The Runaways – Chapter 11

By MyNameIsCAL

-Iggy's POV-

My phone had started to ring nonstop since last night. Finally around midnight, it had stopped. It had been my parents calling. By now, they had probably reported me missing. According to Nudge, it was now ten in the morning, but Gazzy and Angel were still asleep. My phone started ringing again.

"My parents again?" I muttered, handing my phone to Nudge.

"No, it's Fang." She handed it back to me.

"Hello?"

"Iggy, how long do you think you can last there?" he asked.

"I don't know, a few more days if you bring us food," I told him.

He paused to think. "I need time to get things together."

But there was something he was holding back. "What else do you need time for, Fang?"

"Max," he sighed. "She wants to come with us, but I can't let her get involved in this. I mean, even you Iggy, you shouldn't have to be part of this."

"Then why don't you let her come?" Even I knew that Fang, whether he would ever admit it or not, wanted Max to come. He needed her to come because you could tell her really did care about him and well, Max, she cared about him too.

"All my life I've been waiting for something to come around that I could actually help with," I told him.

"Tuesday," he said after a while. "We'll leave town that day. I'll get a car. If anything changes, I'll call you, alright?"

"Ok, thanks, Fang."

Still, he didn't hang up.

"Fang, Max can help us," I said.

"I know." And then there was a click. He had hung up. I let out a sigh and closed my phone.

-Nudge's POV-

Iggy seemed stressed out. Gazzy and Angel were restless, trying to make the best of this apartment that had only a couch and a bathroom. It was Saturday now, our second day here.

"Will you check my phone?" he asked.

I looked at it. This was the fifth time he told me to check. He was waiting for his parents to call again, but they hadn't. It worried him, even though he wasn't planning to answer.

Max had stopped by a couple hours ago, food in bags for us. She didn't stay for long though.

"Aren't you hungry?" I sat down next to him on the floor.

"No, I'll eat later," he replied.

We sat in silence for a while, Gazzy and Angel eating on the other side of the room quietly.

"Can I ask you something?" I said after a while.

"Sure," he agreed. "Anything."

"Why did you help us?"

Iggy's brows came together as he thought. "Because being blind, I've always felt like I'd never be able to do anything to help anyone. You know Fang, he's always got something troubling him, but as much as I try to help him, he always ends up helping me. I figured at least if I couldn't help him…"

"You could help us," I finished for him.

"Yeah," he nodded.

I leaned against him, my head finding his shoulder. "I'm glad you helped us."

His arm came around my slowly. "Me too."

-Fang's POV-

It was sort of late now, around ten-thirty. Max had surprised me by calling, telling me she had dropped more food off for Iggy. She was over at her father's house for the weekend, leaving me a lot of time to think about running away. Ever since Max had kissed me, I couldn't stop thinking about her. I suddenly felt like I had known her all my life, like she was the one thing that had been missing all along.

But she couldn't get dragged into all this mess.

I sat, watching TV. It had been a quiet day. I talked to Iggy earlier, played some guitar when Ella and Dr. M, and then had a quiet dinner with them. They were asleep now, having said goodnight hours ago.

Just as I was about to doze off, there were footsteps coming in. I turned to see Max coming in. "What are you doing here?"

She took a seat next to me. "It's lonely at my dad's."

All those thoughts that were running through my head about Max getting put in danger disappeared. I put my arm around her and she leaned against me.

For a moment, our eyes suddenly met. Hers looking up at me and mine looking down at her. Without saying anything else, I leaned down and crushed my lips against hers. She started to kiss me back, pushing me back on the couch.

And then, I picked up on the news. "Mary Griffith and James Griffith, Senior, were murdered today in their house, their son, James, missing…"

I broke away from Max and she looked embarrassed, apologizing.

"No, it's not you…Just…The news," I pointed.

We sat up, staring at the TV. James. That was Iggy's real name. Those were his parents.

"No…" I stared at the TV.

"What's wrong?" Max asked, touching my arm softly.

"Those are Iggy's parents," I breathed out.

"…were shot dead and found this afternoon by the mailman when he knocked on their door with a package…" The reporter stood outside of Iggy's house, now surrounded by yellow tape.

"We have to tell him," I muttered, reaching for my crutches.

Without questioning me, Max followed me to my dad's stolen car.

-Iggy's POV-

Nudge was asleep, leaning against me. It had been a long day, but the food Max brought made things more bearable. We kept quiet, holding our breath every time footsteps went by. There had to be other people hiding here besides us.

By now, it had to be late. No one else was awake, but there were heavy footsteps coming down the hall. And then there was a metal sound. Crutches. It had to be Fang. There was a knock on the door.

"Hm…" Nudge groaned as I stood, disturbing her sleep.

I made my way to the door and opened it.

"Ig, I'm sorry to come here so late," he muttered, pushing his way inside. Max was here too.

There was something off about the way he was speaking. "Fang, what's wrong?"

"You need to sit down," he told me.

I did, back next to Nudge, her head falling onto my leg for a pillow again.

"I was watching the news," Fang breathed out, speaking slowly. "And someone killed your parents, Ig. I…I couldn't even think of telling you over the phone…"

My heart sank. Whatever he said next, I didn't hear.