nineteen

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..

The two walked through the downtown streets of Lockton. The breeze wrapped around their showing skin at the perfect temperature. It was Dray's favorite type of weather. The sun set taking the heat with it, but leaving a comfortable chill behind. Neither spoke during the walk and she enjoyed the normalcy, even if it was just for a few moments.

The library stuck out like a sore thumb as they neared its street. Standing between small and bland buildings, it could be seen blocks away. Even in the dimming light, the details in the architecture shined.

Wells pulled Dray closer and kissed the top of her head. "We'll take the path around," he whispered into her hair.

She stopped and let his arm stretch, dragging across her shoulders as he kept walking around the corner. Her body froze, eliciting a questioning look from Wells, but she couldn't answer it. Dray took a few breaths and desperately tried to clear her thoughts. She didn't understand where the sudden hesitation came from, but decided to fake it until she made it. With a self-encouraging nod, she took a step forward.

"Dray?" A light voice sounded from a few feet away. "Is that you?"

Dray's eyes grew and she mouthed for Wells to go. He jumped behind the corner. She turned around, combing her fingers through her curly hair, and found her sister.

"Hey, Lucy," she said with a weak smile.

"What are you doing here?" Lucy tilted her head. Her expression stayed friendly, but Dray noticed her eyes narrow. Even after years apart, she still spotted the little things.

She snuck a glance over her shoulder to make sure Wells left. He did. "Just scouting." She crossed her arms and returned her gaze to Lucy. "For photography locations."

Lucy mimicked her stance. "Isn't that strange to do at night?"

"Wasn't nighttime when we started." Dray looked at the ground and then back up at Lucy. She hadn't changed much since the last time she'd seen her, though Dray had, and now they look more like twins.

Nash Yate came up behind Lucy during their silence. "Who is this, babe?"

She kissed him on the cheek and grabbed ahold of his arm. "Nash, this my little sister, Dray."

"I didn't know you had a sister." He sounded more surprised than he looked, but after glancing between them, he nodded. "I can see it."

Heat rose to Dray's cheeks and she wrung her fingers together. "It's been awhile since we've seen each other." She shrugged. Despite the dangerous feeling the couple brought with them, Dray wanted to be polite.

Nash smiled. "You just move here, then?" He pulled Lucy back into his chest and wrapped his arms around her.

"Not here," Dray said, "but over in Hero, I rent a house." She pointed behind her, immediately realizing it was the wrong way, and scratched her head instead.

"Wait," Nash said, "I remember you. Weren't you with Wells Walden at that event?"

Her breath caught in her throat and she opened her mouth to spew some sort of panicked answer. Her heartbeat sped up to match the pace of her nonsense stuttering.

"Baby sis got a man, huh?" Lucy cut her off with a teasing tone. She smiled and suddenly became the sister Dray had desperately missed.

"Hey," Wells said, coming out of nowhere. "Here's your ice cream." He handed Dray a vanilla cone and slid an arm around her waist.

She looked at him with wide eyes, but took the cone and played along. "Where's yours?"

He shrugged. "They ran out of chocolate." Wells then looked towards the older couple and nodded once.

"How've you been, Wells?" Nash's greeting grew more rigid than before.

Wells' grip tightened. "Good, yourself?"

"Good."

They gave each other a once over—the guy stare down—and a bit of tension filled the air.

Dray, more than ready to leave the stuffy vibe, pulled at Wells' waist. "We should get going." She started walking. "Bye, Lucy. It was nice to meet you, Nash."

"You, too," said Nash. Lucy gave a small wave that matched her smile.

Dray and Wells left them standing there. Dray could feel their eyes following them. She focused on her melting ice cream. She couldn't let it go to waste.

Reaching the motorcycle, they hopped on. Dray licked her fingers of the remaining treat and wiped them on her jeans. Before putting on her helmet, she rested her chin on Wells' shoulder. "Did you get it?"

He maneuvered around in his seat and pulled out a stack of photos from his jacket. "Yeah."

She snatched it and shoved them in her purse. "How in the world...? I barely gave you any time."

Wells grinned and looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "I'm a quick climber and they left the window wide open, chest unlocked. Almost too good to be true." He started the bike and turned back around.

The rumble took over her ears and Dray closed her eyes, shaking her head. Their plan worked. She threw on her helmet and held on tight to his waist, relaxing into his back.

Before she knew it, Dray was getting off in front of Wells' house. She had spent all of her time thinking about one thing, so it didn't really surprise her.

"That was way too easy." She turned to Wells, arms crossed over her chest.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, unaffected by her words. "I know," he whispered in her ear.

She sighed and let her head roll back and to the side, only to catch a glimpse of vibrant red hair. It was quickly followed by an obnoxious giggle. Dray snapped her head around and saw Mikki and Peter's girlfriend, Cassia, walking along side the woods across the street. Mikki caught her eye instantly and winked. She furrowed her eyebrows.

Wells guided her into the house and straight into the living room. He moved the table out of the way and sat on the couch. Dray took a breath, deciding to ignore the confusing adult outside, and slapped the stack of photos in the middle of the open rug. She plopped down next to it.

"Time to solve a puzzle."

..

[EDITED OCTOBER 9, 2021]




Super shortie, I know, but shit's about to go down in the story now, if ya know what I'm saying. ;)

Thanks for reading! 

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