Disclaimer: I don't own LWD.

A/N: I have absolutely no excuse. I just hope you can still enjoy this. Well, here it is…

Chapter 14… Gone

x o x x o derek's p.o.v. o x x o x

"Derek, what are you doing?" I heard Edwin's meek voice, only it sounded like it was playing in stereo, filling the room and my head. The ensuing silence only made it louder and I broke the mystic stance with a simple answer.

"I can't stay here," I said, shoving the last clean shirt in violently, then zipping the bag up. The biggest bag I could carry.

Well, you didn't think I was gonna go to the states looking like a hobo, now did you?

I stood up from my kneeling position quickly, snatching up my wallet and shuffling through it. I had about $400 dollars. I'd have to grab Dad's old credit card on the way out. I'd used it a few times before and I silently prayed that it'd still work.

"Where are you going to go?" he asked, staring up into my eyes, my soul, searching for an answer.

"Sam's," I said.

"Are you moving in?" he asked, gesturing towards my bag plum full of my stuff.

I just grabbed it up and grunted a low reply to his question, "Not a bad idea."

I made a move to leave the room, but he practically jumped in front of me. "Derek, you can't leave. Not when everything's like this. You can't just leave us like that…" he said, eyes welling up in tears.

I took in his appearance in earnest. His eyes were glassy and a little red, but then again, everyone was crying right now. Even Marti.

I know what I was about to do was selfish, but maybe it's not. Maybe having me gone will fix all of this.

"Bye Ed." I sidestepped past him quickly.

He'll see. Everything will be better. For all of them.

x o x x o x x o x x o x x o x x o x

x o x x o casey's p.o.v. o x x o x

My ankle hurts. My whole body is coursing with pain. But I have to keep running. I swear those were sirens that I heard a few seconds ago.

The tears are running across my eyes and my cheeks, blinding me. The cold stings at them, piercing my skin harshly. For the first time in my life, I know what it's like to need to run. All the other times were trivial and nonsensical. Nothing from before matters. The only thing that matters now is getting out.

Finally, a park. Darkness consumes my shadows and me and I fall to my knees, gasping at cold air. The freeway is only two streets away and I hear the dimmed sound of cars rushing past my sanctuary.

In vain, I rubbed desperately at my aching ankle. It was hard to tell whether a bruise had already formed from the hard impact it made with the window ledge. Running non-stop for 5 minutes probably didn't help either.

At this thought, I suddenly felt overcome with exhaustion. My eyes were too heavy to be open. My head was too heavy to carry. If I could turn off the tiredness, just for a few more hours. Just a few hours until the tired could take me where I wanted to be.

I pushed myself up. I had no idea where I was. Nothing looked familiar. Until I noticed that across the freeway, atop a small hill, surrounded by fences that stretched beyond my view, was the party of a lifetime. Quite literally.