The snow crunches under my feet as I waddle towards a broken screen door. This isn't my life anymore. I knock since I lost my old key. A woman who used to be so familiar opened the door. She looks younger than I remember, but her eyes give away her age. Her hair is blonde, but growing out at the roots. She doesn't have anyone to impress anymore. She has become frail and weathered since I left. The air between us is tense, to say the least. "Mom," I breathe.

Without a word, she embraces me. "I was sure your brother had gotten you killed." As she pulls back, I watch as she tries to convince me of a smile. I've disappointed her by coming back.

I reciprocate a fake smile of my own, "Jim's a lot different than you remember." She wants me here as much as I want to be here. "May I come in?"

She steps aside, "Of course, my dear."

I shake off the snow before hauling my bag through the threshold. I politely smile and push past her to my old room. I look around, but there is nothing. Not a trace of the twenty odd years I spent here. "What happened to my things?" I turn back as she turns the deadbolt.

"Luke came to get them." She faced me fully as if to confront me. "He wanted your new home to be as comfy as your old one."

I look her dead in the eye. "That's not my home." I shrug off my coat and throw it on the couch. "I told you on the phone, he's not my husband anymore."

My mother's eyes swell with disappointment. "That's not how he sees it." I've embarrassed her. She worked hard to create a good reputation when we moved here. A young foreign woman, with a baby moving to a small mid-western town. Her work was certainly cut out for her.

A knock came at the door. She looked through the peephole and unlocked the door immediately. "Speak of the devil," She breathed.

Luke lumbered through the door. "Welcome home, Liz!" His smile was genuine. He crossed the small living room to embrace me. I recoiled. "C'mon babe." He held me at arm's length. "I missed you so much." He began gathering up my things.

"Where are you going with those?" I question reaching for my bag.

His smile turns confused. "I kept the car running." His puppy dog like face attempts to draw me in. "You're finally coming home."

"No, I'm not." I try to take my bag back, but I forgot how strong he was.

He turns away from me, to hide his sadness. "Just one night, babe." His breath is heavy with regret. "And if you don't like it, I'll put you up in a hotel until we can work this out."

He does this to me. He knows I can't resist a person in need. He needs to try to fix us and I can see how my absence has worn on him. I nod silently as I grab my coat. "One wrong move and I'm gone ok?" He nods happily.

"It was nice to see you, Eliza." My mother ushered me out quickly. Before I could reply, the door was shutting behind me.

"So," I start as the engine of his truck roars. "You didn't sign the papers I left."

His eyes drift off, "I don't want to throw this away. I know every couple has their problems. I mean, hell, you ran off to England for a few months, but I'm willing to put all of that behind us." His words sound sincere. He's been working on this pitch for a while.

"I don't want this to be messy." I breathe. "I just want a different life."

I can see these are the words he's been dreading, "Was our life together that bad?"

I think back to our relationship. He was a receiver for our high school football team. He was handsome. He still is handsome. I'd seen him be nasty, but he'd seen me be horrible as well. We went together to every school dance and right after graduation he proposed. Our wedding was the proudest day of my mom's life. Our life after that was monotonous. Luke was steadily becoming the best salesmen at his dealership. I had a few jobs here and there, but nothing fit. Nothing ever seemed to fit in this town for me.

We don't speak the rest of the drive.

As we enter the house, Luke is being delicate with me. He knew bringing up the past was a wrong move. He starts up the stairs with my bag. I look at the stairs and remember. I remember everything.

Blood. There was blood everywhere. My hands shook as I bring them up to my face. My nose was bleeding. Then I remember being in more pain than I had ever been before. I watched as the blood soaked through my pants. Flash to the hospital at midnight. The doctors say there's nothing more they can do. We drive home. I slowly walk up the stairs with a stain still at the bottom. Our bedroom is straight ahead, but I turn early. I sit in the rocking chair we had bought a week before, next to a new crib that will stay that way.

Nothing matters anymore. I bolt from the house. I can hear Luke calling after me, but I know if I stay one night, I'll stay forever. I run away in any direction I can find. I want to go home. I need to find my way back home.

I stop in a park. I look around and I remember this park. This is where Jim and I used to play when he would come to visit. I pull out my phone and press in a number with numb fingers. I crouch by a tree as I wait for him to answer.

"Hello?" Sherlock breathed. It sounded as if he had been running too.

I broke down, "I wanna come home." My sobs nearly tore me in half. "I don't know why I thought this was a good idea. I hate it here. I hate my family. I hate my house. I hate my husband. I-"

"Elizabeth, where are you?" His voice almost sounded relieved. "I'll come find you."

I paused confused, "I'm back in Colorado."

He sighed, "Yes, obviously, but more specifically."

I looked around, "The park near Eisenhower."

"Wait there." He hung up on me.

My heart began to do acrobatics as I stood up and began to walk around. He had followed me here. There was an angel in my own personal circle of hell. A yellow cab rushes around a corner. It stops on the curb nearest me. I watch as Sherlock steps out, asking the cab driver to wait. Like everything around me, I am frozen.

Sherlock walks over to me standing a few feet away from me. "How are you here right now?" I ask bewildered.

"Well, after our fight, I went down to your flat, but you had already gone. So, I broke in and noticed the missing suitcase. I also went through your mail to find your mother's address. Sorry. I don't know why women always feel the need to runaway to their mother's houses. Anyway, we rushed to the airport to find you, but your flight had already left so we decided America might be a nice vacation spot. By the way, John's here too." John's head popped out of the cab and he gave a polite wave. "On the phone did you say husband?"

"But why do all of that for me?"

"Don't make me say it." A smile the size of Texas spread across my face, but there will still traces of tears. I nodded expectantly. "I love you too, obviously."