Hunted || Wesari

Chapter Eleven: Pasts

When Courtney asked him if he'd heard anything last night, he lied.

"No," He replied. "Did you?"

"Well... Olivia has vivid nightmares," Courtney replied, passing him a bowl of chicken soup. "I just wanted to know if she woke you up."

"I'm a deep sleeper," He lied. Wes was such a light sleeper that a floorboard creaking could wake him up. "Didn't hear a thing."

"Good," The blonde replied. 

As the days went on, it got worse, to the point where it was happening almost every night. Pair that with his nightly nightmares, and Wes was barely getting any sleep. That was a problem; in this world, fatigue could kill you just as quickly as starvation.

He never evesdropped again, still feeling ashamed of himself for doing it the first time. It was tempting, though; as time went on, he couldn't shake a feeling that Courtney and Olivia were hiding something from him. Something about Olivia's past. And while he usually wasn't a prying person, he desperately wanted to know what it was.

Perhaps that was how he needed up in the garden, despite the fact that he could barely pick anything with his arm, helping Olivia with the daily task of farming. Spring was almost over, and they needed to harvest everything before the crops became overripe or were attacked by crows.

The black-haired woman rarely glanced at him, keeping her eyes on the crops. Her black hair was pulled into a ponytail. While she had warmed up to him a little over the past two weeks, she was still rather indifferent to him. Wes didn't mind. She didn't hate him anymore, and that was a win in his book.

"So," He said awkwardly, trying to start up a conversation. "How did you and Courtney meet?"

She looked up at him, her black eyes seemingly staring into his soul. Her expression gave him the impression that she didn't want to talk to him, yet she spoke anyway. "College. Harvard."

"Harvard?" Wes asked. "That's impressive."

"Well, we both got scholarships," She replied, turning her attention back to the ground. "I was a genius, Courtney was rich. We found our ways."

"How long have you been together?" He asked.

"Seven years," She replied. "Been married for four."

"Did you ever want children?" He asked. 

Olivia's expression soured. "We were planning on it. There was a little girl named Emily. She had Courtney's eyes. The exact same color. We wanted to adopt her, but..."

"Didn't get to in time?" Wes asked.

Olivia shook her head. "A blessing, in a way. We never would've been able to get here with a child. Hopefully, she got out, found someone who was willing to take her in."

The chances of that were unlikely. A child, in this world, alone? They wouldn't last a day in the old world, let alone the new. And seeing as there was no way they could conceive a child, Olivia and Courtney would never be mothers, no matter how much they wanted to be. Wes couldn't imagine that; he'd always loved children, had always wanted them. At least, for him, there was a chance that he'd still have them.

"Of course, it's my fault that we don't," Olivia said. "My fault that we didn't adopt her."

"You convinced Courtney to delay it too long?" He asked.

Olivia shook her head. "No."

He was close, he could feel it. He'd have to pick his next question carefully. She was actually opening up to him, an occurrence that had never happened before; who knew when he'd get an opportunity like this again.