The Runaways

Chapter 15

Caleb

I couldn't figure out what to say to her. Not a goddamn word. But seeing Hailey awake and staring at me for the first time since she'd come to had me thinking about saying something.

It's kinda hard to say too much of anything when you're holding on to a girl with nothing but your boxers on. But I tried not to think about it too much.

I didn't know what was going on in her head. Usually, she says everything she's thinking, and I mean everything. You didn't even have to ask, and she'd spill her smart-ass comments all over the place.

But she was quiet. Dead quiet.

Eyes wide open but nothing going on behind them.

I thought maybe she was gonna pass out again, so I pulled her a little closer to keep her warm. I was so cold I couldn't really feel if I was making a difference, but she could, 'cause all of a sudden she got this look on her face like nothing I'd seen before.

She didn't really seem scared or anything-she never has around me-but all these creases started popping up in her forehead, and her eyes got big and wild like some kind of feral animal. So I figured I'd say something, 'cause I had a feeling she'd get crazy if I didn't.

        "I didn't do anything to you if that's what you're worried about," I said.

Hailey didn't blink, just stared at me like she hadn't heard a word I'd said.

        "Nobody touched you, Hailey. Honest. You can check if you want."

        "Get off."

I let her go pretty quick after that. She pulled my clothes around her like she wanted to hide herself from me. I wasn't even looking at her in that way. I hated that she thought I would.

        "Did Liam take the keys?" she asked, out of the blue.

        "What keys?"

        "The cop's?"

She pointed to the frozen red trail lining the side of the room leading to where Marcus and Cillian dumped Rusty's body. I couldn't get past his hands. Seeing Russ's fingers all blue and swollen like that wasn't something anybody could look at for too long.

        "I don't know. Nobody said anything about any keys to me. Why? It's not gonna open that door."

Her face scrunched up around the corners. The longer she glared at me the less I wanted to look at her. Whatever make up she had on was either smudged or had rubbed off somewhere along the way.

Her cheeks were blotchy red from the cold, and I figured she'd probably be pretty upset if she could actually see the way her hair looked.

Hailey tried getting to her feet, but she looked like a toddler swimming around in my jeans, shivering, and tripping all over the place. She stumbled over to Rusty, pocketed something, and started pacing around the room.

I stayed put. I wasn't even sure if I could stand yet, but I'd be damned before she figured that out.

        "Can you sit down? I'm getting dizzy watching you go around in circles," I said.

        "So stop watching me."

        "You're distracting."

        "I'm trying to figure my way out of here. "

        "There isn't one, princess, so sit down."

Hailey dropped the conversation. Trying to talk sense to her didn't work too well either. She walked around the room like an ant in a mason jar, thinking she could change things.