Chapter Three - I Still Miss Someone

He was asleep when I woke up, my head still resting on his chest. The light was off in the room but the light in the hallway was on for the hospital staff to move about. When I looked around the room, I saw my bags and guitar case sitting by the chair next to the window. Being very careful, I removed my IV and the leads connecting me to the monitor with my vital signs. All of the lines on the monitor went flat but thankfully there was no sound.

Once the papers were signed and I changed into a clean outfit, I gathered my things and walked out of the room. I turned back one last time to see FP Jones still asleep on my hospital bed. It saddened me to have to be the one to walk away this time, but I shouldn't have been here in the first place. The very last thing that I did before leaving that room was fold up FP's jacket and leave it on the bed beside him.

I grabbed the keys to the rental car out of my backpack, handed the discharge papers to the night nurse sitting at the main nurse's station, and took the elevator down to the atrium of Riverdale General Hospital. When I got to the parking lot, it took me 5 minutes of hitting the lock button on the key fob to find my car. It was all the way in the back of the lot under a streetlight. Trying to hurry myself, I unlocked the little Toyota hatchback and threw my things carelessly in with the exception of my guitar. That, I placed on top of everything very gingerly. It was the one thing that I cared for more than myself.

As I opened the driver's side door, I heard a voice call out to me from the dark space between streetlights. "Tem! Artemis, wait!" I knew who it was before I'd even heard his voice. FP had woken up, noticed that I was gone, and thought it obvious where I'd go.

"Do you ever give up?" I asked as he walked up to the passenger side of the Toyota. "I mean, I just can't seem to shake you."

"Nope, especially not right now." He rested his arms on the roof of the small car and raised an eyebrow at me. "You wanna tell me why you're in a hurry this time?"

"Look, just leave me alone. You have no idea what you're meddling with. This mess is much bigger than you could ever imagine." I scowled and proceeded to get into my car.

"Scrappy," he said as he got into the passenger seat. "You can't just run. You're better off staying here than running off to God knows where and being alone. It's hard to believe that being in Riverdale is 'safer' than anywhere else, but this time it really is."

"Get out of my car." I paused for a second, thinking that I heard him wrong. "Wait, what did you just call me?"

"'Scrappy.'"

It wasn't his fault. He didn't know, and I knew that, but before my brain could tell my mouth to stop, I snapped. "Don't ever call me that again. Not ever!" I was seething. I'd never wanted to hear that name after I left my first home in Colorado Springs. "You can never bring that up, ever again."

His look of concern pissed me off even more. "I—."

"Just get out of my car and let me go. I'm only going to cause more trouble and this town doesn't need more of it." I slammed the car door and fumbled as I tried to put the keys in the ignition.

"There's more that you aren't telling me, isn't there?" He took my hand and grabbed the keys, inserting them into the ignition for me. "What else is it, Artemis? What else happened? Whatever it is, I know that I can't fix it, but I can sure as hell make sure that nothing else happens. You will be safe in Riverdale. I'll make sure of that."

I took a few deep, shaky breaths as he held my hand in his. I knew that I couldn't hide anything from him. We've always been able to tell what is wrong with the other, our eyes telling each other our entire life story. When I looked back at him, the anger in my face was replaced by shame. "I don't want to be reminded of my past. I don't want to remember my time as a Serpent. It ended badly and…I don't deserve to hold that name, wear that jacket, or even be around The Serpents."

"What are you talking about? When you left, you went to college. You found a life for yourself. There's nothing bad about that. They supported you. Were proud of you."

"You don't understand. I found my way back to a faction of the Serpents in Colorado Springs. I was with them for a few years, and when I met Drew…" I paused for another breath, my emotions starting to get the better of me. My hands started to shake. FP gripped my hand tighter encouraging me to continue. "When I met Drew, he immediately moved us to Denver so that there would be distance between me and the Springs Serpents. He sold my bike—"

"He sold the Shadow?!" FP interrupted with a hint of horror in his voice.

The "Shadow," as we called it, was my motorcycle. It was a 1949 Vincent Black Shadow that I'd bought cheap at auction and restored myself. It was one of my most prized possessions. If anything were to happen to it, it wouldn't just be me who would be devastated. Anyone who knew of that bike would feel a small piece of themselves break inside. It was a classic and that meant something.

"No, no, she's here in Riverdale. I left the Shadow at my last foster parents' house when I left for school. I didn't want anything to happen to it." I shook my head trying to get myself to continue the story. "But, after he sold my bike, he found my jacket. And one night in the backyard…he burned it in our fire pit." I pretended to fix my glasses to hide the tears that I could feel welling in my eyes. I didn't want to cry again. I was sick of crying.

"Tem, why didn't you just tell me that's why?" He held my hand tighter.

I shook my head and looked him dead in the eyes, mine full of the same sorrow and shame. "Because that's not all. Drew, he's an FBI agent. He's a fed. I have no evidence against him, he practically has immunity, and he can track me anywhere I go. This man stripped me of my family, my life, my job, everything, and I have nowhere else to go. I have no choice but to run. Anyone I interact with is in danger because he will do anything and everything he can to keep me quiet. And now, I've been in the hospital so there's a record of me being here in Riverdale."

"Let me worry about that. Let me worry about all of it. If you stay here, I promise to protect you no matter what. You won't have to worry about anything." He was serious. He wasn't going to let a single person that he didn't trust near me. He has always been protective of me, ever since we met.

"I don't want to see you or your family hurt. I don't wanna be the reason that something bad happens in this town."

"Trust me, this town can handle a lot. We haven't completely fallen apart yet. I'm sure we can handle some asshole terrorising someone." He gave a light smile and I returned it weakly.

"You promise that no matter what, no matter when or where, I'll be safe?"

"I will even stay with you if you'd feel safer."

I gave a small chuckle and shake of the head. "Fine, I'll stay but, I don't want to have to live the rest of my life under the supervision of someone else. I want him gone. I never want to see him again."

"Don't worry about that right now. Let's just go get you to the Five Seasons. I'll take care of everything in the morning. For now, get the hell out of the driver's seat. I'm driving." I didn't have the energy to protest.

"As long as we can get food. I'm starving." I said as we both got out of the car to switch sides.

"I'll stop at Pop's." He smiled.