undesired.

twenty one.

two hours later

after a long trek through levi's property, victoria and laina had hitched a ride to a local motel. the two stood in front of a half run down motel, the neon vacancy sign glitching.

"are you sure about this.. we are only like 20 miles from his house.. what if he finds us here.", laina questioned.

"things will be fine.", victoria replied. victoria seemed less stressed then laina was somehow, despite laina managing to run for a whole year before.

the girl approached the office, motioning laina to follow. the man at the front desk was older, probably early 40s. scruffy, tall.

"it's 49 dollars a night, how long would you like to stay?", the man asked, putting out his cigarette on the ash tray on his desk. he turned his attention up to the girl.

"oh god", the man said.

"what??", laina asked, concerned.

"you both look like you've been through hell", the man stated. laina looked at him offended.

"look in the mirror for yourself", the man said, shrugging it off. the girl glanced in the mirror, hanging up on the office wall. she was covered in dirt. the man was right. she was sure the two of them were looking pretty suspicious as of now. the girl despised levi, but the cops couldn't be called. it would get her father's business in trouble too. as much as she hated him she couldn't drag her own family down with levi. she just couldn't.

"oh, we're fine. we went hiking earlier", laina said, quickly making an excuse. the man glared at her suspiciously, totally not buying the story, but also not expressing he cared enough to call the authorities or further investigate.

victoria rolled her eyes, pulling out a 100 dollar bill to pay for two nights. the man handed her a key.

"don't ask.", victoria simply said.

"room 210, complimentary breakfast is 6-9AM in the office, no parties, no smoking in the room, check out is 10am thursday.", the man told her.

"got it, thanks", victoria said. the two left the office, going upstairs to the room. the two entered the room. laina sat on the edge of the bed, glaring as victoria investigated the room, a look of disgust on her face.

"i'm guessing you've never stayed in a motel room before..", laina stated. victoria glared back at her.

"motel, no. usually we'd stay at father's friends hotel chain in a suite.", victoria replied. laina could understand where the girl was coming from. she too grew up in luxury the majority of her life until she had temporarily rough it on her own but hell, she'd rather thought it on her own then be under the control of levi or her father.

"well this is what life will be like.. get used to it", laina mumbled, glaring down. the pending anxiety of levi potentially finding them was beating down on her.

"how much money did you take?", laina questioned. victoria dumped the backpack she took, cash, some clothes, and hygiene products falling out. victoria sat beside the pile, counting the cash.

"3500 dollars", victoria replied. laina sighed in relief.

"that's enough to get us a down payment and first month of rent on an apartment, get us some clothes, some sleeping bags, a few weeks of groceries. we can both secure a job before second months rent rolls around. everything will be okay, we will be okay.", laina said in relief.

"sleeping bags??", victoria questioned, a look of disgust on her face.

"welcome to being poor", laina said, smiling a bit. victoria rolled her eyes before sitting beside laina. victoria hugged laina tight.

"we actually made it out", victoria said. laina smiled a bit before getting up, she dumped her own backpack, changing into a clean pair of clothes. a pair of leggings and a light pink sweater.

"we should wash these clothes tomorrow", laina mumbled, throwing the dirty clothes on the ground.

"agreed. we kind of smell too. a shower might be good as well in the morning.", victoria said, giggling a bit.

"let's get some sleep, we should take a taxi tomorrow into town. apply for some apartments and jobs.", laina said. victoria nodded in agreeance. laina kicked off her shoes, laying down before turning off the light. victoria changed as well, laying beside laina. a few minutes pass of total darkness and silence.

"laina, i'm scared", victoria admitted. laina glanced over at her dimly lit face. the only light peering in through the slightly cracked broken shades that allowed the moonlight to shine in.

"it will all be okay.", laina told her, though she feared as well. this was levi she was dealing with. he's tracked her down and dragged her back once before. he would surely do it again if they weren't careful.

"i've never done this before.. i don't even know what'd he do if he found us. i saw what he did to you. i'm scared. i've never rebelled this much before. up until a few weeks ago, i never disobeyed levi or my father in my life.", victoria admitted, sniffling a bit.

"we have each other, we will look out for each other. we will be okay. and if he does find us, i will take the fall for everything i promise. i will tell him i convinced you to do this.", laina reassured her. the girl viewed victoria as a little sister though she knew she wasn't blood. she'd do anything to protect her though she hoped it wouldn't come to that. she prayed things would work out this time. that she could finally have a normal life. independence. freedom.

"let's try to sleep, okay?", laina said. victoria nodded, shutting her eyes.

"laina", victoria said.

"yes?", laina replied, her eyes heavy, about to sleep at any moment.

"i love you", victoria said.

"i love you too", laina replied.

"i'm glad you came into my life, i'm sorry about the circumstances of it.. but i don't think i would've had the courage to leave without you. i never knew there was more out there. it was all i knew...", victoria began to say, obviously nodding off to sleep. soon enough, laina heard her snoring. the girl shut her eyes as well. they had a big day ahead of them.