We weren't necessarily in a car chase. Not the speeding crazy ones that you see in the movies, at least. Collin would speed up and then slow down whenever he felt a cop was nearby. Each time we slowed down Esme and Paige nearly rammed into the back of my car. I kept looking behind us, my heart skipping every time they got close. My poor Prius. It can't stand a hit from a car that big.

The longer we drove, though, the more I realized that Paige and Esme didn't intend to hit us. They would just tailgate us sometimes, reminding us that they were there. Collin must have realized this, too, for he stopped speeding and just cruised down the road.

"What are they doing?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Either waiting for me to pull over or for the night."

"Why the night?"

Collin didn't respond. Maybe it was my panic and fear, but his silence angered me. He had done this all day. Though the mysterious persona had been fun at first, now it was just getting frustrating.

"Why can't you just tell me?" I asked. "If we're in danger I want to know."

"Everything's going to be fine," he replied quickly.

"Are you sure?"

Brows furrowed, he moved to the side of the road. We had moved from the busy freeway to what appeared to be more of the outskirts. No one else was around except for our two cars and dirt.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Pulling over."

"What?" I thought that we were trying to avoid doing that. What were Esme and Paige going to do when they reached us?

The Toyota parked behind us. Collin got out. I opened my door, but he told me to stay inside. With a huff, I closed the door and stayed while he walked out to meet the two girls.

They must have been whispering because I couldn't hear what they were saying even with my windows rolled down. From their expressions and body language, though, the group didn't appear angry. Esme had her hands on her hips, but she was smiling, as if teasing Collin. Paige laughed audibly a few times. It didn't seem as tense as the chase had implied.

After a couple of minutes, the group moved towards my car. I quickly rolled my window up and, for some reason, tried to find any way to escape the vehicle if I needed to. The only fast way would be my door, which was currently being blocked by three people.

Collin opened my door. I stared at Paige and Esme for a second, surprised and slightly afraid. Collin gave me a closed-lip smile.

"It's fine," he said. "They just want to talk to you for a second."

I glanced at them for a moment longer before slipping out of my seat. Everything within me pleaded for me to go back in the car. The memories of last night gave me a bad feeling about the girls, even though they were smiling at me. With a shaky breath, I gathered all of my strength and stepped outside of the car.

Paige took a step towards me, then decided against it and stepped back. Esme crossed her arms and smiled. "Hey, we wanted to apologize about this. Figured you were scared."

I merely nodded.

"We figured that you weren't undercover," Paige said, laughing. She didn't sound like she was making fun of me, just stating a fact. "Collin explained everything, it's cool."

I blinked. It was that easy? They just believed Collin's explanation and were going to leave?

"Vito's always super dramatic about this stuff," Esme explained. "Not dramatic, just...paranoid. Waste of time, if you ask me, but whatever."

Their explanation calmed my nerves. I thought that this was going to end far worse than it did. After breaking a window and running out of their house, I thought that the girls would have been angry at us. They seemed perfectly content, as if they were talking to a friend they ran into in a grocery store instead of the people they had been chasing.

Suddenly, a question popped in my mind. "What would you have done if we had just kept driving?"

"Waited 'til night. Found a way to stop your car." Esme didn't hesitate. She said it matter-of-fact, as if that's how she solved all of her problems. Paige gave her friend a concerned look while Collin gave her a hard, more threatening one. Esme didn't seem to notice. She shrugged and took interest in the sky.

My fear came back. They were acting friendly, but they hadn't come with kind intentions. Did Collin just say things that the girls wanted to hear? Would Vito make them come back?

"How did you find us?" I asked. Though scared, my curiosity won any inner battle. I hadn't seen them follow us until we reached San Francisco. I assumed that I would have seen them somewhere between Modesto and here.

This time, Paige answered. "You have a sticker on the back of your car. Made it pretty easy to spot."

Collin and I both glanced at the back of my car. I looked at the sticker as if I had never seen it before. On the back window was an intricate-looking flower. I had gotten it when I was first given my Prius. It didn't have any sentimental meaning, I had just gotten it so that I could find my car in a crowded parking lot.

I guess that didn't work out in my favor for this moment.

Collin's brows furrowed and he turned away from the sticker. Hey, I thought, it's your fault for hopping in my car without checking for stickers.

Esme pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked the time. "We need to head back," she said. "Just tell us where you're heading and we'll be on our way."

Her demand confused me. Why did we need to tell her where we were going? Why was that any of their business?

Collin explained that we were going to Oregon. We didn't know where which Vito apparently wouldn't be too happy about. They both wished us luck, hopped into their truck, and drove away.

Collin and I went back into my car. I was going to ask if I could drive for a little bit, but Collin seemed frustrated. He sat in the driver's seat but didn't start the car. He looked through the mirror, watching as the Toyota disappeared down the road.

I stared at him, confused. "Are we—"

"Why did you ask them about what they would have done to us?" The question threw me off guard. It was unexpected, especially if that was the reason that he seemed so upset.

"Well, you refused to tell me," I replied. Collin turned his head sharply. He placed his lip against his lip as if pondering what to say. He sat back and let out a long breath. Realizing that he wasn't going to respond, I said, "Why don't you tell me what's going on? Who are Esme and Paige and the others? Why did I see you almost get shot last night? ...What is happening?"

The more questions I asked, the more I realized how much has happened in the past few hours. From being put in front of a gun, getting chased out of a house by strangers, and a car chase (though it didn't go as anticipated), I'm surprised that I hadn't passed out from fear.

Collin started the car. He turned back onto the road. Anger and annoyance bubbled in my blood. He was doing it again. Not responding, keeping serious, being quiet. He just looked childish and dramatic. It would be far easier for him to just talk.

"I think I have the right to know."

"No, you don't," he replied.

"I let you in my car. I—"

"Then you shouldn't have let me back in the second time."

I sat back in my seat, stunned. Excuse me? I thought—I knew—that I deserved an explanation the moment that he slipped into my passenger seat. I shouldn't have complied with driving him anywhere until he told me everything that was going on.

I looked out the window in hope to conceal my anger. I took a step back from my thoughts to focus on one question: Why was I so frustrated? Collin was right, I didn't have the right to poke into his business. For some reason, I had expected him to tell me everything. Because I let him in my car? Because we were driving to Oregon together? We had only met each other approximately twelve hours ago. That wasn't enough time to even show our true personalities to each other.

I shut my devil's advocate down. Even it was true, I had never experienced as much as I had in twelve hours with anyone. Experiences mold a relationship far more than time does.

"I do owe you an apology, though," Collin said. "I put you in a position that no one deserves to be in. So I'm sorry."

I looked at him, stunned. He didn't seem like the type to give out apologies so easily. Though short and emotionless, I knew that he meant it. The anger welled in my chest seemed to evaporate like water.

"Thank you."

The drive grew silent again. This time, I didn't mind. My rollercoaster of emotions had left me feeling exhausted. I rested my head on the window and looked at the time. It was almost five. We still had a long way to go before we reached Oregon. We needed to decide on whether we were going to stop or were going to drive through the night.

We crossed a sign saying that we had reached Santa Rosa. Collin told me that he knew a couple who would let us stay the night at their house. The thought of meeting more of Collin's friends (if you could even call Vito's group his friends) made my stomach twist. Were we going to have to hold another facade? If I was asked to act again I would surely vomit from nervousness.

Collin told me no, that they were actually friendly and normal people. All I needed to do was be friendly. I can do that, I thought. That's not too difficult.

Still, the nerves didn't settle. I tried to calm myself down, knowing that being so stressed constantly wasn't good for my health. The trip to his friends' house wasn't long enough for me to fully relax, though, only allowing me to freak out even more. Collin drove up to a small, green house. He parked next to a run down BMW. I took my seatbelt off but didn't get out when Collin did. He opened my door for me. He must have seen the fear in my eyes, for he gave me a warm smile and reached out his hand for me to grab.

"Don't worry," he told me. "It's just for one night."

I let out a long breath. Closing my eyes, I took his hand and let him pull me out of the car.

Wow, that could have been a lot worse! Do you think that they're going to leave forever? Also, after visiting Vito's house, do you think that Collin's other friends are going to be friendly? Find out in the next chapter!

If you liked this chapter, make sure to vote for it with a pillow. Stay incredible. :)