Chapter 26: Chapter 26

After the hype of my live entertainment has worn off and I finish getting dressed, Tobias, Woody and I sit on the floor in a circle with three salads between us. I gingerly poke at it with my fork, trying not to appear disgusted.

"Why does this look like rabbit food?" I ask Woody, who's currently ploughing through his like he's in a food eating competition. He rolls his eyes at me, gesturing at it with his fork —

"It's healthy."

"I don't want health." I mutter, stabbing a cucumber before slowly placing it in my mouth. Beside me Uncle Tobias sighs and reaches into the bag, pulling out a pot of ramen noodles. I gasp and drop my salad, taking it from him immediately.

"You had this all along and gave me salad instead?!" I tell him. He hands me a fork, his eyebrow raised at me. "It was the backup plan if you didn't eat your salad." Tobias responds.

I grin, my stomach suddenly grumbling loudly for the delicious warm ramen noodles in front of me. I practically rip open the box and dig in, murmuring in satisfaction from the incredible flavours in my mouth.

Who'd want salad when carbs and flavour exist?

"This is a true delicacy," I say with a half full mouth of ramen. Woody grimaces, nudging my knee with his.

"Stop talking with your mouth full, you're an animal."

I swallow the noodles, ignoring Woody's grimacing looks towards me. "Thanks Uncle Tobias for not torturing me with the green stuff." I grin. He shakes his head, pointing at Woody with his fork —

"Thank Woody for it. He knew you'd refuse to eat the salad so we stopped off somewhere else on the way back."

"Thanks Woody," I say quieter this time, realising he knows me a lot more than I thought he did. My worries from before sneak back into my mind and I have a mental battle with myself to ignore them.

"No problem." Woody responds, giving me a wary look as I shuffle uncomfortably next to him. Uncle Tobias' eyes flicker between Woody and I as I practically see the gears inside his head turning as he attempts to figure it out. Beside me, Woody is probably wondering why my demeanour has suddenly changed towards him but I can't control it.

Damn my overthinking self-sabotaging brain.

"You two seem to be getting along well," I say quickly, changing the subject and breaking the awkward silence between us. Uncle Tobias turns to look at Woody, a neutral expression on his face.

"We talked things out before, right buddy?" He asks, almost uncertainly to Woody incase he's changed his mind on their newly settled peace. Woody slowly nods, his eyes flickering across to me.

"I guess so but it'll take time. It was a lot to process." He says quietly. I nod my head in understanding, grateful that he's mature and rational enough to be civil with Uncle Tobias. I wonder whether they both settled the dispute on Woody and I becoming a 'thing'  but I decide against asking. I'm not entirely sure where it's going to lead yet either so I don't want to burn the bridge before it's even built.

"Did you find anything on my parents?" I ask Uncle Tobias, working my way through the noodles quickly. It's amazing how quickly food disappears in my presence.

"Some promising information. There's a small abandoned warehouse around twenty minutes out from here. An old friend of mine works in construction and reported suspicious activity in the area when he was working nearby. It could be nothing or it could be everything. Right now, I'm taking every single lead I've got. It's all I can do, right?" Tobias says, glancing between Woody and I. I nod my head slowly, trying to picture the warehouse in my mind.

"What kind of suspicious activity?" I ask.

"A dark blue SUV keeps turning up despite it being a completely abandoned building and a dead end road. The timelines work out too but it could be nothing. Don't get your hopes up sweetheart," Tobias responds gently. I nod because despite having a new found hope inside me, I know I could end up disappointed.

"I promise not to. Do you have the address? When are we going?" I ask him, already anticipating the search. Uncle Tobias pulls a small piece of paper out from his jean pocket with an address messily scrawled across it.

"I sure do. We can either head over there tomorrow when it's a new day or we can go tonight. Your call."

"Let's go tonight." I say hurriedly. Uncle Tobias nods slowly, his brown eyes growing concerned.

"I guess there's no time like the present, right?" Woody says beside me, an excitement in his voice. I remember his promising words from before regarding finding my parents. Now that he's put it out there in the universe, maybe it could finally happen.

"Right." I say firmly, turning to look at him. We hold eye contact with each other and I smile faintly, wondering whether Woody could be my good luck charm from now on. A sparkle passes through his dark eyes and I bite back a smile that wants to continue growing. It's almost like he knows exactly what I'm thinking. . .

Damn my inability to control my emotions around the boy.

"We'll have to gather our things and come up with a plan." Uncle Tobias says, disrupting the moment Woody and I were having. I tear my eyes off him and clear my throat, nodding in agreement. I stand up, tossing the empty ramen box into the bin before reaching for my jacket. As I pull it over, my thoughts turn towards protection —

"We're taking the guns, right? Just incase." I say firmly. Uncle Tobias reaches underneath his bed, pulling out two pistols that are unloaded. He nods his head, holding one out towards me. I lean forward to take hold of it but before I can, he grips it tighter.

"You promise me you're going to be careful with it. It's not a toy, it can easily take someone else's or your own life away in a second." Uncle Tobias says, his words spoken firmly and without hesitation. I fix my eyes onto him, knowing that he needs to be able to trust me if this is ever going to work.

"I promise you. I will take care of it as if it's my first born child." I say, holding my free hand up in honour. Uncle Tobias nods grimly, releasing his hold on the gun without looking entirely convinced.

"Don't I get one?" Woody chirps up from behind us. Tobias shakes his head, leaning down to retrieve a wooden baseball bat instead.

"You're better off using this. The last time I saw someone swing a bat so skilfully is when Emily saved me from Amil." Tobias chuckles, throwing the bat towards Woody. He catches it one handed, spinning it around in his grasp.

"You're a close second Woody," Tobias says, earning a grin from Woody in response. He inspects the end of it, his eyes suddenly widening in amazement —

"Is this the same one Ruby's Mum used? That's awesome!" He chuckles, looking like a boy smitten with his new toy. Tobias frowns at him, clearly unamused.

"No you idiot, I wouldn't be handing you the main piece of evidence from a murder, would I?" He says sarcastically, sounding like he's lost complete faith in Woody's thinking. Woody pauses, appearing sheepish —

"Oh yeah. My bad."

I can't help but laugh whilst finishing loading the gun and placing it safely inside my jacket pocket. All three of us pack up what we need, the sky outside already beginning to darken as the day draws to an end. As we leave the room, I can't help but feel like this could be it . . .

This could be the moment I finally get to see my parents again.