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And God bless him, Jose seemed to understand He didn’t say a word to stop her He didn’t even look at her like she was nuts--the way Sutton was eyeing her as Bubbles disinfected cuts and assessed bruises But then Jose knew her, he understood her, even if he didn’t want a future with her

A month into her relationship with Jose, she’d confessed she loved him, that she’d fallen for hiether He’d said he felt the sa doere vastly different At first, she’d deluded herself into believing he simply wasn’t ready for the white picket fence and a couple of kids because he o years younger than she was She wanted to believe with ti a fa to her

Apparently he didn’t really feel the same, not in the ways that counted Could he really expect to stay in this high-octane sort of rescue environment until the day he died? She couldn’t and she’d told him so

Her daddy had always said not to make ultimatums unless you could live with either answer

She scrubbed her wrist over her cheeks, swiping away grimy tears "Sorry about that"

"You’re okay," Jose said si that wall between them

"Thanks to you I’round between them, a way to--what? Stay friends? That wasn’t possible and she knew it Being around him reminded her of those lost dreams, and that simply hurt too much

"Not just ether"

Sutton snapped his fingers, leaning back against a fat tree trunk "Uh we’re stuck out in thestill feels iffy"

Bubbles looked up froash in Sutton’s aro back?"

"You’re a comedian" Sutton winced at the press of an antiseptic wipe

"Not really," Bubbles said

"Then why the hell do they call you Bubbles?"

Jose tossed s the tarp to add to the ca to put space between herself and Jose, Stella pushed to her feet and gathered Sutton’s gear Bubbles had haphazardly tossed aside during treatment She folded his shirt sleeve that had been cut away to expose the torn flesh--a by-product of flying debris froas they were on the run She hefted up Sutton’s backpack

"Uhain?" Sutton started to lean forward only to stop short when Jose held hi "That’s mine"

"Sorry, buddy, but we need to pool supplies" She unzipped the bag--and found a pile of artifacts inside

Had he been gathering tools as she had? She eyed a pottery shard, a haa cloth, with the traditional script along the border She s it like a talisman, as if she could soe had been traditionally included

"Hey," Sutton called out "Can I have ?"

Jose looked up sharply "Keep your voice down Evading isn’t evading if you forget to whisper"

Suspicions nipped at Stella as she thought of the student’s stash and his quick assessripped the fabric for a final second before she set aside the backpack She needed to help Jose set up cath in case their tier than a few hours

And as she stared at Jose, she couldn’t escape the notion they were both running away fro just beneath the surface That could be deadly for both of the they would be stuck out here together She would have to find tiht, later when the others were asleep, and clear the air once and for all

Back pressed to the tree trunk, Jose sat watch while the others slept He es for the millionth ti his backpack Bubbles dozed sitting up against the other side of the tree No doubt, he could be fully awake, weapon drawn in a millisecond

And Stella

She curled at the front of the shelter, unofficially adding a layer of protection for the student Once Sutton had drifted off, she’d slipped the rectangular kanga cloth out from under her shirt--the same embroidered cloth she’d found in the student’s pack earlier She shook it out over herself, adding another layer of camo to her creamy skin Her red ponytail splashed over her face, hairs lifting with each exhale

Yeah, he’d volunteered to take the first shift

He couldn’t have even catnapped anyway His body was too hepped up fro But that h it was clear she could protect herself… The texture of her hair over his hands and her faain

Shit

He rested his sub the landscape of trees and shadows Night sounds echoed around the wilder

His gaze slid back to Stella--and he found her staring at hinificent cat He’d protected her as best he could today Now he had one last role to fill, being certain, absolutely certain, she wasn’t hiding anything fros out rather than asking for help

He set his MP5 aside and touched the ground next to hia cloth slithered fro over to sit by him She shook out the woven fabric in her hands, the rusty red and gold coloring blending into the landscape as they settled over her legs Sled his head to hers "Don’t let Harper Sutton see you with his…"

"Sutton Harper," she corrected, nodding toward the snoring twenty-two-year-old

"Right Don’t let hi with his stuff"

"It’s not his It was part of the stash at the coa that reether when he’d bought a similar cloth for her "But it would be a sha potential"