Tangled Up in Blue

Five Minutes

Blue

It might as well be propane, followed immediately by a lit match, that hits me full in the face.

I come roaring out of my seat before my eyes are even fully open, my skin burning, in full flashback mode. 

Knocking the bottle out of Keegan's hand, I automatically grab her throat before I realize who it is, where I am.

"Blue." 

She doesn't even raise her voice or try to wrench my hands away. 

"Blue, it's me."

And I go from blazing hot to ice cold, just like that. 

"Keegan." 

I can do nothing more than whisper. 

"Keegan." 

Gasping for breath, I drop my arms and hang my head, grabbing the seat back in front of me to steady myself. 

I'm shaken to my core. I almost fucking strangled her.

"What are you doing here?" I growl after a few moments, still trying to catch my breath. "What the fuck are you doing on this bus?"

She raises her chin and narrows her eyes at me. 

"I'm going with you. If you're determined to do this, I'm going with you."

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am."

"Keegan." 

I place my hands on her shoulders. My heart is still pounding in my ears. 

"You can't."

"Everything all right back there?" the driver calls, and some mangy-looking dude next to us laughs.

"I guess her boyfriend really is on the bus," the dude says sarcastically.

I wipe a finger across my eyes to clear the water that's blurring them. 

"Why did you throw water on me?"

She goes, in an instant, from speaking quietly to yelling and pounding her fists against my chest. 

"Because I'm so mad at you! How could you take off like that, Blue? How could you just sneak out of town and leave me with some stupid piece of paper? How could you?"

She keeps pummeling me, and I let her. I want her to.

But then she collapses against me and buries her face in my neck. 

"I can't do this without you," she sobs. "I can't do my life without you. Don't you know that by now? You've changed me too much. I don't want to do it without you. You have to take me with you. I can help you."

I wrap my hand around her arm and begin to pull her toward the front of the bus.

"No!" She yanks her arm out of my grasp. "I'm staying on. You can't make me get off this bus."

"Keegan!" 

I clench her arm again, my fingers digging into her skin. I don't want to hurt her. But I have to get her off the bus.

She pulls back again, but this time I hold on.

"Hey!" the driver yells. "What the hell is going on back there?"

I start to drag Keegan down the aisle with me.

"Dammit, Blue! Let go of me!" 

She keeps kicking me, but I manage to get her to the front and stand panting in front of the driver.