Fear Itself

The next morning, my head was still buzzing and my heart was still aflutter with thoughts of the note Alex had sent me, and I let Avery know every chance I got. “He’s just so sweet, isn’t he? That was just so thoughtful,” I mused with a dreamy sigh, eyes barely focused on the path out of the woods. Avery actually had to grab me by the arm and steer me to keep me from running into trees. I couldn’t even blame my lack of focus on the fact that it was early morning; I always alert in the morning.

“He held a gun to your head, Princess,” Avery grumbled. “He ain’t sweet.”

“But… but Mumbles,” I whined. “The letter.”

“Yeah, I heard—“

“Wait!” I interjected as we stood at the end of the woods, right on the edge of the gardens. It was morning time, so it wasn’t unusual to see people running around here, or taking stroll, or walking a dog… well, you get the point. What was strange, however, was the sight of Chandler Jacques. I only ever saw him in West London when he was out with Dean on their weekly bar crawls. He was with another man, but it wasn’t Dean. This man was different. He was Chandler’s height with dark brown hair. He was thin, much like Chandler, but he didn’t dress as nicely. Chandler was even dressed down in a simple, zip-up fleece and a pair of slim-fit khakis. The other man was wearing a graphic t-shirt (dark grey emblazoned with a washed-out skull and cross bones) and a hooded sweatshirt. His jeans were fitted too, just like Chandler’s khakis. They looked at each other. They smiled. I had never seen Chandler smile like that.

Just as they turned, my breath caught in my throat. Between them swung a little girl, grasping tightly to their hands. She laughed. They laughed. Her hair was short, just past her ears, curling up just at the ends. She couldn’t have been much older than four, and the smile on her face was enough to melt my heart. By the looks of it, it had melted Chandler’s too. Chandler was smiling so hard that his eyes squinted up in the corners, even when he stopped to scoop the little girl up in his arms and she knocked the sunglasses right off his face. He held the child tight to his chest and kissed her forehead. She laughed again, so did the other man, until his eyes drifted upward and caught me staring. He tapped Chandler’s shoulder, and he looked over to me, eyes bright with surprise.

He gave the other man a reassuring nod, and they began to head over to us. “Hey!” Chandler greeted us with delight, the child now balanced on his hip. Her head was pressed just where his neck met his shoulders, blue eyes hiding behind wispy curls of brunette hair. Chandler glanced down at her, and he laughed a little. “Everyone,” he addressed Avery and I. “This charming man beside me is Gabriel Morbey. Remember that name. He’s going to be the next big thing in music before you know it,” he chuckled.

“Call me, Gabe,” the other man introduced himself, drawing a hand from his pocket to shake my hand. Avery ignored his handshake, so Gabe shoved the hand back in his pocket. “Nice to meet you… erm…” he trailed off, allowing us air to introduce ourselves.

“I’m Tali,” I told him with a smile. I paused, waiting for Avery to speak, but he didn’t, so I just took care of it. “This is my best friend, Avery.”

“Oh,” Chandler whispered with intrigue. “I like your scary friend. I love his look. It’s like a new grunge revival.” Chandler commented, eyeing Avery’s shabby clothes. Gabe just chuckled under his breath until his eyes fell upon an incredibly unamused Avery. “Good to see you again, Tali. I see you’ve survived your little adventure at the fight club,” he mused, smiling. The little girl began to play with the collar of his shirt. Chandler’s eyes drifted back to her. “Having fun?” he whispered playfully, and she just smiled. “Eden, why don’t you say hello to Miss Tali?”

The little girl lifted her eyes to me and shyly said, “Hello, Miss Tali. You’ve got lovely hair.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Why thank you, but certainly, it’s not as lovely as yours is.” Eden’s smile grew just before she buried her face in Chandler’s shoulder.

“Sh,” he hushed. “She’s hiding now. She’s never this shy around anyone else.” There was pause, and Chandler smiled fondly. “So where are off to this early?”

“Dean said it’s safe to go—“ Chandler’s face fixed up in confusion, and I quickly began to realize that maybe Chandler had no idea what Dean did in his spare time. “—Back to West London. I mean, everyone was a little angry that I robbed them of their winnings, so I couldn’t come back for a while.”

“Well, then,” Chandler mused. “I’ll let you get on your way. We should be going as it is.”

“Late for our morning coffee,” Gabe added with a smile.

“It was great seeing you,” I chirped, grinning as everyone, even Eden, waved goodbye and headed off. When they were out of earshot, I turned to Avery, grinning. “Aren’t they simply adorable, Mumbles?”

“Yeah. Real cute,” he grumbled.