The curtains fluttered in the warm spring air as the reflection of the sunlight shined over her. She slowly opened her eyes and looked over at the empty spot next to her in the iron-framed bed. Sierra enjoyed every moment of every morning. He would always knock on the white paneled door and bring her breakfast. Some days he would take her away as they explored the polished suburban neighborhood she'd grown to love. Some days they just spent together in the little corner room of the house. A bedroom that felt more like her own than the one she grew up in. As she waited for him to knock on the paneled door, she glanced at the tulle curtains flying above her. Her eyes widened. She wasn't in the little room anymore.

"Are you awake yet?" The sound of the door creaking open startled her. He was a sight she always wanted to see. But the air of the room felt heavy on her as she dreamed of being somewhere she loved. She remembered the first time he introduced her to his childhood home and the sinking feeling of moving into his house that guilted her. She longed for it again.

She nodded at him quietly as he walked over to the bedside. They traded places and she started to get dressed Anything to get her out of this house. Away from here. Just alone with him again. He sat up on the edge of the bed and recognized her discomfort and confusion as he rubbed his palms against his temples. His head ached from the moment he first stepped out of bed. But he knew that his pain would only make hers worse.

Cody broke the awkward silence of the room as he watched her from the edge of the bed, "I talked to you dad for a bit before he went to work."

She paused and looked back at him, "What did he say to you?" The thought of it both frightened and intrigued her. The person in her life that made her forget how to love and the person that showed her the love she longed for. It all felt like a crazy dream. Never in a hundred year would she want Cody near him. But her hands were tied as it was something she could no longer control.

"It's not important…" They walked out into the narrow hallway quietly and headed into the small kitchen. It didn't matter what he said to her anymore. She struggled to fight off her frustration with him. The air in the little cottage made her tense. She longed for their life back.

"It might not be important to you but it's important to me."

He laughed, "I guess I shouldn't have said anything then. Don't worry so much." He knew she was out of her element completely. He was so far from the girl he met months ago on the plane it felt like he was dealing with an entirely different person. The continuous urge to hide from her reality was apparent to him.

"I just…" She sighed, "Just don't tell him anything personal about me if you're going to talk with him."

"Listen," She froze as the tone in his voice shifted, "I'm not here to help you mend your relationship with your dad… I'm here to mend your relationship with me. All of that, it has nothing to do with me. I'm only here to support you." She stared back at him for a moment in shrill silence. Realizing that she didn't want him here. He was the person she always would escape to and this house was the place she tried to escape from. How she longed to go back and continue to build the relationship she truly loved. With someone she knew loved her back. Why was she here in the first place?

"It's funny because I don't really know if I'll want my dad in my future… but… I know I want you to be there."

"Well, that's completely up to you." She knew how he felt. His heart and his everything was on the table already. It confused him how she hesitated to grab it. For the girl that he learned to understand and give all his love to, he'd be patient.

They sat and ate together quietly in the strange kitchen. The ceiling lamp swinging above them was the only sound in the room as it creaked repeatedly. He made glances at her and wondered if she was still happy around him. If she still felt the same. The squeaking of the lamp rang through his ears. They sat and ate together as he waited for her to break the silence.

After they finished eating, she sighed, "I wish we had somewhere to go. I'm tired of being in this house…" Cody perked up at the idea. He looked out the small window at the trees behind the house.

"Well I guess he told me one important thing," He motioned to a sliding door that led out to a clean wooden deck, "I'll show you…"

She followed him out of the glass sliding door into the back yard. The jagged leaves scratched against her calves as they stepped into the dark tree-covered unknown far behind the house. The density of the trees was broken from a simple shift of a branch. The sun beamed over a wide river that ran through the patchy woods. He stepped carefully down the slope to reach the edges of the water. A netted rope hammock was tied around the leaning trees that curved over the river. He made his way over and into the hammock and watched as she followed. The soft breeze from the flow of the river blew over them as they laid together again.

"I wish we could just go back to your house again."

"Me too…" Cody didn't know how long everything would last. He thought about all the time he'd stare at the white paneled door from across the hallway. The idea of her not being with him was painful. But at some point, he'd have to go home again. Not another soul on the earth would be able to understand how much the past month meant to him. It was a paradigm shift for both of them. The pounding in his head continued and he felt a strange trembling in his hands. Just being close to her made everything okay.

The sound of the running river kept the peace as they swung in the hammock slowly. Her thoughts flowed with the heavy waters. The desire of her escapism kept pulling her back to the seafloor. He was the only thing keeping her afloat. Just knowing he was there to love and support her made her want to stay in her reality. Maybe she really was in love with him. They laid in the warm sun for what felt like hours. Swaying in the breeze of their temporary bliss.

As they stepped out of the hammock and back into the step edges of the ground, she grabbed him by arm, "Thank you for being here…"

"Always."

While Cody made his way up back up the hill she froze by the edge of the water as the flow of the river brushed against her feet. The sun glistened over the area as a terrestrial paradise. It was eye-catching while she wondered what it was like on the other side. She sat on the pine-covered ground and let her legs lay in the streaming river. The sound of tussling leaves caused him to look back and see the same paradise. He joined her by the edge of the river, keeping his knees up out of the water. His legs felt weighted and his head continued to throb relentlessly.

She looked over at him concerningly, "You look pale…"

"Don't worry about it. What's going on with you?" The last thing he needed was to make Sierra worry more. He thought back to when they used to stay in the little room all day. How he took care of her and gave her a set of crutches. He wished it was that easy now. As badly as he wanted to take her far away from this house, he knew it would only hurt her more. They sat together alone in their pain.

She looked over at him and sighed, "I just feel like, anywhere I go, I'll just keep hiding. I thought staying offline would help but I just always find something else."

"I mean… It's been like this for a long time. It's not going to just go away overnight." What feels like a lifetime ago, he too used to be an object in her escapism. And while he's become an everyday part of her life, the line was still blurred for her. What would happen if he wasn't here to help her? Would she fall all the way back in again? Would he become that object again? He felt relieved to be close to her.

"I don't want you to think I'm not here."

He laughed, "You know by now I understand what you're going through." It warmed her heart that no matter how hard she struggled to stay out of the dark, that he was there to guide her through it. For all of her life, she never had felt as wanted as she had in the past month with him. It made her want to be better. She felt the water running over her legs and it quickly flowed through the river. How much time has she wasted? Staring into a television or computer screen, documenting and sharing pointless information about people she barely cared about, worshiping a celebrity that treated her terribly. She knew she could never get that time back.

"I just don't want to waste my life away anymore." He grabbed her hand in an attempt to comfort her before helping her up off of the scratchy ground. She leaned over and kissed his forehead. The pain in his face numbed for a moment. She really was the cure for him. His maturity, his empathy, his reason to love and understand. They all came from just spending time with her. They journeyed back to the house and into their room where they sat together on the iron-framed bed. She looked up at the tulle curtains that draped over the long window. She felt comfortable in her new room for the first time.

"Sorry I got mad earlier…"

He chuckled, "You weren't mad. Maybe just annoyed. But I get it." She smiled as she reached out her hand to stroke the side of his face. She had everything. For the past month, she would've just wanted to run away with him and start anew. Away from the families that never loved them. But she knows he makes her stronger. While the temptation of escapism still tries to drag her back to the dark, she's for the first time found a reason to stay in the light. For the very first time, she's found her purpose to keep fighting.

"I could never do this without you."