I'm Only Crazy

@ NauticalNonsense;;

"I did something real bad, baby. Real bad. We're goin' through the vents. Pack up." Delilah tugged his hand mildly, mouth twitching into the ghost of a childish grin. She lifted her bag sluggishly for emphasis.

Max decided not to question her and scrambled upwards to gather up his things. Once he had his things together, he looked to her for direction.

@ k1ssmysass

@ NauticalNonsense;;

She pointed upward to the large ventilation space, giving it a hearty kick that was enough to break it away with minimum noise. Delilah clambered in, the tight space not as tight as her chest, claustrophobia smacking her in the face. She wheezed from inside, dust spiraling toward them. "C'mon, come on, come on!" She sing-songed, peering behind her.

Max's eyes went wide and he scrambled in after her, trying to keep his belongings together. He bit his lips nervously as he tried to keep up with the girl in front of him. His heart was going a million miles per minute in his chest; feeling as if it could explode any second.

@ k1ssmysass
(Sorry for taking forever and being crappy.)

@ NauticalNonsense;;

Gasping for breath in the dust-infected pathway, she followed along the ventilation system, occasionally peering down a slitted opening. After nearly an hour of crawling, a whoosh of cool air blasted her. Pushing mildly on it, she freed the cover, the air of the outside greeting them with open arms.

Releasing her bag, it landed with a mild 'plop.' Wild limbs flailed as she squeezed out, and a grunt came from below. "I'll break your fall!" She called up to him, arms open.

(It's fine!)

Max looked down at her wearily and shook his head at her. "No. I don't want to hurt you." He called back down to the brave girl below. Taking a deep breath, he peered over the edge and a quiet whimper managed to escape. Being terrified of heights was a fear he really wished he didn't suffer from right now. He took another deep breath as he managed to get his legs dangling over the edge and clamped his eyes shut. He fell to the ground with a light "oof", landing in a crouched position, managing to scrape the palms of his hands.

@ k1ssmysass

@ NauticalNonsense;;

They'd catapulted to an unfenced area, so escape until to brush and dust of trees was easy. Delilah walked quickly, fingers inching toward his to lead him. "I have money," She babbled, "I stole it - but 's okay!" Her legs throbbed from the jump and her eyes watered with the intensity of what she'd done that day. "We can - we can find a motel. " She took his hand, swinging it as they made their way onto the main road. A sea of nothingness awaited them - jusr a road. Inhaling sharply, Delilah stuck her thumb out.

(You want to play one of the guys that picks them up? You choose what happens - I'll just follow along.)

@ k1ssmysass
(I can try my best. Do you mean for me to double up? Or just do like I've done below?)

Max walked next to Delilah unsteadily, his hand reached out to intertwine his fingers with her, desperately needing the comfort. He could see two circles of light heading in their direction and his heart started hammering in his chest. The hammering only became worse as the car rolled to a stop next to them. Max watched uneasily as the window rolled down, smoke wafting out of it, the smell making him slightly sick to his stomach.

The man's eyes raked up and down the two of them and suddenly Max felt feverish. "Needa ride?" The man slurred, his eyes lingered way too long on Delilah's chest for Max's comfort. He felt the sudden urge to grab the girl and run.

@ NauticalNonsense;;

"Totally!" Delilah seemed near ecstatic to be stopped by a smoky smudge of a man. She burrowed her way into the backseat, not dropping Max's hand along the way.

"George, she ain't eighteen. Stop fuckin' checking out her tits." A lower voice guffawed.

Oblivious to their conversation, Delilah wrapped both arms around Max, one hand smoothing up and down his arm as the other kneaded his shoulder warmly. "If they pull any funny shit, you get out first an' I'll be right behind." She breathed.

Max nodded his head curtly, watching the front of the vehicle wearily while attempting to assess any of their features he possibly could. He was unable to make out much from the lack of light, the hammering hadn't ceased in his chest.

"C'mon now, Charlie. Not like you can tell how old she is by looking at her," the man, obviously named George, replied chuckling disgustingly so. "Though, I bet she likes to have a little fun. Isn't that right, sweetie?" Max met the mans eyes in the rear view mirror, anger coursing through his body.

@ k1ssmysass

@ NauticalNonsense;;

Face paling, she only wished she'd snagged a sharp from the storage room. Straightening, she unwound her arms from Max's torso. "Yah," She replied, sure Max would see the flame of irritation in her darkened irises, "All the time!"

Charlie's eyes flicked toward theirs in the mirror, worry rounding them.

Anything to get out of town...

Delilah tugged Max closer and murmured in his ear: "You're all right. Jus - jus' chill. Let me handle this, baby." She was concealed by the darkness, her eyes pooling tears. She had to be strong for Max.

"See there, Charlie. What are you two kids up to anyways? Walking the road in the middle of the night will draw the attention of people you might not want attention from."

Like you? Max thought but he held his tongue. They hadn't actually come up with a story as to why they were out and about, trying to find somewhere to go. He'd just followed Delilah's orders and that had been alright with him. Their, not even, 24 hours of knowing one another had felt like a lifetime to him, and he trusted her with every fiber of his being.

He tried to search his mind for words to tell the man who reeked of cigarettes but nothing came to mind, instead he gripped Delilah's hand, lacing his fingers through hers, comfortingly.

@ k1ssmysass

@ NauticalNonsense;;

"My ma, see," Delilah twanged, pausing to gaze at Max adoringly, "She didn't treat me well, an' Jason here." Delilah nudged her head toward Max, "he had a similar situation, so we ran off together." Her accent seemed to intensify, maybe as a nervous habit, or maybe to make herself seem more innocent.

"Towing you two kids won't get us in trouble, aye?" Charlie snapped.

Delilah responded with silence. She rested her head against Max's shoulder, and before she knew, she'd dozed off, clutching his hand like you would a life preserver.

Max let his head fall atop of Delilah's, feeling the softness of her hair against his cheek. His eyes traveled to the window across them; he watched the dark shapes of the tress flashing by in the night, wondering how long it would it would take to reach civilization. They hadn't really given the two men any information as to where they were headed and he wasn't sure where they vehicle was traveling.

Mex let a puff of breath escape through his lips in a the form of a sigh as his eyelids fell shut, heavy with exaughstion. Sleep overcame him and he followed it without complaint.

@ k1ssmysass

@ NauticalNonsense;;

Delilah's hand flexed against his for the next few hours, until she was woken with a jolt, the background noise of men frenzying. She gifted Max's ear with a whisper: "Maxxie, wake up. C'mon." It wasn't smart of them to drift off with a sex-hungry, smoke smudged driver and hos comrade leading their expedition.

Max jumped with a start, images of the driver doing horrible things flashing behind his eyelids. When he opened them, though, he found that they were still in the back of the car at what appeared to be a gas station of sorts. He saw several men bustling about around them, heading towards their vehicles of all sorts.

The name of the place finally floating to the tip is his tongue, "Why are we at a truck stop?"

@ k1ssmysass

@ NauticalNonsense;;

"Les' just get out an' find a motel?" Delilah's voice slurred heavily with sleep. Pushing into the door, she chucked it open and lugged her baggage out. "They're probably tryin' to sell us to the highest bidder or some weird trucker-y shit." Offering her icy hand to him, she smiled, hair pushed all around her face in a mishmash of pale highlights. "Wouldn't stick around to find out."

She was free.

They were free.

Max nodded his head curtly before saying, "What are we going to do about money?" He didn't have any since his parents didn't care whether or not he survived; they were just greedy, narcissistic assholes who would much rather have him die a very slow painful death. He shook his head slightly, clearing those thoughts from his mind as he waited for Delilah's reply.

@ k1ssmysass
(Sorry for taking so long. I just started school.)

@ NauticalNonsense;;

Sifting through her bag, she lifted the wallet she'd snagged from a guard earlier. "There could be a couple hundred bucks here-" Mindlessly tugging out bills, she counted seven hundred dollars and a boatload of loose change. Stuffing the money into her wallet, she slid her hand back into his. "Tell me about your favorite place you've evuh' been." She prompted, mildly swinging their hands as they perched at the side of an interstate, ready to cross.

(You're good! Good luck.)

Max took the time to think about it before answering, "I suppose I don't really have a favorite place." A sigh passed through his lips before deciding to share something he kind of considered a secret. "As a child, I used to steal magazines from my mother and take them out to the woods with me - where I would hide from them," he said as he let the memory float upwards. "Times Square in New York seemed to feature in a lot of them, and I always imagined going there and becoming whatever I wanted to be." He glanced over at her, waiting to hear what she thought of his pathetic story.

@ k1ssmysass