Chapter Nine

honey, i'm home

I slowly opened my eyes, still out of energy from Magnus and I's previous activities. Shutting my eyes again, I rolled over with a groan, burrowing into Magnus' chest. The boy slowly opened his eyes, moving one heavy arm over my body and using the other to pull the blankets tighter around us.

"Morning, Kitten." The blonde smiled, kissing my nose

"So we're going with eighties-rockstar-esque nicknames, then." I laughed, kissing his jaw lightly

"I mean, if you don't like it, we can just be like every other couple and be boring, but ultimately it's up to you."

"No, no. I like it." I said, tilting my head up to catch his lips in mine

"Aleksander called after you fell asleep. He was wondering if we wanted to go over and see Bartosz."

"I think we should." I said, running a hand through Magnus' hair "But I don't know if I can walk."

Magnus grinned "Why, was I that good?"

I laughed "Don't get cocky on me." Taking on a serious tone, I debated what I was going to say next. "I just think you should know, I hooked up with Killian at that party to make you jealous. But you didn't see the part where he left me by the side of the lake, and I was so drunk I could barely stand up. You didn't see Jonas and Heidi struggling to pull me off the floor and get me home. Because you were off with that senior soccer player, and you didn't even know her name."

"Would you believe me if I said that it was a ploy to make you jealous because I didn't know how to deal with my feelings?"

"God, we're both idiots, aren't we?"

"Idiots in love." Magnus chortled before I hit him with the pillow that used to rest under my head

"Go get me a shirt, we've gotta go see Bartosz."

It was then that I started pondering how much Magnus and I had acted like a couple even before we confessed how we truly felt to each other. Hell, he had a duffle bag of clean clothes and rolled blunts in my closet, and my clean clothes shared a drawer with his weed.

Much like expected, it was difficult to stand up. My hair was hopelessly tangled, and anybody over the age of sixteen would be able to tell what we had been doing just hours prior. I pulled the black collared shirt off the floor and around my body, flipping up the collar to cover up the red marks on my neck.

Martha was going to tease me relentlessly for this, and god knows Heidi would have too.

___

The Tiedemann house was the most modern house in the town, built right on the edge bordering the forest. It was also the biggest house, and the biggest display of wealth. Everybody assumed that Aleksander and Regina's money went straight to Bartosz's head, but he was one of the most humble, down to earth people I knew.

Throughout the car ride, Martha and Katharina kept shooting me and Magnus confused glances, almost as if they knew about the new development in our relationship. Then again, Magnus was being touchier and clingier than usual, so maybe they did know.

"You know the drill: if the anxiety is too much, let me know and we can leave. We don't need to stay, alright kitten?" Magnus said quietly, his hand wrapped over mine

"The same goes for you, tough guy."

Both of us had social anxiety, to an extent. While he would normally be sick when things got too much, I would cry. We tended to be each other's anchors in social situations, but when we stayed within our usual group, we were usually alright.

"Martha, darling." Katharina said, breaking the silence "Will you give Regina the casserole?"

"No problem. I'm sure they'll appreciate it." Martha nodded

"And for the love of god, make sure the two of them don't come home with more hickies than they arrived with."

Magnus coughed, and my face turned blush pink. "You, uh, you know about that?" the blonde questioned

"Neither of you are very quiet."

"You know, we're gonna go now." I said, pushing Magnus out the car door "Martha will call when we're ready to leave!"

As we walked closer to Bartosz's, my heart dropped to my feet. In giant red letters, someone had spray painted the word "murderer" one the windows around the family's sunroom. I couldn't even imagine what this meant for Regina's hotel. I mean, nobody would have messed with Aleksander- he scares the crap out of everybody- but there was nothing stopping them from getting to Regina.

"That's awful." Martha said quietly, staring at the paint. "How can they all say that he did it?"

"Because they don't know him like we do." I answered, letting go of Magnus and heading up the drive.

Moritz Doppler opened the door, waving us into the modern kitchen. Martha left the casserole dish on the island, and we headed into the sunroom, where all the curtains were drawn to block out the disheartening graffiti on the windows.

Bartosz was sitting on the couch between Jonas and Regina. Aleksander had a beer in his hand and solemn expression on his face. Franziska was sitting alone, deep in thought.

"We need a game plan." Moritz said, breaking the silence. "Getting Bartosz on bail was the first step, now we need to get him acquitted."

"How do we do that, Moritz?" Regina asked "Everything looks bad right now."

I ruffled Bartosz's hair before Magnus and I took a seat on the couch across from him

"Character witnesses. We need to paint a picture of who you really are. And stay off social media, for now. Just texts and calls. Aleksander, is there any way you can stay home with your son?"

I mean, we were all wondering what the next steps for the defense were, but I thought this was just to provide moral support, not a strategy meet.

"My dad can fill in, Mr. Tiedemann. I doubt Adele is going to want you around anyways." I said, Magnus reaching for my thigh "Bartosz needs you, and you should eb there for him."

"Nobody wants to stay at the hotel anymore." Regina said "I can close down and stay at home."

"Mom, you love that hotel." Bartosz protested

"Bartosz." Jonas said "We would do anything for you, you know that, right? Whatever happens, we aren't letting you go to jail."

"Amen to that." Magnus said, mocking an army salute

"Annaliese, you were in the woods that day." Franziska spoke softly "Did you see anything? Anything at all?"

My mind flashed back to the photos I had taken. Clearly Ulrich and Charlotte hadn't thought to investigate.

"Baby, are you okay?" Magnus said, putting an arm around my shoulder as I closed my eyes, head towards the ground.

"Yeah, I'm alright."

"Anna" Martha asked "Do you know something?"

"You should tell them." Magnus said

I turned to look at him. "Magnus, you said it was nothing."

"It could be something."

"What could be something?" Bartosz asked, a glimmer of hope visible in his shattered expression. It hurt me to see him like this, so I needed to try.

For Bartosz, and for Heidi. I needed to know what was in that cave.

I needed to know who flat-cap guy was.

It was twice as personal now.

I shrugged off Magnus' arm, much to his chagrin, and I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I walked across the sun room to Bartosz and I showed him the shadow. The blur. Camera defect. Whatever the hell you want to call it.

I know it was something.

"What is that?" Bartosz asked timidly.

"I don't know, but I intend to find out."

"How?" Jonas asked

"By going into the woods." Magnus said, standing form his place on the couch.

I nodded "It's the only way."

"Then we're doing it together." Bartosz said, a stern air of finality in his voice.

We all knew what this meant. For Bartosz, this was putting everything at stake. It was the only thing standing between the boy's life and a maximum security prison.