I'm SOOOO sorry for not uploading in forever! I've had so much stuff to do since my Gramma died and I've just been way too depressed to write. But I'm writing now!!!
-AJF.
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I wake up in the middle of the night sobbing. I sit up in bed with Ethan’s arms around my waist. I quickly push them off of me, causing him to stir a little. I glance up at the clock on top of the TV.
5:00 a.m. Great.
I pull the covers off of me, but I feel Ethan’s grip tighten on my arm. He looks up with those gorgeous blue eyes.
”Where are you going?” he asks sleepily.
I gently pull my arm away, “I’ll be back, I promise.”
He rubs his eyes with his hands, “Ainsley, where are you going?” he asks more sternly.
“I’m just going to go to the bathroom, jeez. Wanna follow me in there too?” I laugh softly.
He wiggles his eyebrows, “Gladly, my dear,” he laughs.
I roll my eyes, “No way, cowboy.” I laugh and jump out of bed, pulling the old-fashioned floral blanket off of me, blushing a soft shade of pink as I trip over a pair of slippers, hearing Ethan’s soft chuckle behind me. I quickly close the door to the small hotel bathroom. I sigh as I lean up against the wooden door. Was it bad that I liked being in his arms?
I turn on the sink, scraping my blonde hair into a ponytail as I wash my face and apply eyeliner. I stop after finishing and look at myself in the mirror.
The familiar stranger in the mirror had definitely seen better days. Her normally soft wavy hair has sticking if different directions. Her pale blue eyes had bags underneath them, making her look like she hadn’t slept in years. Her pale skin was even paler than usual, making her look like a porcelain doll. Her stomach looked concave as she could see her own ribs poking out.
“Do I truly look like that?” I whisper to no one in particular, glad no one could answer me. I tear my eyes away from the mirror and brush my bed head until it was tamed.
I walked out of the bathroom and look at Ethan as he laid back against the headboard with his hands behind his head, the blanket falling to his stomach and exposing his abs. The thing that was weird was his chest was covered in scars.
I only got a glimpse of them as he realized I was staring at his abs and quickly covered himself. He doesn’t look at me.
“Sorry, I didn’t want you to see that,” he mumbles, pulling on a shirt and getting out of bed.
I glance over at Suri as she sleeps peacefully, snoring lightly.
“When do you want to hit the road?” I hear Ethan mumble behind me, walking out of the shower.
“I don’t care. When do you want to?” I ask and shrug slightly.
“Sometime soon.” He says coldly. I scoff softly to myself. They say women are bad when they’re on their period.
I kneel down and gently nudge Suri’s arm, “Suri, honey, it’s time to wake up. We’re almost to Holly Springs,” I whisper, moving her hair out of her face.
She slowly wakes up, her tired chocolate eyes on me, “Okay,” she whispers back sleepily. I smile and kiss her head.
I get up and walk to the bathroom, getting everything together to put back into the suitcase. After getting everything together, Ethan bursts into the room, his eyes wide with fear.
“Ainsley, you have to hide, Suri, get up and hide with your sister. Hurry!” he says fearfully.
“Ethan, what’s going on? Why do we have to-“ I say, but Ethan looks into my eyes, almost begging.
“Ainsley, just trust me. Go hide. Now.” He pushes Suri and me to the kitchen. I hide in a cupboard next to Suri, quickly closing the door.
A loud, banging knock on the door makes me grab a frightened Suri tightly to me as she whimpers. I shush her quietly, petting her messy brown hair softly.
“Have you seen these two girls?” a man asks angrily. I can hear more footsteps around the room.
“I’ve never seen those girls before, Officer.” Ethan says calmly, although I can tell, hidden in his voice, fear is smothered by calmness.
I open the cabinet door a little bit, so there’s a crack of light. I look out at Ethan and an officer who looks just like him. The officer looks into Ethan’s eyes, a mean, menacing look on his face.
“I don’t believe you, son.” He growls, “Don’t want anymore scars on your chest, do ya’ boy?” He swings a left hook on his own son. My jaw drops, covering my mouth as I watch Ethan fall to the floor.
“Come on. Boys. There’s nothing here.” He says, walking out the door along with about 5 other officers.
I burst out of the cupboard and rush to Ethan, holding his head in my lap gently, “Ethan, Ethan are you okay?” I ask, moving his brown hair from his face. I see Suri crawl out of the cupboard.
“Suri, go grab some paper towels, his nose is bloody.” I command with Suri obeying quickly.
Once she comes back, I grab the paper towels and gently try to remove the blood coming from his crooked nose. I hear him groan in pain and I move the hair from his face.
He grabs my hand, “Ainsley?” he whispers, his emerald eyes on mine,
“You’re alright, Ethan. I’m here for you.” I shush him gently. He moves his hand and I look away as he fixes his nose with a loud crack. I see Suri jump and cover her eyes and I chuckle softly.
“Ainsley, did they see you? I know you opened the door, but I don’t know if they saw you or not. Did they see-“ I suddenly, impulsively shut him up with a gentle kiss. I don’t know why I did it, but I didn’t realize I was doing it until I felt his hand on the back of my head.
I gently pull away, showing no regret on my face. I look into his deep green eyes and chuckle nervously, “They didn’t see me. Don’t worry.
He looks back into my eyes seriously, “We have to leave, We can’t go to Holly Springs. That’s too close. We need to go further away from here than that.”
Multiple questions kept running through my head as he quickly gets up and grabs my keys. I get up and grab Suri’s backpack and mine quickly running through the door. I jump in the backseat with Suri.
“So where are we going if we can’t go to Holly Springs?” I say, looking at Ethan.
“I have buddies down in Texas who know how bad my father can get. We’ll be safe there.”
“Texas?!” I shout in shock.
“Yes, I know the way. Just relax. It’s only 7 o’clock. Go back to sleep, Ainsley.”
I sigh, knowing its no use fighting with Ethan. I look down as Suri’s head is laid in my lap. I gently lift her head and lay it down on her pillow. I grab my pillow and Suri’s little stuffed animal and place it in her arms. I lay down in the very back seat and fall asleep to Ethan singing.
