AN:

I hope you stay on this journey with them.

***

The ride to Texas has been tremendously long. Of course, we move halfway across the country. But finally, we're here.

Jake pulls in when we reach his place. I get out of the car and look up at the house standing before me, the ray of morning sun upon me eyes making me wince as I block it with my hand.

So, this is the house that Jake has rent for him to live in Texas. It's a mid-sized traditional brick grey townhouse with a gable roof, and it has two storeys. It looks really nice.

Jake steps up toward the entrance door and opens it for me. "Welcome to my house." He smirks.

I gape as I step inside. The interior looks more contemporary compared to the exterior. The house is filled with neutral colors and clean design lines, but there are some bold accent colors on some pieces of furniture. It looks super comfortable, and my body absolutely gives in after long hours of journey. I feel like I can just sink into one of the couches and sleep there.

"Good to know that you like it," Jake says, amusement in his voice, but I can definitely hear a hint of relief in it. For the past few days, during our journey, he's been trying hard to make sure that I feel contented.

"The rooms are upstairs," he says. "And I bet you'll like it too."

I can't help but smile from hearing those words as he leads me to the second storey.

I sit on the bed, drying my hair with a towel when Jake appears at my doorstep with a phone on his ear.

"Yeah, she's in my place now. No, Mom--" Jake speaks on the phone, and my heart sinks as I know with whom he's having the conversation. "Don't worry. She's okay." He gestures to me whether I would like to speak with Mom, but I shake my head, signaling that it's negative.

I can hear Mom's frantic voice from the other side of the line. I can hear that she's crying. The news of what happened to me must have reached her and Dad by now. And I'm not ready to talk to them.

"She's still taking a bath now," Jake lies. "Don't worry, okay? She's with me," he says it again. "I'll update you again." With that said, he hangs up. He sighs, approaching me before flopping himself on the bed beside me.

"She knows, doesn't she?" I say, and Jake only nods. I gulp, clenching my fists on my thighs. "How?" My voice is small as I ask him.

Jake seems hesitant to answer me. He holds my shoulder, making me face him. "Look, it doesn't matter now, okay? The cops are taking care of everything. They're making sure that those nude pictures won't spread. They're putting their best efforts to destroy every single one of them and that anyone who takes part in such illegal distribution will have the punishment they deserve."

But I know that it will be almost impossible to completely make them all disappear. The moment Derek sent them to thousands of people, things must have happened really fast, and it would have taken no longer than a blink of an eye for those pictures to be shared to many more people. Even if those nude pictures aren't available on the web, some people might still keep them in their phones.

In fact, Mom and Dad have found them as well. Perhaps, they've known it from their friends. I feel so ashamed of myself. I've humiliated them. I've humiliated my family.

"Mel, look at me." Jake shakes my shoulder, and I look up at him, only to find that worry is skating all over his face. "None of these are within your control. That jackass is a criminal. He'll get the punishment from the law. He'll fucking rot behind bars. And no one can fucking hurt you anymore in the future."

My heart is filled with agony again as I think about the lunatic that has destroyed my life. "What happened to him?"

Jake's jaw tightens. "Well, the good thing I heard from the police is that he's now in the hospital."

That information startles me. "What? How come?"

"Vaughn almost killed him."

My heart beats twice.

"Derek almost didn't make it out alive. But unfortunately, he did." Jake is now shaking with anger. "He better not think that he's lucky he's still alive, because I'm going to make sure that he'll suffer the punishment from the law."

My lips tremble, and a soft cry escapes my mouth as I look away, staring at my own shaking hand that is gripping the bed sheet now.

Vaughn almost killed Derek.

I remember his words.

"No, you don't understand," Vaughn said, and when I looked at him, the rage in his eyes made me shudder. "I've never wanted to kill a person until now. I could literally kill him, Mel. And I'm not fucking joking."

Those words, he said to me. But those words also came out from the person who said that all of his actions and words were nothing but lies. The person who admitted that he never loved me, that it was all an act, that he did that to get revenge on my brother.

I don't know what to believe anymore.

I can sense that Jake is getting restless now. He must have realized that bringing Vaughn into the topic was a mistake.

"Look, Mel," he says, his voice soft as he turns my shoulder so that I can face him again. "It's all over now. We're here, in Texas. Far away from that shit." A smile forms on his lips, and he raises an eyebrow playfully. "You're gonna get stuck with this annoying big brother of yours for quite some time now. Geez, what am I gonna do? Will you run away if I shove a gallon of Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel Heaven Light Ice Cream?"

I can't help but burst into laughter. Now, he's being specific. How can he even memorize that favorite ice cream flavor of mine? That's a ridiculously long name. "Annoying? No. Monstrous? Yes," I say. "It's not like I'm going to be stuck with you all the time, anyway." I wag my finger. "Don't forget. You have a job here, Jake."

He winces. "Ugh. That sucks."

I laugh even more.

"Good thing that the company's big project is done." He smirks. "It's not like I'm going to have to work overtime from now on. I may even have flexible time to take you out for lunch on some days. You haven't got any idea how remarkable the food tastes in some of my favorite restaurants here, have you?" He raises his eyebrows.

I tsk, but he laughs as he notices how my eyes are glinting with excitement. "You're really monstrous, you know that?" I say.

How can he tempt me with food every time he knows that I'm feeling down? Right. Food -- good food -- is really good for sad people.

"You know, I'd be really looking forward to that," I say. "Just give me a call when..." but then I falter, knowing that I haven't even touched my phone since I got out of Derek's house.

How can I brace myself to look at my phone again now that everybody is talking about my nude pictures? Even if I had recharged my phone battery, I wouldn't have dared to turn it on.

"Don't worry, Mel," Jake assures, as if he can read my mind. "I'll get you a new phone, with a new number, of course."

I blow a sigh.

"I keep thinking about the good things that can keep you company while I'm working," he says. "Maybe if there's a piano--"

"Jake." I glare at him. I can't believe him. Not another impulsive decision to buy a brand new acoustic piano. "It's not like I'm going to die when you leave me alone in this house."

Jake laughs. "I know. But still, it's worth a try." He grins, making me roll my eyes.

I know that my heart is still broken. I know that it's not going to be easy to forget what I've been going through. I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do with my life while I'm here -- and Jake hasn't questioned me about that either, knowing that I still need some time to sort things out.

But my heart feels more lightweight now. And in the meantime, living here in Texas doesn't seem like a bad idea at all.