Morning sunlight and soft whispers woke me up the next day. It was really early because the sun was brilliant and bright. The jet had landed and AJ was sitting beside me packing back his bag. He was wearing a black T-shirt and black shorts. He had a baseball hat hiding his golden locks.

"Wow, you look....dark," I said getting out of bed. He chuckled and grabbed my waist, pulling me down to his lap.

"You look pretty," he said smiling goofily.

"I have morning breath and monster hair. Are you feeling alright?" I asked him.

"You still look pretty."

I sighed in defeat.

"Okay okay, I'm gorgeous, what can one do about it. Right?"

"Right on," he said playing with a strand of my hair.
"Get ready baby, we're going to our new home."

"I can't wait to get into the water," I said with giddy excitement.

"Sure, first we go to the house though."

"Did you get a call? From the others?" I asked suddenly concerned.

"Yes, G called. And so did Jake. Everyone's good. No problems. I'll tell you more when we reach home."

"Okay, where's John?" I asked looking around.

"He's gone to get the jet parked and get the landing paperwork done." AJ replied.

"Hmm. Cool," I said my head lost in thoughts.

"I removed clothes for you," AJ said then quite proudly.

"What?" I chuckled.

"Well I thought you should rest so I got all your stuff in the bags and removed something for you to wear. So you could get up, change and be ready to go," he answered.

"Shit what did you pick?"

He pointed at the sofa chair opposite us and when I looked back at him he was pouting.

"Pretty good, aren't I?" He said like a proud puppy.

I wore what he'd picked, a baby pink tank and beige shorts. My hair was up in a bun and my eyes were still tired. But I was as excited as ever.

"Wow you two look so mismatched," John said.

AJ and I were standing near a green Jeep with the bags at the back. He was in all black and I was pink with popping red shoes.

"Oh quit it," I said as John slid in to the driver's seat next to me.

"All set?" AJ asked.

"Yup no problems," John answered.
"Wait, same address right AJ?" He asked before starting the car.

"The very same." AJ replied happily. He was in the back seat with all the bags. It was an open forest green Jeep. He'd placed a hat on my head and was hyping me up about the sea.

"John?" I asked.

"Yup hon," he answered.

"I put forward a motion," I said. They were both on edge to hear what I was going to say next. "The motion to from now onwards call the man behind us by the name Aidan, and Aidan only."

John started cracking up.
AJ just sat and pouted.

"I-second-the-motion!" John said between fits of laughter.

"You're supposed to be on my side!" Aidan screamed.

"Never did I ever say that." John said back.

"Traitor."

"Aidan act your age." John teased.

Aidan huffed.

"To the Jones's!" John yelled into the mellow Hawaiian air.

"To the Jones's!" AJ and I followed. Just as the Jeep turned from hill to the sea side. As I laid my eyes on the Aquamarine waters. My heart did a double take.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

After driving around the Hawaiian roads for too little time for my liking, we'd finally reached. The house was tucked on a cliff surrounded by green yards and the sea.

There were few more houses around, but far too less compared to the city. This was how it was here. The place was a paradise and it was flooded with tourists. I almost felt like I was on vacation.

"Come on baby, I'll show you around." AJ smiled wide. He had some of the bags in his hand as he led me to the house.

I carried some too and followed him.
The house was huge and all wood, stone and glass. It was beautiful.

The front side was facing the sea, sky and horizon. While the back was towards the yards, the road and the valley.

There was a pretty cobblestone path to the house's main entrance, it was littered with tiny pink and yellow flowers. Peaking out from beneath the stone.

The main entrance was huge, it was all wooden and had a old lamp standing tall next to it. There was a mantel near the lamp. It was wooden, and had mushrooms growing out of it on the sides. They were not decorative, but sure looked like that now. There were block letters engraved in the wood.
"The Jones's"

I smiled.

AJ opened the door to the house and held my hand as we walked in. The smell of vanilla and fresh baked goods rushed through me.

"What's cooking?" I asked AJ.

"Oh that must be Sal. He's the housekeeper. I'd informed him we'd be coming home."

"Sal? Housekeeper? How rich are you!" I said.

He smirked, "Not nearly enough."

Then he led me to the kitchen, we'd left our bags by the door. The kitchen was huge and as expected all wood and glass. There were stained glass windows on the ceiling and circle cut glass windows looking out to sea.

Sal was waiting for us. He was a tiny man with a still expression. He had pepper hair. And a neatly trimmed beard. He was wearing black pants and a white shirt with an apron. He looked delighted to see AJ.

"Oh Aidan my boy!" He bellowed and hugged AJ, seeing us.
"It has been much too long."

"It has Salazar, truly. Thankyou for keeping the house just the way it is. I've missed you," AJ said gently.

Salazar seemed to have become teary eyed.

"Sal!" AJ remarked after freeing himself from the hug. "Meet Delilah O'dair, my girlfriend."

Sal seemed surprised as he looked at me. I couldn't make out whether it was a happy suprise or an unpleasant one.

He looked me up and down before nodding his head and saying, "I'm Salazar White, the housekeeper of this mansion from the time Mr. Jones was just a babe in the arms."

"It's a pleasure meeting you Mr. White, this house is beautiful." I said looking at the windows again.

"Well thankyou," he answered. "It does take an effort to keep it like this."

Then he went back to preparing the baked goods.

AJ winked at me and took me by the hand again.

"He does not like me," I sighed when we reached back near the main entrance.

"Nah Lilah, he's just-he takes time with people. You'll see," he smiled.

"Okay, we're all set." John said coming in the main entrance. As he kept the bags down he winced a bit.

AJ didn't notice and excused himself to go check on the bedrooms.

John smiled when he saw me and came to stand next to me.
I picked up his left hand and cuffed up his sleeve. His forearm was an angry Purple.

"John! What is this? You're bruised." I remarked.

He shrugged it off, "That's nothing, don't worry Delilah."

"But look at it, it's purple and black. What happened?" I insisted.

"Uh- I hurt myself in the fight and I guess it just got worse." He said nonchalantly.

"John, you were at the hospital why didn't you see to it?" I pressed.

"Well AJ had disappeared and there was no time to check on a little bruise."

"Well let's look at it now, then." I said taking his hand again. But he flinched on my touch and brushed me away.

"I'll take care of it. Don't you worry," he said and went off to the kitchen.

"But-" I was saying, but he'd already disappeared behind the walls.

Weird, I thought. Before walking out to wander around the house.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

The house was grand and beautiful indeed. After the cobblestone entrance and the big wooden doors to the house.
There was a sitting area to the left and the kitchen was to the right. Straight ahead was a curved wooden staircase leading to the floor above.
I walked to the sitting area. It had a round wall of glass windows from the main door till the wall to the end. And beneath the windows was a long bay lounge area attached to the wall, curving with it. Filled with colourful cushions and throw blankets. There was a big slab of wood in the middle, rustic and uncut. Acting as the table. Behind which was a tiny bar. With tall bamboo chairs and glass lights.

Beside the bar was an oval backdoor with a square glass looking hole. It led out to the fields.

I turned back and went to the hidden area between the kitchen and the staircase. It was kind of a storage unit, with bags, surf boards and all the water equipment one could need. The walls of the lower floor were a sea green and white.

"Delilah?" AJ called from above the stairs.

I looked directly up to see him leaning down and looking at me.

"Come up, I'll show you around." He said.

And so I walked up the staircase, all along the left wall which parted the hall room with the stairs was covered with shells. All different shapes and colours.

"My Mum used to collect them. She loved the beach and everything to do with it."
He said looking at me noticing them.

"They're so unique." I admired.

Then he showed me around. At the end of the stairs there was a dark mahogany platform leading to two rooms separated by a round, wide, wall. One facing the sea. One facing the fields.

"The one to the left was my room. And the other one was my parents." He said.
"Come on there's more."

We went up the second flight of stairs leading to the last floor. It too was wooden and curved.

The last floor only had one room. To the left, on the right was a door. AJ took me beyond it. Just in time for me to catch my breath looking at the view.

It was a roof, with flowers vines on the ceiling and a stone railing beyond which was only cliff and sea.

There were big camp chairs around the roof. And plants were growing by the corners. There was an intricate stained glass in the middle of the ceiling. It was pink, yellow, blue, orange, red and green. All the vines were leading to it. On it there was picture of dolphins and roses.

"Dolphins and roses?" I asked AJ with a curious look.

"It wasn't an ordinary design and my dad loved anything but," he answered.

"Fascinating!" I said.

"My parents always wanted to built this house. I lived here all my life. It was there dream. Castle by the sea." He said looking around.

"Castle by the sea. It's magnificent. It's all yours?"

"I'm an only child. So yes. But I guess, I've never needed it more than right now."

"Salazar? He's been here since you were born?"

"Yeah Sal was my caretaker. He became part of the family. My parents adored him. And he never went away. Never got married, never wanted to leave. He loved this land. This place. And my parents."

"What about after they passed?" I asked.

"I told him to leave. But he didn't. He said he'd always take care of this place. Since my parents hadn't released him of his duties officially. He was bound to stay until he thought they were completed."
AJ answered.

I went near him and held his hands in mine.

"You're very lucky, Aidan Jones." I said.

He smiled. "I wouldn't have you if I wasn't."

I looked at the roof with the dolphin and rose glass once again, before heading back down for lunch.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

"Lunch is served," Salazar said. He had laid out several dishes on the long wooden table by the kitchen. There were five chairs by it and above it was blue tapestry. With the moon, the sea and the sun.

"Master John, how is the hand now?" He asked John who was making his way into the kitchen. He'd cleaned up. He now wore a lavender shirt with black pants.

His blue eyes were luminescent and clear.

"Better," he nodded.

"Hand?" Asked AJ.

"Oh it's nothing." John said as he sat down on one of the chairs.
"Let's eat, I'm famished."

Salazar had prepared a feast, full with chicken breasts, sandwiches, curry, rice and salads. He'd made two pies and had brewed coffee for us all.

"Oh sal, you're my hero." John said as he devoured his third chicken breast.

Sal laughed and went back to the kitchen.

"Have you spoken to-" AJ began.

"Yes, G!" John answered. "Everyone's good. News has spread everywhere in LA about the incidents. But all the blame has gone to Ghost and three of the Russians. We need to lay low for sometime. G said no contact. Maybe once a week. But not more. He'll keep us abreast though."

"So jack the cop, kept his word." I said.

"And the copters? Nothing was traced?" AJ asked next.

"No. No one suspected it. To customs here it seemed like rich people coming to their beach house or something. Plus, nobody thought you'd return. Let's keep it that way for now." John said.

"Delilah," John called me.

I was startled after the short silence when I looked up at him.
"Yes?"

"You're going to have to miss your first month back of at Uni," he said.

"What? Why? She can totally-" AJ protested only to be cut off by John.

"It's too dangerous. The Russians must be mad. Most of them know about her. We'll find out some way for her to study online from here. I'll talk to the professor's. I know some people who can help. Besides the commute from here to LA is about six hours. It's impossible AJ."

"It's okay." I intervened. "I'll figure it out. I was a good student. Maybe they'll be lenient if I tell them I'm severely unwell or something."

"But-" AJ began.

"Let's not talk about this right now. It's still like a month away. It'll be okay," I said. And both of them quieted down.

After lunch in the afternoon, AJ went for a nap and Sal disappeared aswell.

I tried to sleep. But I couldn't. So I wandered outside and walked till the side of a cliff.

"I wouldn't stand there if I were you," I heard John say.

"You're following me? After ignoring me the whole day?" I said without turning around.

He came by and sat down by the cliff edge. And let out a sigh.

I sat down too.

Then I looked at him.

"What? What's the matter?" I asked him.

"Nothing at all. It's just been a lot. The last few hours. Coming back here." He said.

"Tell me John." I pressed on.

"You know, James and I would come here all the time to surf. That's how I found AJ. It's just a lot of memories," he said looking at the sea.

"It's over John. Ghost is gone. You can breathe now," I said.

"I know. I'm just a little lost you know." He sighed.

"How so?"

"Ever since James. My whole life has been directed to finding out what happened, avenging him. Finding you. Being part of the Takers. But now-" he looked at me.
"Now it's all done, Ghost is gone, you're here. And the crew-"

"The crew?"

"The crew has split up. I mean, Jake and Lily are no longer ready to take the risks of that life. AJ has you, and he only sees you. He wants to change, he can't afford losing you. Jesse won't continue without Jake. And G, G wants to spend more time on his sister Naomi. After Ghost threatened him with her. He realised he needed to be there for her."

"What about you?" I asked.

"I'm-lost." He said.

I couldn't say anything, I didn't know what to say. It was so unfair. All of us had somebody. Somebody to lean on completely. Somebody to walk into this new reality with. Except John.

What was he going to do? How could I help him? I had no idea.

So we just sat, sat in silence and admired the sunset on the horizon. Watch the colours spray across the sea and set within.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

John's pov:

With her head on my shoulder she'd drifted off to sleep. We weren't on the cliff anymore. We were sitting on a picnic table nearby. I was telling her about something when I felt my shoulder get heavy and looked to see her head fallen on it.

It was twilight, the sun was gone. And there was a light on her face. I remembered how she'd lit up when she'd see me. How she'd run and hug me. I never realised how much I missed her. How much she meant to me.

Until recently, when she was lost and confused and scared. And all she wanted. All she cared for. All that she needed.

Was AJ.

I always thought of her as someone I cared for. But not someone I needed, not someone I loved. Not like that...

Until I felt myself shatter. Shatter at her every kiss, every touch.

All for him.

The storm had ended. The winds were calm. We had won.

Yet there was turmoil in my chest. Turmoil I couldn't dismiss.
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Hey guys sorry for the late update! I've decided to write a little more with this book. But it's still ending soon. Please comment and vote and tell me what you feel about it? Any thoughts in what should happen now? All your votes and reads mean the world. And really really makes my day. I thankyou all with love and sincerity. Please keep reading and sharing my book!
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