Hello, everyone!

It's been a while since I've posted/updated anything, but I'm having a tough time with my other fics. I needed to put something new out here.

This one may only be a 3 or four shot, if that. Maybe just a two. It was initially a one, but I decided against it.

This story is a little out of my comfort zone, but I'm liking it so far... I'm excited to see what comes of it!

Read it? Enjoy? Tell me what you all think!

Disclaimer:

I don't own Lucy Pennykettle, or Tam Farrel. Nope. Rights for those two brilliant characters go to the brilliant Chris D' Lacey.

I also don't own Scrubbley. Chris D' Lacey also came up with that.

I also don't claim right's to any other thing that you may recognize.

I'll tell you what I do own.

The plot.

Alone.

She felt so alone.

One month ago, running off sounded very appealing to Lucy Pennykettle.

Now, a month after she ran, she regretted it with every fiber of her being.

Now she was lost on the streets of Massachusetts - she wasn't even sure what town she was in, but she knew it wasn't Scrubbley.

Back then, running sounded like a peaceful, adventurous escape from her mother, who had become quite strict due to Lucy's own impudence.

Now, it was quite obviously the worst decision of her life thus far.

She was tired, hungry, and no doubt reeked due to the lack of public bathing options in this God-forsaken town.

At this point, she could care less what happened to her. She could be raped and killed and she honestly wouldn't care. She was simply miserable, and there was nothing she could really do to change that.

"Gahhh! Try and LEARN TO DRIVE, would you?!" she shouted at a passing car. wiping off the ally mud that had splattered all over her face and torso.

Sighing loudly, the girl stood up and swung her thick red hair over her shoulder, in attempt to clear her clouded vision. She hoisted up a large grey duffle bag before trudging down the ally-way, in hopes of finding a safer and drier place to bunk for the night.

For an hour she had walked, still with no luck at finding a dry and safe place to sleep. The sun was setting rapidly and at this point, Lucy was feeling so many emotions that she was surprised she could still function properly without having the emotional breakdown that she so dearly felt like having.

"Well," she heard a familiar voice say from behind her, followed by a quiet chuckle, "If it isn't Lucy Pennykettle..?"

Shocked, the girl froze in attempt to place that all familiar voice that she both wanted to hear, and dreaded hearing.

She turned around and observed the indigo colored Volvo before her, and smiled a tired yet joyful smile at the driver.

"Tam Farrel. What in the Fain's name are you doing here?" She asked with a chuckle.

Tam eyed her up and down, causing the usually confident redhead to feel suddenly self conscious. She pulled a strand of hair out of her face and looked down.

"I think the question should be what are you doing here. Mind explaining?"

Lucy made eye contact with Tam, but looked away when she began to speak. "I may have run aw-"

"You ran away?! Lucy! You could've been killed, or hurt, or raped, or attacked! These streets aren't safe to drive through, let alone walk through - a pretty girl like you shouldn't be on these streets at this hour."

Lucy blushed at his mention of her being a "pretty girl" but she averted her head so that he wouldn't see it.

"I'm regretting it more and more with each passing minute, Tam. You don't need to make me feel worse."

She looked up and found compassion in his eyes. He sighed and began removing some files from the passenger seat and tossed them to the back.

"I'm sorry. Get in the car? I can't leave you here."

Lucy stepped into the car and slammed the door beside her. She noticed Tam cringe at the noise, but paid it no mind. He held out a hand, and she passed the duffle bag to him, where he then threw it into the back seat and began driving.

"Are you taking me home, then?" she asked, examining the dimly lit road.

"Sorry, not quite."

Curiosity flooded the girl and she squeaked incoherently at Tam, earning her an odd glance.

"I'm on a trip, Lucy. Scrubbley is out of the way. I guess you'll have to accompany me."

"No uncle business, then, please. That was incredibly awkward for me and for you."

A good-natured smile tugged at Tam's lips and he shot a glance at the seventeen year old next to him. She was fiddling with her fingers and staring off into who-knows-where.

"No uncle business." He agreed.

Minutes passed in an awkward 'what happens now?' silence.

Lucy shifted uncomfortably as Tam slowed down and turned onto a (rather busy for the hour) city road.

"Erm..." Tam said, trying to start a conversation again, "What will our excuse be? Not that anyone will ask, but we might as well have a back up plan."

"Friends on a trip?"

"Lucy, I'm ten years older than you! Don't you think people might assume that I'm some creepy pedophile, using you for... Erm... Things?"

Lucy rolled her eyes. He was a journalist, yes. It didn't give him an excuse to overthink every tiny detail.

"No one's going to think that! No one's going to care!"

"People did last time, Lucy!"

"At a bed and breakfast owned by an older couple." Lucy said, waving a hand as in to tell him that his argument was void of validity.

Tam sighed in defeat, and once again locked his eyes on the road.

"Lu, we squabble like an old married couple." Tam said with a light chuckle.

Lucy blushed at this, because, she couldn't deny it made her feel special when he said "we" and "married couple" in the same sentence. She was quite glad that it was now too dark for him to detect the color on her cheeks.

Lucy glanced at the clock. 10:03.

"Are we going to find a hotel soon?"

"I've got a reservation, we'll be there in, oh..." He looked at his phone, where he had a map running. It said one hour and fourteen minutes to their destination. "An hour and fourteen minutes."

"Wait. Reservation? ...Of how many rooms?"

"...One." Tam stated with a gulp.

He handed her his phone, and asked her to call the hotel and reserve another room.

A short phone call later, Lucy was handing back the phone and sighing.

"No vacancy." She said.

Tam coughed awkwardly, and then said, "We'll just have to hope for the best. Maybe the room will have two beds."

"You'd better hope for it, Tam."

Please review! I'd love to know what you think so far!

~lostfincayra