"I have a plan," Shade said. Alex raised an eyebrow and then she smiled as Shade told us his plan. We all agreed. The cops were still behind us, our van was moving in its maximum speed. Shade turned the van to a small earth road and rod off fast. The cops were not behind anymore. I was looking out of the window, watching the trees pass by quickly. There were small houses, farms, paddy fields, looked like almost a countryside.
Then I felt a hand on mine, I turned to see Arjun sitting beside me holding my hand. He took my hand in his and held on to it tightly while his eyes on mine. I looked around to see others were not paying attention to us. Skyler was sitting next to Shade telling him direction. Alex was sitting right behind him pulling his hair and screaming at him. Those two never get along.
"Why did you do that?" I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard his question.
"Sorry what?" I looked at him. He frowned, dropped his head, took a deep breath and looked back at me.
"Why did you came back? I told you I will handle it and yet you came back. Why Sam?" His voice so soft and low I could barely hear him. "You don't trust me, do you?"
I do. I trust him the most. But I didn't know how to tell it. Words got stuck in my throat. I wanted to tell him but I can't. Something felt weird. Since this journey started something changed in me. The thought of losing him hurt like stabbing daggers into my chest. I know this feeling, I had felt this feeling once and it didn't end well. No, I can't let this happen.
"They didn't catch us, did they? So no need for further discussion." I said as I pulled my hands away from his. I didn't want to get hurt the same way again. First one can be forgotten as a mistake, second time is not. He took my hand back in his so fast that I flinched and turned to him.
"Don't risk your life for me Sam." His voice cracked. I felt a sharp pain in my chest. No, no, no I can't go back to it again. Stop. "I can't lose you again." When he said that, it felt like someone knocked the air out of my lungs. Alex and Skyler looked at us in utter shock. Skyler's jaw dropped his mouth wide open. Alex slowly pushed it close without looking at him.
"Again?" I asked. My voice came out so low and strange even I didn't recognize it.
"During the Juilet's case I thought I lost you. If I had not let you go at that time, I thought maybe I could've avoided that accident." His grip on my hand tightened. During the investigation of Juliet's case, we came to know that she was kept in their old house. Arjun had asked me to stay and wait till the backup arrived but I was the one who told him someone's life was at stake and we needed to go in. He tried his best to stop me but reluctantly agreed. But as we entered the house we heard a gun shot and I got hit. I was given a medical leave for a month even though the injury wasn't that bad. "Since that day, I told myself to protect you at any cost, even if it meant giving my own life."
"WOOOW!" Alex and Skyler was staring at us while holding each other's hands. Alex nodded at me. I froze. My heart was racing so fast that I thought it would burst out of my chest. I don't know whether it was a confession or it's an illusion created by my mind. I like him. No I love him. If its true, that he also reciprocate the same feeling then what is there stopping you, Sam? Tell him you like him too.
But something felt off. After all that happened in the past, I can't trust my heart. No, it's just an illusion, snap out of it Sam. Love is just an illusion. It is not a paradise like people say, it only gives you heartbreak. No, I am sorry Arjun but we are not going to work out.
"Was that a confession I just heard?" Shade said as he stole a glance of us through the rear view mirror.
The sudden confession left me speechless. I didn't know what to do. I pulled my hand away from his. "If it was a confession, I'm sorry to burst your bubble but its not happening." He frowned. He was about to say something when Shade interfered.
"Let's have the talkings later, your stop has arrived." Shade said. I looked out and we were near the hotel. I could hear the sirens from a distance. He dropped me at the hotel and the drove off, then I started walking towards the building.