Ronan was a troublemaker who knew when a line had been crossed. And as he waited in the cooler, he was arrogant as Mr. Mead interrogated him until Dakota entered with Mrs. Fisher. The brunette kept her head down as she took a seat, glancing at Ronan who immediately lost his smirk.

"What is she doin' 'ere?" He asked.

"Ditching." The head teacher responded, before focusing on a nervous Dakota. "I've called your parents."

Ronan looked at the brunette when the two teachers left the cooler, "Alright," He licked his lips. "Don't panic, yeah?"

"They'll send me away." She whispered, crossing her arms. "After last month's fiasco they said I had one strike, and this is it. I don't want to move."

Ronan leaned closer to her. "Hey, look at me. Everything will be alright."

He knew it was his fault she had been dragged in here. Her perfect reputation was left tarnished since they began dating and Mr Mead had made it known that he didn't believe Dakota and Ronan were a good mix - the latter a bad influence. But they cared about each other. And although sometimes his ideas were a little risky, Dakota knew his heart was in the right place. She had strict parents and his father well...his schemes were a distraction from everything around her. The pressure for her to get good grades, to keep her head down, and for him to be what his father believed a perfect son was.

So Ronan had Jessica forge her mother's signature and when Dakota had been caught she was waiting for him to join her to ditch school for the first time. When she was found it came to an abrupt end.

She sighed, looking at her boyfriend as he held his hand out. She took it, smiling softly. "Trust me, yeah? Just let me do the talking."

When Mr Mead returned Dakota watched as Ronan appeared arrogant, flinching when the teacher raised his voice. Ronan squeezed her hand, before revealing Jessica had forged the signatures. Mr Mead sent the two teenagers on their way and they were heading down the hallway when Dakota's parents arrived.

Ronan frowned when her father approached them, pulling her away. "Don't touch her like that -"

"You listen to me!" Her father pinned him against the wall, grasping his shirt. "You stay away from her, do you hear?"

"Let him go!" Dakota was relieved when Mr Clarkson intervened, after he walked out of his classroom. Mrs Fisher cleared her throat, and her father released Ronan.

Dakota went to check on her boyfriend but her father held her arm tightly, pulling her away. "Let's go."

"You're hurting me." She squirmed in his grasp, looking at Ronan when he followed.

"Let her go."

"Stay out of this you little -"

The brunette gasped when Ronan shoved her father, and shrieked when her father swung at him. Ronan ducked, and Mr Clarkson swooped in between them, restraining her father.

"Lay another hand on him and it'll be a swift call to the police." He warned.

Not wanting to be among the chaos, Dakota fled Waterloo Road and Ronan chased after her, as did the two teachers and her parents.

"Dakota!" He called.

Dakota ignored him and kept running. Ronan caught up to the brunette, stopping her from running away. "Come on, it'll be okay." He promised.

"You don't know that!" She shrugged off his hands and he sighed.

"No, but I have an idea." He told her. "Just meet me tomorrow. Alright?"

She turned when her parents caught up to them, and from the look on their faces she knew she would be sent away. Her dark eyes looked at Ronan over her shoulder and he sent her a small smile.

The next day Dakota arrived at classes late after a meeting with Mrs Fisher who discussed her leaving Waterloo Road with her parents. And during the break she met Ronan outside the gates and he sighed in relief when he saw her.

"I thought you weren't coming."

"What's the plan? They're sending me to a different school. I can't stay here. I just can't."

He wrapped his arms around her when he saw the tears in her eyes. "I know. That's why I took this." He opened his backpack revealing clothes and a wad of cash. "There's a bus we can take, and from there we can figure out where we want to go. I'm ready if you are."

She stared at him for a moment, a smile slowly forming on her lips. "You mean it?"

He nodded. "Anywhere we want." He took her hand. "I'll find somewhere for us. Don't worry about that. But the bus leaves in twenty minutes so we need to go now -"

"Okay." Dakota squeezed his hand, stepping forward to kiss him tenderly, placing her free hand on his cheek. "Okay." He smiled against her lips, deepening the kiss before they broke apart and headed away from Waterloo Road.

They anxiously waited for the bus to arrive, Ronan checking his watch now and then.

"What do we do when we get there?" She asked. "Wherever we go."

"Anything we want." He said. "We make our own choices. First we need somewhere to stay. A flat or something. The money I took from my dad's bank should last us a while. Enough time for us to figure out what we'll do next."

She nodded. "Promise me something."

He looked at her with curiosity. "Anything."

"We'll always stay together." She said.

Ronan smiled. "I promise." He looked at the bus as it came around the corner, pulling up at the bus stop. "Your chariot awaits."

The brunette smiled, laughing lightly as she followed him onto the bus, holding his hand as he paid for the tickets. Ronan found a seat and her dark eyes stared out the window, a sigh leaving her lips as she rested her head on his shoulder.

There was no turning back.

Ronan kissed her head, easing the lines on her forehead. "I love you."

And they didn't want to.

"I love you too." She lifted her head, meeting his gaze with a smile before she kissed him tenderly as the bus drove off.