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The week whizzed by quicker than I'd had liked it to.

If I had known that Asher's little modeling gig would take him two hours away from me for two days, I would've made the most of that week.

I was caught unawares and for goodness' sake! Why hadn't he told me about this?

"I'm not ready, Ash!" I practically whined when I was over his house the day before he'd leave. I knew whining was annoying, but could I help it? What was I going to do for two days?

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Nolan. Really, I am." He gave me a contrite stare and I obviously couldn't hold a grudge for more than ten seconds, so I sighed and forgave him.

"What will I do while you're away?" I asked, then I gasped when I thought about Zion. "What will Zion do while you're away?" I reworded my question.

"Zion's staying with Kalani. She won't be working, so she can look after him. She helped me babysit when he was an infant, so I trust her. Please try to see him? He likes friendly faces."

I nodded. "Of course."

"Good. Thank you." He gave me his dimpled smile.

I sighed. "I guess I'm a little guilty of a secret, too. I'm going to see my kidnapper tomorrow.

Anderson Prose is his name."

Asher gaped at me. "You're serious about this?"

"Yes, Ash."

"It's spider-pig." He smirked then shook his head. "Don't go, Nolan. He kidnapped you."

"I get that, but... I really need to meet him not just to satisfy my curiosity but for a number of

reasons. Justin thinks my disappearance was his fault and he needs to know that it wasn't. I

also want to forgive him."

"Why? He might not even regret it."

"If he does, I'll forgive him and it'll relieve his guilt even a little bit. If he's not remorseful, at least he'll know that he has no power over me anymore."

Asher stared at me with his wonderful eyes and slowly nodded. "You feel strongly about it, so I'm gonna support you." He placed his hand on mine. "Just be careful. Let him know if he lays a finger on you, I'll find out and hunt him down."

"Justin's coming with me. And I can always tackle him."

"Good. Use those muscles."

I chuckled and pulled him closer. He planted a sweet kiss on my lips and I breathed contentedly.

"I wish I could forgive as easily as you do," Asher told me.

"It isn't easy, but it's right. You haven't really had the best of relationships, have you? Not just

people you dated, but close friends?"

He shook his head. "No, I haven't. Family, too, and myself."

"If you ever wanna talk about it, you can. I know someone who managed to forgive a dead

person. It would seem crazy because he's not alive, right? But that isn't the case. Forgiving

people who hurt you gives you a peace of mind and relief."

He rubbed circles on my hand with his thumb and gazed at me. "You're right." He kissed my

cheek. "I admire you, Nolan."

My heart beat sped up a tad bit at his compliment.

"It's panda-fish," I whispered. "Is it alright to sleep a bit?" I asked randomly.

"Of course."

"Sorry. I just don't get enough sleep. Would you... I know you're busy right now, but could you,

um..."

"Tell me. I'll do it," he promised.

"If you could lie down with me, just till I fall asleep, it'll help. I tend to rest better when I know

someone's next to me."

Asher nodded in understanding. "Okay."

We lied on his bed, and he put a gentle arm around me. I passed out before I knew it.

*

"Now's the time to change your mind," Justin told me, gripping the steering wheel of his car. We

were parked right outside of an unfamiliar, run-down flat house.

"I'm afraid we're already at our destination in case you didn't know. Hey, I thought we were

meeting him at the little park nearby. So that we'd be in public."

Justin sighed. "He won't leave his house. But he does have someone that stays with him, and I had to make sure he didn't own a gun." He glanced at me. "We're safe."

I chuckled for a few seconds. "Ten minutes and we're done," I said.

"Eight," he bargained.

"Nine."

"Eight and thirty seconds."

"Justin!"

"Fine. Seven it is, come on." He didn't wait for my response before exiting his car and slamming the door shut. I followed after him and took a breath.

"Was this where he kept me?" I asked Justin. He sighed.

"N - I don't know, really. You can ask him while we have this chance."

He stood in front of me in a protective manner and knocked on the door. In mere seconds, the door opened and a redheaded woman came to view. She was chubby, and wore a sweatshirt

and khaki shorts. By her appearance, I could tell she did drugs, but she seemed to look like a nice person at heart.

"Oh, um..."

"My name's Justin. I spoke to you on the phone yesterday..."

Her brown eyes widened in remembrance. "Oh, yeah! Yeah... Justin... you wanted to speak to

Anderson?"

"Yes, please."

"Right. Well, do you wanna come in or do you want him to step outside."

"Outside would be good," Justin told her. I nudged him but he ignored me.

"Okay, I'll get him for you." She shut the door and I grabbed my brother's arm.

"Why can't we go inside?" I inquired.

"Because, Nolan, if we get shot, we want people to hear it better."

I folded my arms. "He's not gonna shoot us. You said he didn't own a gun."

"Well, maybe she does."

"Jus-"

"You wanted to speak to me?" a deep, gruff voice sounded near us. Justin turned around quickly and I stared at the man who came outside the door.

Anderson Prose. Tall, short brown hair and matching eyes, wrinkles from age and stress, and a hard stare. You could see that he was a troubled individual, but I didn't wish that on him, or anyone.

Justin backed away, and I noticed the faint expression of anger on his face.

"Yes. I'm Justin; I arranged to meet you. My brother wanted to have a word with you." He placed a hand on my shoulder. Anderson looked at me and I honestly felt the chills for a moment.

What I was doing was stupid; I knew it was. I just had to know.

"I'm Nolan..." I quietly introduced myself.

"I-I know who you are." He backed away until his back hit his front door. "My god, you've

grown." His eyes softened and he raised his hand. I thought he wanted to touch me and he

almost did, but I realized he just wanted to see if this was all real.

"It's been a while. Fifteen years to be exact," Justin reminded coldly.

"Come... come in, you must be cold!" Anderson began to fret over me, deeply concerned about my well-being. "You might catch a cold!" he opened the door and motioned me inside. Justin held me back and I saw the woman sitting on a little couch, petting a large dog. He was a Rottweiler and looked fairly aged.

"It's okay, you can come inside!" she exclaimed. "You can meet Rocky, your dog!"

"My dog?" I entered the house and Justin quickly followed. Anderson didn't bother to close the door because Justin glared at him when he tried to.

"You named him when he was a puppy," Anderson informed.

"I did?" I squatted near the dog and petted him as he curled into me. It brought a smile to my

face.

"Anderson, we don't have much time. You know why we're here. Nolan just wants the truth, so

we can be on our way," Justin said.

Anderson sat down next to the lady and dragged a hand down his face. I watched him in

anticipation.

"You used to come to Pine Creek Lake all the time with your family. The first time I met you,

Nolan, you were three and I had just gotten Rocky. You always ran over to me to play with him, and I let you name him. I was attached to you as much as you were to him."

"So you went as far as taking me. That was all there was to it?" I asked him.

"It wasn't an act of hatred, I swear!" Anderson cried. "I cared for you and treated you like my

own. My intention wasn't to harm you!"

"You had him in a car while you were drunk! He suffers panic attacks because of you. You did

harm him!"

I stood up and crossed the little room to my brother by the opened door. "Justin, don't."

"You don't tell me that. He obviously doesn't regret taking you, so we're done here."

"No, I still want to know something!" I protested. I whirled around to face Anderson who had stood up. "How'd you take me without anyone knowing? Without my brother knowing?"

"I... I used a sedative-hypnotic injection..." Anderson squeezed his eyes shut. "I know sorry isn't

enough."

"No, it isn't," Justin agreed.

"It doesn't matter," I countered as Anderson opened his eyes. "I forgive you," I told him.

"No, no... don't do that. I don't deserve that."

"Damn right you don't," Justin grumbled. I glared at him and he threw his hands up. "He doesn't!

Ugh - I'll wait outside." He stepped out of the door and I faced Anderson again.

"You do deserve it, Anderson. Anyone who has ever done wrong deserves to be forgiven. The law may not forgive, but I will. I only wanted you to know that."

The redhead stood up. "You're a good one," she observed, eyes wide. "Anderson has never seen any good in this world, you should know that. He's not a bad person, he's just done bad things. I think that if he'd been raised with love and care like most kids, things would've been different." She smiled softly.

I looked at Anderson to see him near to tears. "I'm sorry," he whispered before disappearing into a room.

"Thank you for that. I'm Assana, by the way."

"Hi, Assana. Um... are you his girlfriend?" I asked. She chuckled.

"No. I've known him for a long time, but... I used to be addicted to drugs. He's helped me stay

sober for a month now. I had nowhere to stay and he said I could live here until I get back on my feet."

I smiled. "I don't believe he's a bad person. At least not at heart. Um... I have to go."

"Will I see you again?" She looked so hopeful.

I was about to shake my head when I thought about it. "I'm throwing a Halloween party at Pine Creek Lake, for everyone all ages. Anderson knows where that is. It'll be in the evening."

"Oh! Okay, I'll bring Rocky."

I lightly giggled and nodded. "Okay. Bye, Assana."

"Thank you, Nolan."

I walked out of the house and she closed the door after me. I met up with Justin who was in the

car and shut the door.

"You alright?" I queried.

"Not really. I do want to tell you that you're a bigger person than all of us... than me. Not that it's

hard to believe; you always were."

"I just had to make sure you knew what happened wasn't your fault."

Justin nodded. "Yeah. Anyway, let's get you home. I need to get to work."

"Actually, could you drop me off somewhere?"

"Yeah, where?" He started up his car and put it in reverse.

I sighed. "Kalani's."

*******

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