For Everything a Reason

Chapter 4: Nobody's Home

I'm here. My dad is here. Holden, he's here, too. We're all here. How did this happen? When I close my eyes I'm back home sitting on the patio with Holden, listening to him go off on some tangent about something that doesn't matter. Paisley will come dancing into the yard babbling on about some cute guy she made eye contact with for five seconds. But she won't because she isn't in my head. She is right here in front of me.

"Aspen," Paisley waves a hand in my face. "What?" my eyes snap open. "Nice of you to join us here in reality," Holden says as he picks up a bunch of suitcases. "Why are you picking those up?" Paisley turns her attention towards Holden. "I hate to break it to you lovely ladies but we're going to have to carry our own suitcases to the house. On foot," Holden says the last part all dramatically. That's not really a big deal for me since I kind of enjoy the pain of physical labor. When I wake up with sore muscles I know I accomplished something the previous day. Paisley, however, isn't really into the whole exercise fitness thing. She begins to whine when I hear a fragment of my mom, dad, and Johanna's conversation; something about a disloyal bastard. Suddenly I want to be a part of that conversation.

It's not hard to separate myself from Paisley and Holden because Paisley is incessantly whining and Holden is going off on some speech about how exercise is self-fulfilling and whatever. He's so into his little rant that he doesn't seem to notice how ridiculous his wild hand gestures look. It's a good thing the train station is desolate; those two would probably attract an audience with a performance like that.

I make my way over to my parents. "Hey, who's a disloyal bastard?" I say real casually. My mom and dad laugh. "Me," my dad says with a huge grin. I shoot him a confused look. "We were just thinking of all the names Katniss probably refers to him as," Johanna clarifies. It seems like no one ever fully grows up. I think that's a good thing. "Come on," my dad nudges my shoulder forward, "we should get to the house."

Shockingly Paisley managed to carry all of her suitcases by herself. I believe hell may just have frozen over. "I told ya you could do it," Holden smiles smugly. "Whatever. I'm going to unpack," Paisley ignores his comment and dashes up the stairs, "Aspen, are you coming?" "Nah. I'm going to go explore," "Suit yourself," she says before disappearing around the corner. "Wanna come?" I ask Holden. He looks around the room observantly. "I want to, but I should really stay with my mom," he gestures to Annie. She is pacing in front of the granite fireplace.
"Right. Yeah, that's totally fine," I smile and smack his arm.

I'm halfway down the driveway when I hear my mom. "Aspen, where are you going?" she asks in curiosity. "I don't know. That's the beauty of it," "Okay just don't get lost," she says in that protective mothering voice. "Mommm, I'm not a little kid. And that's such a typical mom thing to say," I straighten my posture for good measure. "I know," she laughs lightly. "Ava," my dad calls from the kitchen. "You better go see what dad wants. Maybe he found an old squirrel trap," I point back to the house. She rolls her eyes at me and disappears into the doorway as I disappear into uncharted territory.

The town is really busy. Busier than I would have thought. People are chattering and laughing about who knows what. They seem happy though, and that's all that matters. I pass a young girl with blonde pigtails and red cheeks. "You can't catch me!" she giggles in a high octave as a boy a year or two younger than me chases after her. It makes me wonder if I was that adorable as a little kid. My parents say I was, but of course they have to say that. What are they going to say? Aspen, you were the ugliest little thing God ever created. I don't think so.

As much as I love the rush of a busy town and being a part of that crowd that seems to move as one, I wasn't in the mood. I longed for quiet and peace. A serene oasis of nothing but nature and I. "Excuse me," I walk up to a man who looks to be in his early-twenties, "do you know how to get to the woods from here?" He turns around at the sound of my voice. He has messy black hair that seems to spike out in all directions, but it seems to work for him. His eyes are a light brown and it appears he hasn't shaven in a couple days. "Go through the back alley behind the bakery, take a left and keep going until you see the old fence," he then takes a good look at me. "Thanks," I smile appreciatively. "The busy crowd ain't doin' it for ya?" he smiles back. "Not today," with that I start towards the bakery.

The fumes being emitted from the bakery windows are almost hypnotizing. I nearly trip over a garbage can when my nose turns to catch the scent. I almost go into cardiac arrest when I hear the scream of door hinges. "Sorry, I'm just passing through," I refuse to make direct eye contact with the man who came through the doors. I shamefully resort to hiding in the shadows. "It's no trouble," Peeta smiles warmly. He throws empty flour sacks into the garbage and thankfully goes back inside before he can get a good look at my face. I jog to the end of the alley just in case he or Katniss decides to go back outside for whatever reason.

I make an exaggerated sigh of relief when I come to the twisted metal fence. I wonder why the fence is even still here. It's not here for the purpose of keeping anything in or out, I can tell that much. I slide through a large opening in the rusted metal and walk wherever my feet decide to take me. The grass is soft and green, the trees are blooming and full of life, and I can hear the faint run of a river. This is exactly what I need right now. The air here is refreshing and cleansing, unlike the congested streets.

I'm not looking for anything in particular. I'm content with just wandering around the woods. I'm not sure how long I've been out here but I'm guessing it's been a couple hours since the sun is going down. I'm about ready to head back to the house when I spot something intriguing. In the middle of a clearing is a house. Well, it looks more like a cabin than a house. It's a decent size and built out of logs. Instinctively I go to check it out. I push on the door lightly and it swings open. I peer inside to make sure there aren't any homicidal maniacs just hanging out. It looks safe enough to me. I step inside, not bothering to close the door behind me. The cabin is empty, much to my disappointment. An averaged sized window decorates the right wall and a rather tall window decorates the left wall. That is all. There's nothing interesting about an empty cabin. I'm about to leave when something catches the corner of my eye. In the far left corner of the cabin, behind the highest point of the rafter, there is something carved in the wooden wall. I'm not sure how I noticed it. Maybe it's fate.

Getting up on the rafter is going to be a challenge. I jump onto the ledge of the window, which brings me about three feet closer to my goal. Alright, this can't be impossible. If someone managed to get up there to carve whatever that is in the wall then I can get up there, too. Next to the window is what looks like seven foot holes. At first glance they don't seem to go anywhere. Upon further inspection I realize the foot holes lead to a small ledge above the tall window.

I manage to scale the wall like Spiderman and make it to the ledge without falling to the floor. From here I can jump onto the rafter. By that I mean I can try to be as accurate as possible and pray to god I don't get my face exfoliated by the splintered floor. This is a bad idea and I know it. If Paisley we here she'd be screaming at me from the ground not to do it. If Holden were here he'd already be on the rafter by now. I couldn't bear going back to the house and telling Holden that I didn't do it. So out of curiosity, pride, and mostly stupidity, I jump.

My feet make a graceful impact on the wooden rafter. I bend my knees to balance myself, and straighten up when I'm sure I won't go flying off the edge. I smile in satisfaction; Holden would be so proud. My dad would more than likely be proud, too. Probably more of mix between proud and horrified, but still proud. I turn my back to the door so I can try to get a good look at the words inscribed in the wood. I lean forward as much as I can without falling. "Dammit," I mutter to myself. It's too dark for me to make out what it says. If I were a few feet closer I could figure it out. That makes me wonder how someone managed to carve something on the wall anyway.

I just stand there staring at the wall, willing the words to magically light up for me. No such luck. "Hey!" someone yells from below me. The sudden noise startles me and I reflexively jump back in surprise. That's not a good idea when you're standing 10 feet above the ground on a thin (not to mention unstable) rafter. Instantly I feel my foot slip and I go spiraling off the rafter backwards. I scream as the distance between my face and floor decreases. My body slams into the other person and we both fall to the ground. They gasp when my head strikes their chest.

I open my eyes to find myself on top of a boy with gray eyes and blonde hair. He looks like he's my age. "You shouldn't sneak up someone like that," I say as I roll off of him. He shakes his flaxen head and sits up. "I saved your life," he humbly points out. "My life wasn't in need of saving until you walked in," I retort. "So you think. That thing could've snapped at any second," he points up. "You don't know that it would've," I argue. "You don't know that it wouldn't have," he fires back. "Fair enough," I sigh in defeat. I stretch my limbs to ensure there isn't any damage. When I'm sure nothing is broken I stand up and start for the door. "Hey!" the boy calls for me again. I turn around and look at him. This time I really look at him. Even in the dark I can see the curve of muscles in his tan arms, his high cheek bones, his pouty grin, his light blonde hair resting on the tips of his long eyelashes, and the whiteness of his perfectly straight teeth. He's beautiful.

"What?" I ask. "My name is Tate. I just thought you should know so you can find me when you figure out how to repay me for saving your life," he smiles a dazzling smile that makes my breath catch in my throat. I can't help but laugh. "Aspen," I respond. "I'll see you around, Aspen." I like the way he says my name. He makes it sound like the name of a precious jewel rather than a sarcastic, reckless girl. "See you around, Tate," I return the smile. Without another word I exit the cabin, not even bothered by the fact that I didn't get to find out what was carved into the wall.

A/N: I really want to thank you guys for the amazing reviews! It makes my day to know that you enjoy my story :). Reviews are great motivation to get these chapters out faster!