A Protector's Second Chance (Unit Matched #2) (12 page)

Chapter 28

Day 70 of 90

Ten days.

Oliver had been gone ten days.

For all I knew, he was dead on the side of the road. I couldn’t call anyone. I couldn’t go anywhere. I couldn’t do anything.

I had barely slept a wink in almost five days. I was exhausted. I’ve hardly eaten. I’ve paced the floor more than anything else, and I was sure I’d left an impression on the hardwood floors.

The past three nights, I remained on the couch. I wanted to be as close to the door as I could be in case he came back. I left the TV on to have noise around me, but I never paid attention to it.

I tried to eat a piece of toast in the afternoon, but I mainly stared at it. My stomach was still in knots, and I was on the verge of walking back to Unit to find out what was going on. I was on the brink of banishment anyway, what difference would it make?

I pushed the plate away. It was pointless to try to eat anything right now. I got up and went back to my bedroom. I was going to change and go workout. For a few moments, it would take my mind off Oliver not being around.

Once I slipped into my yoga pants and hoodie, I heard the front door close. I sprinted down the stairs, and I saw Oliver shrugging off his jacket. I couldn’t control my breathing or the fact that I leapt into his arms.

“Amaya, I can’t breathe,” Oliver choked out.

“Sorry,” I released a little bit. “I knew I was stronger than you.” My voice cracked because I was so overwhelmed to see him.

He chuckled into my neck.

“You were gone for such a long time.” I inhaled his scent. He smelled like the cold.

“I know.” He tightened his arms around me. “I didn’t know I was going to be gone that long.”

I had a thousand and one questions rushing through my head, but right now, I didn’t want to ask anything. I wanted to hold him.

“If I didn’t know better, I would think that you missed me.”

I nodded because I was unable to talk.

We held each other in that position for a few more moments before Oliver finally set my feet on the ground.

“I missed you, too. I really am sorry that I was gone for so long.”

“Don’t let it happen again.” I growled, wiping the tears away from my cheeks. I didn’t even know that I was crying.

“I promise. I’m all yours for the next twenty days.” He pushed the hair that had fallen on my forehead back.

“What?”

“Yep, the King said that I’m not going to be needed until your punishment is over.”

“Really?”

He nodded and had a large smile on his face.

“Great. Now tell me why you were gone for so long.” I crossed my arms.

“Amaya,” he shook his head.

“Don’t. You. Dare. I mean it, Oliver. I want to know. You were gone for ten days. Ten. I have been on edge the entire time, so I know that something serious is going on in Unit and I want to know. Now.” I jerked on his arm to sit on the couch.

“Okay, how about I give you the abridged version?”

“We have twenty days left. I’m sure that I can handle the full detailed version.”

“I can’t tell you all that. However, I can tell you that everything in Unit is fine now.”

“Now? So what was it like before?”

Oliver bounced his head from side-to-side. He was thinking of what to say. “It was a little hectic, and there were some changes that needed to be made.”

“Changes? What kind? Is Xaviera okay? Is the baby?” the questions were spewing from me and I couldn’t stop them.

“She and the baby are well. Other positions changed,” he clammed up.

“Oliver, I swear to Mother Nature, if you don’t tell me soon, I’m going to scream.”

He smirked at me. “How about a compromise?”

I stared at him.

“How about you and I enjoy the next twenty days together and the when we get back to Unit you will learn all the ins and outs of what has been going on?”

“In other words, you’re not going to tell me, are you?”

He shook his head.

“I knew it.” I huffed and fell back against the couch. One worry wouldn’t leave my mind. “Is Rebecca still okay?”

Oliver kissed my temple. “I actually had a long talk with her.”

“You did?”

“Yep, and she’s doing great. She really is, I promise. Rebecca told me how much she misses you and loves you. I know that you say that you two aren’t close, but I think she really looks up to her big sister.”

I shrugged. He might be right. I remembered all those times I had defended her from our parents. All the times I would scream to keep Dad from going into her room. All the times I held her and helped cover her bruises when she had them.

“You hate it when I’m right, don’t you?” he playfully whispered in my ear.

“I missed you.” I changed the subject.

“I know, and I’m still waiting to hear
it
from you. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.”

I curled closer up to him. I didn’t say it. Like everything else, if you say it out loud you could never take it back, and it will forever be hanging around.

“There’s nothing wrong with you saying it first.”

After several moments of us holding each other and not saying anything, Oliver said that he was hungry, and he needed to do some laundry.

“What, your mom didn’t do it for you when you were home?” I joked.

“Um, no, I didn’t stay with my parents, and where I was staying, the washer and dryer hadn’t been delivered yet.”

I sat back from him. What did he mean by that? “Where did you stay, if not at your parents?”

“I… um… I… well…” he was looking all over the room, but at me.

“Oliver Jacob Thomas, if you don’t tell me right now, I will break your nose.” My jaw was clenched so tightly I was sure I cracked a tooth. My mind was reeling from the possibilities. I knew that he wouldn’t cheat on me. Oliver was nothing like that, but I couldn’t figure out why he didn’t stay at his parents.

“I was kind of house sitting for someone. My parents had converted my room into something else, so I couldn’t stay there unless I slept on the couch, and I wasn’t in the mood to do that.”

“House sitting?” Who would he be doing that for?

“Please, Amaya, stop questioning everything. Let’s enjoy this time together before we go back to Unit and reality.”

I looked deeply into his green eyes. He was right.
Again
. Soon, I would be banished and never see him again. He would go on with his life in Unit. I was sure that Mrs. Thomas had his next Matched lined up already. I was sure that he heard an earful from his parents every time he went home because he was still here with me. I wondered if he’d told them what had been happening up here.

I wouldn’t have been shocked if he had. I was positive that he was telling Xaviera everything. I bet she wasn’t thrilled with all the details. Then again, maybe he had kept some of them private.

“I’ll make us something to eat.” I tried to give him a big smile, but I didn’t have it in me. Oliver let me go and headed into the kitchen.

I moved around, cooking and preparing a salad for lunch, while he took a shower, changed, and started his laundry. I did my best not to think about Unit, Rebecca, and everything else that I had truly cared about.

There was so much that Oliver was keeping from me. It was killing me that I didn’t know. Everything was changing and I wanted to know. At least I knew that Rebecca was okay. I was very happy about that. I guess my parents were leaving her alone. I bet it was because everyone was talking about them. Maybe the Royals were putting more pressure on them, or watching them more closely.

I set the table and brought out the soup and salad for lunch. I hadn’t eaten a lot while he was gone, and I didn’t want to overdo it.

“This looks and smells delicious.” Oliver stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulder. He kissed my hair.

“Let’s eat.” I leaned against him.

I felt him nod, and he released me. I followed him to the table, and we had a quiet lunch. I didn’t ask any questions about Unit and he didn’t volunteer anything else.

From the corner of my eye, I saw that my journals were still there. All lined up, still staring at me. I hadn’t even noticed that I wasn’t journaling anymore, and I had forgotten about it.

How could I have forgotten?

It was something that I had done almost every day for the majority of my life.

What had changed?

I sat my fork down and continued to stare at them. The looked foreign to me, like they didn’t belong in the cabin. They weren’t a part of me anymore.

Why?

“Amaya, are you okay? You look pale.”

I turned my focus to Oliver. He seemed worried.

“A thought just sort of hit me, that’s all.”

“What was it?”

“I haven’t been writing.”

“You haven’t?”

I shook my head and pushed my plate away. I felt the anxiety pulsing through my blood.

What had changed?

Why wasn’t I writing?

I always wrote in my books. Always. There had never been an exception to it. Broken bones had not even stopped me.

I lifted my eyes from the hole I was staring through the table and looked into Oliver’s green eyes. The anxiety left me and the realization hit.

Him.

It was Oliver.

He was the difference in my life.

“Amaya?”

I continued to stare.

“Amaya?”

“Oliver, it’s nothing.” I shook my head.

“Don’t do that. Don’t push me out. You and I have come a long way.” Oliver pushed his plate away.

Do I tell him?

It wasn’t like he didn’t think I was crazy. He has spent the last seventy days with me. Crazy was my middle name.

“I’m debating if I should tell you or not.”

“You might as well tell me because you know that I’ll pry it out of you eventually,” he smiled.

“Right, again.” This time, I rolled my eyes.

“So,” he pushed on.

I took a deep breath. “I’ve changed.”

“I know you have. Is that why you’re not writing?”

“I’m not scared anymore. I have you,” I mumbled.

Oliver’s eyes widened as my confession finally hit him.

“You’re the bravest person I know.” He took my hand and kissed the back of it.

“You’re a very sweet liar.”

“Sweet is my middle name,” he winked.

I giggled and smiled at him.

“And I’m not lying.”

I ignored him and my attention went back to the books at the end of the table. There they sat. All my memories, dreams, heartache, bruises, broken bones, they all sat right there. It was like they were haunting me.

“I want to burn them,” I declared without even thinking about what I had just said.

“What?”

“Yes, I want to destroy them.”

Oliver tilted his head. He wasn’t sure if I was being serious or not. I could see it written all over his face.

“I mean it; these books are holding me down like an anchor. When I’m banished, I want to start anew.” I paused, and a single tear fell from my eye. “Even though I will miss you.”

“Will you please stop saying that you’ll be banished.”

“Oliver, you can think whatever you want; but you know that it’s still possible, no matter what you say.”

“Fine, but you’re wrong. If you want, we can burn them in the fireplace?”

I swallowed back the lump in my throat. Was I going to cry? It was a possibility because these books had been everything to me.

“Amaya, you don’t have to.”

“I know I don’t, but I know that if I keep them, all those memories will keep haunting me.” It was the truth. I had to close that chapter of my life. I needed to move on. I needed to show myself that I could be strong on my own.

Will I have the memories?

Of course, but memories fade, but not when they were on paper.

Oliver rose from his chair and took my hand. I followed his lead to the end of the table and he stepped back.

“What are you doing?”

“I think this is something that you have to do on your own. I’ll be right here, but I can’t do it for you.”

He was right.
Again
. That was starting to make me mad, too. Then again, it was refreshing that someone was smarter than I was. It was nice to hear what I was thinking coming from his mouth. I couldn’t say certain things aloud, because it would make them real, but there he was, saying it for me.

I picked up a stack and headed over to the fire. It wasn’t raging by any means. I had added some wood to it an hour ago so there was a still a good flame in it. I was memorized by the oranges, reds, and yellows dancing around the wood.