So, it's been a while.. and I'm sorry that I've kept you guys waiting. It's just that every time I read it, it had more and more mistakes. Anyways, this is kind of a filler-chapter with a dash of fluff. I hope you guys like it! The next chapter will be filled with drama… Please review, it means a ton to me and I love to hear responses. Constructive criticism welcome! Special thanks to my wonderful beta, theblacklister23.
If seeing my long lost friends didn't do the trick, hearing Red's voice did. He made me forget about Tom instantly.
I looked at Red and tears instantly sprang to my eyes.
"Red.." I whispered as I took in the sight of them all. Tom could wait, I needed to make these people my top priority for now. He walked over to me with arms wide open.
"Don't cry, Lizzie, SpaggetiOs isn't exactly my cup of tea, either. But it'll do." He said sarcastically with tears in his eyes as he hugged me.
And suddenly I felt the warmth of another body and then more. Soon enough I was enveloped by people-my friends. If this was another day in the post office, this degree of endearment would've kind of freaked me out… But since it wasn't and we were in some sort of worldwide disease, I never wanted them to stop.
"I'm glad you aren't, uh, dead… agent Keen." I heard Aram say in his normal skittish way. I heard a few chuckles around me and I chuckled myself. In the corner of my eye I saw Meera and Cooper watching from afar wearing radiant smiles.
"It's just Liz from now on." I repeated what I said to Ressler earlier with tears of joy falling out of my eyes. "I missed all of you." I said while the group hug slowly came apart. Red was last to let go of the long lasting hug. He took a few steps back and tilted his head to the side slightly.
"Nice choice on the outfit, Lizzie. The blue really brings out your eyes." I looked down at myself and rolled my eyes good naturedly. Leave it to Red to give fashion advice no matter the situation.
"When you're done chatting up a storm with everyone, come find me. After all, we have our own storm to brew." He said before turning to leave. While he sauntered off, I saw that Tom had been standing behind him staring. I made it as clear to Tom as possible with facial expression that I wanted him away from me for the night. (Hey, if it wasn't for the greater good, I would want him away from me forever) Anyways, whatever I wanted to talk to him about could wait for another day when I actually cared. I felt a pair of eyes on me and I glanced in the direction, finding that it was Ressler's. I knew by his quizzical look what he was thinking-'why are you avoiding your husband?' And I just shook my head. That's when the lightbulb went off in my head. I knew that Ressler was never told that Tom abandoned me… Tom never said anything about it… (Why would he if it would make him look bad?) I should've known that… I mean, it should be kinda obvious that Ressler would never let somebody in his group who did that to me… If not anyone else. Right? I dragged my eyes away from Ressler and back to Tom. With a final death look upon him, I turned and left. I skipped "chatting up storms with everyone" and went to go find Red again.
As I walked, people came out from their tents from all directions of the camp. Probably hearing the chatter of the hungry people outside. Some people came from the thicker part of the woods with branches of various sizes in their hands. They threw them in the fire one by one and I watched as it got considerably larger. I saw Samar, Aram, and another girl- I believe she told me her name was Olivia- starting to open the cans of soup with a hand held can opener. Then they took the paper label off the can and set them near enough to the fire to be cooked. I looked around and estimated how many people were here- about 30 of them, more or less. Many people were scattered around close to the fire sitting and talking about their day. I found Red sitting next to Dembe and took a spot close to them.
"Lizzie, where have you been all these years?" Red asked with a concerned look on his face.
"Just… Around." I didn't want to go in to detail or we'd be sitting there talking about that for hours.
"Do you realize how long we have been searching for you? Do you have any idea? All of my resources are dead to my knowledge… The only exception is Dembe and Kate. I thought that you may have… Died as well." He choked out, so unlike himself.
"Mr. Kaplan?" I said in attempt to rid him of thinking himself into sadness. " I haven't seen her." I said scrunching my eyebrows together slightly.
"She prefers to keep to herself. She's around here somewhere…" He replied sounding more like himself. In between the fifteen minutes together, he told me a handful of crazy stories. We had so much to catch up on it was kind of frightening. I was telling him about the tragic death of my father when I felt somebody plop down beside me. I turned expecting to see the face of my partner, but it was Tom.
"Liz…" He said while reaching out to touch my arm. I snatched it away just before he could put a finger on me.
"What the hell do you want?" I snarled.
"I want to talk." He said as he swallowed. His close proximity started to make me feel queasy and dizzy- not in a good way. I got up, giving him a look of fury.
"I'll write you a note when I'm ready to talk." I said bitterly remembering when he had left me with nothing but a note and a hand gun. I turned, deciding on ignoring Red's confused look, and planned on sitting next to Aram and Samar or Meera. I scanned the area and my eyes settled on Ressler. He was sitting with him arms resting on his knee caps in a somewhat grassy area near the fire. He looked up and gave me a small smile when he heard me coming towards him. I sat down an inch away from him, clearly pissed. His face was etched in concern as he looked from me to Tom.
"Liz, what's wrong?"
I puffed out a long suffering sigh and contemplated on whether or not I should tell him. I chose telling him. He's my best friend, after all.
"You know how I said we didn't part in the best of terms earlier?" I asked while glancing up at him. He nodded.
"Well, he abandoned me a year back." I cleared my throat before continuing. "He took everything and just left me… With a note." I looked at him again and saw his jaw twitch and his fists clench into tight balls.
"I'll have his ass out of here in a blink of an eye." He said coldly while getting ready to get up.
"No." I said sternly. When his fists didn't unclench I put my hand over his. "No, Ressler I don't want that." I said shaking my head. (I mean, maybe I did want Tom to see how I felt, but that wouldn't be right.)
Ressler, let's just forget about this." I saw him tense up even more. "At least for now?" I said squeezing his hand to get his attention and to reassure him. He thought about it a little longer and then slowly nodded his head in agreement. He finally unclenched his larger calloused hand and flipped it over to intertwine with my smaller one. I stifled a gasp at the bold move and my eyes looked around to see if anyone noticed. Then I thought to myself that I didn't care if anyone noticed. Ressler was and is the most important person in my life. If people have a problem with it, they can stuff it where the sun doesn't shine.
I found enough courage to lean over just enough to let my head fall lightly unto his shoulder and I felt his muscles ripple as he turned his head to look down at me. He let go of my hand and I immediately craved for him to grab it again. Instead, he snakes his arm around my waist and pulls me closer to him. I closed my eyes and breathed in his familiar musky scent.
We sat in an easy silence, listening to the chatter around us until we heard the light 'pop pop' of the bubbles giving us a sign that the meatball soup was ready. Melissa and Helen, the two little sisters, came and passed out plastic spoons and a can of soup to every two people. Ressler detached from each other and split a can. Then suddenly he spoke up.
"What was it like to be out there alone?" He said while putting a spoonful of soup into his mouth.
"Terrifying." I said looking down. It was really the only word that could describe it that I could think of. Maybe I could add in a few other choice words, but I liked to keep things simple.
"Kind of like the prospect of living without me?" He stated and chuckled with a small smile. I slapped him good naturally on the chest with a smile of my own.
"Honestly, that was the worst part. Because it did happen… And I thought I'd have to for the rest of my life." I said looking down, suddenly serious.
"It couldn't have been that bad" He stated still messing with me, but I knew he wanted a straight up answer.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head, smile still intact.
"Losing you…" I said sighing before going on. "Was the worst experience in my life." I looked up, smile now gone, hoping he wouldn't get the wrong idea. He just looked back at me with a grimace as his eyes dropped low for effect.
"I'll second that." He said almost to himself as he put another spoonful of SpaghettiOs into his mouth. Some of the tomato sauce dripped down his chin and I reached over and swiped it off with my thumb, laughing. A smile- a real, genuine smile- graced his features, curling the ends of his lips, showing off his white teeth. I tried focusing on just his eyes, but the air around us changed from playful to… Something else…and I caught myself stealing glances of his rosy pink lips and just how full they were. The smiles on both our faces disappeared- not because we weren't happy- but because we were scared of what could happen next. My breath hitched in my throat as I saw his eyes doing the same as mine, stealing glances at my lips. I swallowed hard as I silently told myself to keep it together.
I reluctantly snapped back into reality when I heard the footsteps of a few people coming towards us. I looked up to see Aram, Samar (was it just me or do they do everything together?) and Meera with two men and one woman whom I haven't yet met. They gave us smiles as they sat with us, forming a small circle of bodies.
"Liz, this is Conner, Aaron, and Cadence."Aram- who was never really a social butterfly- said referring to the three people I've never met. He then turned his head to the others. "Guys, this is Liz." He said gesturing to me. I smiled in greeting as one of the them, a toned, tan skinned man with dark hair offered me his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Liz. I'm Aaron." He said with a Cheshire cat smile and deep dimples. He brought my hand up to his lips and pressed a light peck on my knuckles. And, gosh, I'd be lying if I were to say I didn't blush.
" and I'm Conner, nice to meet you." The other man, who was just as toned, but with lighter hair and skin said as he took my hand and did the same. Wow, did I just blush again?
"And I'm Cadence." The strawberry haired skinny built woman said cheerily with a bright smile. They all seemed like a nice bunch- not only their looks. (They could all three be easily defined as models)
"We just wanted to come over here and catch up a bit." Meera said referring to herself, Aram and Samar with her thick accent.
"And we," Cadence said while pointing to herself, Aaron, and Conner. "Wanted to meet you."
I smiled at them as I started to relax even more, asking a bunch of questions. They shot some back at me. We were all having a good time, even the people I just met were laughing with us as if they knew me for years. And If you listened really closely, you could even hear Ressler give in a few chuckles here and there. I listened to the cool breeze rustle the tress leaves…To the horses whinny and snort… To Ressler's steady heartbeat. I leaned into my partner as he uncharacteristically wrapped me into his arms. I started relaxing, finding his warmth comforting. This was what home felt like. And I hadn't realized how much I've missed it until now.