ROGUE

04 : Man Up, McCann

"One involving cows." I said, stirring my burnt cup of coffee.

Matt gave me a weird look. "Explain."

"Basically, we came to a closed road and Jason thought it would be a good idea to drive through a fence and chase some of the farmers cows with his brand new car." I explained.

Jason snorted. "Me and the cops have got some serious beef."

I slapped my hand against my forehead. "You did not just say that."

"I did and I'm proud of it." He took a quick swig of his coke and turned to Jake. "Yo, where's Josh?"

"He just texted me, he'll be here in a minute." Jake said as he chewed on an onion ring.

As if on queue, Josh burst through the dirty truck stop doors, accompanied with someone I thought I'd never see again.
My jaw hung open.

She flipped her long, dyed-red hair as she entered like a celebrity. She wore a vintage jacket and brown boots up to her knees.
Ellie.

"Surprise!" Jason beamed.

Ellie raced towards me and wrapped her arms around my tightly, I returned her death grip and tried to figure out which question I wanted to ask first.

I settled with the most obvious one. "What are you doing here?" I asked as we both pulled away.

"Jason knocked on my door. I swear to God, it was the scariest thing in my whole life. I thought he had come to kill me or something," she said.

"Um, I'm sat right here." Jason interrupted, waving slightly.

Ellie continued. "He told me what happened and that he was going to get you back. He said that I should come because he didn't know what type of support you would need once you were out of that hell hole. He said you would need the support of an old friend, so here I am." She babbled.

I felt my heart swell as I looked over at Jason.
"You did that for me?"

"I'd do anything for you, you know that." He grinned.

Jason risked giving me a small part of my old life back just to make sure I would be okay in the long run, and I couldn't even cough up the words 'I love you'.

"Anyway," Ellie looked me up and down. "You need to get changed, the only police that should've been chasing you are the fashion police. What are you thinking?" She pulled at my ruffled shirt in disapproval.

"We were given these clothes at the hospital." I shrugged.

"Jesus Christ, did they not punish you enough?" She sighed.

I laughed before greeting Josh and then settling to finish my cup of coffee.

"So," Matt took one of Jake's fries, "Where to next?"

"I was thinking Lockhart, but now that doesn't seem like such a good idea." Jason mumbled.

"So where will we go?" Matt asked

Jason scratched the back of his neck awkwardly and eyed Alex.
A silent conversation passed between them.
Alex's face screwed up suddenly and he shook his head.