The Runaways – Chapter 14

By MyNameIsCAL

-Max's POV-

It was officially announced in the morning. I was missing now. The FBI was looking for us, we were like fugitives, except we weren't going to get in trouble if they found us. Well, it was a delicate situation now. Gazzy and Angel's parents, and whoever they worked for, released a statement to the media that they were after us too. They said they would stop at nothing to get us, and as scary as that seemed, it still felt like we were living in another world, driving late nights, and ducking into camping sites or parking lots of deserted buildings to hide during the day.

"Do we have anymore Advil?" Fang asked.

"No, you finished it yesterday," I told him. "Besides, I don't think it's doing anything for you. What you need to do is rewrap your knee. C'mon, we'll stop at the convenience store over there."

"But you can't go in!" Fang exclaimed. "You're all over the news…"

"Shhh, they're all sleeping," I hushed, pulling into the parking lot. "So you'll go in and get it by yourself."

Fang grumbled, taking one of his crutches, and hobbled to the door.

I turned, looking at the others. It had been a long day. We had to wake them earlier than usual because the ranger was coming around, checking to make sure everyone there had registered, which we hadn't.

They looked peaceful, sleeping. Iggy had his arm around Nudge and Angel was curled up in a ball next to her brother. I almost drifted off to sleep, but then I heard shouting.

"Hey, you! I know you!"

Fang put the bag on the hood of the car. "You must be mistaken."

"No, you're Josh's supplier," the guy went on. "I know you. And you're the reason I can't get a fix. You stop selling or something?"

"I'm done…selling," Fang told him tiredly.

And that's when the punches started to fly. These two other guys came out from around the corner and they grabbed Fang, pushing him up against the wall.

"What's wrong with your leg?" one of the guys asked. "Did someone else beat us to you?"

I jumped out of the car, the crutch that Fang had left in the car in hand. I whacked the guy that talked to Fang first, grabbing the other two's attention.

"Let go of him," I growled.

Fang looked at me, blood dripping from his nose.

The two guys turned away from me, throwing another punch at him, so I threw myself at one of them, and we fell to the ground. It took one punch to the face to knock him out.

"I'll give you one more chance," I said to the last guy standing.

He held up his hands and then ran.

I grabbed Fang by the arm before he could fall forward. Grabbing the bag and his crutches, I helped him back into the car.

"C'mon, let's get out of here," I mumbled, driving away.

"There's a campsite five miles down this road," Fang said, holding his nose.

After we got there, I helped Fang into the bathroom. His nose had stopped bleeding, which was a good sign. I remember after I broke my nose, it just bled and bled and it hurt a lot.

"Does it look broken?" he asked as I wiped his face.

"No," I assured him. "Does it feel broken?"

"No."

"Then it's not."

We made our way back to the car, rousing the others to set up the tent. After they finished, Fang and I retreated back to the car. I settled against him, the blanket around us, and he put his arms around me.

"What are we going to do after this?" I asked him quietly. "If we ever get to stop running."

"I don't know," he replied, his chin resting on my shoulder. "Get a job, maybe go to college."

I thought about Mom. "But Gazzy and Angel and Nudge. They're not old enough to take care of themselves."

"We'll find a way to keep an eye on them," he reassured me.

"Maybe Mom would take them in, like she did for you," I thought out loud.

"Maybe," he agreed.

I turned to face him. "Do you think we'll ever stop running?"

"I hope so," he said, tucking my hair behind my ear.

And then he kissed me.

-Fang's POV-

Max had fallen asleep some time ago now, and I lay there, my arms still around her and her hand still loosely gripping mine. I started to talk to her, speaking my thoughts out loud. Talking to others had always been hard for me, but I could talk to myself. "I never got to thank you for saving me earlier. I can't say you were very intimidating with that crutch, but after seeing you knock that guy out with one punch, I'll admit I was scared…

"And I'm really glad you came because without you, I think we'd be really lost, or possibly dead or hurt. But I'm also glad you came because I needed you too. I'm glad I've got a friend like you. Well, I suppose it's really more than that, but, you know what I mean, right?

"You know how you asked me what we would do after this? Well, I promise you we'll protect all of them. And, Max, after this, I don't want to lose you. Maybe after this, we can work something out. And if you don't want to do that, then maybe I'll just have to keep us running forever." I laughed at my poor attempt at a joke. "Right, I'm talking to myself. Well, goodnight, Max. I love you."

I closed my eyes and waited for exhaustion to claim me.

Max's hand suddenly squeezed mine. "I love you too, Fang."

And all this time I thought she had been sleeping.

So shall we see what happens in the next chapter? We'll get to some more action in the near future, I promise.