Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.
AN: This is based off 'Until I Feel Nothing' by seemslikeaporno, so most of the credit goes to them. This is a random thing I wrote and was itching to post...
"May I sit here?" Peaches looks up. A man is standing there, tilting his head at her. Peaches nodded numbly. The man sits down and places his bag next to him. He is dressed in rather scraggly clothing, as if he had just woke up and threw on what he laid his hands on. But there is no denying that he was a handsome man. "You think anyone will find us?"
Peaches jumps before realising that the man is talking to her. She snorts. She didn't mean to - it was just that it was the last thing that she would expect anyone to ask her.
"Is running away not what you are doing?"
The 18-year-old shrugs. "I guess so."
The man leans back. Peaches examines his face. He must be around his early twenties, late teens. "Where're you heading?"
Peaches shrugs once more. "I'll just ride this train and goes to where it takes me."
"Well, all the places it'll take you are listed on a map." the man smirks.
Peaches laughs before leaning back as well, looking at the bright inquisitive green eyes, shaking her head. "Maybe I'm going somewhere not listed on the map."
The man barks out a laugh, for some strange reason. Peaches didn't think that the comment was that funny. He holds out his hand. "I'm Diego."
"I'm Peaches."
*
*
"Where are you getting off?" Peaches asks, not too long after they fall into silence. She's been staring out the window for 15 minutes, and is admiring the passing scenery, enjoying the vast change from the city she knows.
A shrug. "Depends." Diego leans back. Now that he has taken off his coat and hood, it is easier to see him. He has bright green eyes that pierce into anything they are looking at, tousled blonde hair that is streaked with brown, perfectly tanned skin and straight teeth. He's wearing jeans, converse and a hoodie, like her. Seems like there was a dress code for running away.
"On what?" Peaches asks.
Diego laughs. His laughter is bright and loud. "Everything."
*
*
After another hour or so of comfortable silence, Peaches left to go to the bathroom. She washes her hands and dries them on her jeans. Opening the door with a metallic click, she is surprised to find Diego standing there, staring at her intensely.
"What?"
She's a little unnerved. Not only because of Diego scaring the hell out of her, but also their close proximity. It's too much like Ethan all over again - the bright eyes, the rugged looks, and her heart beating a mile a minute. Except for the fact that she has only known Diego for little over an hour.
Yet nothing stops her from kissing him for the next 10 minutes.
*
*
"How old are you?" Peaches asks Diego after they return to their cabin. She is trying to wrangle her hair into a more acceptable form.
Diego tilts his head at her. "What brought this up?"
Peaches smirks. "I just spent about 10 minutes making out with you. I'd like to know that I didn't do so with an old man."
"I'm offended." Diego mocks, putting a hand over his heart. "I thought you would have more faith in me than that."
Peaches remains unconvinced. "I've seen guys over forty that don't look a day older than thirty."
Diego grins wolfishly. "Twenty five." he tilts his head. "And you?"
Normally, Peaches would be offended at the question and start to scold whoever asked her that question. But today is not a normal day and she doesn't feel normal. Today, she smiles. "I'm eighteen."
*
*
"I have a bad habit of trying to help people." Diego tells her after an hour. He's looking at his book. Peaches frowns. She almost didn't realise that she was being talked to.
Peaches tilts her head.
"That's why I got together with my girlfriend - well, ex-girlfriend now. Because she had a crappy life with her ex and I wanted to make her better." he flips a page, and Peaches wonders if he is even reading the book.
Peaches leans back in her seat from staring out the window. She can tell that it's a very touchy subject, and wonders why he's telling her. So she asks him. "Why're you telling me?"
Diego shrugs. "You seem like a person who could understand."
She doesn't meet his eyes. He doesn't realise how close his words had struck her. She only nods half-heartedly.
*
*
The conductor walks around, telling everyone that there is another three stops. He barely stops to look at the weary-looking couple seated in the carriage with little to no belongings.
Diego pays for the food when it comes around. It's crappy, but it's hot and something Peaches desperately wants. The packets of food have some sort of vegetables, which she is thankful for. She shoves the meat aside. She eats her fill, looking up as Diego leaves his on the seat.
"You're not eating?"
He shrugs. "Not really. I don't eat that much."
Peaches stares at him - really looks at him. He is wearing many layers of clothing, but is only wearing a pair of skinny jeans. She didn't realise how thin he was. "Why?" she doesn't bother hiding the concern in his voice.
Diego smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "Just don't like to."
*
*
"I'm glad I'm not the only one running away today." Diego says quietly.
Peaches' lips quirk up. "I'm glad that I'm not the only maniac that took a train."
She notices the now cold packet of food on the seat, but she doesn't say anything.
*
*
Later on, Diego teaches her how to smoke a cigarette.
Peaches thinks about how her dad will freak, but then pushes the thought firmly away.
*
*
"His name is Ethan." Peaches finally says. Diego doesn't look up from his book, but she knows he's listening. "He was everything any girl at a high school would want - he was rich, popular, handsome…" she trails off.
Diego's eyes rise up to meet hers.
"I dated him for a while. He introduced me to another life - partying, clubbing, etcetera etcetera. And then he brings me to this part - the girl who hosted this, her parents were gone for the week. He tried to sleep with me after offering me a drink. I broke it off the next day."
Diego doesn't say anything. He just reaches out and holds her hand.
Peaches leans forward and kisses him. It's a sad sort of kiss, unlike Ethan's kisses. But at least this sort of kiss Peaches wouldn't mind living with.
*
*
Not too long after, the carriage gets too hot, and Peaches rolls her jacket sleeves up. She pretends not to be self-conscious about her scars. Diego doesn't say anything either.
He eats a few bites of the food, and then throws the packet away.
Nor does she say anything when he disappears into the train toilet and she hears retching sounds.
Both of them sit in silence for a long time.
*
*
"Her name was Shira."
Peaches hums. "Pretty name."
"She was a pretty girl."
*
*
"What's your family like?"
Peaches shrugs. "Typical rich family. My dad's paranoid, my mom's the funner one. I've got two uncles who don't have a care in the world. My best friend just confessed his feelings for me. Typical modern family."
Diego laughs. "Sounds fun."
Peaches rolls her eyes. "You have no idea."
*
*
Two stops left. About eight hours left on board.
"Long trip." Peaches comments.
Diego merely shrugs, not even looking up from his book.
*
*
Peaches giggles as she plays with Diego's hair, tying them in braids so that there's small braids sticking up from all over his head. Diego rolls his eyes, but leans back against her and continues reading his book.
After a while, Peaches asks him to do her hair.
Diego puts his book down. "I'm new to this, so be soft on the criticism."
"No promises." Peaches laughs.
Diego spends the next half hour trying to braid Peaches' hair. Half of it is dropping out and the other half is being held together by clips. Peaches laughs when she sees her reflection. "Tell me, Di, do I look pretty?"
Diego laughs. "The prettiest girl I have ever met." He bats his eyelashes at her. "What about me?"
Peaches laughs again, sadder now. "The prettiest boy I've ever met."
*
*
"One more stop now." Diego murmurs.
Peaches shrugs. "That was fast."
"The last station is the furthest. We're gonna be on for at least another five hours."
"Wonderful." Peaches frowns at her cards. "You have any threes?"
Diego laughs. "Go fish."
*
*
Peaches remembers her parents, and wonders if they're worrying about her. If any of her "friends" were worried about her. She had been gone for more than 24 hours. She briefly wonders about Diego's family, but doesn't ask.
Cautiously, she turns on her phone.
Over thirty voicemails and eighty-four messages. Most of them are from her mother and father.
She looks up at Diego. "I want to call my dad."
Diego doesn't question her or why she's telling him. He looks at the phone in her hand and takes it, before helping her dial her dad's number.
Her dad answers, sounding relieved beyond measure. "Peaches? Peaches, you there?"
Peaches doesn't say anything, just looks at Diego.
After fifteen seconds, Diego hangs up.
*
*
There's half an hour left. Peaches has never felt so conflicted in her life. She sighs and looks at Diego, who is still flipping through his book.
"Diego, what are you going to do when you get off this train?"
He doesn't seem to hear the question. Peaches looks at him for a long time, wondering if she should ask the question again.
"I don't know." he finally says.
Peaches looks at the map that she got from the conductor. She doesn't understand maps - she always sucked at geography. She puts the map away and plays with her hands nervously. She doesn't know what she's going to do after she gets off the train. All she knows is that she probably has enough money to last her a while, as well as a phone.
But that's all she knows.
She looks at Diego, and revels in the safety she feels with him. It says a lot about how she feels with him after kissing him after knowing him for barely an hour or two. She has never felt as safe as she has with Diego except for maybe her feeling with her mother - but even that is strained due to her father. She thinks about Ethan and his friends, her school, and wonders if it is worth it to go back to her hometown.
Diego doesn't say anything, just calmly flips through his pages.
"Hey, Diego?"
He hums in response.
"Will you stay with me when we get off the train?" it was an odd thing to ask, but Peaches didn't care. She was falling apart at the seams, have been for a very long time, and Diego was the first solid thing that was helping her feel whole again for the first time in a long time. She couldn't bear it if he left.
Diego finally looks up from his book. There is a sad smile on his face. "'Course."
"How long?" Peaches asks. It's a stupid question, but she needs to be sure.
The smile on Diego's face becomes more warm. "Until you're no longer sad."
Peaches smiles too. "I'd like that."
*
*
5 minutes before the train reaches its stop, Peaches begins packing her things, feeling more assured than ever with the promise that Diego will provide her with a solid rock to depend on until she gets herself together…though how long it would take she doesn't know.
Diego puts down his book and Peaches looks up. "You finally finish that book?"
Diego laughs. "Yes."
"What book is it anyway?" Peaches asks. The book is a thick one with a blue hardcover, and no title on the front.
Diego opens the cover page for her to see.
Peaches can't help but laugh at the title.
Alice in Wonderland.
*
*
When they get off the train, the temperature is relatively cool and it is nighttime. She looks at Diego, who is carrying a duffel bag and nothing more. He had his coat back on now.
"Where to?"
Peaches looks around, taking in her surroundings, and smiles.