So then there were two. Garrett tapped his foot rhythmically on the tile floor, humming some tune. We sat in silence, that was almost unbearable. It reminded me of the countless days of all four of us, sitting quietly by the fire. I didn’t want to go back.
I had some sort of vision, of Charlie getting carried away. God, how I didn’t want to lose him. We spent so much time together. I didn’t want him getting thrown into the prison system once again. He didn’t deserve it. I felt sick that I had actually worked for those people.
“You, okay?” asked Garrett. I stared into his light-blue eyes for a second while he looked at me, looking a bit confused. I then skimmed his face. He really had a lot of freckles.
“I just,” I started, my eyes flashing back in front of me, “You just don’t know Charlie and I, and there’s some stuff going on right now.” I sighed, rubbing my hands over my face. Then I turned my head towards him.
Garrett leaned back, crossing his arms with a big sigh. Then he smirked, saying, “Well, I wouldn’t mind hearing a bit more about you.”
I felt my face flush, then I immediately looked down to hide my face. I did not expect that. “Oh, god,” I whispered, feeling a smile sneak across my face.
“What’s so funny?” exclaimed Garrett, losing his cool and nonchalant attitude in an instant.
“Well, I,” I started, turning back to him. I felt like I couldn’t finish my sentence. His eyes were like an infinite ocean, and I felt like I was lost at sea.
“I’m a cop.” I quickly broke eye contact. Saying those few words made my spine shiver. I was a cop. I am a cop.
His eyes shone like a puppy when shown a treat. “A cop? Really? That’s. . . actually pretty cool! What did you do?”
Nobody had expressed this much interest in my job before. I smiled, probably looking like a grinning idiot.
“Well, I started out. . . well something happened in my family that made me want to. . . save people,” I cringed at my words. I continued, stating, “I began in the army as soon as I got out of high school. Met some cool people there, in the army. But I was only there for two years. When I got out, I felt empty. I knew I wanted to become a cop immediately after. So that’s what I did.” When I finished, Garret was staring at me, at a loss for words. Cute.
“How old are you anyway?” I asked, shaking the thought from my head.
“Nineteen. How old are you?” He asked.
“Twenty-three.” So, we were kind of close in age. Suddenly, I got a thought.
“What day is it?” I finally asked. It had been bothering me for what seemed like forever. I hadn’t checked the date before we went on the plane, and I really wanted to know.
“Oh, it’s Christmas Eve. December twenty-fourth!” Garret answered with a smile.
I felt my heart sink through Garrets smile.
It was Christmas Eve, and my family still didn’t know where I was. I tried to suppress my need to cry. A lump formed in my throat, and it hurt like hell. They probably thought I was dead. I imagined them, sitting by the fire, without me.
As I clenched my teeth, I felt a tear drop. When I blinked a few more came. Soon, tears were flowing down like a waterfall. I made no noise. I didn’t want Garrett to notice, but he did. I hiccupped, and felt Garrett touch my shoulder.
“You got family back home, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” I croaked. I hated crying. But I missed my family.
Garret sat up, after a bit. Tears were still rolling down my face.
“I got to go do something. Stay here. I’ll come back,” Garrett said, in an unusual tone. Charlie strolled back in the lobby for what seemed like forever since he went to go to the bathroom.
I eyed Garrett as he left. That was odd, I thought as I heard the rumble of his truck starting up from outside. But the sight of Charlie made me forget about crying. I wiped my tears as he sat right next to me--we still hadn’t said a word to each other.
One of the doors creaked opened, and out came Will. The scene reminded me of him coming out of the crashed plane, his tanned skin shining in the rays of sunlight.
“Is Holly okay?” Charlie asked immediately, bringing me back from the past and into the present.
“Yeah,” Will said, with a small smile, “Yeah. She’ll be okay. We can go in in like an hour.” Will sat on my left.
“Thank god,” Charlie breathed.
Suddenly, a thought hit me.
We were worried for Holly. All three of us. We could’ve run for help the moment Abigail and Garrett brought us to the city. But we stayed because we cared. And we cared for each other.
We were family. This was my family. The thought brought a smile to my face.
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