The midnight air was cold as we stepped out of the tunnel and landed on the damp grass. Luckily it was a clear night so the moonlight showed us our path. The hairs of my arms stood on their ends, which had nothing to do with the cool temperature but more to do with the shadows of the night. I had never noticed how eerie the academy was at night before. I guess I felt more like a criminal that didn't belong here in the first place rather than a student that had been living here for five years. I sighed and let go of Zach's hand. Now was not the time for cold feet, it was time to roll. Literally.

"I'll see you at the finish line Gallagher girl," Zach said with a wink. Hmm even in the moonlight his eyes are like glowing emeralds, it's so not fair that he has prettier eyes than me. "Ready...set...GO!" and he was off, rolling down the hill like a silent sausage. I shook my head, clutched my bag to my chest and followed suit. Even though it was completely ridiculous, it was a much safer option than running down the steep gradient. You never know what rocks are just waiting to trip you up and send you flying down. I rolled over bumps and lumps in the ground, gaining speed, I would have more bruises to add to the nice one that Bex had given me earlier but oh well, it was fun. I reached the bottom just a few seconds before Zach.

"Loser" I whispered and stuck out my tongue. Even though I was acting childishly it took my mind off the seriousness of our situation and anyway, you always have to cease every opportunity to gloat when it comes to Zachary Goode since he's usually the one who does the gloating. He smirked and stuck out his tongue, mimicking my actions and tone as he said,

"I let you win, duuh"

I stifled a laugh and we crept silently towards the ten foot wall that surrounded the grounds. About 50 metres from where we were standing Bubblegum guard (I should really learn his name) was talking to another man. Zach and I threw our bags over and started scaling the brick wall at a rapid pace. It wasn't difficult, after all I had done this numerous times (129 if we're being precise) when I was sneaking out for various reasons, like to see Josh. I landed with a barely audible thud on the other side of the wall in a crouching position. As I stood up Zach landed half a metre to my right. I turned and faced him and said whilst imitating his smirk, "I bet you let me win that race too".

"I never actually said that that was a race Gallagher girl, so you didn't win anything," he stated, returning the smirk, "Sorry to disappoint." I gave him a rather hard punch on his shoulder and started running towards the town of Roseville.

"Catch me if you can, maybe you'll be third time lucky!" I called over my shoulder.

It took us 12 minutes to reach the town and when we reached it I felt a strong arm wrap around my waist pulling my body to his hard, chiselled one. His warm, soft lips met mine for only an instant before he pulled away. It was a quick and sweet gesture which brought one of those stupid grins to my face. "I guess third time wasn't a charm baby" I teased.

"I guess not," he replied, laughter colouring his voice. So far everything had gone according to plan and I had forgotten about what we were going to have to do. We weren't just sneaking off to Roseville, we were going to disappear. The heavy sinking feeling returned to my stomach, turning my happy grin into a frown. "Are you okay Cammie?" Zach asked me. Even he had realised that this was no longer a laughing matter. We were out in the open. We were exposed. Wrapping my arms around my body I replied in a soft tone, trying to keep my voice from cracking.

"Yeah, I'll just feel better when we're travelling at a faster pace and heading as far away from here as possible."

"Well, I think I can help with that." He walked up to a black fiat 500, picked the lock and disabled the alarm before it could go off. I was impressed. "Are you coming, or are you planning on walking across the country?" Zach asked sarcastically. I opened the passenger door, chucked my bag on the back seat and hopped in. He hotwired the car and it came to life under his hands.

"So...where are we going?" It suddenly hit me that we were under prepared, under stocked on equipment and most importantly we had no idea where we were heading. Great pair of spies we were. So much for always having a well thought out plan in our pockets.

"Um, I was thinking maybe we should head over to Joe's safe house. We can spend a couple of days there, gather some stuff and come up with some sort of idea on where we're going to start our search." Zach suggested. It was as good a plan as any.

"What are you waiting for? Christmas is coming." I said, hoping to bring back some of the light-heartedness from earlier.

"As you wish your highness, don't get your knickers in a twist." He answered with a smirk.

We drove for a few hours, doing all of the things we had been taught to do such as taking wrong turns, back-tracking and other techniques in order to try and lose any tails, even though the roads were almost completely empty. Oh well, better to be safe than sorry. I heard Joe Solomon's voice in my head saying, "A good spy will never become complacent when it comes to their safety ladies." I smiled to myself, if only I could have heard his voice one last time before leaving. I hope he would wake up soon, he'd help Mom realise how Zach and I would be okay and he would look after her too. I sent a silent prayer up to God, asking him to bring Joe out of his slumber so he could be Prince Charming and save my mother from losing herself and her happiness. I was disturbed from my thoughts by Zach asking, "What are you thinking about? You've been quiet for most of the journey which isn't like you." I knew he was joking but I wasn't in the mood to laugh.

"I was just thinking about my Mom and Joe."

Zach sighed and placed his hand on my thigh. "They'll be fine Cam, we can't worry about them anymore. We've left which means they'll be safe. We can't lose focus otherwise we'll only put ourselves in danger."

"I know, but I can't help it. What if we're doing more harm than good? You know what they're like, they won't not look for us Zach, they're stubborn and they never do what they're told."

He laughed, which was so not appropriate considering the seriousness of the conversation, "I'm guessing that's where you picked up those traits then." He winked at me.

"Keep your eyes on the road Goode, I don't fancy dying yet." I smiled. He always managed to bring me out of the dark places that my mind wondered to. I placed a quick chaste kiss on his smooth cheek, thanking him without words for everything he was doing for me. His lips tipped up into a genuine smile and I saw a hint of a dimple. He was so breathtakingly beautiful.

"Maybe you should keep your eyes off of me" He suggested

"But I'm not driving," I stuck my bottom lip out and gave him my big Bambi eyes, playing along with the flirting game.

"But you're distracting so if you want to live to see another day I'd suggest you do as I say"

"Fine." I pretended to pout and turned so I was facing forward with my arms crossed over my chest. He laughed at my poor acting. There was a barely visible lane on the left and Zach drove up it. My heart started to beat faster as we continued to drive, coming closer and closer to the little homely cabin. We reached the cabin and Zach parked the car so it wasn't visible from the lane. "You have reached your destination." I said, imitating the voice of a SAT NAV.

"We have indeed, come on, you must be tired." He grabbed both of our bags off the back seat and went to unlock the door of the cabin. Now that he had mentioned it, I was tired. I stifled a yawn and climbed out of the car in a non ladylike manner. I walked through the front door, taking in the familiar surroundings. Zach was in the bedroom, putting the bags on the bed. Hmm the only bed. I pushed the thought out of my mind. Now was not the time to be over thinking the small details, what's wrong with me?! "Come outside with me." He slipped his hand into mine and linked our fingers together as he led me back out through the door we had come in. He turned my so that my back was to the front of his body, his arms wrapped tightly round my waist and his head was resting on my shoulder. There was a beautiful sunrise on the horizon, bleaching the sky with soft oranges, pinks and lilacs.

"It's so beautiful." I whispered.

"You are, yes" He kissed my cheek. I tilted my head so he could kiss my lips. The moment was one of the most sweetest and romantic that I had ever had. Even in the mess that was my life, Zach made it seem perfect. We had each other and we would sort this out together.