All right, last chapter to put up until I was back where I was…ironically enough, I had updated, but I think you’re going to have to wait for Chapter Eight (haha that rhymed) cuz my mom is yelling at me to get off the computer. So, thank you for reading and I’m sorry for all this hassle…anyone reading this for the first time will be super confused, but I’m sorry again. Thanks! :D

Gracias! <3 vb123321

Chapter Seven



♥ Astrid ♥



“Astrid, I swear, if you say anything, I will kill you.”



And I killed you…



Sleep left me with the speed of a peregrine falcon, causing my head to jerk up wildly as I groped for reality. Charlie’s intense, desperate face was still prominent in my mind, and I had to do a complete one-eighty look-around to figure out where I was. Josh glanced at me as I shoved stray hairs out of my face, apprehension flashing in his eyes even as he remained silent. I took a deep breath, forced my heartbeat to get under control, and then readjusted the pillow I had propped against the window.



“Bad dream?” asked Josh in a neutral voice.



I shrugged in an attempt at casualness. “Just the usual.” Pulling the fleece over me again, I rested my head against the pillow, watching the scenery as it flew by behind the window. Josh, to his credit, said nothing, keeping his eyes on the road as he stretched one arm above his head and shifted slightly in the driver’s seat.



“Wish I could sleep.”



We had left Delta early in the morning two days after Young had told Josh his little surprise announcement. It was not without suspicion that we had departed – as much as I wanted to return to Michigan, go after Cloying and Jay, and find out the truth about Pierre, I wasn’t unreasonable enough to think Young was having a fit of holiday spirit. It was most unlike him to think as such, and so I was forced to admit that Josh’s theory about him using us was most likely accurate. But, try as I might, I couldn’t bring myself to care about this too much and told myself to concentrate on what I needed to accomplish.



It had been so much easier than I had expected – except for one small factor. Darcy. She wasn’t too pleased when I told her that Josh and I were leaving for Michigan for a few weeks. Even though she had known me for only a couple months, she seemed to be able to tell that I had something else on my mind, and she wanted to be part of it. I managed to console her by promising to keep her updated, but she still watched with an unhappy expression as we pulled out of the parking lot that morning.



I had a heavy suspicion that, one way or another, she would be part of this whole mess very soon.



Now, Josh twiddled with the heat settings, rubbing his hands together. “I hate this weather,” he complained. “The rest of me is overheating from the warmth of the car, but my fingers stay freezing.”



“Maybe you should wear gloves for a change,” I suggested, wrapping my fleece more tightly around me. “Or wear something more than a sweatshirt.”



He sent me a dirty look. “Heavy winter coats–”



“–get in the way, yes,” I ended. “But layers work better than freezing to death.”



December ninth, and it was chilly enough that I was wearing Jay’s old flying jacket over the Notre Dame hoodie. I couldn’t understand why I could still wear his clothes, but something in me wouldn’t allow myself to throw it out; besides, it was useful. I hadn’t been messing with him; heavy winter coats only impeded movement and were inconvenient for traveling. Josh, however, was dressed in only sweatpants and a hoodie, so it was obvious why he was cold.



“Go away,” he mumbled. “If it starts snowing, I swear I’ll kill someone.”



I winced at his word choice, Charlie’s voice coming back with vivid clarity, and then forced myself to smile at him as I reached for the radio. “Maybe some Christmas music will cheer you up?”



He smacked my hand away. “Heck no! You know how I feel about the whole starting Christmas music before freaking Halloween thing.”



Withdrawing the offending hand, I gave him a wounded look. “Was that really necessary? You could just say no.”



“And since when have you listened?”



Smiling, I closed my eyes, snuggling back down into the warmth of the cocoon I had built myself upon entering the car. “How much longer until we reach Michigan?”



“How old are you, five?” Josh was derisive. “Pull out your phone and Google map it if you want to know.” I pulled a puppy-dog face with my eyes closed and he groaned loudly. “Whatever. Another four hours until we reach Michigan, and, if you wanted to know, another ninety minutes to two hours from there. Happy?”



I opened my eyes in disbelief. “How long have we been driving?”



“We left at eight,” he said in a patient voice. “It’s now two in the afternoon. You do the math, and be thankful there isn’t a time change involved.”



My eyes squinting slightly as I added up the hours, I grumbled, “That’s a long time. You sure we’re not lost?”



“Astrid.”



“Okay, okay, just checking.” Yawning widely but coming to the conclusion that sleep was impossible, I sat up, tucking the blanket around my legs and reaching for the floor, where we had a couple of book-on-tapes. “Let’s listen to something to pass the time. What language do you want? French?”



He stuck his tongue out at me. “Ha, ha. How about we be normal for once and listen to something in plain old American English?”



“So…no Harry Potter?”



“Harry’s acceptable,” he said, glancing down at our choices. “Gotta say, for a dorky little kid with glasses, he knows how to kick ass. To bad he’s not as attractive as me, huh?”



“Definitely,” I agreed, rolling my eyes. “We could listen to the fourth, though, and then picture Robert Pattinson as Cedric…”



“Ewww!” He made a face in protest. “Careful, you’ve got a Jacob fan here, kid. No sparkles for me, even if he is a Hufflepuff.”



Laughing, I returned, “Picking up some bad habits from Wulf, aren’t you?” I rummaged through the options. “All right, then; the third? Okay, glad you agree.” As he gave me a dirty look, I slid the CD out of the case and popped it into the player, fiddling with the volume until the British voice blasted through our speakers.



“And you’re absolutely positive they don’t speak any French?” asked Josh, grimacing.



I grinned at him. “Oh, whoops, I forgot – Fleur Delacour.”



He began to groan, and then actually thought about it for a second. “Idiot. She only comes in the fourth.”



“I’m just messing with you, bro.”



He gave me a sour look and then, unexpectedly, smiled. “It’s good to see you’re back to semi-normal,” he said, and then shrugged as I looked at him weirdly. “What? It was scary to see you moping around like you were.”



“Thanks…I guess.” I frowned at him, for a long enough time that he began to look uncomfortable.



“What?”



I looked away, watching the trees zoom past again. “Nothing. It’s just…I was thinking it was nice to see you back to normal, too.”







By the time we reached Michigan, the sun was already setting and darkness was settling. I fell asleep in the sixth chapter of Harry Potter and woke as Harry was getting his Firebolt taken away. Feeling groggy but revived, I rested my forehead against the cool window, listening to Hermione and Ron’s argument as Josh rubbed his eyes, looking over at me.



“Boy, I’m bushed.”



I glanced at him a little guiltily. “Whoops, should I have asked if you wanted me to drive?”



He rolled his eyes. “Little late now. Don’t worry about it; we’re almost there.”



The words sparked a little jump in my stomach, making me wonder if I was getting carsick for the first time in my life, and, looking at Josh’s face, I realized he was feeling a little tense as well. Neither of us knew what to expect. What we found, though, was so completely off the wall that no nerves could have prepared us for it.



Once we reached Pinckney, and the street our houses were on drew ever nearer, my tension intensified, as did Josh’s. He stopped for gas, stalling at the pump until a blonde-haired, freckle-faced girl asked him if he had lost his credit card. He gave her a weird look before beginning to fill the tank, leaning against the car and staring across the street as he waited. I studied his back, wondering what he was thinking. Did he really think I was doing this all for Jay?



The car now full, he sank into the driver’s seat, exhaling loudly and focusing on the dashboard for a long moment before starting the ignition. I glanced sideways at him, but except for a muscle jumping in his jaw, his outward appearance looked too calm for me to say anything. Instead, we sat in silence as our street grew near, my heart quickening as we at last turned the corner.



It was quiet. Too quiet. Josh braked a little ways away from where our houses stood, his knuckled white on the wheel. Only a few porch lights were on, and dimly I wondered if we had the date wrong and Christmas break had already started. Josh took a deep breath, slid the key out, and then looked over at me.



“You ready?”



I wasn’t, but I nodded, my mouth dry, and we both stepped out of the car. My footsteps sounded too loud on the pavement as Josh joined me on the sidewalk and we began to walk silently towards the looming, dark figures of our houses. I stopped in front of my own, Josh skidding to a halt beside me even though I knew he was itching to move on to his. My throat felt scratchy as I gazed at the dark windows, biting my lip and wondering why I wasn’t walking up to the door.



“Maybe they’re not home.” My voice came out too loud.



Josh shrugged. “We didn’t tell them.”



We never did. Who knew what could happen at any moment?



I swallowed. “I don’t think they’re home,” I whispered, and began to turn away, only to see Josh’s brows furrow.



“You don’t want to visit?” he asked.



“I’m not sure I can right now.”



Thankfully, he accepted this, merely nodding as we moved two houses down to his own. The porch light was on, and I could hear laughter coming from a window, dark silhouettes moving in front of one upstairs. Josh’s jaw tightened as he looked at it and then at me, and I saw understanding flicker in his eyes.



“You know,” he said slowly, “I don’t think I want to visit either.”



He didn’t say anymore, but I knew we both understood. How could we go in and face the happiness and the tears and the greetings when all we knew right now was grief and confusion and anger? One might think it would help us, but at that moment, it was the last thing I wanted. They would want us to stay and tell them everything, even if it was illegal, and I couldn’t face that.



Josh slung an arm around my shoulder, best-buddy style, as we turned away from the happiness of his parents and began to move towards the car. I jammed my fists into the pockets of Jay’s flying jacket, pulling it more tightly around me as a chilly breezed nipped at my face. My feet scuffed at the sidewalks that we had drawn with chalk on as kids, dribbled a basketball down, raked leaves off of…what had happened to all of that?



I stopped again in front of my house, turning to face across the street, and Josh gave me a pained look, tugging at my shoulder with a low, “Don’t do this to yourself, Astrid.” But still I shrugged out of his grip, moving across the street to stop in front of another house, brightly lit with Christmas lights ranging from trees to reindeer to sugar plums hanging from the old familiar tree in the front-yard where a swing used to hang. A lump rose in my throat as I watched silhouettes moving in the dining room window, the chandelier light glowing even out to the street.



A happy family.



“Astrid.” Josh appeared at my elbow. “Come on; let’s go.”



“This should be Jay’s family,” I said softly, and Josh sighed next to me, tugging at my arm again.



“There’s nothing you can do,” he tried, but I cut him off.



“I know. But I feel like…” I swallowed hard. “When did they sell the house? Jay said they moved to Montana after…you know.” Josh glanced at me, and I shrugged defensively. “It’s hard. Not to think of it as his house. We grew up here, Josh.”



He gently pulled me away, moving me back towards the car. “You need to stop thinking of it like that, Astrid. He’s been gone from this street for ten years. That’s how long he was here in the first place. He’s grown up somewhere completely different now, as have we.”



I felt a little guilty then, bringing all this up as he was only too obviously holding back his dislike of Jay for me. Allowing him to walk me back to the car, I tried to convey a grateful attitude as we slipped back into our seats in an awkward silence. We spent another minute staring in the direction of our houses before Josh turned the ignition and stamped on the gas with a determined look on his face.



“Now,” he said, “for the real reason we came.”



The next hour was spent driving around Pinckney and its outskirts, looking at familiar landmarks and places from our past, laughing about times we had spent or offering a shoulder in support in others. Josh seemed strangely moody but understanding, while I tried to keep a happy face on as I crashed in the passenger seat of the car again while we moved through a suburb area.



It was a collection of small houses, nice enough but nothing fancy, obviously the mediocre neighborhood around there. We passed a middle school and then a large high school that I didn’t remember attending, until it struck me that I had left school, of course, before fifth grade. For some reason, this fact seemed completely crazy, and I drove away from the school feeling a little empty. Were the four high school years really the best and was I missing them?



We were moving down a side street when it happened. A figure darted out in front of the car, moving rapidly, and Josh slammed on the brakes with a loud curse, our headlights illuminating the offender’s face for a split second. Hands raised in apology, the young-looking kid continued moving, sprinting into an alleyway and disappearing from sight. Josh, still muttering to himself, began to step on the gas again.



“Josh,” I said, my voice sounding distant even to myself.



Something in my tone must have caught his ear, because he stopped what he was doing completely, the car remaining motionless as he looked over at me. “What? What is it?” And as I could only sit there, mind reeling, “Astrid? Stop that, you’re freaking me out again. Astrid?”



It couldn’t be. He had said…there had been proof…My mind wouldn’t cooperate with me, and words tried to tumble out of my mouth with little success. “Josh,” I managed, the words sticking in my throat. “Josh.”



“Yeah? What is it?” He placed a hand under my chin, turning my face to look him in the eyes, his own confused and concerned.



“Josh.” I licked my lips, swallowed, and tried again. “Josh, that was Joel.”



The blankness in his eyes didn’t match the overwhelming awareness that was crashing over my mind with a deafening force. I could feel my eyes stretched wide as my breathing started struggling. Josh was giving me a wary look. “Joel who?”



“Joel…” My brain still couldn’t accept it. “Joel Nicholson.”



Now there was shock in his eyes, for just the briefest of moments, and then he glanced towards the direction in which the kid had disappeared. My eyes followed his, staring into the dark alleyway, one hand reaching for the handle of the door. Josh noticed, his brow furrowing momentarily, and said, “Astrid, I know it’s weird – but it’s perfectly normal, too. He’s just back to visit his old friends; it’s just a coincidence. You’re just surprised at seeing him around after so long, that’s all.”



But I was shaking my head, already pushing open the door even as Josh made noises of protest. “I’m surprised, all right. Josh,” the words were having difficulty emerging, “Joel Nicholson died in a house bombing two years ago.”



Josh’s mouth was falling open in shock, but I was already out of the car, stamping my cold feet to regain their warmth and glancing back at the car. He stared at me for a moment through the windshield, his eyes wide, and then he held up one finger, indicating I should wait, and put the car into reverse. Backing into a deserted parking space, he killed the lights and ignition and stepped out, coming over to me with a white face.



“Where did you hear that?” His voice sounded hoarse.



I held his gaze for a long moment. “Jay told me. At Cloying’s manor.”



“Jay told you….” He seemed to be at a loss for words, balling his fists in his sweatshirt pockets and staring over my head into the dark alley. “But what happened? How come I never heard about it?”



“Delta bombed the house,” I said quietly, watching the shock double in his eyes at my words. “You didn’t hear about it for the same reason I didn’t; Delta doesn’t like its associates to know about the dirty work they do. Makes sense, doesn’t it?” Acrimony shone through my voice, and Josh’s eyes flickered back to my face briefly.



“Maybe we should find the kid,” he said after a moment. “Find out what’s going on.”



“My thoughts exactly,” I replied grimly, and he looked as though he was wishing he hadn’t said anything. Turning my back to the street, I began to make my way down the alley, Josh right behind me. It was dark and cold and I felt miserable, but now a tiny spark of curiosity and bewilderment was sparked in me and I felt the need to illuminate it even further. Almost subconsciously, I touched the handle of my gun in its pocket in the jacket, making sure it was close at hand, and I saw Josh do the same.



The alley seemed to go on for infinity, Josh becoming more antsy with every meter, but then we heard voices coming from around a corner up ahead. Raising an eyebrow at Josh, I stopped against the wall, pressing up against it to listen and peek around the corner. A streetlight threw clarity upon the scene, making the boy’s light-blonde hair seem like a candle in the dark. What I saw next caused me to wrap my hand around the handle of my gun.



A bulky-looking guy was approaching Joel Nicholson, at least eighteen by the looks of him, and the look on his face was anything but pleasant. His eyebrows were thick and dark, drawn together like a hawk over beady dark eyes as he advanced on the poor kid, who began backing away under the streetlight.



“Why you running away, kid?” The big guy’s voice was low and harsh, one hand deep in his pocket. From my angle I could see half of Joel’s attempt to control the look of panic he had on his face.



“I’m not running.” His voice came as a bit of a surprise to me; I had been expecting it to sound exactly like Jay’s, because they looked so much alike, but his was different, higher and younger, which only made sense. “I have to get home, you see, and my aunt’s expecting me…”



His aunt? My brain tried to touch upon his words, but then the senior was next to him, grabbing the front of his shirt and slamming him up against the wall. Joel’s blue eyes were even huger than usual as he stared at the guy’s intimidating face, his own paling. I tensed, Josh touching my elbow lightly to warn me not to move.



“You got the money, kid?”



“I – I told you, I’ll get it to you tomorrow,” Joel quavered, his feet actually coming a little off the ground as his opponent bunched his shirt up even tighter. “I promise I will, just let me go, will you?”



The guy laughed. “You don’t get away with things that easily in this world, kid. Cough it up; I know you have it on you.”



Even though it was completely stupid, I had to admire Joel’s nerve for what he did next: shout out a heated, “Go to hell!” and punch the senior square in the nose, causing blood to spurt down the latter’s shirt. Swearing, the older guy released Joel for a moment, sending him crashing to the ground, and then yanked him back against the wall again, anger slicing through his words.



“Think you’re clever, don’t you?” he snarled as Joel’s dazed face took on a look of barely-suppressed terror. “I’ll show you, little punk…” His massive fingers curled into a fist, and he swung it back to take aim at Joel, who now look like he was about to pee in his pants. He closed his eyes, already wincing in anticipation of the pain, and so he missed me stepping out from around the corner, beginning the motions of pulling my gun out.



The senior hadn’t noticed me, still threatening the cringing kid, and Josh caught my shoulder, breathing, “Let me take care of this,” in my ear. I gave him a look and he shrugged, pointing out, “Guys don’t fight girls. Trust me, I’ll handle this better. It’s a guy thing.” Rolling my eyes, I stepped back to let him past me, and he walked straight up to the guy who was holding Joel, saying in a tough voice, “You got a problem?”



Joel’s eyes opened a fraction, his face falling in surprise as he took us in. The senior looked from Josh to Joel and then to Josh again, taking in the difference in their builds. He was massively built, so clearly he thought he could take on the slim, wiry Josh any day. His face twisted into a smirk, still pinning the helpless Joel against the wall but holding his fist back.



“No, all good here, thanks. You got a problem?”



Josh shrugged, his hands stuck nonchalantly in his pockets. “Got a problem with you beating up that kid. He’s – what – fourteen? Not really competition. He’s, like, less than half your size, dude. Not cool.”



The guy actually managed to look exasperated. “Look, kid, if I wanted your opinion, I would have asked for it. Now get lost, will you?” He shoved Josh in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards, and then turned back to Joel, who immediately looked terrified again as his would-be savior regained his balance.



“No one,” said Josh in a deadly quiet voice, “tells me to get lost. Especially some twerp who goes and beats up middle-schoolers.”



“I’m a freshman!” Joel squawked in protest, and I raised my eyebrows in amused disbelief.



Josh ignored him, eyeing the senior as he slowly turned to face him, his dark eyes dangerous in the light. “I can do whatever I want to,” he growled. “And don’t need to be told by some know-it-all kid. So if you know what’s good for you, you’re going to back off and leave us.”



“Well, then, we have a problem, don’t we?” Josh sounded almost pleasant, his hand disappearing inside his sweatshirt. I held my breath, wondering if he would really have the nerve to pull out his gun. The guy’s eyes flickered to this movement somewhat warily as Josh spoke again. “Why don’t you back away from the kid?”



The senior swore, releasing Joel again so that he fell to the ground once more, and turned his full attention on Josh. “You’ve asked for this, bud,” he snarled, and then slammed his fist into Josh’s stomach, causing his knees to buckle as he gasped for air. I shook my head at boys’ foolishness, stepping forward to end the matter, but then Josh shot back to his feet, his fist colliding with the senior’s jaw.



“You little…”



His eyes bugged out, and he lunged for Josh, not knowing, of course, that Josh had years of CIA-level training on him. He weaved around the guy’s punch easily, jabbing him in the kidney and then kicking the backs of his knees as he stumbled forward. The senior doubled over, crashing to his knees, and Josh clipped him on the back of his head, not hard enough to knock him out but enough to make it hurt and to let him know who had won.



“Now, get lost,” he said, right in the guy’s ear. “Before I get angry.”



The guy gave him a murderous look, getting unsteadily to his feet, but Josh casually slipped his hand back into his pocket, and, giving it an uncertain look, the senior began to back away, swiping a hand under his still-bleeding nose and holding his side. I watched in amusement as Josh adopted a cocky pose, a smirk on his face as he watched the older guy turn and disappear down the alleyway.



“Wow, aren’t we cool,” I mocked, and Josh turned to face me with a grin.



“Haven’t had that much fun in a while.”



I laughed, punching his shoulder, and then glanced at his stomach. “Does it hurt much?” I asked, and was rewarded with an acerbic look.



“Astrid, it’s just a stomach blow. Knocks the wind out of you and then feels like nothing within thirty seconds.”



Shrugging, I patted his cheek with a smile. “Just making sure you’re okay, darling. I was worried about you facing off that big bad senior.”



He rolled his eyes. “I would be a senior right now, dimwit, or have you forgotten?”



“Excuse me?” A higher voice came from behind, and we turned to see Joel Nicholson, his eyes wide in his face, finally staggering to his feet and staring at us with a look of alarm. “Thanks for the help and everything, but who the heck are you?”



Josh looked at him for a long moment, and then glanced at me. I shrugged helplessly; how would we even begin to explain?



“Watch the language, kid,” Josh told him after a moment. “Don’t want to end up like that guy, do you?” He strode over to him, grabbing his shoulder and giving him a little shake, much to my surprise. Josh had never seemed like the fatherly type. “Don’t you know better than to mess with pushers?”



The kid’s jaw dropped. “I don’t do drugs!”



“Then who was that guy?”



“Just some dude I owed some money to, that’s all. Nothing bad or anything.” He looked insulted that Josh would even suggest such a thing.



Josh looked over at me with a skeptical expression, and I hid a smile at his sudden bout of over-protectiveness. Joel looked a little sulky, his blonde hair standing on end in the haywire way I remembered it, his big blue eyes eyeing Josh with a mixture of wariness, reproach, and confusion. He still looked so much like Jay – tanned, blonde hair, blue eyes – that it made my chest hurt, but as alike as they were, there were distinct differences as well. The lighter shade of hair, the difference in voice, how Joel obviously hadn’t started his growth spurt and so was still my height and slim, whereas Jay was broad-shouldered and tall.



And, of course, the eyes. Nothing was more different than the eyes. They were exactly the same shade, but Joel’s were much larger, the main focal point of his face, which would obviously be as attractive as Jay’s within a few years. They were also still those of a kid, all innocent and carefree and lively, while Jay’s had lost all that years ago when he started at Delta. Espionage does that to you. I found this difference startling and more than a little distracting as I tried to think of something to say. Might as well get to the point, I figured.



“Joel,” I said, still hanging back because he was looking a tad bit uncomfortable with Josh at his side and now jumped as I said his name. “Don’t you recognize us?”



He gave me a blank look, shrugging out of Josh’s grip and moving away. “Sorry, am I supposed to? ‘Cause I don’t. And if you’ll excuse me, my aunt really was expecting me home, like, an hour ago…” He had this way of speaking in such a rapid-fire, excitable manner that my tired brain was having problems following what he was saying.



“Wait.” I made a move towards him and he gave me a wary but curious look that made me wonder if it was beginning to click for him. “Joel, come on, look at us. Don’t you know us? Think a moment.”



“You know my name…?” Joel looked between us, face scrunched up in thought, and then shrugged. “No idea.”



I sighed, realizing it had been a bit much to hope for. “Astrid von Shauff, remember? I grew up on your street. And this is Josh Steiner – he was one of your neighbors, too.”



Joel’s mouth fell open again, his finger pointing at each of us in turn and his lips moving without sound, so that he looked like some strange kind of fish. “Um…” he managed after a moment, and I couldn’t help grinning.



“What’s up, little guy?” Josh ruffled Joel’s hair, making it stick up more than ever. “Haven’t seen you in ages.”



I rolled my eyes.



“No, I guess not,” Joel said finally, still staring. “We – uh – we moved to Montana, and then…” His face closed slightly, so that, just for the tiniest moment, he looked so much like Jay that it took my breath away. A hand closed around my heart – what exactly had happened in Montana? Had Jay told me the truth when he said that he thought Joel and the rest of his family had died? Did this mean that none of the Nicholsons had been in the explosion?



“Well,” he said, the moment past, “it’s been a while.”



Josh looked over at me, a question on the tip of his tongue, and I shook my head a minute bit to warn him not to ask. He was obviously thinking the same as me, but I knew it wasn’t right to ask Joel about it, especially since, if my hunch was accurate, he didn’t even know we were part of Delta anyway, which meant we were in a bit of a quandary. I couldn’t think what to do, but Joel ended up solving it for me.



“So, are you guys just in the area or whatever?” He was looking at me curiously, so much like Jay and yet so different, his eyes taking in my face and apparel. “And may I be the first to say that together you and those boots make the sexiest thing on this planet?”



It was my turn to look like a fish out of water; Josh guffawed as I stood speechless, staring at Joel, who was grinning crookedly at me. Josh rapped the top of his head, saying with a grin, “Watch it, kid, there are people who would kill you for saying that to her. She herself, for starters.”



Not necessarily untrue, but I gave both a sweet smile. “Thank you, that was very kind of you.”



“What, protecting you?” Josh smirked, and I gave him a look.



“No problem,” Joel chirped, grinning even more widely. He seemed unable to keep still, shifting from the balls of his feet to his heels in a way that made me feel exhausted just watching. “So, are you guys visiting your folks, or do you want to come and meet my aunt and uncle, and we can, like, catch up and stuff, or…? I dunno; it’s been, like, five years.”



This came as a mild surprise to me; I hadn’t realized it had been so long since I had seen him. How old was he now, anyway? Fourteen? Fifteen? I tried to find a subtle way to question the whole aunt-and-uncle thing but found nothing that wouldn’t bring up awkward conversation. Josh met my eyes, shrugging slightly, and I knew we had come to an agreement. We needed to figure out what was going on, and to do that, we needed to stay with the one person who might have been able to help us.



“Sure,” I said finally, looking back into Joel’s guileless blue gaze, “we’ll come meet your aunt and uncle. We’ve got, um, a lot of catching up to do, huh?”



Even as I said it, and as he enthusiastically agreed, all signs of the previous fear vaporized, and as we began to walk back to our car while he informed us that he was past his curfew and hadn’t really known how he was going to get home, so he was really grateful…even through all this, there was one question that was roaming around my mind, nagging me until I felt nearly beside myself in worry.



How the heck were we going to explain everything to him?