"Sara?"
No response. Only the sound of the trucks blowing their horns as Sara stepped on the gas and weaved through traffic like there wasn't a car on the road. If she wouldn't have been such an excellent driver, they would both be dead already. Twice probably. Felicity wiped the back of her hand along her cheek, sniffling quietly.
"Sara? Where are we going?"
"I..I don't know."
She pulled over on the side of the highway. Again, they could have been killed. Turning in her seat, for the first time, she let the tears slip from her eyes. Sara pulled Felicity into her arms, hugging her as tightly as she could.
"I'm so sorry." She whispered. Felicity's quiet sobbing stopped abruptly and she pulled herself out of Sara's arms.
"You saved me."
"I should have gone with you so all of this wouldn't have happened."
Felicity's nose had clogged with dried up blood, a long streak of it across her cheek, her face looking dirty and tired, eyes puffy and red from crying and her hair a tangled mess.
"It was not your fault."
"But I shouldn't have killed him."
Felicity tightened her jaw and swallowed hard. She looked down at her hands, biting her lip. Sara sighed and used her scarf to wipe away her own tears. She had learned to defend herself from men like that but she never thought she could actually kill one. For so many reasons, the piece of scum deserved it, but then why did it feel like her soul was suddenly carrying a backpack full of rocks. She centered herself and took another deep breath. She had to be strong. She had to get Felicity through this. She reached out to her friend, wetting the scarf with a bottle of water and carefully cleaning Felicity's cheeks. She seemed to calm down a little as Sara started talking to her in a hushed voice. Everything was going to be fine.
"We're going to stop somewhere for a cup of coffee and we're going to get it together and we'll figure out what to do next, alright? We're going to be okay."
Felicity nodded and closed her eyes for a second. "We're going to be okay." She repeated quietly.
The first stop with a small diner they found was about half an hour away. It was 11:23 PM when they got there, somewhat cleaned up, but still shaking. Felicity closed her fingers around the steaming cup of tasteless coffee, which she had no strength or mind to complain about.
"Okay. Now is not the time to panic. If we panic, we're done for." Sara said, taking a sip of the dark liquid, glancing around the almost deserted diner.
"Shouldn't we go to the police?"
"Nobody saw it, nobody knows it was us. And it's better if it stays that way, you understand?" We just have to figure out what we are going to do next."
Felicity nodded and blew her nose in a napkin. Her breath hitched and she swallowed.
"We're going to need money." She whispered.
Sara pressed her lips together and nodded. "We can stop at the next town and get to a motel so we can rest and tomorrow morning we'll leave for the beach house."
"Okay." Felicity said, running a hand through her hair.
"How much money do you have on you?"
Felicity reached for her purse and pulled out her wallet. She started counting the bills and looked up at Sara, defeat in her eyes. "41 dollars."
"That's enough for one night. I have some too, but keep your eyes open for an atm, just in case."
They were back on the road less than a half hour later. Felicity was staring out of the window on her side, head resting against the glass. It wasn't comfortable, at all, but she just couldn't seem to keep her head up straight anymore. She was tugging at her thumbnail with her teeth. Sara occasionally glanced over at her friend, but decided it was best to let her fall asleep. She tried to drive as smoothly as possible. After a while, Felicity sat up and looked straight at Sara.
"Are you going to tell me where you learned how to do that?"
Sara's eyes narrowed as she glanced at her and back to the road. She sighed softly.
"You really wanna do this now? I will tell you everything once we get to the motel, I promise."
"Fine, but I need you to give me something, anything. So I can eliminate some of the craziest possibilities my brain has come up with." Felicity said, arms crossed over her torso, Goosebumps all over arms and legs.
"That probably won't help, since it's a pretty crazy story." She said, reaching behind her and grabbing her leather jacket off the backseat and handing it to Felicity. She took it gladly and whispered a thank you in Sara's direction.
"Please." She whispered a little while later.
Sara didn't reply for a long moment, gripping the steering wheel tighter and clenching her jaw.
"When I was thirteen, something a lot similar to what almost happened to you tonight happened to me. I was alone, and scared and screaming my lungs out, but there was nobody around. I thought all hope was lost until this girl showed up, not much older than I was, probably around sixteen. She saved me and took me to a safe place. She taught me how to protect myself and the people I care about."
Felicity sat in shock for a second, eyes wide and lips parted. She swallowed and let her gaze drop to her lap. She had never expected something like that. Reaching out, she put her cold fingers around Sara's and squeezed reassuringly. Sara looked up at her through teary eyes and she smiled the tiniest smile she could to make her feel better. Sara returned the smile and wrapped her fingers around Felicity's. No matter how tough the days would be, she knew she could always rely on her incredibly smart and nerdy best friend to cheer her up and be there for her.
"Thank you."
"For what?" Felicity asked.
"For not making me feel like what I am."
