Thank you all for reading and reviewing; and sticking with me for the worlds longest interval! I really want to finish this story. I've been thinking about it for a while now, and am keen to get back into writing. Although sadly will be a bit rusty!
'I didn't expect him to be this bad,' Luca spoke as Deacon closed Street's bedroom door.
'He's exhausted. He will be better after he sleeps,' Deac explained. Street listened to the conversation they didn't expect him to hear.
'Did you see her?' Tan asked.
'No. He was just walking by the side of the road. He said she let him go.'
'That's good, right?' Tan continued. There was a quiet pause where Street didn't know what was going on.
'We only ever find the bodies of the people that get on the wrong side of Benz, that's if we find their bodies at all. He's got to be one of the only people to survive. It's no coincidence, Chris will have had something to do with it,' Luca's words struck Street. He was right. The body count from Benz was high. They'd been dropping bodies left, right, and centre for months. He liked the way Luca was defending her. It gave him hope.
'I don't know,' Deac said, 'Street said she wasn't Chris anymore,' he could heard the sadness in his voice through the wall. 'I don't want to believe it. He was just so dejected.'
Street pulled himself onto his feet. He needed some air. Hunched over he shuffled towards the window and pulled back the curtain. He reached forwards and pushed the window open inhaling lung fulls of fresh air. He froze.
There she was. He forced himself to blink twice. She was still there. She was still standing on the other side of the street looking directly at him. He was slowly manoeuvring his body out of the window before he realised his body just wouldn't do it in the state it was in. He was about to go into a full panic that he wouldn't be able to reach her when he felt her two hands on him.
He just about contained his surprise; she'd made him jump. He wasn't expecting her to help him. Chris had stepped back, her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at him. Then she went back to silently helping him out of the window. It took a couple of painful minutes but he was stood face to face with her. He was so happy he thought he might combust right there and then. He was smiling at her stupidly. This was so unexpected he hadn't dared to hoped that she would come and find him; and so soon.
He reached forwards and pulled her heartily into him. He crushed her to his body. His happiness dimmed the pain from the bruises she was touching. She'd slowly wrapped her arms around him and was holding him back. He heard her sniff and broke them apart to look down into her eyes. They were watery, one tear had already escaped and had made it's way to her jaw line. Street wiped it away with the pad of his thumb.
'Hey,' Street spoke softly.
'Sorry,' more tears fell from her eyes and Street took her face in both hands.
'It's ok. We're going to be ok,' Street told her. She tried half-heartedly to pull away from him, but Street stopped her, his hands holding her face inches from his.
'I needed to know you got home safe,' she whispered. If he wasn't so close to her face he wouldn't have heard her. His heart sunk, she wasn't planning to stay.
'Chris you can't go back.'
'I just needed to know you were safe.' She tried to pull away from him again but Street was ready. His hands had dropped to her shoulders and held her firmly in place. Street had been prepared for a full on fist fight to hold her in place. After she had tried and failed to step back from their embrace Chris didn't fight him like he thought she would. She wanted to stay. 'You need to let me go,' her words were soft and sad.
'You know I can't do that,' Street glided his hands down the length of her arms and took her hands in his. 'You're here, just stay. We can work this all out. Chris I need you, you're part of our family, we all miss you.' Street started off loading his feelings, but paused. 'You remembered where I live,' he realised his eyes brightening. 'Chris you remember. That's why you're here. You're back. Wait why did you say you can't stay if you remember?' Street rambled.
'It's only you. I only remember you. I knew where to come to find you. I don't know how. I don't know how I got here. I was just thinking about you,' Street got the distinct impression she was about to catapult out of here. She was jittery, her eyes darting around their surroundings.
'It's a start everything else will come,' Street tried.
'No. I don't even know how we met. My parents names, my whole life is a complete blank apart from a couple of flashes of you. It's too much,' Chris pulled her hands out of Street's brushing one through her hair as she stepped back.
'I know it's going to take time just don't run on me again,' Street felt powerless to stop the way things were unfolding.
'I'm not staying,' her dark eyes found his. Her look had him admitting defeat. There would be no changing her mind.
'I need you,' he whispered, and he was surprised to see her demeanour change again. She'd gone from sad, to jittery, to hopeless, to fierce, and now she was guarded. It was too many feelings for this short conversation. Now her walls were up and Street could barely make out what she was feeling. He just knew she wasn't staying.
'They can't just let me go; I know too much.' Chris eventually spoke. She was being careful with her words. Street couldn't tell whether this was the real reason for her departure or not. She stood a meter or so away from him. Her mask of indifference in place.
Street just watched her. He was too tired to have any fight left in him. His earlier euphoria from seeing her had dropped away and now he could collapse on the spot.
'Are you going to try to come back?' he out right asked. His tone showed annoyance, but it wasn't how he meant it.
'It's better if I don't.'
'Better for who,' he snipped. She seemed to bite back her next comment, her mouth opening but closed again without a word. A second passed with them looking at each other before she spoke:
'For me,' she sighed before whispering, 'I will know you're safe.' Street only caught the words you're safe and his brain had to fill in the rest.
'And how will I know you're safe?' his voice broke as he spoke and he found himself close to tears. That stopped her in her tracks. Time stood still as he looked into her eyes. It could have been one second it could have been one hundred seconds before she spoke.
'You don't need to worry about me,' her voice was quiet, but clear, 'I can look after myself.'
'Of course I'm going to worry, and wonder where you are, if you're ok; god Chris, it's killing me seeing you like this.'
'I'm fine. I'm doing much better than you,' she gestured to the state he was in, and had to give her that one. His lack of reply gave her an opening. 'Come on. You need sleep,' she moved to help him back in his window. Street moved with her.
She helped him inside, but Street held onto her hand through the window.
'I've got something for you,' Chris nodded at him, waiting on the outside for him to return. She watched Street shuffle across the room painfully before trying to reach onto a top shelf for something. She was in the window and at his side before she had thought about what she had done.
'What do you want down?' she asked him and Street couldn't believe she was stood shoulder to shoulder with him in his room. He pointed to a box not trusting himself to speak. She sidestepped in front of him and reached up taking hold of the box. She stepped back bringing the box down off the shelf, but Street hadn't moved and their bodies met.
They stumbled backwards the heavy box propelling them backwards. Street stopped them from falling, his hands on her waist as he steadied them.
'What have you got in here?' She asked awkwardly stepping out of his embrace. She placed the box on the bed and he flipped of the lid revealing the contents.
'Just somethings from my under cover days,' he rummaged through the box and stopped when he found what he was looking for. A new burner phone.
'Here. This way I won't worry so much,' Chris eyed up the phone suspiciously, 'Please, just take it.'
Reluctantly she accepted the box being pushed into her hands.
'Thanks,' her tone was still wary. She'd only really spoken out of politeness.
'Oh wait,' Street pulled the box from her confused hands, found a pen on the bedside table and wrote his number along the edge of the box, 'please let me know you're ok,' he placed the box back in her hands.
'Sure.'
'Please,' he pleaded, praying this wouldn't be the last time he saw her. She had to message him, she just had to.
She didn't answer him. He watched her turn and climb through the window without a word. He felt like a goof asking her, in his head, to turn back and look at him before she walked away.
'Street,' she spoke, but didn't turn around to look at him. Her hand still rested on the window frame, half in and half out of his room. With one step he was able to place his hand over hers. This made her turn. She seemed lost of words.
'Yes.'
'Were we; h-happy,' she stumbled over her words. Her nerves had her looking down at their hands, his hand over hers.
'Not as happy as we're going to be,' she looked up at him, her eyes wide with surprise. He could only smile at her. She pulled her hand out from underneath his and made her way across the road. Street watched her go. He was a little worried how his last comment had gone down, but this visit had meant everything to him. He had hope, she was going to come back. It would take some time but she would be back.
