Wow, I can't believe I wrote this that fast. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! And its not the last. I'm thinking the next one will be. But if I feel the need to, I will make one last chapter after that.

Whenever

Chapter 11

As soon as Mrs. Wilkins left, I went upstairs and grabbed my wallet and then ran in my brother's room and grabbed his car keys.

(A/N: Sorry, I can't remember if I gave Jess a car or not. But if I did, just pretend I never did, and she doesn't have her own car. Okay?)

What? He would understand. I was just borrowing his car, anyway. I had my license and all. I was a perfectly dignified driver.

And who cares if I go 90? Its just a more efficient way of getting to places—going fast.

I quickly ran back down the stairs, but not before grabbing some shoes and a light sweatshirt (Indiana, despite it being almost summer, can get a little chilly at night). I wrote a quick note to my mom and dad, saying that I was going out with a friend and I was not sure when I would be back. And then I remembered poor Douglas and wrote a note to him, saying how sorry I was that I was using his car, but that I would have it back in one piece.

And then I ran out the door as quickly as I could, remembering to lock the door on my way out. I hopped in Doug's car and started the engine. I backed out of the driveway and peeled down the street. I so did not care at that moment if I got stopped by a cop or not. If I did, I could just smile at him and lie, saying my speedometer was off or something. Even though, you know, I could fully tell the difference between 25 and 90.

I was trying to remember the whole time where this place was. I couldn't remember the exact route we had taken, but I pretty much got the gist at the time. Hopefully I would get to the right place.

Every time I saw a big patch of trees I looked to see if there was the same looking entrance, but it wasn't. I couldn't even remember how long it had taken us to get there.

Ugh. This is so messed up. How could I have thought I would remember something like this?

But then I saw it. I knew that that was it. I knew it. It just had to be it.

I parked the car, locked it, and then started for the entrance to the woods.

Shit, I forgot to bring a flashlight. Oh, God, I'm such an idiot.

Oh, wait! Douglas has a little flashlight thing on his keychain!

I took it out and turned it on. Good, it still worked. Well, it didn't provide much light, but it was good enough. Now all I had to do was remember where exactly this place is.

I kept walking, looking for the clearing. I was walking for about twenty minutes when I started to think I was lost.

And then if I was lost, there was bound to be some kind of psycho killer around here just waiting for young, stupid girls like me to go wandering around by themselves, so they can take them, rape, and kill them.

Okay, Jess, stop scaring yourself. No psycho killer is in these woods. It's perfectly safe. Just perfectly saf—

What the hell was that?

I whipped my head around and shone the little dinky light where I heard some noise. It shined on a rabbit. The rabbit just scurried off, scared.

Well, that makes two of us.

Why did I think this was good idea?

Ugh.

But that's when I heard it. Water. Running water.

Oh, thank God.

I headed in the direction of the water and soon enough I found the clearing. The clearing where the waterfall was. Where I was hoping Rob would be.

Because, you know, if he wasn't, this would have been a complete waste.

But I had a feeling he would be here. It was weird.

I started walking toward the edge of the ground, where the water met it, when I saw something out of the corner of my eye.

Or, should I say, someone.

It was Rob. Just like I knew he would be here. Only...he was with someone else.

Oh, God, it's a girl. He's with a girl. Oh, yeah, sure he loves me. HE'S ONLY WITH ANOTHER FUCKING GIRL.

But when I look closer I notice its not a girl. Its...a guy.

Okay, you can calm down now, Jess. It's a guy.

And then I notice that they're just talking.

And Rob's got a beer bottle in his hand, which looks to be almost empty.

And then I notice two more empty ones next to him.

Oh, great. So now he's almost drunk. Can I not have any luck?

I take a deep breath and start walking over there. They're both facing the other way, so they don't see me approach them, which works to my advantage. I'd rather not have him staring at me as I'm walking over to him.

I'm right behind him and they still don't realize that I'm there.

So what else could I do besides say, "Rob?"

Rob jumped and turned around, looking up at me. He squinted at me at first, I guess not being able to make me out in the dark. But then when he saw who it was, he dropped his beer.

And then his friend turned around and I notice that its Wendell. Huh. I thought they weren't friends.

"Mastriani?"

That was Wendell, not Rob. Rob was still speechless and still staring at me, which was making me a little unnerved.

"Yeah," I said to him. Then to Rob I said, "I need to talk to you."

He looked down at the ground and shook his head, but not in the way as to say 'no'. Kind of like he couldn't believe that I was actually standing right there.

Then he slowly made his way into a standing position, and once again he was towering over me. I kind of missed towering over him. It gave me a sort of power that I had never felt before, since I can't remember the last time I was ever taller than anybody. Well, besides two year-olds.

"Jess," he said, regaining his speech and composure, "what are you doing here?"

I looked up at him and answered, in voice completely devoid of emotion, "Like I said a minute ago. I need to talk to you."

He looked at me for a minute, hard. "How did you know I was here?" he asked in mild surprise.

"I didn't," I said, because that was true. I wasn't sure if he was really there, or not. "But I was hoping you were."

He sighed and ran a shaky hand through his hair, which I noticed he still had not cut. It was pretty much down to his shoulders now. It so needed to be cut.

"Look, Jess," he said. "I know the way things ended between us wasn't exactly what you were planning, okay? But you haven't spoken to me in a month. Do you expect me to really believe you just want to "talk"?"

"Yeah," I said. "Yeah, actually, I do. Because there are some things I need to say to you, and I know there are definitely some things you want to say to me. Don't even try to deny it."

He sighed again and turned around to Wendell. "Sorry, man," he said. "I'll catch up with you in a bit."

Wendell nodded and got up, taking his blanket and case of beer with him. When Wendell was out of earshot, I said, "Wait. How many beers has he had? He shouldn't be driving."

Rob just rolled his eyes. "I know. He's going to wait in my truck."

"Oh," I said. Rob just nodded.

"What did you really come out here for, Mastriani?"

Oh, so he was back to calling me Mastriani. I see how it is.

"I...I guess I wanted to say I was sorry," I said before I thought any better of it.

Rob just blinked. "You...what?"

"I'm sorry," I repeated. "I should have...I should've known. I mean, I was pretty harsh to you that one day that I saw the Feds outside your house. I jumped to conclusions, or was just pissed, I don't know. I'm sorry for not trusting you, for thinking that you didn't have my best interests in mind. I know what you did was for me and I acted like a complete bitch about it." I took a breath and said, in a much softer voice, "I'm really sorry."

Rob didn't say anything. I looked up at him and noticed he was looking out at the water. He looked back at me and said, "Come on," and he started walking toward the waterfall.

Confused, I followed him. He sat down at the edge of the water. He took his shoes off and rolled up his jeans, sticking his feet in the water. I did the same and sat down next to him.

After a few minutes he said, "I'm not really all that innocent either, Jess. I mean, I should have told you about the whole thing when I could. But...I knew you would get mad and I didn't want that to happen."

I looked down at my feet in the water. What could I really say to that?

But I didn't really have to say anything, since Rob continued. "I know you want to know what happened, why I was communicating with the Feds. And...I'll tell you. If it means that much to you then I'll tell you."

I looked up from my feet and back to his face. Shocked, I said, "What? But I thought you had to keep your end of the deal? Wouldn't you be breaking the deal?"

That's when he just grinned. "What they don't know won't hurt them."

And I found myself smiling. Maybe...maybe Rob's mom was right. Maybe it was all just a big misunderstanding, that I was missing the biggest piece of the puzzle.

"Well, I guess it all started because I was being selfish. They came to me one day, that Johnson guy, actually. He was telling me how they were planning to move you to some place in Florida, where they could keep a better watch of you. And then I asked him why he was telling me this and he said he was warning me. Warning me not to get involved when they did it—"

"Wait a second," I said. "I never heard about them wanting to move me to Florida."

"I'm getting there," he said. "Well, then I said I was already involved and that they better not move you. I knew you wouldn't want that. But then he told me that if I tried anything to get you to stay here, that he would make sure that I was put in jail. I mean, that guy was a total dck, if you know what I mean. But anyway, I told him I didn't really care, just as long as you were happy."

I smiled at him. He was...he really did care.

"I can't really remember how many times he came to my house, bringing a new threat with him every time. But no matter how many things he threw at me, he kept saying that he would get you to go no matter what, even if that meant threatening me. And then I said...I said I would leave you alone, break up with you, if they would just keep you here and leave you be. And, well, he fell for it."

I blinked. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Rob, I would never have gone. You know that."

He looked at me then. "They were going to threaten you, Jess. I don't know what they would have said, but they would have."

I shrugged. "Well, whatever. They'd be bluffing. And even if what they said was true, I still wouldn't have gone and it would have all been for nothing anyway. I mean, God, I've all ready done enough for them, what with joining this psychic team and all."

Rob looked down, a little sheepish now. "Yeah, well. I was just trying to help."

"I know," I said. "And...I'm sorry. I mean, you were trying to help and I was being a total bitch about it."

He looked at me. "You weren't being a bitch, Jess. Believe me, I've seen bitchy."

"What do we do now?" I asked. "Now that you've told me everything. What do we do about the Feds?"

He shrugged. "Who cares? Now that I know you would never believe a word they say, I think I'm a little more confident as to how things will work out."

I raised my eyebrows. "Oh?" I said. "And what's th—"

I didn't really get to finish, since he grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me toward him—his lips to be more exact.

And then we were kissing. Really kissing.

Well, I mean, we hadn't done that in like a month. We were both pretty deprived of kissing, you know.

And I was happy for the first time in, what, a month and a half? Two months?

So I guess that's how Rob and I got in the position Wendell found us in about a half hour later. Which was Rob on top of me, his hand underneath my shirt, cupping my breast, and him kissing me senseless.

"Wilkins, what the hell're ya doin'?" Wendell asked.

It appeared Rob didn't hear him or he just didn't care that he was there, since he just kept on kissing me.

"Wilkins, you hear me? What the hell are ya doin'? I've been waiting in that truck for a goddamn hour—" And then I heard a silent, "Oh...I'll just...go wait in the truck."

And Rob just still kept kissing me, both of his hands inside my shirt now. I think he was going a little far for being in the middle of the woods. I mean, I could feel the hardness in his pants against my thigh.

"Rob?" I said, pulling away from him. "I think...I think we should go. I mean, sorry, but you...you're getting a little too...worked up."

He looked at me for a second, then nodded, getting up. I couldn't help but giggle when I saw the bulge in his pants.

Rob heard me giggle and looked in the direction I was looking in. When he noticed it, he said, really embarrassed, "Okay, we stick to beds from now on."

Which just made me flat out laugh. And, well, it also made me happy. From now on. That had to mean that we were together again, right?

Review, please!