Love Unspoken

Alexander grinned and pulled her close, whispering, "Hey, this isn't so bad, right?"

Quinn asked, "What's so good about it?"

Alexander chuckled, "No one to bug us. Just you and me. When was the last time we had some alone time like this?"

Quinn pushed him away, annoyed. "Couldn't you find a better spot? Why here? Look at this place..."

She stopped short, eyes wide, as a fat centipede crawled toward them. She screamed and jumped back into Alexander's arms. "Centipede!" Alexander turned, grabbed a nearby rock, and smashed the centipede as it got closer.

"Alright, it's dead," he said, tossing the centipede into the fire with a stick. The smell of roasting meat filled the air.

Quinn was speechless. "You..."

Alexander said, "Don't worry. I'm here. You sleep. I'll keep watch. No bugs will get you."

Quinn shook her head. "No way, I can't sleep." She glanced around nervously at the dark, the sounds of insects making her jumpy.

Alexander sighed. "If you can't sleep, how about we go on an adventure?"

Quinn stared at him. "Are you nuts? What kind of adventure can we have here?"

Alexander shrugged. "It's places like this that make it fun. What's the point of other places?"

Quinn thought he must be really bored to find this place interesting. She clung to his arm. "Don't go, just stay here."

Alexander shrugged again. "Alright."

Quinn took a deep breath, trying to ignore the three coffins behind her. She leaned into Alexander's arms. "I'll try to sleep. Just don't leave me, okay?"

To keep him from going on an adventure, Quinn pretended to sleep.

Alexander stroked her hair. "Okay, go to sleep."

Quinn sighed, closed her eyes, and tried to sleep. But as soon as she did, she felt like something was surrounding them, imagining zombies jumping out of the coffins. She couldn't help but ask, "Did you bring me here on purpose?"

Alexander reassured her, "Of course not, it was just an accident. Don't worry, we won't be here long."

Quinn asked, "How long is that?"

Alexander replied, "Depends on when they find us."

Quinn frowned. "They?"

Alexander clarified, "Yeah, Kyle and the others."

Quinn pulled out her phone, wanting to call Kyle or at least send their location, but there was no signal.

She sighed, "What kind of place is this? No signal at all."

Alexander explained, "That's normal. This place has been abandoned for years. No signal towers, so no signal."

He reminded her, "Weren't you going to sleep?"

Quinn admitted, "I can't sleep. Thinking about those three coffins, I feel like something will come out."

Alexander laughed. "You've watched too much TV."

Quinn pouted and hugged him tighter. It had been a long time since she had been so proactive.

Alexander looked around, smiling, and hugged her tighter. "Cold?"

Quinn shook her head. It was summer, and although it was cool by the sea at night, the big fire in front of them and hugging Alexander made her feel a bit hot. Quinn opened her eyes and glanced at the beam above them. In the next second, she widened her eyes in horror. "There's a snake!"

Alexander followed her gaze. There was a snake hanging from the beam, right above them.

Alexander reassured her, "It's okay, it's not poisonous."

Quinn protested, "Even if it's not poisonous, it's still scary!"

Alexander explained, "It's too high to catch. Just leave it. If it comes down, I'll kill it."

Quinn was now completely unable to sleep. She moved away from Alexander to a spot farther from the snake. "I'm not sleeping."

Alexander nodded. "Then let's sit for a while. When it gets light, we'll sleep on the beach."

He didn't want to scare Quinn any more than she already was.

They stared at the fire in silence for a while. Quinn suddenly looked up at Alexander. "So, why isn't Calvin dead? Tell me what happened. I clearly saw the bullet go through." Alexander hesitated, his expression complex.

Quinn was anxious. "Tell me. You're not lying to me, are you?"

Alexander reassured her. "Alright, don't get worked up. I'll tell you."

He was silent for a moment, then said, "Actually, the person Walter killed wasn't Calvin."

Quinn was stunned. "What?"novelbin

Alexander found it amusing. "What, you can't even recognize Calvin?"

Quinn frowned, thinking hard. She was too nervous back then to notice anything. She was only thinking about saving Calvin, not checking if it was really him. Quinn asked, "So, who was that guy?"

Alexander shrugged. "Doesn't matter, it wasn't Calvin."

Quinn looked at him, confused. "So, you knew where Calvin was the whole time?"

Alexander's silence was all the answer she needed.

Quinn pressed on, "Come on, what's your plan? Now that it's over, you should tell me, right?"

Alexander thought for a moment. "Let's just say, Calvin's got a temper, but he's not that stubborn."

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Alexander laid it all out for her.

From the start, Alexander had a plan to give Calvin a new identity. But for that to work, Calvin had to "die" publicly so no one would look for him anymore.

So, Alexander found a double who looked like Calvin in height, appearance, and especially voice. They even gave the double plastic surgery to make the resemblance uncanny. Once everything was set, Calvin would stage a fallout with the Lynch family, making it look like he was on the run.

The double would then take his place and "die," giving Calvin his freedom.

Walter wouldn't miss a chance like that, so if he kept chasing Calvin, they could take him down too.

The plan shifted when Calvin saw that letter, but it still mostly followed the original idea. He even killed Zeke to make his crime more believable.

Later, Calvin contacted Alexander, leading to everything that happened next.

Quinn asked, "So, you and Calvin didn't actually fall out?"

Alexander smirked, "Do you think Calvin's as stubborn as you?"

Quinn asked, "What do you mean?"

Alexander laughed, "Just kidding."

Quinn couldn't help but think of Walter that day.

Her heart skipped a beat. "So that's why Walter was so set on taking down the fake Calvin?"

Alexander's face turned serious. He looked at Quinn for a long time. "Yeah."

Quinn's expression changed.

Now she finally got what Walter meant by helping him one last time.

Walter had figured out the guy was a fake and understood Alexander's whole plan, which is why he was so determined to kill him. He was helping Alexander and Quinn.

Quinn fell silent, staring at the fire with mixed feelings.

The flames flickered on their faces, and the increasing sound of insects outside made the room feel even quieter.

Quinn asked, "So, why didn't you tell me the truth? Were you worried I'd feel guilty about Walter?"

Alexander said, "Walter forced you to kill him, so you'd always remember him and feel guilty once you knew the truth."

That's why Alexander never told her, not even wanting to reveal that Calvin was still alive. He didn't want Walter to keep competing for a place in Quinn's heart, even in death. But when he saw Quinn fall ill, he had no other choice. He had to tell her and take her to see Calvin.

Alexander asked, "So, do you blame me?"

Quinn shook her head. "There's nothing to blame you for. It's all in the past. Am I supposed to be mad at you now?"

Alexander smiled. "That's good."

Even though he smiled, there wasn't much joy in his eyes. He knew that even if Quinn said she didn't care, she'd still feel some guilt towards Walter.

But there was no point in dwelling on it.

Alexander stood up and sat down beside her. "Alright, why don't you try to sleep for a bit?"

Quinn shook her head. "I can't sleep."

The atmosphere was heavy. Even with a snake above them, Quinn didn't feel as scared as before.

She couldn't describe her feelings. Although she tried not to think about anything, those thoughts kept creeping into her mind.

They sat in the room all night. At some point, the snake above them disappeared, and they didn't know where it went.

When the morning sunlight streamed through the door, dispelling the night's gloom, Quinn felt a bit better.

She noted, "It's morning."

Alexander asked, "Are you hungry?"

Quinn shook her head.

Even though she said she wasn't hungry, Alexander still took out two bags of food from the suitcase and handed one to her. "Eat something. You're not fully recovered yet." Quinn took the bag, wondering if Alexander had anticipated all this, as he had prepared plenty of food. He had bought some at Amber Bay and more on the way here. The food was enough to last them four or five days.

Quinn suddenly looked at Alexander. "We're not really going to stay here for four or five days, are we?"

Alexander casually opened a bottle of water and handed it to her. "Maybe even longer."