Macy's P.O.V.

The way he talked to me was different from before. He sounded desperate, somewhat sad. With no further arguments, I began walking the opposite direction of the dark cabin.

It was quiet as we continued walking. We were walking alongside each other, feeling almost nonexistent compared to the tall trees around us. It wasn't like this back where I used to live. There, it was mostly dirty alleyways and sketchy houses. Here, the neighbors were friendly, to me at least.

I had never actually walked through a forest before either. It was so easy to become distracted by the simplicity of the trees covered in beautiful colors, the moss decorating the rocks we passed, the wildlife in its pure form.

Minutes passed and I found myself becoming increasingly distracted; not by the forest, but by the boy next to me.

Jonathan was five years older than me. I usually only made friends with people around my age during high school. It was unusual. As we walked, I observed the way his eyebrows would stay furrowed, as if he was angry all the time. He also frowned a lot more than the average person. Though, it wasn't hard to admit that he was much more intriguing than the average person.

This boy that I found myself completely interested in was much more mysterious. His actions were very abrupt and he relied a lot on his emotions. Then I began to wonder if those ocean blue eyes ever held tears. The sadness that I saw when he told me to walk away from that cabin made my heart stop all together and I've never felt so much for a person I barely knew.

"Jonathan, why don't you smile?" I asked calmly, not taking my eyes off of him.

"There's not a lot to smile about around here," he said quietly.

I thought of Jayden. I thought of the neighbor's. I thought of the beauty of the forest. How could he not smile with all of these things surrounding him?

All he had to do was reach out, to take the chance of making friends and exploring the world outside of his comfort zone. There was just no way that I knew of to convince him.

"Shit."

"Language," I said, smiling at him.

"Shut it, kid," he grumbled. "Didn't we already pass that goddamn rock."

He looked at a large rock, leaning against a tree, moss covering most of it.

"Well, most rocks and trees look the same, right? And shouldn't you know this forest? You did follow me all the way to that cabin?"

Jonathan rubbed his head and closed his eyes, leaning against one of the trees. "Because I was following your trail, which is no where near here and I usually bring a compass and marbles to make a trail when I go here."

"Why didn't you?" I asked, distracting myself from the realization that we were lost in a forest.

He glared at me. "I didn't have time. When you see some naive girl walk into the forest without knowing where she's going, you tend not to think of anything else but to warn her."

I felt a small sense of trust and a bit of admiration. Although Jonathan was a bit of an asshole at times, I couldn't help but notice that he wasn't a bad guy that our neighbor's and my grandparents made him out to be. Jayden knew he was a good guy and so did I.

Jonathan was a good guy, no matter what anybody else saw.

"I'm sorry. You really didn't have to warn me, but I'm glad you did or I would have been alone and lost," I admit, my heart rate increasing at just the thought of it. "We'll find our way back, right?"

"Why? You scared of the dark?" He asked sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he stood up and looked around.

"Is that bad?"

A sudden realization came to his face and he groaned again, lightly slamming his head into the tree.

"Great. This is just great. We're lost in a forest and of course, I'd be stuck with someone who's afraid of the dark and obviously has no sense of direction."

It was also times like these when I wanted to karate chop his ear off.

"Look, we're bound to end up somewhere if we just keep walking," I said, trying to stay positive. "And my grandparents will probably come looking for us when they get home, which will probably be soon."

I took out my phone and checked the time. It was getting close to two. I hadn't even realized I spent that long cooking, going to Jonathan's house, and walking around. Then I opened my messages.

There's a twenty on top of the bookcase and some leftover lasagna in the fridge. Your grandma and I are going dancing tonight and probably staying at a friend's place. I'm pretty sure you're old enough to look after yourself. Love you

My grandpa could not have chosen a worse time to go out dancing. I didn't even know my grandparents went dancing anymore. They used to take a ballroom dance class when they were younger, but I thought they stopped.

"Please tell me it's something good," Jonathan said, seeing my expression.

"My grandparents are staying at a friend's house. We have around four hours until the sunsets. We'll find something."

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"Oh my god," I shouted, dramatically falling onto one of the rocks. "We're going to die here."

Jonathan was beyond annoyed. It had already passed more than three hours and the sun was going to set fairly soon. We had barely talked, mostly because Jonathan kept shushing me every time I asked him a question.

"It's kind of obvious, but I'd like to remind you that the sun is setting and I'm not good in the dark, Jonathan," I said.

"Don't you think I know that," he tusked. Then he stopped and sighed in relief. "You're lucky, kid. There's the cabin."

I had taken my glasses off earlier, so I took them out of my pocket and put them back on and I squealed as my eyes landed on the cabin in front of us. I was about to race towards until I looked at Jonathan.

"Jonathan?" He turned around, the same sadness in his eyes again. "We don't have to go to the cabin if you don't want to, you know. Whatever's in there is important and I don't want to ruin that for you."

It was as if the entire world paused. He stared at me, silently and unmoving. There was a flash of something in his eyes.

"It's getting dark and we won't be able to track our footsteps until the sun comes back up. Just promise you'll be careful with everything."

"I promise."

Everything. Everything could be a bunch of toys or maybe even a bunch of computers, knowing that he was a tech geek. Thoughts rushed through my head as we walked towards the cabin. It might be a collection of prized snow globes. Everything could mean anything.

The two of us stopped in front of the door and my heart beat a tiny bit faster as the door creaked open. Jonathan muttered a bit as he ran his hands along the wall, probably trying to find a light switch.

The curiosity in me didn't subside as the lights switched on.

Contrasting to the outer appearance of the house, the inside was clean and not at all covered in webs and vines. It was very small with a kitchen and living room in the same small area and one bedroom and bathroom. The living room had a TV and some old gaming consoles, while the bedroom held a few old trinkets like trophies and footballs.

"This is," I couldn't find words to describe it.

"There's a reason I bought that house when I was only eighteen," he said, sighing. "All the money I was saving up for college; I used it to buy that house."

"Why?" I asked.

His hand graves against the small black couch resting in front of the TV. "Because my brother used to live here. He's three years older than me and when he was eighteen, he got into this huge fight with my parents and he left. Never knew where he went until I got a letter in the mail right after I turned eighteen. Sent me this address and I came here to find an empty cabin, filled with a bunch of my brother's old things. I bought that house so I'd be close by if he ever turned up again."

His hand slammed against the wall suddenly and I couldn't help by jump back. His words were calm, but the sadness and anger in his voice was something I hadn't encountered before.

Slowly, I walked towards him, unsure of what I should do. "I looked up to him. He practically raised me along with my mom and he left me without ever telling me goodbye. He abandoned me."

I found myself reaching for his hand that was held in a fist against the wall. "Jonathan, he must have had a good reason and why would he tell you about this place and leave all these things unless he was coming back?"

"I haven't seen him in eight years. Him coming back is lost hope. It's getting late. Go take the bed. I'll sleep here on the couch."

Jonathan was very emotionally confused at times. It was easy for him to switch from calm to beyond angered in a snap, but he was still kind.

Before I went into the bedroom, I glanced behind me to see Jonathan sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. I couldn't sleep knowing I didn't do anything to help, so I ran back to the couch and wrapped my arms around him.

"Never lose hope, Jonathan. He'll come back to you."

"Go to bed already," he said, slowly easing into the hug. "Thank you, Macy."

And with slightly teary eyes and a tired voice, Jonathan looked up at me and smiled.

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Jonathan seems pretty comfortable around Macy to easily trust her with a secret like that. I'm really happy you guys are liking this book because I definitely am. Vote and comment how you feel about Macy and Jonathan

And as always I hope ye enjoyed(:)

-lovelylittleturtles