This chapter is kind of shorter and WAY later than the others. I'm sorry, but it's finally here!


The dance ended and the group of us decided to go get some burgers together. I didn't want to put my heels back on so I convinced Enoch to carry me on his back. Even though he complained the entire way back to his car, his smile was blinding in the selfie I took of the two of us. I couldn't believe I spent so much time not realizing how attractive he was.

Once I was securely back in his car with him in the driver's seat, I placed my hand on top of his where it rested on my thigh. Enoch followed Jake and Emma with Hugh and Fiona behind us as we headed to whatever restaurant was open this late with Alyssa following behind them. She was off the hook for cleanup because she'd practically set the entire thing up by herself.

I was in the middle of posting the picture to Instagram when my eyes started to burn. When I looked up, I saw the woman from my vision on Friday standing on the side of the road. My heart started pounding as I realized I was going to have to feel her death. It had been a couple days since I'd had a vision or felt a death, and I was foolish to think that streak would keep going.

"E, can we pull over?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

His grip on my thigh tightened as he signaled and turned down the gravel road I pointed out. The second the car turned off the girl appeared in the floorboard in front of me. She frowned and mouthed "sorry" before reaching out and touching the top of my hand before disappearing.

Thankfully, this time I didn't scream or jerk when it happened. I just sat rigid in the passenger seat, Enoch's voice a dull roar in the background. Instead of being over quickly like the gunshot, it kept throbbing and felt vaguely like a horde of angry bees was inside my skill, stinging everything in their path.

"V, is this the one Horace was telling me about? The vision you had at the school?" he asked, brushing my hair out of my face as he rubbed my knee. "It's got to almost be over, you're not really reacting so I can't tell what's happening. Uhm, your eyes are shut and your jaw is clenched so I assume you're still feeling the pain. What can I do to help?"

I just shook my head and forced my eyes open so I could see him. His eyes were big with worry as he leaned over to comfort me. I forced myself to function through the pain, unlocking my jaw and letting out a pained whimper. Thankfully, the pain started to ebb away slowly as I focused more on Enoch and less on my throbbing head. Looking at him seemed to make things a lot easier.

"I'm okay," I told him, my voice only vaguely sounding like it went through a cheese grater. "Thanks for only being kind of an asshole."

He rolled his eyes and asked, "Are you really okay? Also, shut up and don't be rude to someone when they're trying to help you."

I laughed wetly and flipped down his visor to fix my face. I pulled a makeup wipe out of it and wiped all the mascara off my cheeks, replacing my foundation and blush as Enoch watched me. His phone rang suddenly and he answered it, never taking his eyes off me.

"Hey, we got a little sidetracked," he told them, reaching out and cupping my jaw affectionately. "Yeah, we'll meet you guys there in a couple minutes."

He hung up his phone soon after and dropped it into the cup holder. I reclosed my eyes for a second and just basked in the way it felt when the two of us were together like this. After the pain I'd just experienced, having him touch me so gentle and intimately was everything I needed to put myself back together.

I turned my head to the side and kissed his palm before saying, "Thank you for being here for me even when I'm difficult and seeing people die and feeling their pain."

"It was a good way to pass time," he winked, making me purse my lips out in a pout. When my stomach growled, he leaned forward to kiss my forehead. "Okay, let's go meet our friends before they send out a search party."

He leaned forward and connected his lips to mine, making me squeal when his teeth replaced mine on my bottom lip. We couldn't get very close with his console between us so I decided to make a decision. I pulled away from him and maneuvered myself into his backseat, looking at him and waggling my brows suggestively –an invitation for him to join me. He immediately tore out of his seat and opened the one opposite me, moving until his body was resting over mine pleasantly.

I reached up and carded my fingers in his hair, using it to direct his lips down to mine. It was a battle from the start, the two of us fighting for dominance against each other. I may have cheated by raising my leg and hooking it over his hip as I dug my nails into the back of his neck, but who's to say? In response he slid his hand underneath me and pressed our bodies together by resting it against my lower back.

Like I expected, I had control for a couple seconds before he demanded it back. His mouth completely claiming mine and making heat blossom throughout me. We were pressed to intimately together, there wasn't a centimeter between us. I don't think I'd ever been this close to anyone before. I could actually feel how hard his heart was racing from where our chest connected and I'm sure he could feel mine. It was kind of nice to be reminded that I also made him nervous.

I pushed on his shoulders and dropped my legs from around his waist. "Sit up."

He did as I instructed with knitted brows, but I didn't give him enough time to question me. I moved myself onto his lap and draped my arms over his shoulders, leaning forward to reconnect our lips. He gripped my hip tightly in one hand and held my jaw in the other, kissing me ravenously. We were turning our heads to get closer and drinking each other in in a way that was all new to me.

I broke away to catch my breath, but his kisses didn't stop. He placed a line of them down to the start of my dress before going back to nibble on my collarbone. I was breathing heavily and tugging on his hair as I titled my head back. Luckily, he'd slid his hand up to support me or I probably would've fell back into the floorboard considering all the bones in my body suddenly felt like cooked spaghetti.

"E," I breathed.

Instead of pushing further, Enoch pulled away from me and reached around my body to the front of the car. I held his shoulders to stay upright and realized his phone was ringing. A particularly naughty idea crossed my mind and I started leaving kisses along the exposed skin of his throat as he tried to talk on the phone.

It was either Jacob, Emma, or Hugh by the context of the conversation, and his voice was deliciously unsteady. I pulled his tie loose and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his dress shirt so I could leave a mark without getting caught. I left open mouth kisses along the line of his neck and shoulder, leaving a sizable mark where the two met.

"Yeah, we'll meet you there," he said, hanging up the phone and tossing it to the side. "You are in so much trouble."


We did end up meeting them at McDonald's twenty minutes later, only a tiny bit disheveled. Of course Alyssa noticed the difference the second we walked in and so did Emma. The difference was Emma immediately started raving and asking what we'd been doing to keep us away for so long- they'd all already ate and were just talking now.

"You two were late because you were hooking up, aren't you?" she asked, making the others explode into boisterous laughter. "How risqué!"

I saw Enoch's face flush and knew I was on my own. "Well, that did happen, but it's not technically why we're late. I had to deal with something and freaked out."

They sobered quickly, realizing the weight of my words. Alyssa reached across the table and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze before Emma wrapped an arm around my shoulders. Comfort soaked deep into my bones and I let out a breath full of contentment.

Eventually, Enoch and I went to order something to eat because I was starving. My stomach growling made the others laugh and Enoch peck my cheek. He and I argued for more than we should have before he gave in and let me pay for our food. I was going to have to work on him and his deeply ingrained gender roles.


You are important. You are loved. You are worthy. You belong here. There is nothing wrong with you.

Just thought I'd tell you just in case you haven't heard it enough.