" I had the weirdest dream last night. " Rella told Van the next day as they were making breakfast in the kitchen. " I was going to meet up with the mysterious person sending me those cryptic messages, you told me not to go but I was stubborn and went any way, I ended up getting kidnapped."
" Well good thing your real self is smarter than your dream self. "
"I know, and it was shockingly vivid. I thought I was going to die. But good thing it was only a dream."
"are you going to tell Stefan about it? "
" I should shouldn't I? "
" He might know what kind of psycho we're dealing with. "
Van had a point, Rella thought there was no point protecting whoever it was. It's better to be safe than sorry.
They worked in silence until Van groaned all of a sudden.
"What is it?"
"Nothing I'm just being silly."
"When has anything been silly to you? Spill."
Van sighed knowing her friend would keep insisting.
"Fine. I read this novel last night and the hero pursued the heroine relentlessly out of revenge and even got married to her."
"it's only fictional it's not real Van." Rella said.
" See I told you it was silly." Van grumbled. " But I can't help but think about it you know. Imagine something like this happened in real life."
" I doubt it but you never know there's a lot of weirdos everywhere."
It was pure coincidence that Jake happened to catch the latter part of their conversation and it made his blood run cold.
Cold sweat beaded his forehead as he listened to how passionate Van felt about such a betrayal.
He turned back and went upstairs not too keen on facing her like that.
Jake pulled the car over in front of Van’s house but before he could kill the engine she was already opening the door and getting out. He quickly killed the engine and got out himself half jogging to catch up to her.
Jake’s stomach churned unpleasantly, why did he suddenly get the feeling that Van was mad at him? He hates how dark her mood had been throughout the ride back and she didn’t look like she was in the mood to talk to him either. They hadn't said much to each other since the jet took off . His heart pounded out of rhythm and his forehead and neck broke out in cold sweat.
"Van wait!" Jake reached out and grabbed her arm turning her to face him. She blinked slowly like she'd just snapped out of a daze. "I've been calling your name but you weren't responding."
"Huh? Oh," she muttered absentmindedly.
Jake regarded her worriedly. "Are you okay? Van is something wrong you've been quiet throughout the ride home, are you mad at me or something?"
"Of course not." Van sighed. "I'm simply bewildered at the fact that Greg could do what he did to Lucy, I mean marrying her for revenge for something that's not even her fault at all."
Jake furrowed his brows in confusion.
" Who are Greg and Lucy? "
" The hero and heroine of this novel I read."
" Er, you're this worked up over some fictional characters in a book? "
" So what, don't judge me they're my favorite characters okay. "
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to be so insensitive."
"I wanted to reach into the book and punch the lights out of his aristocratic face. Lucy is such a sweet girl she didn't deserve what he did."
Jake dared to move closer in spite of the riot going on inside of him and framed her face with his palms.
"You're right, but I believe they'll sort everything out. They love each other." he told her hoping that's how the novel would go. "And hopefully it'll make their relationship stronger. Every relationship goes through the test of fire and ultimately only those who persevere and trust in their love will come out stronger." Jake could only hope that she remembers these words when the fiction becomes a reality because he knows without a doubt that the fire would become a furnace for them.
Jake dipped his head and caught her lips in a heartfelt kiss. Words alone cannot describe the way he feels about her and he needed to show her, to make her feel the intensity of his love but Van stopped him when things became too intense.
"I don't think we should..." She told him as she rested her forehead on his as they tried to catch their breath. He knew she was right.
"I know, I'm sorry. From now on we'll take things slowly."
Van nodded. "You know the first time was because I was desperate," she stepped back to look into his eyes. "This time I want to take my time, I want to be ready so that when it happens it wouldn't be a mistake."
"I understand. You don't know how sorry I am for that time..."
"You didn’t hurt me or anything." She said defensively But Jake shook his head, "I did hurt your feelings and your pride, I swear if I could take it back..." Jake swallowed uneasily, he didn't want to think about any of the things he did to hurt her in the name of avenging his mom but for some reason the memories haunt him.
"It's all in the past now, and I don't hold any of that against you, the important thing now is that we're together and we'll make many beautiful memories to replace the ugly ones." Van kissed his chin and smiled up at him, he felt a twist in his gut at her optimism knowing that he'd end up hurting her more than he ever did before.
"I love you Van you know that right?"
"Yes."