Chapter 29 Few Long Hours
Alec POV
“The plan is for us to meet back here.” I gesture to the backyard. “You are going to be inside waiting and listening.” I point to Kyson. “You are going to be positioned in the treeline over there just in case something goes wrong.” I point to Noah. “Although it may feel like kidnapping, if she tries to run, we can’t let her. She needs to hear everything before she can leave.”
“So it won’t feel like kidnapping, it literally is.” Kyson points out, thinking he’s funny.
I ignore him completely. Although Cassie is a part of our ‘little pack,’ I told her to stay out of this until Anneliese is ready to see her again. I don’t want to scare her off with Cassie, here, along with me. Not at the beginning, at least.
“Why do I have to be the kidnapper? I don’t want her to hate me, too.” Noah whines.
My face is hardened into a glare at their idiotic whining. Now is not the time for jokes. My nerves have been through the roof since I spoke to my dad, and now I am not so patiently waiting for a phone call and a meeting that’ll change our relationship forever.
“Sorry, we’ll do what you say. Anything else we should plan for?” Kyson calms down the situation for once.
“No, I don’t think so. Fuck I hate this. I wish I could just call her.”
As if she can hear me, my phone starts ringing in my pocket. All three of us freeze, staring at the phone as if it’s an alien object. It rings once, and I know I’m not imagining things. I grab the phone out of my pocket, quickly answering. It’s her. I can hear her steady breathing behind the phone; she sounds nervous. She must’ve been struggling too.
“Hello?” I speak quietly, my nerves coming through my voice fully.
I don’t want to say or do the wrong thing. I turn my back on the boys, not wanting them to judge me for the emotions I feel. I don’t need them to throw me off, either with their expressions.
“Can we meet?” She sounds tired, scared, and stressed.
I hate that I’ve made her feel this way. My own stupidity.
“Yes, please. When do you want to?” The words come out quicker than I intend, but I can’t help the anxiety of what is about to happen. I can’t help the relief that she wants to even see me again.
“Um, today?”
She sounds so unsure, so distant, when she talks to me. I miss when she would spill everything, all of her thoughts, and not sound so unsure of what she says before she says it.
“Yeah, I can do it today. When do you want to come? You can meet me at my house.” I hope I don’t sound too pushy.
“Okay. I can come over in a few hours. Is that fine?”
“Yes, that’s perfect.” I try not to sound too eager, but I know it is on full display.
“Bye.”
I want to tell her everything over the phone. I want to tell her how much I love her, how much it hurts to be away from her, how much it hurts to hear her apprehensiveness towards me. I want to tell her every thought I’ve ever had, but I know I can’t, not yet.
“Bye.”
My heart stutters when the phone call ends. I know it’s not the end, but my heart misses her so deeply I can’t handle it.
“Okay lets go chillax and wait to hear her coming.” Kyson claps his hands together, ready to put the plan into action.
I follow them inside, somehow sitting down despite the nerves gushing through my body. This will be the longest hours of my life.
Anna’s POV
The phone rings only once.
He answers, making my stomach twist in nerves again.
“Hello?” His voice is quiet; he sounds like he’s worried that if he speaks too loudly, he’ll scare me away.
My heart pounds quickly. I’m scared and nervous myself about what is going to be said between us.
“Can we meet?” Beth looks over at me from the desk, giving me a thumbs-up of encouragement.
“Yes, please. When do you want to?” His response is rushed, and I can practically hear his relief through the phone.
I try to think through this. Although I’m stressed about seeing him again, and I’m still upset, I need to get this over with. I need to see him today.
“Um, today?”
I'm unsure if this is even the right move. This is the first time we’ve talked in almost four days, and I’m already giving in to see him.
“Yeah, I can do it today. When do you want to come? You can meet me at my house.” He rushes out again.
He sounds so nervous. I always found it endearing when he would talk over himself around me, but right now it just makes me more upset. Why is he so nervous when he’s the one who’s in the wrong? I remember Beth’s words: make him wait, make him sit in what he did.
“Okay. I can come over in a few hours. Is that fine?”
I look to Beth for reassurance again. She nods.
“Yes, that’s perfect.”
“Bye.”
I wait for him to say it back. It’s quiet for a few second and I think he might’ve even hung up, but he takes a breath.
“Bye.”
I hang up right after that, needing to catch my own breath.
“I’m coming over to his house in a few hours,” I tell Beth, although I know she caught on to most of the call.
“How did he sound?”
“He sounded relieved, happy that I wanted to see him, but very nervous at the same time.”
She shakes her head, annoyed. “Good, he should grovel when you see him. I don’t care that he already knew her; it’s the fact that he didn’t tell you, even when we asked.”
Beth has been very fired up about this situation, which, in a way, is good, because I wanted to give in the second my head hit my pillow that night.
Now to sit here and stress for the next few long hours.