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"—fuck, fuck! I'm here — I'm —FUCK!— I'm not hurt, I'm— " came Ethan's clearly shaken voice, as if from far away. Then suddenly, he was coming in loud and clear. "Sorry. I — I dropped my phone."
Somewhere in the background, Jakob could faintly hear the sound of tires peeling out.
"What the fuck wasthat?!" Jakob demanded, his hand not holding the phone clenched white-knuckled, fisted into his sheets.
"I… Someone — Jakob, someone… Someone just threw abrickthrough my window?" Ethan answered in a tone that was filled with a strange sort of… humor?
It was clearly framed as a question too, albeit one that was impossible for Jakob to answer. As if Ethan couldn't believe what he was saying — what he wasseeing. As if he was asking Jakob to somehow confirm thatyes, that had really just happened.
Jakob swallowed. He could feel the cold creeping swiftly through his limbs as the fear spread through him; the acrid, bitter taste coating the back of his throat. Feel the worry for his friend taking hold of his lungs and squeezing tight, all while fighting the urge welling up from his belly that made him want to scream.
"Ethan," Jakob said tightly; shoving down the inane worry that the thumping of his heart would be heard over the phone line with how loudly it seemed to be beating now against the cage of his ribs. "I think you should come here. If you want, I mean. But… do you feel safe there? Tonight?"
"I — I'm not…" Ethan said, his voice shaky and wild. "I don't… I can't lead him right to Alex. To you, to your own kid. I'm sorry, Jakob. I'm so fucking sorry. I shouldn't have let you get mixed up in this. If I had known — "
"You didn't ‘letme get mixed up in’ anything, Ethan," Jakob interrupted. "I jumped in feet first and eyes wide open all on my own. And it's not anything I'm not proud to be a part of either. None of this is your fault, you hear me?None of it.You were trying to be a good guy, do the right thing. And youdid. Now we just have to figure out what the next right thing is, alright? If that’s you coming here, that’s what you do. Fall back and let me worry about the risk."
"I… Yeah," Ethan exhaled deeply, making the phone’s speaker crackle in Jakob’s ear. "Alright. I should — I should clean all this up. Put cardboard or something up over the missing pane. I can lock down the storm shutter over it, though… It's not like they can't just get in if they want to, right? Already proved that," Ethan said with a choked-off laugh.
"Ethan — "
"No, it's — I'll be okay, Jakob. But — I might…" Ethan sighed, the frustration thick in his voice. "I mean, if — If you meant it, I — I guess I could…"
"I did and you should," Jakob swallowed, wishing he could jump through the phone line and bethere, damnit.
"But how can I be sure that I wouldn't be… I don't know —followed, or something? Or that he hadn't done something to my car? Put one of those trackers or whatever on it.God, this is a nightmare. I sound like a character in a TV show."
"I can ask Alex?" Jakob hazarded. "He might know something."
"He still up?" Ethan asked, his voice sounding tired.
Jakob glanced at the clock on his nightstand. "I can ask. I — He was about to steal my car for you yesterday. I don't think he'll mind me waking him up for a question. Can — Can you hold on for a moment?"
"Yeah," Ethan said, his deep exhale blowing over the phone and making the connection crackle. "Yeah, let's go ask the teenager who can't drive how to ditch the cops. It'll be like old times."
Chapter 26
Jakob nudged the front door open carefully, trying to keep the two mugs of coffee he was juggling one-handedly from spilling. The job was made more difficult with the blanket he had draped over a shoulder and only one hand free, but the other was occupied by his cane and… well.
Not a lot of other options there.
That was alright. He was coming to terms with it.
The screen door was easier to manage as he shouldered it open, the screech of the springs seeming to startle Ethan out of his thoughts. He was sitting on the edge of the front porch, leaning back against one of the support posts, his eyes fixed on the training ring. Jakob followed his gaze to where Cassie was showing Alex how to saddle a horse, their breath making white puffs of steam in the chilly December air.
At the sound of the screen door opening, Ethan had turned; putting a hand under himself and moving as if he was about to get up.
"Let me — "
"No, sit. I've got it," Jakob interrupted him, pulling the door shut with the hand holding his cane. He let the screen door slam behind as he made his way across the whitewashed old boards of the covered upper porch to Ethan's side; handing him both mugs to hold as he leveraged himself down next to his… next toEthan.
"Been up long?" Jakob asked as Ethan passed him back his mug of black coffee.
"Naw," Ethan answered; wrapping his big hands around the cup Jakob had already dosed with milk and sugar how he remembered Ethan used to like it.
He had watched Ethan fix it the exact same way at the diner, two days and ten thousand lifetimes ago. Despite all the other things that had changed between them, it seemed there were at least a few that had remained constant.
"Just got out here," Ethan said after taking a sip, looking down into the mug with a small smile. "The way I tossed and turned all last night, I was sure I was going to sleep 'til noon, but… I guess a lifetime of being up in time for the school bell leaves its mark."
