I pull out my trusty iPhone and tap on the app Google Maps. I type in the address and the blue line pops up. As Jaxon drives, I tell him which way to turn if he needs to continue straight or if he needs to turn. Jaxon is the first one to spot the house that is on the right side of the street. Just like my dad said it's a small white house. It has cement stairs that lead into the house with lawn chairs angled towards the lawn. We park on the other side of the road. Jaxon shuts off the car and we get out together.

The neighborhood is a little sketchy. Trash spread out in the streets and people's yard. People smoking on their steps and stairs, giving me and Jaxon death stares. Unconsciously, I quickly speed up and walk towards Jorge's house as I angle my face away from them as my attempt to block my face. We step on the cement stairs and step around trash that's laying on the ground.

" I hope this is the right house," I mutter.

"Me too." Jaxon mumbles.

I cross my fingers as I hesitate knocking on the door. I look over at Jaxon and he nods. I wipe my sweaty hands on my pants and knock on the door. I rub my knuckles as I wait for a response.

As me and Jaxon were about to leave, the door creaks open. A man with a dark tan who's wearing a pair of black jeans and a light blue t-shirt that hugs his torso and with his pair of white socks on opens the door. He swipes a piece of his greasy chocolate brown hair out of his face. He looks like he's in his late to mid-forties. His dark brown eyes come to realization as he pulls me into a hug. I awkwardly pat him on the back. He pulls away with a huge grin plastered on it's face.

"Athena, how are you! I haven't seen you in ages!" I smile weakly. His actions reminding me of a grandma who loves there grandchildren, pinching their cheeks. I step away cautiously.

"I'm alright, I'm guessing you might be Jorge?"

He nods yes as his answer, still smiling giddily. He looks around, "Where's your dad," He asks, confused.

My heart stopped, my eyes widened, my hands shake. I force another sad-weak smile," He's uhh..." I stutter as I clear my throat," gone..." I breath out a whisper. I stare at the ground making no movement- besides that my whole body is shaking.

Jaxon comes to my rescue, "Arlen is sadly dead, he lost his life a little over an hour ago. He was killed by the Spider." He drapes his arm around my shoulder and pulls me closer into him. His warmth radiating off of him as I gratefully welcome it. Being in the late fall, it gets chilly and I am not letting an offer of warmth leave so quickly, especially if it's Jaoxon's.

"And you are?" Jorge asks, suspiciously, not mentioning at all to my dad's death.

"I am Jaxon, Her uh... friend." He slightly blushes as he takes his arm off my shoulder and shakes Jorge's hand. I feel bare for a second as the bitter wind picks up and blows right against my body.

There's a brief tension between us but is soon released when I interrupt," May we come in?" I ask politely, gesturing towards the inside of his house.

"Of course, come in," he says with a genuine smile. He opens the door wider so we can get through.

I grab a hold of Jaxon's hand and are fingers intertwined. I beam delighted as we walk into Jorge's house. His house isn't too fancy. Just some furniture scattered around in the living room. A small kitchen with small round table in the middle. Dishes slightly piled up in the sink. Very few decorations, I only spot a few pictures hanging to what seems to be my dad and him hugging at my parents wedding, him dressed as the best man. I smile at the friendship they had.

We choose to sit on a black, closer to the color dark grey, faded couch. Jorge sits beside us on another chair diagonal from us.

"So how did your dad die?" He asks slowly, questioning if that was a good idea to ask.

I tense at the question and my breaths turn shallow. Jaxon grabbed my shoulders then cupped my face. I suck in my breath at the quick transition. "It's okay, calm down. Deep breaths, their you go," He says soothingly as I did so," I will tell him for you, don't worry, okay?" I nodded dumbfounded like a bobble head as Jaxon told the story. Jaxon informed what happened to my dad as I stare at a near wall in the room we are in.

As Jaxon continued to to ramble on, all my throat did was tighten up. I could no longer speak, only nod my head as a gesture. A lump continued to build up in my throat as I tried my best to ignore him. But I couldn't ignore it. I kept hearing gunshots replaying over and over in my head, not letting me get by with the horrid memories.

I flashback and see my mom shooting a gun but then all of a sudden falls on top of me, completely lifeless under a few seconds. I scream out loud as I did when she died in front of my eyes as a kid. I skip ahead and remember the nightmare I had less than a half an hour ago. My dream of my dad falling limp on top of me once again, dead.

I instantly break down at the thoughts that run through my head. I could have saved him, if I had just gone back and helped him in the first place than coward out. I release a vicious groan. How could I be so stupid? I should have gone back! At least given up my life instead of his. Let him live instead of me. I release the oversized lump in my throat and just let it go. Let all my emotions spill into my tears.

Strong arms wrap around me as I gladly cuddle into the person's chest. I bury my face, embarrassed at my sudden emotions.I sniffle and receive a faint smell of cologne. I continue to smell the sweet scent and decide I like it.

He rubs my back comfortingly. I leave the comfort of his warmth and look up at Jaxon and can't help but smile. I get lost in his beautiful eyes as if I am in a trance. He leans in slowly, as my breath quickens, and plants a gentle kiss on my cheek.

I blush uncontrollably as I seem to lose why I was so worked up about. In a weird way, he was my cure. A cure to all my sudden problems.

I sheepishly look away and my eyes land on Jorge. I completely forgot he was sitting there, watching us. I blush even more at the scene that just occurred.

He raises one of his eyebrows, amused, as he chuckles to himself. I awkwardly laugh at myself at I hid a strand of my hair behind my ear. As I glance at the window at the front of the house. The sun is setting and the street lights are on.

I bite my lip, Jaxon and I have no where to stay. I speak up," Jorge, do you mind if we stay a night until we figure stuff out...?" My voice trailing.

"I don't mind at all! I will go get your stuff situated." He says as he stands up and leaves down the hall. He quickly returns before I could say anything to either him or Jaxon. "You guys hungry?" He asks.

At that time my stomach growls. I smile, "Starving."

***

I wrote more for not posting earlier today so hope it pays for not posting earlier. What did you guys think? Tell me in the comments! Any suggestions PM me or comment what I could do, I have some ideas but the more the merrier! Vote for my book, it won't hurt trust me! It will only make me love my readers even more! Anyways hope you enjoyed and I will see ya on Sunday! Have a lighten night? Evening? Morning? Afternoon? Day it is! 

~ Joanna <3