The Callahan Dynasty

Runaway

I looked up at him and he just stared with an expressionless face.

''I needed to tell you all of this. I know I should have done it earlier but...'' I let out a huge breath. ''I guess 'I was scared' isn't really a good excuse anymore.'' I spoke with a nervous laugh.

I tucked my hair behind my ear and shifted nervously, looking at the ground nervously,.''Maybe I was more afraid of losing you.''

He was silent and I was too for a while.

''It wasn't fake. None of it was. I really did-do care about you, Jason. I just wanted to say it on my own terms. Not because of Dean or your parents.''

More silence.

''That's it, I guess...'' I spoke. ''I never meant to betray you. But I did. And I'm sorry. But I was never meant for this world and I can't take another second in it. I'm not going back to New York with you. I don't know where I'll go but it needs to be somewhere I can start over.''

Jason simply shook his head in disbelief and walked off towards the other side of the room.

I fought the urge to choke out a sob. Something in my chest felt like it had dropped down in disappointment.

But what was I expecting?

I had lied to him and kept this from him. I should know by now that trust is hard to establish again after that.

I sucked in a deep breath and with all the dignity I had left, I walked out the room.

I slipped on my coat.

I picked up my bag and headed for the door.

I hesitated when I was about to head out the door. I looked back but Jason wasn't there.

He wasn't coming after me and I shouldn't expect him to.

I closed the door behind me and made my way to the main exit of the hotel.

I ignored the lady at the reception who asked me if I was checking out already.

I walked out the automatic sliding doors.

I raised my hand trying to hail a cab.

The cool winds blew at me, sending my coat and hair backwards.

I wished I could breathe it all in and just let it blow away all the things I was feeling right now.

It did a good job and blowing away the tears that were trying to escape my reluctant eyes.

No cab stopped for me, they all seemed to be rushing somewhere else or stopping for other people. Better people.

Or maybe I just wasn't trying hard enough. Either way, it was all too much and it triggered something that made everything I was holding in spill out.

I ended up stumbling back and throwing my bag on the ground before plopping down on in. I put my face in my hands and let those pesky tears escape.

I felt like a lost traveler who had just  been getting on different trains, not knowing where she was going.

Now time had caught up with me and I couldn't hide the fact that I had been reckless and impulsive. And there was always a price to pay for that.

My parents, my brother, Alex, Isabella, all the people I had known in my past life and all the people I had met in my new life, all lost. Jason All gone. All lost.

It's like I was cursed.

I was indeed a lost traveler who didn't know where she was... where she was going or who she was.

Where had my identity gone? Did I even have one?

My family was stolen from me in the midst and most confusing part of my teenage years, I had lost myself in a boy I hardly knew by the time I was seventeen. And 'Katelyn King' was forced down my throat without my consent or permission.

I felt a shadow cast over me blocking the sun.

I looked up and saw a towering figure.

''Miss, you can't loiter around here.'' The guard spoke.

I scrambled to my feet and wiped my eyes. ''Right, I'm sorry, I was just going erm... I was going''

''Nowhere without me.''

I perked up at the familiar voice. Jason was marching towards me. He took me in his arms and smashed his lips on mine,

It was like that one action sent me  us into a different world. Our own world where love mattered and not paparazzi or murder or blackmail.

Just us. And that was enough for me.

I thought he'd never pull away and I'm not sure I wanted him to.

He kissed me desperately and I kissed back, wanting to savor every second spent away from a lover who almost slipped away forever.

But we had to pull away eventually, and when we did, he held my face.

''I'm not mad.'' He  breathed out, his lungs trying to absorb all the oxygen he had missed out on in those few seconds much like mine. ''I get it. I understand.'' he added.

I didn't have words and I don't think I needed any. My expression probably said it all.

I was relived.

He kissed me again and I wanted to believe that it would all be okay but I couldn't allow myself to be that naive again. There were questions and problems that came with all this.

''What will you tell your family/'' I asked him.

I felt ashamed for not even considering Dixon, his father or Gary in all this. They had kept things from me too but I'd still like to believe that to some extent, they were still people I knew. Hence people who still meant something to me.

What would happen when Jason told his family what he had learnt?

Would they get revenge and if so, were Dixon and Uncle Gavin that deeply involved in this that they would get affected.

''I won'tell them anything.'' He spoke.

I furrowed my brows at him.

''I heard what you said.'' he continued. ''I don't want this life either...''

My confusion deepened. ''What are you saying, Jason?''

He clutched my hands tightly and looked intensely into my eyes.

''I'm saying, lets run away.''