The Truth ✔

Chapter 32 ~

It's a short, sweet kiss, but it means the world to me. After our kiss, I grab her hand and intertwine our fingers. "Okay Layla what do we do now? Do we run or do we go home and let my parents try to fix this? It's your choice, but no matter what you pick I'll be by your side the entire time."

"Kaleb, I can't let you leave your family for me. I'm not worth it." She whispers. "I can't go back. Your family can't help me. No one can. You don't understand how powerful Scott is. It means the world to me that you want to follow me, but you can't leave your family."

I grab her hand and pull her towards my car. "Come on."

She tugs her hand out of mine. "No, Kaleb. I don't want to go back. I'm sorry."

Grabbing her hand again, I pull her close to me. "I know." I say before kissing her forehead. "We aren't going back, but why walk when I have a car? We're going to need money, so I need to pull some out of my account."

"Kaleb, you can't. You have an amazing, loving family and friends. You can't throw it away for me." She says as she starts to cry again. "I'll be fine, Kaleb. I have some money saved up, and I've been taking care of myself for as long as I can remember."

"You are not leaving me, Layla. We're doing this together. I don't care that I am leaving my family and friends. I don't care that you have some money saved up and you know how to take care of yourself, because you're not doing it alone. I'm going with you. You're worth it. and I'll be there for you."

This time I wrap my arm around her and escort her to my car. When we get to the bank, Layla waits in the car while I run inside. While waiting in line I text my mom.

Mom,

I found Layla, but she refuses to come back. I'm really sorry, but I am going with her. She said that her stepfather is a really powerful man, and there will be nothing that you or dad can do to help her. I can't let her go alone. I love her. I really love her. Please don't be upset with me. I love you mom and dad.

Kaleb

I put my phone in my back pocket so I  can fill out a withdrawal slip. I have a little over a thousand in my account. It's not much, but it's better than nothing. My phone dings and I pull it out of my pocket to find a text from my mom.

Where are the two of you?

I don't want to tell my mom because I don't want her to come after me, but I have never lied to her before.

I'm at the bank.

I walk over to the teller and who is an older woman. "Hello Sir, what can I do for you?"

"I want to withdraw all of the money from my account and close it." I say nervously not knowing if my parents could be on their way here.

"Okay sir, let me gets some forms for you to sign and your money." She says before walking away and getting my money and paperwork that I need to fill out.

She has me sign several forms before handing me a huge envelope filled with money. The envelope is huge. I don't think a thousand dollars is supposed to look like this much unless she gave it to me all in ones. "Ma'am. I think you gave me the wrong amount. I only had a little over a thousand dollars in my account."

She gives me a puzzle look before typing on her computer. "Sir, there was a ten-thousand-dollar transfer to your account a few minutes before you closed your account."

"Okay." I say confused at what had just happened before turning around and walking to my car. When I get into my car, Layla looks really nervous.

"Are you okay?" I ask as I hold her hand.

She shakes her head as tears makes their way down her face. "No. I don't want you to leave your family for me. They're all going to be upset with us."

I'm about to respond to her when my phone dings. As I read the messages from my mom, I can't help but smile.

We love you, Kaleb. Use the money wisely, and when we get this all sorted, we expect both of you to come on home. Tell Layla we love her. We love both of you. All of us just want the two of you to be safe.

"It will be fine, Layla. I promise." I say giving her a smile.

"But how do you know? Your mom and dad were so nice to me. I'm taking you away from them. What about your friends? They'll miss you, and I'm sure they hate me. They have to hate me. They all think I am a liar."

"Here." I say holding out my phone. She grabs it from my hand with a puzzle. "Read it." I urge.

I watch as Layla reads the message while more and more tears stream down her face. "You parents really like me?" She asks.

I smile at her. "No, they love you." I grab the envelope full of cash and hand it to her. "We have a little over eleven thousand dollars here. My mom added ten thousand dollars to my account when she found out we were running away."

Layla seems shock but pull reaches into her backpack and pulls out an envelope. "I have two thousand here. I've been saving it since I moved in with my dad. My plan was to have enough money so that when I turn eighteen, I could leave him."

"Put it all in your backpack. We are going to need to go to the store and get a few things."

"Kaleb, are you sure you want to come with me, you can still back out if you want." She whispers.

"No, I am not backing out. I want to be with you and that's final. How about making a list of things we need from the store so we can get as far away from here as possible."

She pulls out a small note pad from her backpack and starts working on a list. I take a deep breath before pulling out of the parking lot. I hate leaving my friends and family behind, and there is a part of me that wishes she would have just gone back home with me, but with how quickly my parents transferred money into my account without even asking us to come back home, maybe the situation is worse than I thought. I start to worry a little as I try to figure out where we can even go. As more and more thoughts start to scare me, hearing her voice pulls me out of my thoughts.

"Kaleb?" Layla says softly after she is finish writing the list.

"Yeah?" I say continuing to pay attention to the road.

"I love you." She whispers so softly that I barely hear it. I feel all of my worries wash away. I'm doing this not just for her but for us. If we go back, she could be forced to marry Derrick and I will not allow that. I'll give up everything just to be with her.

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A/N: Not my best chapter but there is a lot going on at the moment. Hopefully the next one will be better. ~KarenJ128~