Blossom 🌸

FORTY THREE 🌸

"Okay." He uttered, completely causally like the word was used in the same context of a function word.

He stepped towards me and I stiffened, not knowing what his intentions were. Soot stained his beautiful brown skin in patches and as he pulled me into his chest my nostrils flared with the stench of fire and smoke.

"My beautiful Fearne, I have to leave you now but I'll never be far away. Don't tell anyone about this, I don't trust anyone." He titled my head up to his and dropped his lips onto mine.

The kiss was chaise, warm but somehow cold.

He stepped away and headed for his car. I couldn't let him leave, not in his car. Not like this.

"Wait." I shouted.

His footsteps halted on the gravel and I fidgeted with my heavy bangle, not knowing what I could say to make him stay. So I chose the next best thing.

"Take me with you." His brows knitted together, his face pensive and serious. "They know about me now, right? Because of the listening devices? I would be safer with you." He crammed his fingers through his hair, disturbing his untamed curls.

"Fine. Get in." He yanked on the handle of his car and my legs were made of noodles, too wobbly to move.

"I need to use the bathroom, can you wait for me?" His jaw ticked in annoyance but he nodded, breathing from his nose like a dragon out of flame.

I used the erratic beat of my heart as a metronome for my footsteps. Wadding through his house like a cheetah on steroids, my first point of call was his bathroom. I almost pulled the mirror cabinet off it's hinge by how strongly I yanked it open but the display inside was deplorable to say the least.

All his medication canisters sat completely empty, not a chalky pill or drop of oil in sight. I pulled out my phone and dialled every number I had. Liam. Liv. Jamie. Lexi. Cameron. Nobody answered my call and based on the rumbling engine of Arlo's car my time was running short.

"I'm done." I forced an in-genuine smile and climbed into his car, throwing the box I managed to save onto the backseat.

"Safety first, buckle up." I glared at him, I know right now he couldn't understand the irony of that statement but fuck, did it hit home.

He accelerated his foot down on the gas, knocking into a plant pot on the way out of the drive. I sat pressed against the chair, the fast movement of his car knocking me back like a rollercoaster would. I had a whole plan, next chance I get I'll try to call everyone again. Failing that I'll call 911.

Would they arrest him?
Would they hospitalise him?
Would they let him off with a warning?

"I'm starving." He snapped me out of my thoughts.

"You're always starving." Until he's not. "Let's stop at services, grab something to eat." I suggested, feeling the burdening weight of my cellphone.

He drove right past the service station. Damn.

With the car swaying from left to right my stomach felt nauseous and in the mirror my complexion looked green. I focused on the passing roads, we drove for hours. I don't even think Arlo knew where we were headed.

Rain clouds muddled the sky, coating the earth with a dull grey sheen. Thunder rumbled in the distance, a storm imminent and yet I was already wadding through it.

The smell of spring weaved through the inch gap in the window -  a mix of flowers, grass and damp air.

Arlo hadn't spoken to me for at least an hour, but he spoke to himself. Mumblings, some louder than others but none very audible.

I could feel my phone vibrate the plastic of my windbreaker. It wouldn't let up. Someone had noticed. Stealthily I glanced down and hit accept, holding it lower than my hip so he wouldn't see.

"Where are we going?" He ignored me, lips moving to their own private conversation.

"We've traveled quite far, heading towards the freeway east out of town." It's like I was no longer in the car with him, my voice droning out over the conversation he was having with himself.

"It's hot, are you hot?" He took both hands off the steering wheel and pulled his T-shirt off.

I freaked out, shouting at him. The car slid into the next lane until I grabbed the wheel with a malfunctioning heart. Passing cars made my ears bleed with honking horns and profanities.

Through dusty clouds the first drop of rain landed on the windscreen in a big splash. After that the heavens opened, I just hoped they wouldn't claim us as their next victims in the process.

"It's really fucking hot." He repeated. "It's hot!" His voice got louder. "Am I burning?" He took his hands off the wheel again, waving them around to accommodate his delusions. "Zan iya jin harshen wuta akan fata na! I'm on fire! I'm on fire!" The car skid across the road, rain thundering against the window to obscure the vision entirely.

(I can feel flames on my skin!)

I screamed.
He screamed.

He threw his arm protectively in front of my body as the car came to a forceful stop, crashed into the bark of a tree. A high pitched wail rung throughout my ears, my head felt like it had been stomped on by an elephant and his silence was suffocating.

Then he looked down at his hands, studying them like he could see something that I couldn't.

"It's really hot."

He stepped out of the car and I followed him, ignoring the hiss of steam emitting from the bonnet. He stripped off his clothes completely and darted butt naked towards the freeway.

"Arlo!" I shouted, raindrops and tears blending together on my face. "Come back!" I had needles in my head and when I touched my temple blood stained my finger tips, but I couldn't think about that right now. I needed to get to Arlo.

So I ran.

I ran towards the dangerous open road.

I ran towards the naked man whom I cared deeply about.

I ran as fast as my feet would let me, not caring if I was running towards my own death.