Together We Stand

twenty-two

"Okay, I need to stop," Jase said, halting everyone. He sat down on a bench and sighed. "How long have we been walking?" he asked, seeming out of breath.

"Five minutes."

"What?" he asked, looking up at Layla. He groaned. "Just go on without me."

"You big whiner, come on," Layla pulled him up and he sighed. We continued walking and I continued thinking.

One of which you will lose to a liar.

I'm going to die. I'm already dying. Can we kill the curser in time to save me? Probably not. There is a big, fat chance that I am not making it out of this quest. It's so ironic. We go on this quest to save me, and I end up dying. I looked at Luka, who was staring ahead as we walked. The hardest part of this is going to be leaving him.

And Layla - she's done so much for me. She escorted me to camp, she almost died fighting off the hellhound that was following us. And Jase has been nothing but kind to me. He's tried his best to heal me. Aidan...he's just been so understanding. He always seems to know what he's doing and looks so confident when he does it. Levi's been my best friend since I got here. He gave me someone to trust - someone that'll pick me up when I'm down.

Leaving them is going to be so hard.

---

"Alright, here we are," Layla said, stopping in front of a cluster of trees. They extended high above, so high that I had to seriously crane my neck to see the top of them. Animals called and I could smell that forest-y smell. Jase was leaning against Aidan, yawning loudly.

"I need a nap," he muttered, dozing off on Aidan's shoulder.

"I know there's a cabin owned by a child of Hebe in here. It should only be five minutes away," Layla informed, turning around to look at us. Aidan scooped Jase up into his arms. Jase curled up to Aidan's chest and sighed contently. "Can you carry him the whole way?"

"Oh course I can. He's really light. Plus, I'm a mechanic, I have strong arms," Aidan reasoned and Layla nodded.

"Alright." She pointed a direction. "We walk that way."

---

We finally found the cabin. Layla knocked on the door cautiously and inhaled a breath as the lock clicked. The door opened slowly and a girl weilding a dagger stepped out. Once she saw us, she smiled.

"Hi," she said. "You're Elidi, right?" I nodded and she grinned. "Great! I'm Arina. Come in."

We walked in hesitantly and I was instantly hit with the smell of brownies. Arina turned around and smiled.

"Sorry, I was just in the middle of baking." She turned to Aidan. "There's a few guest rooms in the back. You guys can stay for however long you want."

We nodded and Layla thanked her before we walked to where the guest rooms are and began picking who's was who's. I walked into one where Aidan already was and saw him put Jase down. He went to leave, but Jase grabbed his wrist and yanked him down onto the bed. Aidan giggled and wrapped his arms around Jase, cuddling into him.

I turned away and almost ran into Luka. He just smiled.

"They've been best friends since anyone can remember," he told me, his amber eyes studying them. "Apparently, Jase saved Aidan's life and they've been attatched at the hip ever since."

"Wow," I commented and he nodded, before pulling the door shut quietly.

"Did you find a room?" he asked. I then realized how close we were. I could easily just lean up and-

"Guys, brownies are ready," Arina called, before halting. "Oh...sorry, was I interrupting something?"

"No, no you weren't," I stuttered, blushing. "We were just um...just talking."

"Uh huh," she said, doubt in her words. She winked at me. "Well, if you guys want brownies, they're ready."

"Thank you," I muttered and followed her into the kitchen. It was just her and I and she turned to me.

"Is that your boyfriend?" she asked, grinning.

"What? No, we're just friends," I said, blushing furiously.

"Honey, 'just friends' don't look at each other like that," she told me, causing me to raise an eyebrow. "He looks at you like...like you're his world," she explained, smiling to herself. "It's so cute."

"Yeah, well..." I trailed off, looking down at my hands. "We can't be together."

"Why?" she asked, looking at me sadly.

"Because, I..." I sighed deeply. "I think I'm going to die on this quest."

(A/N: this is my shortest chapter yet but I rlly felt the need to stop it here. So dramatic. Like dUN DUN DUUUUUUN ok anyway I think there's only a few more chapters left to write so be prepared for anything. And I mean ANYTHING.)