Autumn's P.O.V.

I want to tell Jade that I think I saw my mom by the lake yesterday, but I don't because I'm afraid that it was just my imagination running away with me. The connection I have with Jade seems to be growing stronger. I can tell when she is looking at me, without actually catching her in the act. I feel her uneasiness when she lies, the way her heartbeat picks up speed as she does. I feel her emotions as she experiences them. Like today at lunch I felt her jealousy towards Sally, when Sally practically undressed me with her eyes. Ace choosing to be obtuse to the fact that she likes me a little more than she should. But the thing I feel the most is something entirely different. On the surface she appears normal but I can feel she is hiding something from me. Little does she know that I already know what that something is.

She's a Fairy Hunter and I'm a Fairy, we are as Shakespeare would put it; star-crossed lovers. Destined to be together but doomed from the start.

I push the thoughts of my mother to the back of my mind, afraid that our connection will make Jade feel all my confusion and ask me about it.

I look over to her briefly. She is staring out the car window, clearly deep in thought. The sun illuminating her icy blue eyes.

"If you're worried about your mom not believing the lie about the brace we can stop at the mall and get one quickly," I say. Jade turns her head to me and offers a small smile. I have to force my gaze back to the road and away from her dimples.

"I'm afraid she'll know that the brace won't offer enough support," she turns her head back to the window, watching the trees pass in a blur.

"Let's get one anyway and then when you're around her, just use your crutches for a few more days, switching to the brace after."

She nods her head and then turns her attention to the radio, turning the volume knob. The music is a lot louder as she bops her head to the beat. Clearly she is not in the mood for talking. I place my hand on her thigh and give a squeeze, in the hopes that it will comfort her.

I pull into the parking lot of the mall and stop the car near the entrance. I turn the key and the car dies down, the music stopping with it.

I take her hand and we walk straight into the sports store. Not bothering to aimlessly walk around and browse. I've never been one of those girls.

I pull of a black brace from the rack and stare at it for a while, before I turn around and give it to her.

The ride back home is pretty much the same as on the way to the mall. Jade puts the music loud and relaxes into the car seat. Closing her eyes so I can think she is sleeping instead appearing deep in thought. That is the oldest trick in the book, something that I've been doing for years myself.

My curiosity gets the best of me and I turn off the radio.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" I ask, looking at her.

She sits up straight her eyes meeting mine, "I have this feeling in the pit of my stomach, but it's like this feeling doesn't belong to me," she shakes her head.

"What is the feeling?"

"Uncertainty, obscurity," she pauses, "you're not having second thoughts about us are you?"

"What? No! I love you; there is no doubt about that in my mind."

"Then why am I feeling your confusion?" She watches me out the corner of her eye.

I walked right into that one.

"Is it because of Sally? Because any fool can see that she wants you and that Ace is just her cover."

I bite back my laugh in my throat, "it doesn't matter if she does. I only have eyes for an Auburn haired fox, you might know her," I smile, bumping my shoulder lightly against her.

She returns my smile, only for a second before her face turns grim, "then what's got you feeling this way?"

"I didn't want to say anything but"-

"Autumn watch out!" Jade yells. I slam on the breaks when I see a grey haired man standing in the middle of the road. The car stops a few inches before him.

"What the hell man," I yell getting out the car. My nerves are shot. My hands trembling with the fear that I could've knocked him. Damn it! I'm so reckless these days. Jade steps out of the car as well, her face as pale as snow.

The grey haired man just smirks at me.

"Why are you standing in the middle of the road? I could've killed you." I say pulling out my hair band and run my hand through my hair.

He has very distinctive features; a sharp nose, with a small mouth, thin lips. I'm sure I've seen him before.

"Autumn?" he asks, taking a step forward. I instinctively step back.

"How do you know my name?" I look over to Jade. She just shrugs, tilting her head.

"I'm you granddad, Orin, don't you remember me?"

Jade's eyes widen at his words. But not because of shock. I feel her fear coursing through my veins as if it was my own.

"You're crazy," I say, "get in the car Jade, we're leaving."

Jade obeys my order.

I pull away quickly, willing myself to keep my eyes on the road this time, but end up looking back to the man we left behind. He isn't standing in the road anymore. If it wasn't for the look on Jade's face, I would've branded myself as crazy.

When we're almost home Jade pulls out her phone, scrolling through her contacts. Swiping left when she finds the name she was looking for.

"Who are you calling?" I ask.

"Your mom, if he really is your grandfather, she needs to know."

A small chuckle escapes from my lips, "funny, I could've sworn you just said you were calling my mom."

"I did." She looks at me with a straight face.

My hands grip tightly around the steering wheel, my knuckles going white.

"You knew my mom was alive and kept it from me?" I say through gritted teeth.

"It's not what you think. I can explain." She defends.

"Hello," my mother's voice sounds through the speaker of the phone.

"You have no idea what I'm thinking right now," my voice cracks. The betrayal cuts much deeper than a knife, much deeper than when she disappeared for a whole year.

"Hello!" I hear her call again, even though Jade has the phone pressed against her chest.

I stop the car.

"Get out!" I fight back my tears of anger.

"Autumn just let me explain," Jade opens her hand.

"I said get out!" My voice an octave higher this time.

Jade sighs in defeat, opening the car door.

"I was just trying to protect you," she says, climbing out and closing the door.

Ha protect me. How is keeping my mother's existence hidden, protecting me?

♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀

I slam my room door shut out of frustration. The tears I was holding in stream down my face. I can't believe this. I can't believe Jade. Keeping a secret like this from me. I wipe everything off my desk. Picking up the chair I slam it to the wall. It breaks, leaving me with the back part in my hands. I throw it to the floor, already looking for something else to break.

I pick up the framed photo of my mom, lifting it above my head.

"What the hell is going on in here?" My dad asks. I didn't even hear the door open in all the commotion I caused.

"Did you know?" I ask, turning to see his face muscles pulled together.

"Did you know my mother was still alive?" I ask again, elaborating a bit.

"Autumn, I," he steps forward taking the photo from my hands.

"Yes, I knew."

I crumble at his words, falling to the floor. I pull my knees to my chest and rock back and forth. My face buried between my knees.

He places his hand on my shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" I scream, pulling away.

"Autumn, we couldn't tell you if Orin found out"-

"I don't wanna hear your lies," I jump up and make a beeline for the window. I run on the roof, with no intention of stopping when I near the edge. I let my wings explode from my back and land on the ground. Pulling my wings back into my skin as I continue running. I don't care that this is this is probably the hundredth shirt I've torn since Jade's been back. I hop the fence like a parkour pro. I can't run to Ace's house because Jade will probably be there and her mom is Hunter. So I run to the next best place.

I climb three flights of stairs, sweat dripping down my forehead. My breathing is loud and deep. I slide my hand on the rail, walking to the last apartment door so I can regain some stamina. The building looks better since the last time I was here. The walls are repainted, so it doesn't look old anymore. The broken roof tiles are replaced and each door looks brand new, I'd say less than a month old. My guess is that new owners bought the place and started revamping it.

I wipe my arm over my forehead to remove my body fluid from it. My eyes are probably puffy and red from all the crying and running.

I thump my fist once on the door and wait. Three seconds later I hear a key turn and the door swings open. Sally smiles when she sees me but it quickly turns to a frown, when she notices my tears.

"Oh my God, Autumn, what's wrong?" She asks, hastily pulling out the keys from the door and unlocks the safety gate. When the barrier is removed from between us I walk into her, wrapping my arms around her waist, burying my head into the fold of her neck. She doesn't hesitate in returning the hug, keeping me there for a good two minutes. When she pulls away she grabs my hand and leads me into her room closing the door.

She looks at me like she doesn't know what to say. She sits down on her bed next to me. I can't help it when the next wave of tears stream down my face. I embrace her again waiting for my waterfall to stop before I speak.

"My mom is alive," I mumble in on her shoulder.

She pushes me away to read my face, but keeps her hand on my shoulders, "Isn't that good news?"

"It is," I answer her.

"But," she says cupping my face and wiping her thumb over my cheeks, to remove some of the salty water.

"But Jade and my father knew. They kept it from me."

Sally pulls me down on the bed and hugs me. Just holding me until I go numb. We lie like that for what feels like hours, not feeling the need to speak.

Finally I pull away. Sally stares at me intently, studying each inch of my face. Her eyes searching me, trying to unlock the windows of my soul, through my eyes.

"Do you mind if I take a shower? I feel like a hot mess."

Sally offers a small smile, "take as long as you need."

I get up and walk into their cozy bathroom, turning on the faucet. I stick my hand in to make sure the water is the right temperature before undressing and climbing in. The warm water graces over my body. I place both my hands against the wall and just let the water cleanse me. If only the water could wash away my hurt as well as my dirt.

After washing up, I turn off the water and open the glass shower door, only to frown when I notice that there isn't a towel.

"Sally," I call

"Yeah," her muffled voice travels through the door.

"Do you mind bringing me a towel?" I ask.

"Sure."

A few seconds later the door creaks open. Only Sally's hand emerges with a towel in it.

"Thanks," I take it from her and wrap it around my body.

I enter her room and she looks up from her book, pushing her glasses back up her nose.

"So where is your mom?" I regret asking when a look of sadness washes over her face. She doesn't answer me, and she doesn't have to. Her mom is out drinking again.

"Here," she says getting up from the bed, giving me some clothes. She turns around and I quickly slip on the boxer shorts and t-shirt.

Taking my place next to her on the bed.

I snuggle up to her, "what are you reading?"

She places the bookmark I made her between the pages and closes it, showing me the cover.

"The gravity between us, Kristen Zimmer," I read aloud.

I scrunch my face together because of the picture on it. Its two woman's faces, so close that it looks like they're about to kiss.

"And here I was expecting something along the lines of the 'pride and prejudice'," I manage a chuckle.

"I've read that at least a hundred times; besides I thought I'd spice it up a bit."

I raise my eyebrow at her, "looks more like you're doing research on a certain subject that I'd rather not mention."

"There's that too, but I don't think that reading one lesbian book is going to make everything crystal clear."

I flinch at her choice of words.

"I'm sorry Autumn, I didn't mean to say your mom's name," she averts her gaze.

"It's okay," I say, kissing her cheek. This makes her look up at me. Her green eyes turn a shade darker, giving away her thoughts. I don't have to be a mind reader to know what she's thinking. Her eyes dart to my lips. I close the gap between our faces but don't allow our lips to touch just yet. I stare her deep in the eyes, my thoughts roaming to Jade and how badly she hurt me. I connect my lips to her so soft and sensual, pulling away to watch her reaction. Jade licks her lips as if getting a better taste of me. I bring my mouth to hers once again, with a lot more force, pressing her body down with my own. I lick on her bottom lip asking for entry and she grants my request. I slip my tongue into her mouth, the taste of faded mint still lingering. Our tongues dance around for dominance. I slip my hand under her shirt, resting it on her soft middle.

A wave of guilt washes over me, causing me to pull away. What's that saying about regret; it's a good thing, too bad it always comes too late.