Author's Note: Here are three chapters to make up for some lost time, I have had them saved for a while but finding the time to upload has been very hard, thankfully this is my last week of school before Christmas and things are cooling down. I'll continue updating as much as I can around Christmas, I'm hoping to have the story finished in and around New Year's but it's hard to say how many more chapters it'll take, but I'll write as much as I can! Thanks to all those who continue to read the story and let me know how much they enjoy it, I appreciate every review and favourite or follow I get and I'm glad even after the sporadic updates you guys have had to put up with you still enjoy reading this. Thanks so much to TishaLiz, Eveline Wulf, guest (response below) and rose217 for their reviews, and to all the new favourites and follows I've received :) I hope you guys enjoy, please review and let me know what you think!

Guest: Thanks so much for your review! Glad you liked the chapter, I know I am being a little hard on them at the minute but maybe things will pick up. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Lost Boys, just my OCs.

A week had passed and the routine of moving around became second-nature. We'd pay into a hotel for two nights, either one room or two depending on how much cash Rachel had managed to gather up, and after that we'd take a car and go to the next town. We had the occasional breaks and even some fun together, we saw a couple of movies and went out to nice restaurants for supper some nights, but I could tell Rachel was always looking to keep moving and quickly. We had already reached Iowa, and with each new State I was reminded how far away we were getting.

I hadn't seen very much of the places we had visited, Rachel hadn't been too eager to go out and explore, I knew she would settle down eventually when she was sure we wouldn't be followed. She even started to talk about renting somewhere for a few weeks to a month at a time, but I knew that was a little while off. So for now I just watched the roads go by as we drove for around three hours a night, before we'd settle in a hotel before dawn and I'd be left with my thoughts- which were increasingly becoming centred around the one person I wanted to forget.

Time away should have made things easier, but in fact the more time passed the more I missed him. I'd be fine one minute, distracted or occupied by something, and suddenly something would make me think of him. It got harder to push the thoughts out every time it happened, and I tried hiding it as best I could from Rachel.

I smiled when Rachel came into my room when I had finished changing, I had a nice town view out my window and she crossed over to stare out across the street.

"Chinese tonight?"

I stood beside her and nodded, "Sounds good to me. Has to be about three days since we've had Chinese." I teased, she had told me from the start she was never much of a cook so we would always eat out or grab random snacks from gas stations.

"Not exactly a healthy diet for a teenage girl." She grimaced, "Maybe when we get somewhere a little more permanent it'll have a stove and I could... Try my hand at it."

I snorted at the suggestion, "Better make sure we have a fire extinguisher." She laughed and shoved me lightly, turning towards the door. I followed her out, grabbing the red scarf from the dressing table and folding it before tying it around my neck.

The fork I had been holding dropped to my plate a while later and I sat back in my chair with a full stomach, the waiter took our plates and tidied the table away for dessert, Rachel raised an eyebrow in amusement as I took a deep breath.

"Nice?"

I chuckled, "Very, Chinese never gets old." A memory of the time I got food with the guys one of the first nights I had met them flashed into my mind and I shook my head, forcing myself to think of something else. I looked around in the hopes of finding something else to focus on, it ended up being a big mistake when my eyes caught a couple coming towards an empty table.

My eyes darted back to Rachel who smiled, I returned it and went to ask her what she was getting for dessert because I had forgotten, but my eyes were drawn automatically back to the couple, the guy was pulling out the girl's chair for her and she grinned up at him, he took his seat and they sat close together, hands touching as they talked.

"Remind you of anyone?"

I jumped a little at the question, I didn't notice Rachel had followed my gaze and was staring at the couple too. I chewed my lip as she looked back to me with a curious expression, I shrugged my shoulders.

"Not really, it's just nice. You know?"

Her doubtful expression told me she didn't believe me, "Oh come on, no one likes public displays of affection. You look sad."

When I didn't say anything she sighed, folding her arms on the table,"You wanna talk about it?"

"No." I replied quickly, "I really don't. Thanks though, but I'm fine." I said, playing with the edge of the tablecloth.

"Bryn." She said pointedly, I looked up to see her wearing a sympathetic expression, "I'm not blind, I know you've been upset these last couple of days."

We were interrupted by the waiter bringing dessert, chocolate cake for me and cheesecake for Rachel. I made a point of being very interested in the cake and took my time eating it, finally setting my fork down when the plate was empty. My performance had managed to keep Rachel quiet but I looked up to ask her if hers was nice and saw her waiting patiently for me to answer her.

"I'm fine I swear." I told her lightly, "Of course I miss Santa Carla and everything but it's nothing, it'll pass."

"Will it?" She asked, "I don't think you've let go of Dwayne yet."

"I have." It sounded fake even to my ears and I let out my breath in a huff, putting my head in my hands, "Okay so I haven't but I'm trying. I just can't wrap my head around it."

"Around what?"

"Why he changed his mind." I confessed, "He was fine the night before and when he took me to the boardwalk, he said as long as I was sure of what I wanted he was fine with it. Then a few hours later suddenly it doesn't matter what I want, I have to leave and that's it. Some of the things he said... I never thought he'd say stuff like that."

"What did he say?"

"That I was selfish for wanting to stay, that I was just trouble for them and it'd only get worse when I turned. He told me he didn't want me there, that none of them would really miss me, basically." Tears welled up in my eyes and I wiped them with a napkin and shook my head, "I don't get it."

"Maybe he just changed his mind, maybe in the few hours he started thinking and changed what he had thought the night before?"

I shook my head, "It still doesn't make sense. I mean what could change his mind? And before I left he said something and I'm still trying to figure it out."

"What did he say?"

"That he wouldn't move on after I left. He said I would, and when I asked if he would, he said no. If he didn't want me to stay and I was so much trouble to him and the others then why did it sound like he'd miss me?"

Her mouth was in a grim line as she looked at me, she shrugged helplessly, "I don't know. Maybe he just thought it'd be better if you left."

"Didn't seem like he cared what was better, he just wanted me gone." I said flatly, "He didn't care anymore if I was happy staying, he didn't care what I wanted."

"I'm sure that's not true."

"I'm sorry, I'm just getting worked up I don't mean that I'm not happy. I just miss him, and I wish I knew what made him change his mind. Something must have, you don't just completely change your mind because you have a few hours to think."

"Maybe he talked to someone and they made him see sense." She suggested.

I thought for a second, "Who though? I mean, Max wouldn't have told him, that's for sure. It doesn't seem like something Paul would do and I don't think David or Marko really cared all that much if I stayed or went."

We were quiet for a few minutes before she finally spoke, "I talked to him."

Suddenly it made sense, and I found myself feeling stupid for not seeing it sooner, "So you convinced him to tell me those things." I said quietly, my mind making sense of everything now.

"I did. After you left he turned up, he was wondering if everything had went alright and I told him you were hanging around for a while to think things over. I told him he should too, and we talked for a while then."

"About what?"

She pursed her lips in thought, "I told him what it was like being with Max, and that no matter how bad it was for him and the others under Max's control, it'd be a hundred times worse for you. I told him you didn't deserve that, you'd never be really happy."

I swallowed, "That wouldn't have convinced him, all he had to do was ignore what you said, he knew I'd be happy-"

"I told him if he really cared about you that he'd tell you to leave, that he was selfish for letting you stay with him. He didn't want to but eventually he saw what I meant, and he agreed that it was best if you leave."

I sat back in my seat and took a deep breath, "Wow."

"I didn't tell him to say the things he did, but I guess he knew you'd believe him. Still, I think in the end he didn't want you thinking he hated you."

"Yeah... I guess so." I answered, feeling guilty and a little stupid about the whole thing. He didn't hate me, and he didn't want me to leave but she convinced him to.

"I'm sorry." She said quietly, her eyes were set firmly on the table.

"I know why you did it, you were looking out for me." She looked up in surprise, she probably expected me to be angry. To be honest I didn't know how I felt right now.

"I was, that was the only reason. I don't want you to be unhappy, Bryn, I just want you to be safe. And you wouldn't be safe there, not with Max. If there was any other way for you and him to be together it would have been perfect but there's no way that could happen with Max around."

"I know." I agreed, "It's just..." I trailed off, not wanting to say the next words, "We should go back to the hotel."

The walk back to the hotel was quiet, and our goodnights were short as we went to our separate rooms. When I got back under the covers I stared out the window to where it had just started raining, the red scarf that hadn't left my side these past few weeks was sitting on the dressing table and I found myself sitting up to stare at it, holding my knees close to me.

Finally I allowed myself to admit what I hadn't been able to at the restaurant. What I ahd been trying not to admit ever since my first night away from Santa Carla.

I wanted to go back.