Nothing that gave me any real hope they’d find whoever was behind this. They were basically warning me that I was on my own without actually saying those words. It was disheartening, but more than that, it was terrifying. I had trouble sleeping, even though Jake’s comforting presence and soft breaths were right next to me.

Maybe the fear came because Jake was with me. I didn’t want to give in to the threats; I didn’t want to break up with Jake. That was literally the last thing I ever wanted to do. He made me happy. No… happy was an understatement. He made me feel like I was made of fireworks and stardust. An impossible combination that made me wonder if he was working some kind of spell over me. Maybe he slipped me a love potion when I wasn’t looking, or maybe he was just that perfect—whatever the reason, it made it near impossible to imagine what my life would be if I pushed him away.

But then I’d start imagining what would happen if I didn’t push him away. I started picturing all kinds of fucked-up things, fed by the memory of a severed rooster head staring up at me. I couldn’t control the images that would randomly pop up throughout the day, and all of them made me want to curl up into a ball and cry until this was all over.

If anything happened to Jake, I didn’t think I’d be able to live with myself. It would destroy me, from the inside out. My heart would disintegrate, turning to useless dust in my chest. I was beginning to care more about what happened to him than what could potentially happen to me. My intense worry for his well-being made me forget that I was the real target and that this was all happening because someone had their sights set on me. Jake was just an innocent bystander, dating the wrong person at the wrong time.

And yet he still wouldn’t back down. He refused to let this sick person win, and for that, I was incredibly grateful. There were defining moments in every relationship that steered the course for what was to come, that would forever shape the way love grew. A singular moment could either snuff out any flames currently crackling and growing in intensity, or it could permanently encase that fire in a protective shell, creating an unbreakable bond that only grows in strength through hardships and through the good times.

I felt like by Jake staying with me, that shell turned solid around us. If he stayed by my side through this mess, then I couldn’t see anything tearing us apart in the future.

Jake reached into the back seat and grabbed his backpack before clicking open the trunk of his new car. “You ready?” he asked me, reaching over and squeezing my thigh.