6 months pass (Beginning of December)
"Brantley, are we gonna get a tree?" Aubri asked while hanging up some lights inside and decorating. Brantley nodded and looked at her, "Are we gonna get a real tree or a fake one? I'm okay with either kind." he said smiling. "I wanna get a fake one for this year, at least." she said smiling. They went to Wal-Mart and shopped around for a little bit. They got an 8' pre-lit tree and a ton of ornaments. "So, Cassadee, Miranda, and Danielle want me to go Christmas shopping with them. Is that alright with you?" Aubri asked while in the checkout line. "I was gonna go on one of the days I have off. I thought you could go with the guys I'll go with the girls. I do need a list of what to get though. I don't know what your family wants." she said smiling. "That sounds great. That gives me a chance to shop for you." he said chuckling.
They got home and put up the tree. Tyler, Brian, Luke, Jason, Blake, Justin, and their families came over. "Hey! I'm glad you guys are here! Can you guys take a picture of Brantley and me in front of our tree?" Aubri asked with a big smile on her face. Luke nodded. "I'll do that for you." he said with a smile. Brantley and Aubri stood in front of the tree and Luke took the picture. Aubri laughed and then smiled at Brantley. She kissed on the cheek and backed up to look the tree over again. "I'm gonna go after work to get some of my pictures developed. I'm getting a lot on here of us. I'd like to have some for my...scrapbooks." Aubri looked down and pulled her sweater over her hands and walked to Luke. "Thank you Luke, for taking the picture." she said forcing a smile. She took her camera and walked upstairs. She shut the bedroom door and walked to the closet. She got in her backpack and pulled out the battered shoe box. She walked into the bathroom and covered her mouth. She slid down the door and then took a few deep breaths. She had a bad feeling in her gut. The same feeling that she always got when she became too familiar with a place. The feeling of the walls closing in around her. The feeling of needing to breathe.
She took the lid off the box and went to the back of the box and pulled out the pictures. She looked through them. They were all of her as child. She felt tears rolling down her face. Brantley knocked on the door. "Are you alright? You've been in there a while. I'm not rushing you, just worried." he asked. Aubri tried to get her breathing back to normal. "I'm fine. I'll be out in a few minutes." she tried to sound as fine as she could. Her voice cracked slightly as she spoke. She came out and put the box back in her backpack and put it back in the closet. She walked downstairs to Brantley.
"B-Brantley, I need to talk to you." she said looking at him. Her eyes had tears in them. She walked outside on the back patio and sat on the porch swing. "You guys can go ahead and watch the game without me. I'll catch up with you guys later." Brantley walked outside and sat beside her. (To be continued...)
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"Just like Guinevere."
FanfictionWhat are you supposed to do when you're so used to running but somebody wants to take you in? Do you trust them? Do you leave under the cover of night? That's what Aubri had to try to decide. When she finally had enough and decided to run, she found...
