Page 58 of Go the Long Way

"I told you to take my bed. That couch is fine for a nap, but not the whole night through," Jakob said as he set his mug down on his other side, opposite the one Ethan sat on.

He shook out the fleece blanket he had carried out with him and wrapped it around his shoulders against the early morning's chill. He tucked it so he could get his hands loose, picking his coffee back up and letting the ceramic warm his fingers.

"I'm not going to make you sleep on your own couch, Jakob," Ethan said, throwing him a wry look, his eyes soft and fond. "'Sides, I slept fine. Just took a while for me to get there. Mind felt like it was running on a dozen different hamster wheels after… after everything."

Jakob could practically feel Ethan slump next to him; the warmth of his shoulder was just a hairsbreadth apart from Jakob's own.

Should he cross that distance? It wouldn't take much.

But…

Ethan had been through the wringer all yesterday, maybe… maybe he deserved some space. Whatever this fancy was that had taken hold of Jakob; whatever spark had been lit, burning him up inside since that night of the art class…

Would it be fair to push all that on Ethan right now, on top of everything else he was dealing with?

It had been in the wee hours of the morning when Ethan had finally shown up at Jakob's door.

After he'd been woken, Alex had groggily confirmed Ethan's fears that his dad would more than likely have put a tracker on Ethan's car, warrant or no. Alex had suggested Ethan take his bike to a location someone could pick him up instead.

But when Ethan had gone to his garage, he had found the tires flat; a couple of small puncture marks looking as if they had come from a pocket knife like the one Alex said his dad routinely carried.

So Ethan had ended up getting in touch with some of his buddies who had dropped him off at Jakob's door in a big white work van.

The massive guy with the bald head and combat boots who had introduced himself as Marcus had barely looked as if he could fit in the driver's seat. And the matched bookends he had named Ace and Bear had turned such unnerving twin grins on Jakob as to make his palms itch; a strange urge to check his back pocket for a wallet he knew damn well was up in his room on top of his dresser.

But it was the last of their merry little band that had seemed to run the show. They had called her Valeria; dressed head to toe in motorcycle leathers and a commanding air. Her hands and fingers flew as she gave out her orders; Marcus acting as her interpreter for Jakob and Ethan's sake. Ace and Bear sure hadn't felt the need to wait, reacting to her signs just as soon as she had made them.

Ethan's phone had been confiscated by Marcus before they had even let him leave his house.

In its place, Valeria had summarily handed him a burner phone just before they'd left. One that came complete with a dire warning to be careful who he called, and to tell no one his location unless he wanted it getting back to whoever was hounding him. She had also promised they would do a sweep of Ethan's car and house, and keep an eye on things there for however long he was away just to be sure he had no more…unexpected visitors.

Ethan had looked slightly discomforted at the cheshire grins Ace and Bear had worn upon hearing that, but not enough apparently for him to protest her decree.

And she had done it all with such a brisk, no-nonsense, almostboredattitude that had left Jakob wondering just where exactly Ethan had come by such friends.

Ethan bumped his shoulder into Jakob's, jarring him loose from his idle thoughts.

"Can hear the gears turning," Ethan rumbled. "What's happening inside that head of yours, hmm?"

"Just… thinking about last night," Jakob answered into his mug, the rich smell of the coffee calming him as he tried to order his thoughts. "How'd you say you met them again?"

"I didn't," Ethan said with a wry chuckle. "Tell you, I mean. But… they show up at a lot of the protests I've been a part of recently. Lotta kids at these things, not so many adults. So we'd hang out, talk, get to know each other a little bit. Bit of an odd bunch, secretive as all hell. But… dependable. Good folks, really."

"And they wouldn't have been followed here?" Jakob asked, still not entirely feeling convinced.

Ethan laughed aloud at that. "You met 'em. They're even more paranoid than Alex. Ace and Bear said they would look over my car for me.Withoutbothering to ask for my keys; which I don't mind telling you, is a bit unsettling. And Marcus… That van does not have seatbelts in the back, I can say that much."

"And — What was her name? Valeria?"

Ethan just grinned. "She lives for this kind of shit. All about getting into that 'good trouble', you know? Might even send me a thank you gift when it's all… when it's all over," he said, his voice going quiet at the end.

"Never woulda believed it," Jakob teased, bumping Ethan's shoulder back to try and lighten the mood again. "Ickle Ethan — all grown up now and making waves, evading the police. What's next, I find out you’re secretly a vigilante? A medium channeling the spirit of ol’ Captain Chance himself?"

But instead of laughing along, a strange look came over Ethan's face at Jakob’s teasing. His lips pulled into a frown as he stared into the depths of his coffee mug as if he was searching for answers in a crystal ball. "Yeah… Well. Lot has changed over the years since… since we were… whatever we were."

Jakob frowned at that, glancing down into his own reflection in his coffee’s dark surface. He looked up to where Cassie had Alex up in the saddle now. The mare under him was one of their steadiest as Cassie taught Alex how to hold himself, how to sit in the saddle, how to hold the reins, how to communicate with his horse.

If only there was someone to showJakobhow to navigate all this as easily as the riding lesson seemed to be going.

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