Charlie's POV
Her beautiful eyes filled with tears, the water distorting their baby blue color. I held her delicate face between my hands, pressing my lips to her forehead. She buried her head in my flannel, and I surrounded her with my arms, holding her as close as I could. A tear fell down my cheek, landing in her soft, strawberry blonde curls.
"Charlie, I can't let you go." Her voice quivered and broke, the sobs wracking her small frame.
"I know Di, I know." I whispered to her. Once I was told we were leaving the Gates, I called her as soon as I could get to the phone. I had to see her. I had to see Andie. She was over in record time, sporting a couple new bruises on her wrists and arms. Her dad had never been good to her, and ever since her mom died, he had been hurting her with increasing frequency and intensity. I couldn't leave her behind, I just couldn't. I look after her, I help her, I love her. My brain rattled around for a moment, desperately trying to think of a solution. Suddenly, it hit me.
"Run away with me." The words were out of my mouth before I could think about it. It was a statement, not a question. I felt her freeze in my arms, her head tilting upwards to face mine, her perfect mouth tipping into the slightest smile.
"Do you mean it Charlie? Are you sure?" She asked, her voice wavering again.
"I love you Di. I can't imagine a world without you. This is what I want, and I hope its what you want to." Her smile spread even further across her face.
"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" She leapt forward and kissed me, her lips sweet on mine.
"Okay," she continued, her eyes wild and bright. "If were gonna do this, we have to do it right. We'll wait till eleven. We have so much to do! We both need to get our money out of the bank and pack clothes. I'll go to the store and buy food and supplies with my dad's alcohol money. He's out on business, won't be back until tomorrow." We sat down on my bed, my arm around her rubbing slow circles on her back.
"We'll travel on foot," I started looking into her blue eyes, "We'll leave through the access gate on Miller Street, and go through the Reserve. There's a bus station about twenty five miles from here. We'll hop on a bus there." She snuggled her face into mine, grabbing my hand.
"I love you Charlie Monahan." She looked up at me adoringly.
"And I love you Andie Bates."
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Andie's POV
Clink. Clink. Clink. The familiar sound echoed through the room. Running over to the door, I grabbed my backpack, filled with clothes, food, water, blankets, and $2600 in cash. My hand closed around my gold heart-shaped locket, the only thing I had left that belonged to my Mother. I wish she was here, I thought solemnly, while silently opening the door and slipping outside.
"Hey." I whispered, grabbing Charlie's hand. His pale eyes shone in the darkness, his mouth spreading into a wide smile.
"Hi gorgeous. We better get going." My heart fluttered at the sound of his voice, my adrenaline pumping. We took off running, hand in hand, sprinting until we reached the access gate. Charlie silently pulled the handle and the door swung out, leading out into the dark forest, lit only by the shining of the moon. I shrank into him, my hand resting on his muscular chest.
"Don't worry babe." he said, panting slightly from the exertion. He turned on his flashlight, illuminating the forest floor. He took my hand again, leading us into the night.
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We had been walking for hours. The forest was colored by rays of pale light, the colors ranging from light pink to orange to blue. It was early, around five am or so. The Monahan's shouldn't be waking up for another two and a half hours. We stopped in a clearing, and I sat down on a grassy hill and stole a sip of water out of the bottle.
"How you holding up?" I asked Charlie, his head snapping to attention at the sound of my voice. I knew it was hard for him, leaving his family. His parents had always loved him and cared for him, and his sister was the most important thing in his life.
"Fine. A little tired." He admitted sheepishly, running a hand through his boyish chestnut hair. His eyes looked far away, and I knew he was thinking of his family. "I left her a note." He said suddenly, taking a sip as well. "Dana. Oh God I'll miss her."
"Charlie I'm-" I began before he cut me off.
"No Di. I'm not having second thoughts. I love you. I need you. I will always know where my family is, but you're my future. I love you." He pulled me into him, kissing me deeply. He tasted like peppermint, and I breathed him in. My hand moved to his face, his hands clutching me to him. My heart started beating erratically, my mind losing all sense of everything but his lips on mine, his hands on me. He flipped me over so I was on top of him, straddling him, and he pulled me so close that I could feel his heart beating too. His hand clutched my ribs and I gasped. He pulled away suddenly, aware of my pain.
"Di what's going on? Are you okay? Shit what did I do?" He asked nervously, pulling away from me.
"No," I started, panting heavily. "It wasn't you, it was my bruise." I said, as the burning sensation in my side became less noticeable.
"Can I?" He asked, gesturing to my ribs. I nodded to him, the pain dulling down. He slowly lifted up the bottom of my shirt, exposing all the new bruises my father had left. His eyes widened and his jaw became taut. His fists balled in the fabric of my shirt, his eyes clouding with anger.
"I still can't believe he could do this to you." He said, looking away and easing my shirt down. "I am so happy we got you out of there." I clutched his face with my hands, looking him in the eyes.
"Thank you." I said quietly, kissing him softly. "We better keep moving." I said again, getting off of his lap and grabbing my backpack of the ground. We continued going North, about nine miles from where we started. Finally, the sun breached the horizon, and the day truly began. It got hotter and hotter as we trekked through the forest, the wet leaves on the ground muffling our footsteps. A peaceful silence surrounded us, the birds chirping and critters running around making the only sounds besides our footsteps. My hand grabbed his, and as the day grew hotter, I stripped down to my gray cotton tank top.
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Nick Monahan's POV
The sunlight filtered in through the blinds, the high pitched beeping of the alarm waking me from sleep. I kissed Sarah on the forehead, waking her up. She stretched out and we both pulled ourselves out of bed, maneuvering around our boxed belongings. Making our way to the kitchen, we knocked on the kids doors, making sure they were getting up. We were finally moving today, down to Florida. I know its gonna be hard on both of them, especially Charlie. Sarah and I were chatting about it over coffee when Dana came running down the stairs in a panic. She was clutching a piece of white paper to her chest, crying hysterically.
"MOM!" She shouted, diving into Sarah's arms and hugging her tight. "HE'S GONE!" I snatched the letter out of her hands while my wife soothed our baby girl.
My Dana,
You don't know how hard this decision was for me to make. I love you and I love our family more than anything in the world. But I couldn't leave Andie behind, I just couldn't. You see, she's my future. I love her. And someday I hope you will understand why I left. Keep out of trouble, and be good for Mom and Dad. Remember that it's not their fault I'm gone. I love you kiddo. I'll get in touch with you as soon as I can. Tell everyone not to worry.
Yours Forever, Charlie
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Charlie's POV
It was around one pm now, and we had been hiking through the forest for close to 14 hours. Andie was yawning loudly, and our pace had become increasingly slow as the day wore on. My watch said we were about twelve miles away from The Gates. Mom and Dad have definitely woken by now. There's probably an entire search party out for us right now. That's the only thought that keeps me moving through the moss covered forest floor. I push leaves and branched out of our way. My breathing is labored, my body aching. We come to a small clearing in the forest, well out of the way of any kind of trail.
"Andie," I start, pulling her into my side. "Let's rest babe. We need it." She smiles up at me weekly and sets down her backpack on the bed of pine needles. We take refuge under a tree with a big winding trunk, and branches spreading out to greet the sky. I clutch Andie close to me, her body pressed into my side, her head on my shoulder. Her curls tickle my chin, and our eyes close heavily. I listen to her breathing stabilize, her body relaxes under my touch, and its not too long later when my body sucumbs to the same exhaustion.
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