Lyric's eyes are doing their best to burn holes in me. She doesn't realize I find her stare too pretty to be hostile anymore. I hope she doesn't figure it out because then she'll probably never do it again.

The ingredients in the shepherd's pie sound bland, but at this point, I could care less.

Lyric seethes, her body ready to go, her head already out the door and planning a new route. But I'm not taking another step without getting some real food. I tear my eyes away from a tantalizing description of mutton soup as the door behind me opens. In walks a young black couple. They meet the eyes of the man and woman at the bar and share a friendly wave. Finding nothing interesting or threatening about them, I turn back to Lyric. I open my mouth, preparing to grovel when she jumps to her feet, gaze above my head.

"Nick! Rene!"

She sprints toward the two. Like an instinct they tense, hands flinching toward their waistbands, but the woman relaxes first.

A smile flits across her pretty face. "Lyric? Is that you?"

To my utter shock, Lyric throws her arms around the girl's shoulders in an embrace. "I can't believe it's you," the woman laughs.

A pang of jealousy rises in my chest as Lyric lets her go to hug the man. She's never hugged me before. She won't even let me stand that close.

"What happened to you, kid?" The man asks Lyric, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"A lot." Lyric's smile is wider than I ever imagined it could be.

"I was so worried about you after we lost each other in the woods. I thought the slave hunters caught you."

"They almost did."

"That's where I came in." Me and my big mouth. It's going to be the death of me one day, I know it.

The man gives me a glare of death. "What is that?"

The disdain in his voice makes me swallow hard.

"That is Zeke," Lyric says. "He's my..." For a second I think she's going to say friend, but she shakes her head mid-sentence. "He's been helping me travel. I've kinda been helping him do the same." She nods her head back to me, signaling me to stand up. "Zeke, this is Nick and Rene."

Nick is about as tall as me, but he's more built. He looks like he spends most of his time outdoors. His skin is dark brown, coal black hair sticking in every direction. The kind of angular, sharp face girls would probably find attractive. Does Lyric?

He crosses his arms in front of his chest, glaring at me down his nose. "This white boy belongs to you?" He asks with a curl of his lip.

"Nick." Rene elbows him in the ribs. She steps in front of him, holding out her hand to me. "It's nice to meet you, Zeke." Rene is beautiful. Her tightly curled hair hangs to her waist, brown eyes sweet and bright. I take her hand, hoping mine isn't too sweaty, and that I can get my tongue to move.

"Uh, yeah, you too." She smiles and my fingers become stuck against her palm.

"You can let go of her hand now," Nick growls. I drop her hand like it's on fire. Lyric shoots me an irritated look like I'm embarrassing her in front of her friends...or maybe she's jealous?

"It's absolutely incredible that we ran into you guys," Rene says. "Lyric, you have to tell us everything that happened to you after we got separated. Here, let's eat while we talk." She looks over at the girl standing next to the bar. "Janus, can you bring us four of the usuals, please?" She winks at me. "You'll love it."

"Coming right up, Rene." The four of his slide onto the wooden benches of the booth I sat before they came. Me, on the inside next to the wall, Lyric beside me, Nick and Rene across from us.

The food was incredible. The hostility towards me and Lyric now appears to be dissolved now that Nick and Rene are here. The man and woman brought out food that wasn't even on the crudely handwritten menu. Fresh vegetables, sweet bread, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, chicken, rolls. I salivated from the smell before they even started bringing it to the table.

Over the course of the meal, Lyric told Rene and Nick the situations we had run into on our way to getting to Canada. Storytime resulted in some pretty awkward moments for me, like when Lyric recounted our meeting, or how she had to save me from drowning. Nick seems to derive some sick pleasure from these accounts.

If I hadn't been stuffing my face full of food so delicious it makes my eyes want to water, my face would be redder than blood.

"Sounds like you two were lucky to find each other," Rene says. Her smile is replaced with a sudden frown. "But if Canada was the plan, how did you end up in Iowa? You're supposed to be going to Nebraska."

Lyric stills. I sense her muscles going tense. Her palm presses against her chest. Is that where the papers about the rebels are hidden?

"The hunters forced us off course," Lyric lies.

I hold a cup of water up to my lips. Why doesn't she tell them about the attack on the rebel slaves? They saved her life. Doesn't she trust them? If she tells them about the attack then she won't have to wherever the base is in Iowa to warn the leaders of the rebellion. Lyric can just pass the information on and we can turn back toward Canada. We had lost some ground over the last few days, but the hunters would have definitely lost our trail by now. I sit up straighter, relief rolling down my veins. Running into Lyric's friends worked out perfect.

"Lyric, aren't you going to tell them about-"

Her hand latches onto mine. I'm dumbstruck by the contact, rendered speechless with my jaw hanging open. Her fingers are warm and squeeze tight against my knuckles. "We'll be right back." She says this to Nick and Rene, right before she hauls me to my feet and out of the booth. She leads me to the front door, pushing it open and stepping outside into the daylight.

Still, in shock, I squint in the sunlight, waiting for my eyes to adjust to focus on her face. "Why-"

"Because I don't want you to tell Nick and Rene about the attack," she says. "Not yet. I think they're good people, but I'm not ready to just pass on this letter. It's too important."

"...I was going to ask why you're still holding my hand."

She glances down at our clasped palms, frowning at her hand inside mine before dropping my hand and stepping back.

I slide my tingling palm down the side of my pant leg, trying not to look so adrenalized by her simple touch. But she can probably tell.

"...The point is, don't tell them about the letter, okay?"

"You don't trust them?"

"I do, I just need some time to decide what to do."

I nod. "Okay. I won't say anything."

"Thanks."

"Can I go back in and finish eating?"

A half smile creases her lips. "You have a one-track mind."

"Only about important things." I don't register that I'm staring at her again until her hazel eyes drift to the side.

I step around her and open the inn door. "We should go inside."

She walks past me, a little quicker than necessary. Nick and Rene are in the middle of a hushed conversation as we approach, their heads close together. Rene glances up, placing her hand on Nick's wrist to signal the end of their privacy.

She gifts us with a luminous smile. "You two are staying here with us for the night and we're not taking no for an answer."

Lyric blinks, shaking her head. "Wait, what? Where did that come from?"

Rene shrugs, still grinning. "You don't have anywhere to stay, right? Well, now you do. Nick and I are moving on tomorrow morning." She glances at Nick out of the corner of her eye. "We have somewhere important to be in the next few days. So stay with us, just for tonight. Lyric, you and I can share a room, and Nick and Zeke can stay together."

Me and the big scary guy who obviously hates my white boy guts?

Rene catches my look. "Is that okay with you, Zeke?" She has incredibly doe-like eyes that make it hard to say no, probably to anything she says.

"Uh...I mean if it's okay with Lyric..."

She turns the hopeful gaze to Lyric. "You'll stay right, Lyric? I don't want to say goodbye right now."

Lyric hesitates. I see her internal struggle to accept more help. I think accepting help makes her feel weak.

Ridiculous.

"I could use the rest," I say. Lyric turns her head to me. "And sleeping on a bed would be nice after the couple of days we had. Come on, Lyric, let me have this."

The wall behind her eyes crumbles a little. If she accepts the help because of me, it won't hurt her pride as much.

She nods at Rene. "Yeah, okay. We'll stay just for tonight...thank you."

Rene cheers, her long hair swirling around her face. "I'm so glad we found the two of you. It's like, it was fate or something."

~
A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. I was originally planning to write more but... I'll make up for it. Thanks for reading.