Chapter 4

When I open my eyes, the sun is shining everywhere. It shines through the branches and leaves of the tree that slightly covers the car. It's not that hot though but I rub my eyes, drink a little bit of water, turn the car on, and drive off.

It's 7:49 in the morning.

"Mommy, this is taking forever," Creek says. He sounds exhausted.

Poor little thing.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," I say, "Look, I promise we'll stop by tonight."

"So we're getting to Candy Land tonight?"

"Sure."

Again, I hate all these lies I'm telling him. But I have to lie to him if he's going to continue this with me. I know I'm going to have to face the consequences when we get to wherever we're going, but I'm just trying to protect him. I love him.

I keep driving until we're finally out of Oklahoma. I feel like I'm traveling the country or the world—maybe I am. But I think of Gloss again—I'm terrified of what he's thinking right now. I took off; I left him. I took his own car; I took his son. But he's my son as well. I look back at him and he's swiftly asleep. He looks like an angel when he's sleeping.

When I make the next stop, we're in Missouri: St. Louis, Missouri. I check the time: 1:31 in the afternoon. We've been on the road for over a day and still can't find a destination. Well I know a destination… to just get away from Gloss, completely.

"I'm tired," Creek says in a whiny tone. "Mommy, I want to get off already."

"Not yet," I tell him and make a stop at a random restaurant.

"Why are we here?" he asks.

"We have to eat," I say and get off the car, as well as him.

I hold his little hand as we enter the restaurant. It's more like a café.

"Welcome to Martha's, how can I help you?" a lady in front of a podium smiles as we walk in.

"Can we have a table for two?" I politely ask, and she doesn't hesitate but quickly finds us one. It's by a large window.

"My name is Portia, and I'll be your waitress for today. What would you guys like to drink?" she pulls out a small notebook and a pen.

"I'll have some iced tea, and my son will have some lemonade," I tell her before she writes it down and tells us that the drinks will arrive in a few seconds.

I look at Creek and he looks completely worn out. I feel so bad for him.

"Creek," I softly say, "Are you okay?"

He puts his head down and says, "I'm just tired. When are we going to get to Candy Land?"

I close my eyes and sigh.

"I told you we'll get there by tonight," I say.

He doesn't say anything else but lifts his head up again, and that's when our drinks arrive. I order a cheeseburger for me and chicken strips for Creek. Since there's hardly anyone here, our order is quickly prepared.

"Aren't you hungry?" I ask Creek when I notice that he's hardly eating, after our food has arrived. He's probably still full from the Subway sandwiches.

"Not really," he says and leans his head against his hand.

"Honey, is something bothering you?" I feel like I'm bothering him, that I'm the case.

"I just miss daddy," he says and that's when pure guilt hits me. I took him away from his only dad.

"He'll be here in a few days," I tell him, "Don't worry."

"Did you bring my toys?" he changes the subject. I'm glad.

"Of course I did," I say, "I brought your favorite ones only though."

He frowns but quickly says, "Aw man. I guess it's okay."

Creek is the only person who makes me happy, who makes me turn my frown upside down, who always puts a smile on my face and lets me believe that there's still something good in my life. He's the only good thing left.

After we finish our food, we quickly get out of the café or restaurant and I keep driving us until we're almost out of gas. I'm surprised we're not even empty yet—those eighty something gallons must've helped a lot. It's 3:31 when we arrive to the next place. It's Springfield, Illinois, which is only about two hours away from St. Louis. I stop at the nearest gas station and quickly fill up ten gallons, but for some reason, I don't keep driving. Instead, I stop at a motel nearby and decide to check-in.

"This isn't Candy Land," says Creek when we enter our room.

"It actually is. It's still being fixed," I say.

"Is it going to take long?" he asks.

"I don't know." I simply reply and go outside to get our suitcases. I take a look around and think: this place is pretty calm. I mean, I've never been anywhere else but California or Virginia. Of course, I was in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri during this trip. But now, we're in Illinois and I've never met a place as peaceful as this.

I go back inside and shut the door, locking it. Just in case. I bite my lip to keep my nervousness low, and to keep my mouth shut from saying anything to Creek. The room is simple. It's rectangular-shaped. There is a bed against the wall to the left. There's a T.V. facing it on the wall to the right. At the end of the room, there are two sinks and a door to the right. I assume it's the bathroom, because there's another door right next to where you walk in, and it has to be the closet. I also see a small refrigerator and a microwave. It's casual but perfect for the two us. It's not fancy, it's not royal-looking, it's not out-of-this world, but the simple setting just makes it alright for both Creek and I.

Creek turns on the television and begins watching cartoons. I, on the other hand, set the suitcases down and let my body drop on the bed. As I look at the ceiling, something pops into my mind. I start to think of everything in my life: Gloss, Creek; everything; my life. The sound of the cartoons just makes me realize that this could be my chance, my new life… my "Candy Land". It makes me realize that we're far enough—we don't have to keep going further. This place is perfect. I decide to close my eyes and that's when I make my final decision.

We're home.

NOTES: Two chapters in one day!:D This is the shortest chapter I've written by far, and I promise you that the next to come will be longer. When I write two chapter in one day, I tend to make one of the chapters short. But when I'm in like a good writing mood, I do write a lot of chapters, and they all end up being long. I haven't been in the greatest writing mood lately, but I write what I feel like writing. Anyway, enough of that, let's get to this! This was another pretty slow chapter. Annie has just discovered that Springfield is the perfect place for her and Creek. It's calm and pretty quiet. Of course, they're not going to live in that motel, but Annie will get a job soon. Also, in case any of you are wondering, Katniss, Peeta, Gale, and them will be in this story. They just won't have big roles - they also won't have small roles, but they'll have "average"-roles. Yeah, so I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and thank you all so much, especially to my 8 followers and favorites! Please leave a review if you can:)

nic: Thank you! I'm glad you like this story and I hope I can make it better. About the cussing, I did notice that it doesn't fit Annie, and it does make her a little OOC. So I won't make her cuss... as much. But again, thank you! And please review again if you can!:)

Juliet's Shadow: Chapter 4's here! I hope you enjoyed this one as well:D I haven't texted you back, because I've been writing this and you're at RTD, so I guess we both have things to do. XD Anyway, thank you so much and I hope this is getting better for you:)