping it all through the grocery store if he managed to get it stuck in Ben's head, too.
Travis chuckled. "I'm in a good mood, leave me alone."
"You shouldn't be in a good mood," the grump said.
"I never should be in a good mood. If I waited for a good moment to come, I'd never be happy and I'd end up looking constipated like you," Travis said like it was no big deal.
I pretended scratched my cheek, using my hand to block the smile that was fighting its way onto my face but I doubted I did a good job at covering it.
If Cameron noticed my amusement, he ignored it and kept his attention on the backseat, "Why are you in a good mood?"
"Why are you in a good mood?" Travis copied.
"Travis," Cameron said in a serious tone.
"Travis," my boyfriend mocked.
Cameron turned slightly in his seat so his front half was turned and facing the back slightly to get a better look at Travis. I glanced back at him in the rearview mirror to see him grinning at Cameron.
"You know what I mean," Cameron said.
Travis made a hmm noise for a moment before speaking, "I haven't the faintest idea."
I didn't even need to look at Cameron to know he was scowling at this point.
"I said he didn't take anything other than pain pills," Ben spoke up.
Travis gasped dramatically. "You're asking around for dirt on me? You should be ashamed of yourself."
I wanted to ask again what they were talking about and what pills and why they thought he was on anything but I kept it to myself. Travis had said we'd talk about it later and I just had to trust him that he'd tell me later. Maybe he didn't want to talk about it in front of everyone even though everyone seemed to already know. But I could wait until later. And he didn't exactly seem happy about Cameron's prodding right now anyway.
Cameron groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Did you take anything?"
"Did you?" Travis countered, sounding genuinely curious.
"Answer the question."
"Why does everyone keep asking me that today? Hello, I have a concussion. Do you really think I'm that dumb?"
Cameron didn't say anything and I bit my lip as amused guilt washed over me.
Travis kept talking, "I'm waiting for an answer, buddy."
I'm pretty sure no one in the car actually expected Cameron to answer, though. Ben just laughed lightly and then Travis groaned so loud it was like he was being tortured.
"No, I didn't take anything, Dad," he finally said.
Cameron turned forward in his seat again, "Was that so hard?"
"Yes!"
Silence washed over the car once more that I blamed on Travis and Cameron both pouting in their own different ways. One being extra grumpy and the other holding still more than usual. I fought the urge to tap along to Kokomo on the steering wheel, wanting to curse Travis but not wanting to egg him on with that song or remind him of it. Thanks to the dark, I didn't really know where exactly we were other than on the road to nowhere. Actually, even if it was light outside, it wasn't like I could really differentiate between one patch of grass and another on this road. But judging by the time, which was how I'd learned to track out this road, we had maybe ten minutes left.
"I don't look constipated," Cameron said quietly referencing Travis' words earlier and that time, I couldn't help it.
I started laughing, bending over slightly towards the steering wheel and could hear Ben echoing my laughs.
"Are you serious?" Travis almost whispered when Ben and I had quieted down.
"Are you?" Cameron countered.
"I wouldn't say it was constipated," Ben said. "What was it Finn used to say?"
"Do you think so?" Cameron asked me before Ben or Travis could continue.
I felt my headrest being tugged on from behind and then Travis was in my ear.
"It's his thinking face," Travis explained next to my face and my heart sped up a little at how close he was.
"Oh," I said which caused Cameron's face to clench up slightly and I laughed again.
"See?" Travis said.
"I don't think you look constipated when you're thinking," I told him.
Cameron broke out in the tiniest smile. "Thank you."
But I continued, "It's more like someone kicked a puppy in front of you whenever you're thinking or mad."
He sighed as Travis laughed, tugging on my headrest once more before sitting back in his seat.
"Would you put your seatbelt on, by the way?" I asked him.
There was the sound of a phone dialing out on speaker.
"Who are you calling? Ah," Travis said as it rang a second time. I looked back for a second to see Ben holding his phone out in his hand.
"Yeah?" Finn's voice filled the car.
"What'd you use to call Cam when he had his constipated face on?" Ben asked casually.
"Stop calling it that!" Cameron interjected.
Finn started laughing. "If Cam says he forgot it, he's lying."
"We didn't ask, you know he won't admit anything," Ben said.
"Hang up the phone," Cameron ordered.
"Let them converse," Travis said as politely as someone like he could say something.
"I said he was our resident emo boy," Finn said and Cameron groaned, sinking deeper into his seat.
"Was it the glaring?" I asked.
"Yeah, he looks like he's trying to summon laser vision," Finn laughed. "And that bitch knows if anyone's going to get laser pointer eyes, it'd better be me."
I laughed as Ben hung up the phone and I wanted to hug them and tell them I loved them all because I did. Josh and the other cops called them terrible things. My dad thought they were all the scum of the Earth and were better off never being born. But it was moments like this that I wanted to shove in everyone's faces. If I could bottle their laughter up to put on display, I would. They joked, laughed, cared for each other, and got through everything together as a group. No one was in competition with each other and fighting internally for power. Everyone trusted each other and all they wanted to do was live their lives far away from here. But as I knew from experience being around them, it was a hard goal for them to accomplish when someone was trying to kill you at least every other day.
"Thank fuck," Travis said as we turned off the road, signaling we were just about home. "I'm so tired."
"Me too," I said.
"Same," Ben added.
"You guys can shut up. You didn't get concussed," Travis said.
"He keeps milking that, doesn't he?" I asked, turning slowly onto another road and noticed Cameron didn't even grab his leg or brace for it that time.
"So much," Ben laughed. "You should see him when he's sick. You'd think he was actually dying for once."
"Fuck you guys," Travis said. "We're supposed to be on the same team, Lacey."
I laughed as I pulled up the driveway to park. They guys hopped out of the backseat with the groceries on their arms and I carefully handed Cameron his crutches before getting out myself. Travis and Ben opened the front door and Ben held it open for us as Cameron and I came through it.
We passed Hannah, who looked like she was sleeping on the couch. She pushed herself up on her hands, the blanket falling off her slightly and she looked around at all of us. Ben went to immediately join Travis in the kitchen to unload groceries.
"How did everything go?" she asked, looking between the two of us.
"Pretty good," I said with a soft smile before sending a look to Cameron. "Nothing really happened."
There, Cameron. Are you happy? Turns out, I can remember a few simple words.
I kept my thoughts to myself and he didn't make an acknowledgment towards me about what I said. Not wanting to hang around and lie to Hannah anymore or say something that Cameron might get mad at, I joined the other two in the kitchen as they finished up unpacking. Standing off to the side a bit so I wasn't in their direct way, my eyes stuck to Travis as he moved back and forth between Ben. More specifically, his neck. Rage filled me and I wondered for the first time if that was why I wasn't upset about Dylan. Sure, I didn't like him but he was still someone that I knew that was no longer alive. Of course, he was a terrible person so maybe that was it, too... but if he wasn't so much of a jerk, Travis' face wouldn't look so busted and his neck would look perfect.
Was this how Travis had felt when the Dacostas had choked me? I despised Sullivan Taylor.
Arms appeared over my shoulders from behind, crossing each other in an x over my chest, and the hands held onto my torso, pulling me tightly into a body.
"Can we go to bed now, love?" Travis whispered in my ear. He released his hold on my torso but kept his arms loosely around me.
"Is it okay if you sleep?" I asked, not having to point out because of his concussion for the tenth time tonight.
"Mhm," he mumbled.
"Okay," I said and felt him pushing me from behind out of the kitchen. "I want to shower first."
I looked over at Ben to see him getting a glass of water. He nodded to Travis, I think but couldn't tell what Travis was doing, before he looked at me.
"Night, Lacey," Ben smiled.
"Goodnight."
Hannah and Cameron weren't in the living room anymore so we walked into his room. I grabbed some clothes, showered, and as soon as I got back, Travis walked by me to shower as well. I didn't blame him. Just talking to Scully made me want to shower the way he made me feel off him. I crawled in the bed and closed my eyes, surrounded by the smell of his soap or cologne or deodorant, whatever it was. It wasn't long before he came back, flicked off the room light, and climbed in next to me. The woodsy smell doubled and I cuddled up next to him.
If I stayed like this, wrapped up in the smell of him and his arms on me, I could die a happy woman. I didn't really need anything else in my life. Just him. Just this smell. Just his warmth.
"Love you," Travis whispered.
Dead.
"So much." He kissed the top of my head.
I was so dead.
___________________
Cameron & Travis
If you're wondering how many times I listened to Kokomo while writing this chapter, the answer is too many times. Way, way too many and I've had it stuck in my head for days as a result so I'm not even sorry if you leave this chapter with it in your head. We can suffer together. #blametravis
I hope you guys liked this! Let me know what you think, I love reading and replying to comments. I hope you have a great day and don't forget to smile! <33