My stomach wouldn’t stop churning and my mind wouldn’t stop racing. I started to realize that it wasn’t a good idea for me to be alone. Being alone would only mean that I would sit there with my thoughts and agonize over things again and again, digging myself into a deeper hole and worsening my mood that much more. But I also knew I wasn’t ready to be around Roman. Even though I had already rationalized it all, I couldn’t deny that I was a little angry with him and hurt by what I walked in on.

Lori wasn’t a good choice, either. There was a sisterly loyalty that would be brought into the equation, and I knew that wasn’t the smart bet. She would get worked up about the kiss as well and would stoke the fire in me rather than help me put it out. No, I needed someone who would be able to be objective.

By the time evening was rolling around, I realized that the best option was Kristen.

After freshening up so I didn’t look like a total disaster, I sneaked through the house until I came across Kristen’s room. There was music coming from the inside, and I took a moment to think about what it was that she could be doing. I really had no idea. While I thought all of us had grown close during our time today, I was realizing that I didn’t know the little things about the people around me that I would have otherwise learned from friends under regular circumstances.

Eventually, I raised my hand and knocked on the door. The music lowered. "It’s Hannah," I called through the door.

There was some shuffling around before Kristen opened the door and pulled me inside as she chanted, "Come in, come in!"

I forced a smile, but she immediately took notice. Guiding me over to her bed, we sat down and faced one another. "Okay, go ahead and spill. What’s going on?" she asked. I bit my lip and looked about anxiously. "Come on, now. There’s no need in hiding it. I’ve been around you enough to know that this isn’t a face you ever have on. Something happened."

"Can you promise it’ll stay between us?" I asked nervously.

She reached over and squeezed my hand. "Of course it will." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

I took a deep breath and sorted through my thoughts briefly. I didn’t want to offload all of my crazy onto her, but I needed to have some sort of understanding as to why I was feeling the way I did.

"This woman, Jessica, got onto the property somehow. I don’t even know how, and ambushed Roman in his study. Apparently she was trying to get him to agree to help him get Bernard off the hook." I bit my lip and closed my eyes. I knew it was going to sound wrong out loud, but it was my only option.

I continued weakly, "He saw an opportunity to try and get some information out of her. Apparently she’s always had a thing for him. So... he flirted with her to get her to open up. However, she kissed him and I walked in on it. I know logically he was just trying to help the case and that I shouldn’t be hurt. Especially because it was her that kissed him, not the other way around. I can’t help it, though. Now I have all these new worries about whether or not he’s actually past his playboy phase. I know it’s stupid, but some part of me is hurt and angry. I just want to get out of my head, you know?"

Her grip on my hand only grew tighter and I watched as her eyes grew softer. I couldn’t tell if she was relating to my woes, or just understood my grievance.

"It’s not stupid, Hannah. Even if he wasn’t the one to initiate the kiss, it doesn’t make it any less painful to walk on. It’s wounded you, but knowing his intentions were pure will make it heal faster. That being said, it’ll still take some time, you know? Give yourself that."

Then, Kristen was standing from the bed and placed her hands on her hips. "I think it’s a distraction you need."

"I think you’re right, about it all," I sighed. I rubbed my hands together anxiously. "What exactly do you have in mind?"

"So glad you asked," Kristen grinned. She hurried over to her closet and threw the doors open. Shuffling through the clothes, she grabbed one of the hangers and hurled it in my direction. Blinking rapidly, I picked it up and began to inspect it when Kristen called over, "Don’t think about it, just put it on."

I obliged. We both turned around as we dressed in the outfits that she had picked for us. As I slipped the dress on, I noticed it stopped mid-thigh for me. The dress was black and clung to my curves, with only one strap. Turning and looking at her suspiciously, my arms folded. "What exactly are we doing?" I asked.

"You leave that to me. Just know you’re getting out of this jail cell for the night," Kristen stated as she packed a little handbag with mace, a power bank for phones, a cord, a wallet, and other various little items.

It was my turn to put my hands on my hips. My eyes examined her skeptically. "How exactly do you plan to get past security?" I questioned.

While a night out of the house sounded perfect to me, I couldn’t see how it was possible without the guards knowing and they would surely tell Roman. I didn’t want that. I didn’t want to cause a fuss and I didn’t want to potentially incite a fight between Roman and I.

"Leave it to me," she winked. "All I ask is for you to trust me."

The problem was that I did trust her, but I didn’t want to go. Well, I did- but I didn’t want to risk getting caught. I guess that was the point of trust, wasn’t it? If I surrendered my trust to her, it would be the same as saying I was confident we wouldn’t be caught.

We shouldn’t leave. It was dangerous, considering there was a hit out on my life. I knew it was stupid, reckless, and childish, but I just didn’t want to think of such awful consequences of leaving my own home.

I was supposed to lay low, but I also needed to live. At that moment in time, I needed a little time and a little space away from Roman. My only option for that was to trust in Kristen completely.

"Okay, okay. I trust you. Let’s go," I finally concluded.

With a devilish smile on her lips, she guided the way out of her room and down the hall. We walked to the third floor of the house and it was half way up the stairs that Kristen stopped and began sliding open the window. I guessed that she could feel my gaping gaze at her, so she turned around and shrugged at me. "It’s a blind spot in the cameras."

She climbed through the window and I followed after her. We stepped out onto the roof of the garage. We paced across the roof, sticking against the side of the house. She then began shimming down a bit of lattice. The moment both of our feet hit the ground, she rushed us across the back part of the garage and to the side of the house before hopping over the somewhat low fence that lined next to the garage.

When I landed next to her, I couldn’t resist cutting my eyes in her direction. She shrugged. "If you didn’t think the first thing I would figure out about this house is how to get out undetected, you’re wrong."

Fair point. And it wasn’t as if I could blame her. While I trusted and believed in Roman, Kristen had been in human trafficking for a while and likely needed an escape root to even function. I wouldn’t question, tease, or speak on it. We walked through a thicket of bushes and trees until we reached the road next to the house Kristen pulled out her phone and tapped away at it before tucking it away. "A car will pick us up at the stop sign in about ten minutes," she stated.

I raised my brow at her. "Where exactly are we going? Can I know now?"

"Hm, you can know in the car," she giggled. Kristen shot me a look to let me know that it was set up so I couldn’t back out. I was pretty sure that usually, that would have been enough for me to stand my ground and refuse to go until I knew where we were going. However, I realized that it didn’t really matter. No matter, I was going to go. I needed to get out and have time to myself, time to be a young woman.

I laughed and nodded, walking along with her. My only hope was it was something fun, and something we could be safe enjoying.