Sorry for the late post! This chapter was a little hard for me to write, lol! You'll find out why :p ANYWHO! Just wanted to thank one of the coolest people ever, livinlovinlettingo for the art on the side! She made them all as a suprise for me and I love them! Thank you! Enjoy!

Autumn used her finger to scan the page, this being the third time she had read it that day. After her birthday, which was two months ago, she had gotten more people asking her for help.

While Autumn had agreed to help others, and her days were busy doing so; she made sure to make time for Clara, Sibella and Eric.

She helped Clara on Monday and Wednesday mornings. She helped Eric on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. And she only saw Sibella Friday mornings.

The book Ezra had given her was filled with more information than she could handle. It contained over five hundred pages, and seemed to get heavier each time she held it. The book had been very helpful though.

She learned Clara’s gift wasn’t all about focus, it was also about slowing down her heart rate. With Cade’s help, she managed to find a few ways to make that happen. She also learned Eric’s power was about patience. Learning to go along with life while also making yourself visible was though.

Someone’s arms wrapped around Autumn’s waist, pulling her from her thoughts and against them.

“Hey,” Tate whispered into her ear, forcing her coco brown hair from her right shoulder. He rested his lips against her neck, kissing his way up to her ear; Autumn giggled. “What are you doing?” Autumn immediately slammed the book shut, shoving it to the far edge of the table.

“Hey!” Cade shouted. Tate released Autumn, turning to face Cade.  “That is nasty! Keep that gross couple stuff to yourself!” Autumn took this distraction as a gift, forcing the book into the messenger bag and slipping it back into the closet. Cade ranted on as she did this.

While she wanted to tell Tate all about the book, she promised Ezra she wouldn’t. She also knew Tate would be against it and Autumn doing something she shouldn’t be. Autumn whirled around, standing next to Tate, as Cade finished his whining.

“You’re a baby,” Tate scoffed, shuffling across the room and resting in the chair next to Cade’s.

“No, you’re just nasty. Yes, we get it; you’re happy. Gross,” Cade gagged.

“Hey, what were you reading anyway?” Tate wondered. Autumn stood in between Cade and Tate’s chair, eyeing Cade.

“I was uh….”

“Catching up on her computer skills,” Cade nodded. “I have so much stuff to do, I need some help. It’s time for her to earn her keep around here.” Tate rested his hands against Autumn’s hips, forcing her to rest into his lap.

“She already has,” Tate grinned. Autumn returned the smile, turning around planting a kiss on his lips.

“No!” Cade shouted, pointing his finger at them. “I get enough of that gross couple stuff from Jade and David. You guys are not starting it.” Cade reached for another chair, dragging it next to him. “Autumn, sit.”

“I’m not a dog,” Autumn responded, sitting in her own chair.

“Good girl,” Cade laughed. Tate snorted at his comment, Autumn punching him in the shoulder.

“No remark to defend my honor?” Autumn teased.

“What? It was funny.” Autumn hit Tate again, all of them laughing.

“Tate,” someone said so quietly, Autumn thought she was hearing things. “Tate.” Autumn glanced over her shoulder, Clarke standing in the door frame; something was wrong. Clarke was nearly silent, not trying very hard to get Tate’s attention.

Autumn tapped his shoulder. Tate followed her gaze, eyes resting on Clarke. His smile faded away, and Autumn knew he sensed something was wrong as well. Tate sprang from his chair, standing in front of her.

“What’s wrong?” He questioned. Clarke glanced at Autumn for a moment before shoving Tate from the room.

“What was that about?” Cade asked, eyebrow raised.

“I don’t know.”

“It’s probably nothing,” Cade tried to reassure her. “I bet you she just found out what a buzzkill she is.”

“You are so sweet,” Autumn giggled.

“I know!” Cade chuckled.

“Autumn,” Tate called. Cade and Autumn glanced over their shoulders in unison, Autumn terrified. The color in Tate’s face dropped.

“What’s wrong?” Autumn asked.

“The council wants to see you.” Tate and Cade exchanged glances.

“What? Why?” Autumn wondered. Clarke stepped forward, heavy frown on her lips.

“I don’t know,” Clarke shook her head.

“We have a few minutes to think this through, what would they want?” Cade questioned.

“Thank her for helping? I mean Sibella is one of the council woman's daughters. She had to put in a good word, right?” Tate stated. Autumn tried to think of which councilwoman could have been Sibella’s mother, but none came to mind. She could barely remember what they looked like.

“She found Ezra. They’ll be happy with that, maybe ask her to find some oth-”

“We don’t have time to talk about this,” Clarke interrupted Cade. “They want her . . . now.” The room fell silent. It was so quiet, and her heart was beating so loudly, Autumn felt as if everyone could hear her heart.

Autumn’s eyes fell on Tate, but he wouldn’t return the gaze. He wouldn't even glance in her direction.

“We have to go,” Clarke whispered, resting her hand on Tate’s shoulder. Tate bobbed his head, daring to sneak a peek at Autumn. He held out his hand, Autumn taking it. She felt like a small child, finding comfort in just him holding her.

Tate forced her to her feet, and they began down the hall. Clarke and Cade trailed behind, whispering amongst themselves. At first, Tate wouldn’t say a word. Autumn just silently followed after him. Jade and David exited the cafeteria, eyebrows raised as they passed.

Autumn didn’t know what to think. Something was clearly wrong. They turned down a few halls, to many for Autumn to remember how to get back to her room. She knew they were getting close when they made the final turn around the corner, a small wooden door at the end.

Autumn remembered that door exactly, it standing out from all the others surrounding it.

“When you get there, be polite. Yes sir, yes ma’am.”

“Tate-” They stopped outside of the door, Tate forcing Autumn to face him.

“Act like you're meeting your president, except twice as respectful.”

“Tate-”

“Look them in the eye when they speak to you, never look down at your shoes.”

“Tate-”

“Don’t speak unless they ask you a question,” Tate interrupted Autumn for a third time, fixing stray hairs and wiping away the tiny makeup smudges under her eyes.

“Tate!” She shouted to demand his attention. He paused before moving her hair and placing it gently on her shoulders. “Please don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?” Autumn bit her lip.

“Like . . .” Autumn never thought words could physically hurt to speak out loud. “Like this is the last time you’ll see me.” Tears built in her eyes immediately upon saying them. Tate set his hand on her cheek, grinning.

“Everything’s going to be okay.” He pulled her closer, resting his lips against her forehead. Autumn shut her eyes, a tear finding its way down her cheek. Stepping back, Tate gave her that look that she feared; he was studying her. Taking in her appearance as if things would be over any second.

He rapped his fist against the door.

The door flung open a few seconds later, a man she’d seen in the cafeteria once before standing on the other side.

“Come on,” he said, standing back and gesturing toward the inside of the room. Autumn stepped inside, glancing over her shoulder at Tate. He tried to come inside as well, but the man set a hand on his chest and shoved him back. “You can’t come in.”

“What?” Tate snapped.

“You can’t come in,” the man repeated, starting to shut the door.

“I’m coming in,” Tate kicked it further open, trying to shove his way through. The man was taller than Tate, towering over him. He gave him an even harder shove backwards. Clarke came around the corner, holding Tate back; whom was screaming ‘I’m coming in’ over and over.

“Tate,” Autumn couldn’t help but whimper as the door shut behind her. The man turned to face Autumn, arms crossed over his chest. Without Tate, she could feel the panic setting in. She was all alone, truly alone. No Tate, no Cade, not even Clarke was there for her.

“Ms. Sumner,” a familiar voice called. Autumn’s hand was trembling. She squeezed her eyes shut, taking in a deep breath before throwing them open and turning around. She stepped closer toward the council, whom was all sitting in the same order as the first time she had seen them.

Four months ago, Autumn had been standing in the exact spot she was now. Four months ago, she had been thrown into a new world that she didn’t even know existed. A lot had happened in the past four months; Autumn was a new person.

“Thank you for finally deciding to join us.” Mr. Black had a hidden kindness about him the first time Autumn had seen him. That kindness, however, was gone. His eyes were unloving and cold. They stared at Autumn was disgust.

“You’ve caused quite a lot of trouble,” one of the women (Mrs. Jones as Tate later told Autumn) scowled. Autumn took Tate’s advice, not saying a word.

“You made us punish one of our best Travelers for his involvement with you, and we also had to punish two of our own residents for causing a disturbance over you,” Mr. Black sneered.

“You also helped our residents,” the woman on the far end, whom hadn’t said a word Autumn’s first time in front of the council, smiled. Autumn could see the resemblance in her smile, but mostly in her eyes; that was Sibella’s mother. 

“Like that matters,” Mrs. Jones snorted.

“It does,” a man with glasses shot back. “She has made huge improvements on our residents.”

“Oh god,” Mrs. Jones rolled her eyes.

“It’s true, you can’t ignore the facts,” Sibella’s mother said, narrowing her eyes as she did.

“Enough!” Mr. Black shouted, all the others falling silent. “Whether or not we count those acts, you’ve still caused many difficulties.”

“Josh and Jonas were good residents before you showed up.” Hearing their names sent shivers down Autumn’s spine. Tate had said the council took care of them, punished them for fighting. Autumn hadn’t seen them around since that day.

“They tried to kill me,” Autumn couldn’t bite her tongue for that one. Mrs. Jones was trying to justify the things they did to her; to Cade.

“You were hurting the other residents. They were doing their civic duty to protect their peers.”

“Protect their peers? They tried to kill Cade too.” The council seemed taken aback by this news, as if they hadn’t gotten the full story. Autumn bet they never bothered to find out every detail, they heard ‘human attacked’ and brushed it off.

“What gives you the right to speak to us in such a manner,” Mrs. Jones growled.

“They were punished for fighting,” Mrs. Black held up a hand to silence her. “We are here to discuss you.”

“You’ve quite frankly overstayed your welcome,” Mrs. Jones grinned. Autumn eyed the other council members, taking note of the disagreement lurking in there expressions. It seemed, as if, Mr. Black and Mrs. Jones were the only ones who agreed with this.

“Meaning?” Autumn questioned.

“You are to be removed.” Autumn’s heart stopped and her face went white.

“Re-removed?” She wasn’t sure what they were speaking about. She didn’t know if ‘removed’ meant removed from the earth.

“Tomorrow morning you shall be escorted off site and to a safe house set up.” Autumn thought hearing the council saying she was to be sent to death was the worst thing that could happen.

But she was wrong, this was.

“I have to leave?”

“Yeah,” Mrs. Jones obnoxiously bobbed her head.

“Please, I-I’ll do anything. I don’t want to leave,” Autumn begged.

“Mr. Black, you know how the rest of us-” the man with glasses began.

“I know how you feel but I overrule you.” Mr. Black returned his attention to Autumn. “You either leave here willingly or in a body bag Ms. Sumner.”

“She’s done so much good here,” Sibella’s mother argued.

“That’s the reason she’s being allowed to live!” Mr. Black slapped his palm against the countertop, Autumn jumping. “The only reason she is being granted permission to keep breathing knowing of us and our secrets is the things she’s done. Is that heartless, Ms. Sumner? Is making you leave a cold thing to do? Because, trust me, I can think of a lot worse that could be done.”

“Get your affairs in order by morning,” Mrs. Jones added onto what Mr. Black had said.

“One final warning. If you speak a word of our existence to anyone, we will come for you. And you will not get off as easy as you did today,” Mr. Black growled. Autumn eyed each council member, ending with Sibella’s mother. She mouthed the words ‘I’m sorry’ before exiting the table. “You are dismissed. Goodbye, Ms. Sumner.”

“And good luck,” Mrs. Jones cackled.

 Autumn was frozen. She was more than sure her legs were broken. She couldn’t move a muscle. The thought of being forced to leave killed her. Autumn was stuck in her own world, being pulled out of it when the man at the door gripped her arm and tugged her toward the door.

He practically chucked her outside. Autumn stumbled to catch herself, but managed to do so. Tate, Clarke and Cade were waiting at the end of the hall. Tate glanced in Autumn’s direction before doing a double take and sprinting toward her.

“Autumn!” He shouted. Autumn turned toward him, unsure of what to say. “What happened? What did they want?” His sneakers squeaked against the tile as he stopped in front of her, Clarke and Cade not too far behind.

At first, Autumn couldn’t say anything. The words wouldn’t come out, and she just stood there staring at him.

“Autumn?” He whispered; that broke her. She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him as if holding onto Tate would allow her to stay.

“There making me leave,” she couldn’t get the sentence out without her voice squeaking and her eyes watering.

“What?” Tate removed Autumn from him to observe her face, to see if she was telling the truth.

“Tomorrow morning, I leave.” Tate just peered at her, unable to tell if this was some twisted nightmare.

“Tate?” Clarke questioned. David and Jade could be heard coming down the hall. Autumn didn’t want to cry in front of anyone else, she tried to wipe the tears away quickly. Tate saw this and ushered Autumn with him.

Arms around her shoulders, he walked her through the maze of halls, up the stairs, and into his room without saying a word. When they reached his room, and the door was closed behind them, Autumn broke down.

“I can’t . . . I won’t leave!” She wailed, Tate just held onto her. He couldn’t imagine losing someone else he cared about. However, he knew. He knew the council was serious, and there was no turning back on this decision.

That thought alone broke him as well. He let out a few tears, wiping them away the second they escaped; he needed to be strong for her.

After an hour, Autumn had managed to finish crying. She plopped herself down on the edge of Tate’s bed, and just stared off into space. She was drained, out of tears. Yet the sorrow was still there.

Autumn hadn’t been as happy as she had the past four months at any point in her life. Even though she had been attacked and threatened, Tate, Cade, David, Jade and even Clarke made her ridiculously happy.

And now she had to say goodbye to all of them.

“I can’t go back,” Autumn shook her head. This was her first full sentence that wasn’t broken by sobs. “What about my mom? I haven’t talked to her in a long time.”

“Cade’s been taking care of that,” Tate spoke up from the corner of the room.

“There has to be some way I can stay!”

“I’ve come up with a hundred ways, Autumn. I’ve been dreading this moment for weeks. I’ve been trying to think of something to do to prevent it, and there’s only one thing I can think of.”

“That is?” Tate hesitated before holding her hands in his. He got down onto one knee so she could look at him.

“Autumn, will you run away with me?”

“What?”

“We can figure something out. Cade . . . he has to have an idea on how. We can get away from all of this,” Tate had a goofy smile on his face, one that made Autumn chuckle.

“I would love to do that more than anything,” she mimicked his smile. The moment soon ended when a thought crossed her mind. “What about our friends?” Tate frowned, resting on the bed next to her.

“What about them?”

“Tate, we can’t hurt the people we love. If Cade did that for us, the council would know it was him in a second. You have a better idea of what they’d do to him than I do.” Tate paused, then slowly nodded.

“I can’t leave Clarke. She’s the only family I have left.”  There was that comfortable silence again. The one that Autumn loved, the one that let made her think Tate was the one. Autumn scanned the bed, searching for his hand. When she found it, she interlocked their fingers. Tate glanced at her.

“We’ll find a way.” Tate set his hand on Autumns cheek, moving in to kiss her. Autumn tried to remember every detail of this kiss; it was going to be one of the lasts. When it was done, they ended up lying together on the bed.

Tate’s hand was wrapped around her. Autumn’s head was to Tate’s chest, the rest of her snuggled against his body. She listened to his heartbeat, she tried to catalog every detail of him into her head. The way he laughed, the way he smiled, even the way he smelled.

She never thought she would be forced to leave. It was something that Autumn never spoke about, or even thought about. Now, it was all too real. Tomorrow, she’d be sitting all alone in an apartment thinking about all the love she had lost.

Autumn hadn’t thought much of Mark since she’d kissed Tate for the first time. But now, he was creeping back into her thoughts.

“Is this how you want to spend your last night?” Tate questioned. “We can do anything you want to.”

“This is perfect,” Autumn rolled onto her stomach, her face inches from his. “I don’t want to forget the stuff like this.” Tate observed her in a way he never had before, Autumn guessing he was doing what she was; trying to save memories for later.

A click sounded, Autumn and Tate sitting up in bed to find David and Cade standing in the room. David clicked his camera again, the flash blinding.

“What are you doing?” Autumn asked.

“How did you get in here?” Tate wondered as Cade threw something onto the bed.

“You forgot to lock it, lover boy,” Cade teased as Autumn grabbed the item he had thrown.

“What is this for?” Autumn questioned, showing Cade the blindfold.

“More surprises!” David giddily grinned, snapping another picture.

“What? You thought you could spend your last night in here moping around?” Cade pouted. “That’s cute.” Autumn looked to Tate, trying to come up with a reason for him to leave. She wanted her alone time with Tate.

“We don’t have all day! You’ve been in here for like three hours.”

“Wonder what they were doing,” Cade nudged David, laughing hysterically before understanding his own joke and wearing a disgusted expression. “Ewh.”

“Let’s get this over with,” Autumn moaned, jumping off the bed.

“Get it over with? More like get the party started!” David fist bumped the air, holding out his palm to Cade for a high five.

“That was awful,” Cade tsked, snatching the blindfold from Autumn and forcing it over her eyes.

“What is this about?” Tate asked as someone pushed Autumn forward.

“You’ll both see!” Autumn could hear the camera snap another picture. Someone guided Autumn through the halls, and up some stairs. She could feel the brisk breeze through her hair; she was on the roof.

“What’s going on?” Autumn whined.

“Stop moaning,” Cade growled. “We’re almost there!” Someone rested their hands on Autumn’s shoulder and stopped her, ripping off the blindfold. “Ta da!”

Autumn covered her mouth with her hand to hide the huge, yet extremely foolish, smile on her face.

“Are you serious?” Autumn asked, lowering her hand. The lighted walkway from Autumn and Tate’s date was still up. Resting on the roof was a project connected to a laptop, a giant screen, and a couch filled with all of her friends.

“Surprise!” Jade giggled as David snapped a few more pictures.

“Is all of this for me?” Autumn glanced over her shoulder at Tate, who was as surprised as she was.

“Yeah! Now come sit!” Cade and Autumn headed toward the couch, jumping onto it. Clarke removed herself from the couch and rested on the floor. Tate found a spot right next to Autumn, everyone else gathering on the couch or the floor.

“Whose couch is this?” Autumn wondered, noticing it was just like Tate’s.

“David’s,” Eric commented from the floor. Sibella sat next to him, scooting closer when he wasn’t paying attention.

“It was the only way Clarke would let me bring my camera,” David frowned.

“That’s Clarke for you. Clarke,” Cade paused to make a rainbow gesture with his hands. “The tough one.”

“Did you just give her a tagline?” Autumn laughed.

“I did,” Cade bobbed his head. “Thoughts?”

“What’s mine?” Jade asked Cade.

“Hmm . . . the diva!” Cade laughed.

“I like it,” Jade nodded.

“Me?” David questioned.

“The paparazzi!” Cade cackled, hitting Clarke’s shoulder to get her attention. “That’s a good one, huh?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Clarke shooed him off.

“Autumn, the human.” Cade was proud of that one, the expression on his face proving that.

“I don’t like that,” Autumn whined.

“I do!” Cade argued.

“Are we watching this movie or not?” Clarke groaned. Cade leapt off the couch and to his laptop, setting up the movie.

“And Cade, what’s yours?” The movie began to play as Cade made his way back to the couch.

“The genius of course,” he scoffed. “Did you even have to ask?”

“And mine?” Tate wondered, wrapping an arm around Autumn’s shoulders.

“Beach blonde?” He snorted at his comment.

“Come on, that’s awful.” Tate rolled his eyes.

“You have any better ideas?” Cade wondered. “The hulk? Houdini?”

“The hero,” Autumn interjected. Tate smiled, planting a kiss on her forehead.

“Ewh, gross,” Cade cried like a baby.

“Shut up, the movies on!” Clarke snapped.

As the movie began, Autman looked at all of her friends. This was her new family. These people were a part of the new Autumn’s world.

And she was going to miss them more than anything.