On The Run

Chapter Six

I'm terrified now. I just told T-er-Ty that I would help him! What was I thinking? I look out the opposite window so the cop can't see my face. I hear Ty role down his window, so I hold onto my hands, willing them to stop shaking. It will be a dead give away if I look so nervous in front of the officer.

"Can I help you officer?" Ty asked calmly. I'm glad that he can keep his composure so I don't have to worry about him looking guilty too.
"Do you know why I pulled you over?" The cop asked. He has a low husky voice that scares me even more.

"No I don't" Ty lies.
"Your trunk is open. No need to take out your license, just close it so nothing comes out, alright?" These words send a sudden flood of relief! Which I cant believe I am saying.
"Thank you officer, I will go do that." Ty says obviously relieved too.

"Ma'm." The officer is taking to me...
Instantly, my relieve seeps away as panic replaces it, making it harder to breath. I glance over and without showing too much of my face say:
"Hello officer, thank you!" Hopefully this will do.
"No problem. So what are you two up here for? Not many people come visit this part of town." The officer asks. I look ahead as Ty answers.
"Out to see family, they are a long way up. Still have a ways to go, and we don't want to be driving in the dark." I think he is trying to shut the cop up, so he gave him more information than was really needed.

"Oh, alright then, enjoy, and stay safe." The cop leaves and about a minute later, he drives off ahead of us.

"That was too close for comfort." He looks at me and we both burst out laughing.

I don't know why, the nerves, the dumb cop, the old friend reunion, it's all so overwhelming, and we both laugh until we are out of breath.

"It's time to go back, I think we have had a pretty eventful day" Ty says.
And, after he closes the trunk, and climbs back in the car, we head off.

I must have fallen asleep again, because when I wake up, it's dark, and Ty is hovering over me.
"You up?" He asks quietly, I realize he's asking me because he can't see my eyes in the dark. I yawn and sit up.

"Yeah, sorry." I stumble out of the car, still groggy, and I feel like I'm going to fall through the small path in between the trees.

Noticing my struggle, Ty reaches out and takes my hand to support me. I flush and am immediately grateful that it's too dark for him to see my reaction. We walk a long ways, and I'm doing fine. Out of the blue I trip over a root and almost fall, but he yanks back my hand and keeps me up.
"Klutz" he murmurs, and I elbow him. He chuckles and we continue walking.

Finally, we make it to the trailer, he heads in and turns on the lights so I can see the steps. I go inside and flop down on the bed, exhausted from the eventful day.

After he gets a drink he looks at me.
"What do you want to eat? He asks.
"Well I don't know what you have here, plus I am really tired, so I think I might skip it tonight." I respond.
"Not gonna happen. We don't have a lot of variety, basically just soup to heat up in the microwave... but you have to eat." And we both agree that we will share a can before bed.

As we are eating, I become curious as to how he found us in Phoenix.

"Did you move to Arizona before your parents died?" I ask quietly hoping not to upset him, but the curiosity is eating away at me, so I decided to ask anyway.
He stops eating and looks at me.

"We moved about an hour away from your place, and my parents actually wanted to visit your mom and dad. Riley, my sister, was too young to remember you guys so she wanted to stay home. Mom made me stay back to watch her, and they never came back." He explains.

Oh my gosh. In a way, we are the reason his mom and dad died. We are the reason he needs money.

"I'm so sorry, Ty. I didn't know..." I start. He holds up a hand to stop me.
"It's okay, I know it wasn't your fault." He assures me.
We eat in silence and when I am done, I head to the bathroom.

I lift my shirt to check on my bandages. There is less blood, and I check my cut. It looks like it's healing, I don't feel it as much anymore, so I put the old bandages back and change into my pajamas.

After I brush my teeth, and wash my face, I come out of the bathroom. Ty is asleep in the bed. He looks so peaceful, and I just want to snuggle up to him and sleep.

Instead, I turn all of the lights off and lay next to him. Not able to sleep, I think of my selfish parents. Why won't they pay? I can't help but miss Nick and I realize his birthday is in a week.
Even though I feel safe here, I have never missed Nick's birthday before, so I hope I see him.