We crossed the state border at about 11 p.m. and I knew we had a while to go. The only reason it had taken this long was that we'd gotten lost. Finally we were on the highway and now, it shouldn't take to long to get back home. If we were lucky, we'd be home in the morning. If the luck was not on our side, I guess...tomorrow night? Maybe never.

I couldn't focus. Letting me drive was a bad idea, I knew it from the start. I was way too tired, about to fall asleep on the road, but Andy was slumbering so sweetly next to me, and I couldn't find it in my heart to wake him up. Guess I just had to go on. He was in no condition to drive either, this was the most sleep he had gotten in days. I shouldn't have been pushing for us to go to school tomorrow, because this could end really badly.

Darkness had fallen and the road was slippery from the rain that was witnessed this morning. The sky was cloudy and no city lights were visible ahead. I felt lonely, despite having Andy right beside me.

Lots of turns were ahead, making me feel even more uncomfortable with driving the car. It felt like the lights weren't sufficient to use for viewing the road and my eyes wanted to close really badly. I had to force them open.

Keep your eyes on the road, Iris. Keep them on the fucking road.

I looked at the time once again. How far from home could we be? Turns out, it was 3:00 a.m., indicating that I probably still had a while left, but it wasn't too far. The red bull can besides me was just as empty as the road and it felt as though I was in the middle of nowhere. I grabbed Andy's hand and held it tightly as I kept trying to focus on driving us home safely. The hand reminded me of how I wasn't alone. I would make it back, and as soon as he woke up, everything would be back to normal. Andy let out a slight groan in his sleep. Maybe I squished his hand too tightly?

At around 5:00, I saw a distant city skyline appearing. I was driving way too fast, but I wanted nothing more than to come home as quickly as possible. On friday, my parents would return from the business trip. The most terrifying, most exciting, most eventfilled month of my life, I had experienced almost entirely without them. I didn't want to tell them anything though. I didn't want to be grounded forever.

We reached the city at 6:30 a.m. and school was starting in only a few hours. I usually got up at this hour, but this time, I needed my sleep.

I pulled into the driveway by Andy's house, almost hitting the mailbox, thinking that I could walk back home. Andy was still asleep though, and I didn't want to leave him alone, knowing how much he had missed me during the time I had been away. Instead of going home, I stayed with him in the car, placing my tired head in his lap and sleeping, only to have to get up the next hour.

---

"Hey! Feeney!"

"Hey! Ashley!"

It was all back to normal. Almost. Coming back to school that thursday led to lots and lots of questions. Mostly from Andy's friends. I had yet not seen Phoenix in school today, and Jenna didn't answer her phone. Guess they were busy.

"What's with the brusing, and the scars and the thingamajigs?" Ashley said.

" 'You wanna know how I got these scars?' " I said, quoting the joker from batman and trying to mimic his voice as best I could. "To be honest, it was pretty tame. The arm thingie was Jimmy slitting up my wrist, the face scars was my face against broken glass. Long story short, they are no cool and badass battle scars."

Andy leaned in to kiss my forehead. He was the last person to sit down by the table and we had already started eating.

"It must have been though getting out of trouble this time." Jinxx said.

"Nah, I was very much a damsel in distress."

"A very pretty damsel, might add." Andy said. I smiled back at him.

"How's Jenna doing?" I asked. We'd been best friends for years, I was worried not to have heard from her.

"Better." Jinxx responded.

"What do you mean by better?"

"She got into a fight with Phoenix. I don't know what happened, but she was pretty devastaded about it for a few days. Though she seemed happier this morning."

"Why didn't she try and call me?"

"I think she did. But then she realized that you couldn't be reached. The hostage thing, you know. I think you should talk to her. She's still quite upset."

---

I drove over to Jenna's house with Andy and Jinxx the same afternoon. We were still besties, even though we hadn't talked in a while, therefore, I felt obliged to see her.

After entering the house, I went straight upstairs to Jenna's room. Andy and Jinxx grabbed a beer downstairs, seemingly having a lot of fun. I knocked on the door.

"Jenna?"

"Come on in, Iris."

But when I entered the room, I was surprised by what I saw. It wasn't a pleasant surprise.

"Jenna?"

Notes

For a while now, the chapters will be more focused on relationships between the characters and smaller events than thriller-material most likely. There will be some relationship drama later on, so it won't be boring. This chapter is quite calm though. I wanted the original characters to enter the story a bit more, rather than just dissapear as they have done for the past few chapters. I enjoy the story so far though.