Background: Samantha Walker is fifteen. She's been in and out of foster care since she can remember. She's never really had a family, until this last foster home when she met the five year old Jamie Scott. This is Jamie's first foster home. His parents were killed a month earlier in a car crash, and no family could be found for the young boy.

Chapter One – Away into the Night

"We're leaving tonight." Samantha's voice was hushed as she attempted to soothe the crying boy. She rubbed his back, and slowly he fell asleep. Quietly, she lifted Jamie's head off of her lap, praying they wouldn't hear. The 'they' she was referring to were the current foster 'parents' the two of them were living with.

"What the hell is this?" John, had screamed earlier, kicking Jamie's LEGO creation across the room. John was drunk, as usual. "Clean it up." His words had been slurred.

"Why'd you have to do that?" Sam looked up from the book she was reading. Usually, she kept her mouth shut in foster homes, but this time it was different. She felt a connection to Jamie Scott, and she needed to protect him. John had turned towards the teenager, anger in his eyes.

"How dare you," he had yelled as he walked towards the bed she was sitting on, "this is MY house!" He had slapped her across the face before leaving, kicking some more of Jamie's LEGOs on his way out.

The slapped had hurt, but Sam knew she had to be strong for Jamie. He had cried more than she had.

She slowly started packing two book bags. She had run plenty of times in her short life, but she had always been alone. She wasn't sure how this was going to work with a five year old, but she couldn't leave him here. She packed clothes for the both of them and a stuffed animal for Jamie. She knew that they would need food too. She had a little over fifty dollars saved up, and that wouldn't last long. She glanced back at Jamie making sure he was still asleep before she slipped out into the dark hallway.

They both had seemed pretty drunk tonight, and she prayed they were passed out, oblivious to any noise she might be making. Slowly, Sam walked to the kitchen. She grabbed whatever she could. As she headed towards the bedroom she eyed John's wallet sitting on the kitchen table. She didn't think twice about grabbing the five twenties that were tucked away in it.

"Jamie, we gotta go." She shook the little boy awake. She handed him the back pack she had packed for him. The window was already open waiting for their escape.

"We're we going?" He whispered as he rubbed his eyes awake.

Sam shook her head, "I'm not sure." She told him as she handed him his jacket. "Put this on. It's kinda chilly." He did as he was told.

"Ready?" She didn't wait for a reply. She picked the young boy up and helped him climb through the window, and then she followed him.

"Let's go." He put his hand into hers as they began their journey. They walked for about an hour, until Jamie became too tired to go on. Sam couldn't make him go any further. She knew that he needed his rest. They had made it outside of town the bus station laid right up the road.

Sam knew that a teenager walking into the bus station in the middle of the night would look odd, let alone a teenager and a five year old, but she needed to know the schedule before they fell asleep for the night. "Jamie," He had sat down, next to a tree, she kneeled next to him, "I need you to stay here. I'm going to go right over there," She pointed to the bus station, "I'll be right back." Jamie's face told her he was unsure whether or not to believe her. "Look, buddy I will be right back. I promise. "With a quick hug she had left.

Jamie Scott sat waiting. He was far enough from the road that no one could see him. He wasn't worried about Sam he knew she would be back. In the last month, he had lost both his parents and had been sent to a new home with mean people, but then Sam had come, and things had gotten better. He loved her.

It seemed like forever, but eventually Sam had come back. "Hey little man." She sat down next to him. "I got us two tickets." She held up the tickets to show him. "The bus leaves at 5:45 which is in a little less than four hours. So you should probably get some sleep."

"Where we going?" He yawned as he asked the question.

"New York." She told him as he laid his head on her lap. She pulled one of her hoodies out of the bag and wrapped it around him. He quickly fell asleep, but Sam stayed awake until it was time to meet their bus. She was too worried to sleep. Her thoughts and worries kept her busy, and before she knew it, it was time to wake Jamie up again. "Come on bud." She carried him to the bus station. She had picked New York because it was big, and if anyone reported them it would be hard to find them in the city.

Beyond going to New York she hadn't thought much of a plan. She had no idea what she was going to do. If it had just been her she would have gone to a runaway shelter, found a job, but she had a five-year old with her, and no shelter would just take them in, not without notifying the proper authorities.

The bus ride from Charlotte, NC to New York was long. They both had a snack before falling asleep. They didn't awake until the bus stopped.

"Whoa." Jamie stood memorized at the skyscrapers. Sam couldn't help but smile at his amazement and innocence. All he could think about were the sights and sounds of the city. He didn't care that they had no plan, a limited supply of food and money. Nope, all he cared about was the moment.

She grabbed his hand and began to walk. They ended up in Central Park. "Okay, buddy we need a plan." They were sitting on a bench eating animal crackers.

"Well, first we can go on the jungle gym, and then down that swirly side, and then swing, but I don't want to go on the merry-go-round it makes me sick, but I love the monkey bars."

Sam laughed, "No you goof we need a plan. Like we are we going to sleep and how are we going to survive." She playfully pushed him.

He shrugged, eyeing the jungle gym, "Can I go play?" He asked giving his best puppy dog face. Sam nodded and let him go off. She knew he couldn't understand the magnitude of the problem they were facing, and he shouldn't have to he was five.

Sam had to practically drag Jamie away to get some lunch. They had bought some hotdogs at a side walk cart, and now they were back in the park sitting under a tree. "You know what," Jamie had ketchup all over his face. She wiped his face with a napkin as he continued "My momma once told me of her friend who lives in New York maybe we can find her." Jamie took another bite from his foot long hotdog.

"I don't know buddy. This city's pretty big." Sam told him, not wanting to disappoint the little boy, she added "We can try though." She picked up their garbage and headed towards the trashcan. "Do you know her name?"

The little boy scrunched his face in concentration trying to remember the name of his momma's friend. He couldn't remember her name, but he knew that she made clothes or something like that. His momma had known her when she was younger. He had never met her, but a few months back Haley had shown him a picture of her in a magazine. He wished he could remember her name, but he couldn't.

"It's alright. We'll figure something out." Sam said smiling trying to reassure the boy. She didn't want him to worry. She had been doing enough of that for the both of them. "Why don't you go play some more?" With a smile he had run off towards the swings.

She sighed as she watched him and a few other kids play tag. She knew that running off with Jamie wasn't the smartest decision she had ever made, but she didn't know what else to do. Last night, John had only hit her, but who knows how long it would have been before he raised a hand to Jamie, and that was something that she would not allow to happen. She would figure this whole thing out. She had to.

A/N: So what do you guys think?? Should I continue? Yes, no? Let me know if you like the idea, or you think I should try something else… Oh, and I wasn't really sure on the title so if you have any ideas for a better one let me know!