(Disclaimer- im really getting sick of these things.)

chapter sixteen! yay! read it!
thank you all for the reviews! i love you guys!

Departure

"Here we are." Kyle said hesitantly, his eyes tracing over the street, watching the two people crossing with suspicion. His hand automatically tightened around mine, and my heart mimicked the sensation. I realized that I was shaking, but I didn't seem to be able to stop myself. Watching him intently, I wondered if he'd insist again on joining me in my impossible search. I didn't doubt that he would.

"Thanks." I said, trying to snag my palm back, my other on the door. I raised an eyebrow at him as he met my gaze, my lips pursed. "You need to let go." I insisted, still attempting to tug away from him. He let my skin slide from his reluctantly, his jaw muscles flexing as he clenched his jaw. A strand of brown hair swished into his face with the moist breeze blowing through the window. He didn't seem to want to let me leave.

I turned my torso away from him, my fingers pulling at the handle of my exit. I jumped quickly from the car, feeling a little unwilling myself, but needing to get this over with. We were in Forks now, and it was almost time to prove either my sanity, or my lunacy — for real this time. I didn't know which was legit, the sanity or lunacy, but I hoped it wasn't the latter.

A hand found my wrist then and held me in place. I sighed, turning to face him. His features were marked with uncertainty and distrust, his blue eyes considerably looking me over for the fortieth time. He seemed to like what he saw there, now that I was cleaned and prettied. He'd taken me to his house on the way, let me wash off. He'd even gone as far as buying me some jeans and a t-shirt, apologizing later on his lack of fashion-smarts. Little did he know I had none of my own, either. I was surprised he'd gotten the sizes right. But almost everything Kyle did surprised me, anyway.

"Riley…" He started, voice indecisive, persuasive. I rolled my eyes at him, shaking my head before he could even make his request. We'd discussed it the whole way here, his coming along with me on my quest. I'd told him no several times already, but he didn't seem to be willing to go along with it. I groaned as I threw my hand up to my forehead, pacing away from him. He followed sadly, taking my hand back in his. I frowned.

"This is something I have to do alone, Kyle." I said, trying to sound stern. The miserable tone I'd tried to hide crept into the words anyway, though. His jaw tightened, but he didn't respond. He still had no idea what it was I was looking for, only that it was very important to me. His hand left mine and slowly glazed over the side of my head, brushing the hair back. It felt nice, in a way, but I tried not to concentrate on the small smile it brought to my lips. I pulled away from him and began walking in the other direction.

"You know what? Fine." He shouted at my back. I cringed at the reproachful tone of his voice, but continued striding forward. "Leave. What do I care? I've only helped you get this far without even the reward of knowing your real name. But that's fine with me. Hell, I always let messed up chicks hop into my car, search for them for who knows how many nights, bring them back to my house so they can put on the clothes that I bought them…just so they can leave me without even so much as a number I can call to see if they've survived. That's great, Riley, or whatever the hell your name is."

I froze in the middle of the road.

How did he know I was lying about my name? I bit my lip. "What do you mean? My name is—"

"Oh come on. Give me a little credit, at least. I'm not that stupid. You're a terrible liar. Really. It's pathetic." He smirked condescendingly at me as I slowly slid back to face him. I pursed my lips, feeling a horrible pit of guilt sprouting in my stomach. Behind all the anger, I knew he was hurting, and that I was hurting him. My eyes flipped to the ground, no longer able to look at his face.

"Bella." I murmured, tracing the shape of a leaf with my eyes. I still couldn't look at him. My face was hot. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

"What?" Though the anger was still detectable in his voice, it was made less of by the confusion that suddenly overpowered it. I glanced up at him to see his dark eyebrows joined above his simmering eyes, and I knew that he was too lost in his enraged thoughts to have understood the bit of information I was feeding him. I sighed, ignoring the chance of taking back the name I'd given him. He didn't understand that I was telling him who I really was. I could have not repeated it. I could have decided to keep my identity a secret still. But I didn't.

"My name is Bella." I told him again. His eyes widened, one eyebrow popping up, obviously considering the truth of what I'd just told him. I realized that I didn't really know the truth of the name, either, and before I knew it, I was telling him more…more than I'd wanted to. "Or Anna." I continued, contemplation clear in my voice. "I don't really know which one yet."

"How can you not know—"

"Don't ask." I cut him off, shaking my head. His mouth closed, and he did as I'd said, probably finding it not too important at the moment. He didn't want to upset me more. He sauntered over to where I stood, his eyes saddening. His hand stretched into his pocket, and with it, out came something small and black. My eyebrows met in mystification as I watched him lift my hand with his, palm up, and place the object there. It was a cell phone.

"When you get where you're going, and you find what you're looking for, call the 'home' contact. I want to know that you're safe. Or you can call if anything goes wrong, and I can come pick you up." He looked at the ground then, embarrassed by the astonished expression on my face. I bit my lip, looking away, too. "I'll probably call every now and then." He admitted.

I chuckled lightly, putting my arms around his waist. "Thanks." I whispered to him, shoving the phone into the front pocket of my new jeans. He shrugged before hugging me closer, not willing to respond with words. I knew I needed to get out of here, away from him, before I started crying. I didn't want to lose my only friend, and I didn't think that, now, with the cell phone he'd placed in my hand, that I'd have to, but saying goodbye was still bad enough.

I pushed away from him then, ready to leave. He was staring at my mouth when I looked at him. I realized, too slowly, what he was going to do, and knew that it wouldn't make it any easier to leave him here. But I couldn't stop him. I was too slow, and maybe I didn't want to stop him, anyway. I didn't know what I wanted anymore. All I could think of was finding Jacob and Edward. Though it'd be nice to have Kyle there by my side for support. But it was impossible.

His lips pressed onto mine again, for the last time, and they were warm, pleasant-feeling. I sighed as his mouth released mine, not quite understanding the odd mix of emotions I felt. I didn't have time to focus on them, though. I turned in his arms, preparing to launch myself into a sprint the second he loosened his grip.

"Goodbye, Bella…Anna…whoever you are." He said sadly, throwing in an attempted laugh at the end to relieve the tension. I laughed too, before I stole away from him and dashed into the street. I stopped there in the middle, turning to watch him walk to his car, making sure that he wouldn't follow. His chest rose, then fell again, seeming to sigh. Then he spun around and walked over to his car.

He only made it halfway before he tripped over a rock.

He pushed up from the ground quickly, a thick blush concealing his face, embarrassed. He looked back to me then quickly, probably hoping that I hadn't seen it. I could feel the shock expressed on my face, but I couldn't seem to close my mouth or stop the surprised, single chuckle to slip past my lips. His mouth twitched as he tried to hide his own smile.

"Pretend you didn't see that." He said, smiling a little bit with each word. Then he turned and climbed into the car. I turned back in the other direction, no longer amused, reluctant to watch him leave…or to let him leave. The last sound I heard was the growl of his engine as he gunned it and pulled a u-turn, driving away.

I didn't turn to see him go.