The first place I go to look for Jericho is the lake from yesterday.

I'm not sure exactly why my first instinct was to go there, but somehow a half hour after the end of the school, I'm sitting in the exact spot that Jericho and I had kissed yesterday, when sparks had been shot through my body and fake promises embedded into my head. Jericho isn't here- not that I had really expected him to be, especially if he had jumped on a bus. I think I came here more for myself than to look for him- to give myself a reminder of what Jericho had been like merely hours ago.

I really needed that reminder right now.

My heart aches and the pressure is back in my chest. I've called Jericho almost ten times but his phone is off. I need Jericho-really bad right now. All I can think about right now is how he left me, even though he promised he wouldn't and even though he knows how it feels.

I have no idea where he could've gone. Arsenio says he couldn't catch the number of the bus Jericho had went on, but he's been calling different people Jericho might be going to just in case any of them have been in touch with him. Arsenio promised to text me if he finds anything while I went off for some time for myself.

I don't realize how long I've been sitting there- ignoring my parents' calls- when I finally get a text from Arsenio nearly four hours later that makes my heart jump.

Arsenio: I know where he is.

I waste no time running out of the forest and to my car, thankfully not getting caught for speeding as I zoom down the road to Arsenio's place. Arsenio is already waiting by the door when I pull up, green eyes even darker than usual as he lets me in. I don't have time to examine just how dirty and cheap his interior looks before Arsenio is leading me over to a tiny kitchen, throwing me a piece of paper.

"This is where he is," Arsenio says. I pick up the piece of paper and see that it has an address scrawled on it. "My friend called me saying they saw him. Just a prior warning, the drive is almost three hours."

"Are you sure he's still here?" I ask, gesturing to the address.

"Oh, he is. Trust me."

I bite my lip, nodding my head slightly. "Are you not going to come?"

Arsenio shakes his head, rubbing at his tired eyes. "He just needs you right now. Just make sure to tell him I'm kicking his ass when he gets back."

I'm in the car less than a minute later, pulling out of the parking lot. I call my parents, telling them that I'm staying at Jamie's to study for our Chemistry final and I wasn't able to answer because I had taken a nap when I first got there. My mom was pretty angry, but thankfully I only got off with a short lecture and a strict time for me to be home.

I keep the radio on and loud to try and occupy the time with something, but all I can seem to think about is Jericho. Was it the Rebels? Did they threaten him? I knew that they were waiting to plan something big- Jericho didn't listen to me, and here we have the consequences. I groan and throw my head back against the headrest.

Whatever it is, I hope it isn't enough to make Jericho switch back to his old beliefs.

Actually, I'll slap him if he does. I'm already almost an hour away from my house, and if he doesn't see that I'm about to drive another two hours all for him, then I don't know what I'll do. I've already done so much, and as much as I don't want to give up, I can't force him to love me.

The next two hours are slow moving and spent on a highway, but finally I enter a town. I furrow my eyebrows- it reminds me of my town in that besides Crooks Street, it's happy and bright. I slow down, following the directions that the GPS gives me on my phone to make sure I end up in the right place. When I finally pull up at my destination, I'm more than surprised.

I'm at a graveyard.

It's almost dark at this point, but thankfully the doors are still open. Driving in and parking at the lot, I slowly get out and look around. It's eerie and creepy, but more than that- it's almost completely deserted.

Almost.

Because sure enough, when I turn around and look hard enough, I see a teenage boy sitting in front of a gravestone, his head hung and his fingers wrung together. His posture is defeated, his hair is a mess and he looks so much smaller in that position than I know he really is, but sure enough, that's Jericho.

He doesn't hear me approach until I'm only a couple of headstones away. Jericho's head shoots up, his eyes bloodshot and holy shit- he's crying. I've never seen Jericho cry, and at that very moment I decide that I never want to again.

Jericho's mouth drops in shock, his sad amber eyes widening in shock. "Natalie... What are you doing here?"

I drop down beside him, not answering him, instead choosing to glance at the headstone. Engraved into the stone are the words:

Adam Beck

1965-2010

Beloved Husband and Father

I squeeze Jericho's arm. He came all this way to visit his dad. There's no way I can be mad at him.

"You ran away, gave me quite the heart attack," I chuckle quietly. "Arsenio says one of his friends saw you here and called him."

Jericho nods, "Nathan, he lives here and was visiting his sister..." He goes quiet for a second before saying, "I'm sorry for scaring you. I can explain."

"You can explain later," I say, making Jericho nod at me gratefully.

I turn back to the headstone, sitting down closer to Jericho, allowing him to lean against me and take my hand with a tight grip. Sitting forward, I whisper, "Hi, Adam." When I look to Jericho, he's just giving me a sad smile, so I turn back to the headstone. "My name's Natalie. I'm your dork of a son's soulmate." That pulls a small chuckle out of Jericho. "I know after what happened with your wife, you might not really believe in soulmate's anymore. That's unfortunate, but I can understand where you're coming from. But I promise you that I would never hurt Jericho like that, nor do I think Jericho would hurt me like that, even if he did almost scare me to death today. Our story doesn't have to be based off of past failures; we can build our own life together and make it work as long as want to make it work, as long as we want to. Which I think we both do. Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm sure you're looking after Jericho from above, but I promise you that I am too, just from down here. I'm sure together we'll make a super awesome team and beat up anyone who tries to hurt him again."

Jericho leans his head against my shoulder and sniffles, squeezing my hand even tighter. I continue, "I think love is such an amazing thing, Mr. Beck. It makes every day a little brighter, every word you say a bit more genuine and makes all the struggles a person has been through worth it in the end. It's like constantly floating on cloud nine. Thank you for raising such an amazing son, despite what you were both put through. I think you and Jericho are two of the most strongest, most amazing people. You for continuing to help Jericho grow up and not succumbing to moving to a place like Crooks Street after what happened and Jericho for continuing to smile every day even after the things he's seen."

Jericho's eyes squeeze shut as he takes a shuddering breath. "Anyway, I think I'm going to take Jericho home for the day." I feel him nod, so I say, "It was nice talking to you, Mr. Beck or Adam, whichever you prefer. I'm sure we'll be back soon."

Jericho opens his eyes when I go to stand up, taking a couple of breaths to pull himself together before standing up with me, clutching onto my hand tightly. "Bye, dad," he whispers so lowly I almost don't hear him, before he turns away from the headstone and allows me to lead him out.

We get in the car before stopping on our way out to wash our hands at a granite sink- a Jewish tradition Jericho always does- before we drive out. Jericho is silent in the passenger seat for a good ten minutes as we drive out of town, until suddenly he speaks up, "Pull over."

I do what he says without hesitation, pulling over on the dirt road running through a forest. Jericho unbuckles his seat belt, putting his elbows on his knees and running both his hands through his hair, taking a deep breath.

"My mom called me after lunch," he finally explains. "She called me for the first time in seven years- I don't even know how she got my number- and she told me she heard that I got a soulmate. She asked me how it was going for me and I said good and the whole conversation was just so fucking awkward but by the end of it all I just needed to get away. I hadn't visited my dad in almost a year so I just acted on impulse and I'm so, so sorry I didn't respond to your phone calls, I had turned my phone on eventually but I was just too scared to respond because I thought you were angry and-"

I interrupt his rambles, "Jericho! It's okay."

Jericho shakes his head, heaving a deep breath. "I've decided I'm going to start living my life for myself. All my life I've listened to what other people have told me- my mom, my dad, the Rebels, my aunt. Now, I want to live life how I want to. I want to love the people I want to love, I want to privilege myself with happiness and not feel like I'm betraying my parents."

"I'm proud of you," I tell Jericho.

Jericho looks at me, his eyes glassy. "I'm so glad you came. I- just thank you."

Then he leans over and kisses me, and in that kiss I swear he speaks every emotion he's holding inside with no words.

x

It's late when we finally pull into Crooks Street.

When I finally open my phone- well, I tell Jericho to turn it on, considering I'm driving- I have almost ten messages from Arsenio, telling me to hurry my ass up and to get to Crooks Street. Jericho's eyebrows instantly furrow as he calls Arsenio, but he doesn't pick up. Luckily Arsenio doesn't live that far down the street, so we get to his house quickly, only for both of us to gasp and jump out of the car.

The windows are smashed, things are thrown out onto the lawn and the door is knocked down. Jericho and I run inside, only to the place empty. The house is trashed just like mine had been, only it has to be at least ten times worse.

Finally, Arsenio calls back. Jericho's face pales before he gestures for me to follow him to the car. When he hangs up, I'm quick to ask, "What is it?"

"My aunt's house," is all he says.

Thankfully I remember where that is, so it only takes us a couple of minutes to drive over there. Arsenio is standing outside, but past him I see that Jericho's aunt's house looks just as trashed as Arsenio's did. We're out of the car and in front of Arsenio quickly.

"Jericho, your aunt got hit in the head, but she's okay now. She was bleeding a bit but it's nothing serious, nothing worth taking her to the hospital for."

I blink in surprise at Arsenio's blunt greeting. "They broke in while she was home? And attacked her?"

Arsenio nods grimly, "She wanted to wait for you guys to come back before calling the police. She wants to know the full story of what's going on with you, Jericho, since you haven't been in contact with her recently."

Jericho opens his mouth to answer when a familiar voice shouts, "You've got no one but yourself to blame for this, Jer!"

We spin around and see Noel, two other boys and a tall girl with long hair and dark make up leaning against a pickup truck. Jericho's fist clench and this time I don't hold him back. Noel has a smug look on his face- in fact, all four of them do.

"I warned you!" Noel continues.

"Fuck you!" Jericho shouts. "You're pathetic! What the hell are you trying to achieve, trashing memorials and people's houses, knocking out my aunt?"

"We're trying to show you the repercussions of betraying the only people who cared for you after your dad was a coward and took his own life. I tried to help you, Jericho, I tried to make you see the mistakes you're making. But you didn't, and now you have to pay." When Jericho takes a step forward, Noel says, "What, you going to beat me up? Wouldn't your time be better used to take care of your aunt who's head is probably still bleeding?"

That makes Jericho falter. Noel laughs obnoxiously, wrapping an arm around the girl beside him- she's really pretty, I notice, and pray that she wasn't one of Jericho's past girls- and kissing her roughly. They climb back into the car, zooming away at a speed that leaves dust in that air behind them.

Jericho relaxes once they're gone. I ask, "I know Noel, but who were the other two guys and that girl?"

"Silas and Dominick were the guys," Jericho explains, frowning. "I don't know who the girl is though."

I feel myself relax, glad that it's not one of Jericho's past hook-ups. Jericho takes my hand, murmuring, "Come on, I need to go check on my aunt and call the police on those bastards."

I'm about to go with him when I notice that Arsenio is oddly quiet. I kiss Jericho's cheek, letting go of his hand, "I'll be there in a minute." Jericho nods, running into the trashed house. I turn my attention to Arsenio, noticing that along with quiet, he's pale. "Arsenio, are you okay?"

Arsenio doesn't answer.

In a firmer voice, I ask, "Arsenio, are you okay?"

He shakes his head.

"What's wrong?"

"Th- The girl."

"What about her? Do you know her?"

Arsenio's dark green eyes are pain filled when they meet mine. "She's my soulmate."

Hey guys! Thanks for the insane amount of feedback last chapter, it was crazy! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, if you did, please be sure to COMMENT and VOTE as it means a lot to me! I love you all so so much! :) xoxo