Just Hate Me and We'll End It Here

Alex

“Bailey!” I call and barely catch her before her head hits the coffee table. She falls limp in my arms and as Missy runs over, I help Bailey who’s just fainted, onto the couch.

“Bailey! Bailey, hon, wake up,” Missy starts fluttering her hands around, checking her friend’s pulse and face and breathing and everything.

“What happened? I don’t understand,” I mutter.

“Who was on the phone?” Missy asks tightly, her eyes searching for the little electric device.

I look down and find it beside my knee. “Hello?” I pick it up, trying to find out who this is.

“Who is this?” Comes an authorative voice.

“Uh… Alex. And who is this?”

“Sergeant Matheson. What’s happened to Bailey? Is she okay?”

I nod and mouth the name to Missy. Her eyes widen and her mouth drops open. I start to ask something else to the man, whoever he is and why he called, when Missy leans forward, snatching the phone from me.

I’m left with the unconscious Bailey as Missy starts talking to the man. “Hello?” I hear her talking and pacing. “I know, I know. Yeah, she told me a while ago…wait, wait… No! No, you- I can’t believe you! What? And- how- I don’t… no, she… she fainted, that’s all. She’ll be fine. Well… okay. Yeah, I was thinking that. Traveling around, she should be safe. Everything’s gonna be fine, I hope. Um… no? Oh. Okay, yeah, I guess… right, then. Uh… well, you never know with her. But she wouldn’t like that, you know? Oh, right, she did. Okay… right. Mhm… yeah, I’ll talk to her about that. Hm? Oh, oh yeah, yeah. Um…right. Yes. Thank you, sir, bye.”

I turn to Bailey as Missy starts walking back over with the closed cell. That’s when Bailey’s eyes flutter open and she groans, squinting. “What…” is all she manages at first.

“Are you okay?” Missy beats me to saying anything. “I just talked to Matheson. Oh, Bailey, I can’t believe this,” Missy cuts off her next words, covering her mouth. “I’ll be right back,” and she runs off.

Carefully I help her sit up. “Careful, you’re going to be dizzy,” I mutter. She nods blankly and concentrates on breathing evenly. “Are you okay?” I ask slowly.

“Of- of course,” she says, but I wouldn’t believe her in a second. “Yeah, whatever. So, um… where were we?” She asks, swallowing and looking at me. Her eyes are wide and it feels to me that she’s screaming in fear on the inside, but I don’t have any idea why.

“What- who was that man?” I ask her. “What did he call to say?”

“N-nothing,” she shakes her head slowly. “I uh… just didn’t get a job. Yeah, one of those calls. It’s nothing Alex.” Then carefully she pulls her arm from my hold.

My jaw tightens and I stand with a heavy sigh. “I don’t know what to say,” I tell her. She glances up, rubbing her arm with a guilty look on her face. It worries me, her not telling whatever’s just happened, but I’m not going to let it stop me, not right now.

“All I can do is repeat everything from that night, Bailey. Okay? Don’t you remember? So what if this is scaring you- but it takes two to have a relationship, and I’m here for you. I want you to come with me. Everyone wants you to come with me. And I know, deep inside, though you’re trying to deny it- you want to come, too. So please, Bailey… I love you. I know you need me, okay? Just give in to your heart this once,” I whisper the last part. “I know you’ll come.”

“You know I’ll come?” She furrows her brow and looks up at me. “What- what do you mean? How would you know that?”

“By this,” I tell her.

And so I pull her up, using her elbows, and she looks at me, apprehensive and confused. But I don’t wait another second as I place my lips on hers. It takes a moment for it to register in her mind, the kiss. Yet within moments, I feel her hands on me, eagerly returning the kiss just as I knew she would, just as I’d hoped for.

It becomes more passionate, and more eager, like she’s completely desperate and I return the fire eagerly, pulling her closer, her body against mine and I can feel my soul coming alive in excitement.

And then Bailey stops and pulls back, her eyes wide, unable to believe herself.

I can’t help but smirk down at her.

“That’s how I know,” I whisper, bending over to her ear. Then I carefully place a small kiss below her ear, just on the tip of her jaw and I feel her body shiver from anticipation.

“We have to be on the road in fifteen,” I murmur. Then I place one more kiss next to the other, and walk out the door, smirking to myself.

She’ll be there.

Chapter Ninety-Nine

Bailey

I hate him.

I wish I could, anyways… I watch the door close, my eyes having been locked on watching him go…

How I hate his smirk.

But it’s just…so…

“Bailey?”

I visibly jump and twirl to Missy who’s smirking at me. “It was nothing,” I mutter stubbornly.

“It was everything,” she corrects me, walking over with her hand on her hip. “You’re going, Bay.”

“No, I’m not,” I frown.

“You’re acting like a kid,” she rolls her eyes. “You have to go. Because of everything. Him, and him.”

I shudder at the last ‘him’ I know she talks of. Swallowing, I shakily sit down on the sofa. She comes over and sits next to me, putting her arm around my shoulder. “I thought he was gone,” I whisper.

“It was good while it lasted,” she offers. “But come on, they know to watch out for him, now, right? He’ll be caught, I’m sure of it,” she says, but she convinces neither of us.

Slowly I shake my head and drop my face in my hands. “I can’t. I’m too scared. I- I have to go…”

“Go where?” She asks. “I know you won’t do a safe house. And you already took on another name.”

“I… I’ll hide. In the city somewhere. He won’t find me,” I mumble.

“Bailey, come on…”

I shake my head. “No. I can’t do it. Both of them scare me too much to do anything.”

“But something good can turn out if you’re with Alex,” she reasons. “You know, some people can have happily ever afters, you know.”

I laugh scornfully. “There’s no such thing as a fairy tale ending, Missy.”

“You don’t know that,” she says. “And come on. You know you have to. You can’t stay here, not with knowing he’s coming your way.”

“But… but what if he finds you?” I ask. “I can’t do that. I can’t have that happen.”

“I’ll be fine,” she says, rubbing my back, knowing that’s the one thing that calms me down. “I talked to Matheson and he said I should take some safety classes, like karate and stuff. So I’ll do that. Plus he said to get some alarms. Here, and at your place, even though you’ll be gone.

My chin quivers and I bite my lip, my eyes going a little glassy in fear. “Missy… he nearly killed me. He tried to. I can’t… I…”

Missy wraps me in a tight hug. “You’ll be fine,” she soothes me. “Okay? You know you want to go with Alex, understand? So you’ll go. You’re gonna go with Alex. You’ll be going all around the U.S. and constantly on the move, while still having a good time, understand? It’s going to work out. And by the time you return, I just know he’ll be caught, and everything can- it will go back to normal,” she corrects herself.

I let go, and take a deep breath, looking her in the eye. “Promise?”

“I promise,” she nods emphatically.

I swallow hard and stand, shoving my cell phone in my pocket. “You’re right,” I nod. “It’ll be fine. I’ll be safe. I’ll be with Alex. Things will work out right. He loves me.”

“You love him,” she adds helpfully.

I send her a dark look.

“Or…almost…sorry?” she offers.

“Almost…” I muse, thinking about it… but then I shake my head. “There’s no more time,” I realize in a panic. “I’ll never catch him!”

“Yes you will!” Missy slaps my arm. “Find my keys, I’ll call him real fast.”

Hurriedly I nod and start looking around quickly. Missy never leaves her keys in the same spot, where would they be now? I watch as she nods on the phone, talking but I’m too busy to try and listen. After a few minutes, I find them in the pantry behind the cereal.

“Got them!” I cry and rush out to her.

“And Alex is waiting!” She adds, raising her arm in victory. “Let’s go!” And she drags me out.

Rushing, we run to the car where it’s packed with two suitcases plus a backpack… what? Missy packed for me, duh. Don’t know where I’ll be able to put it all, but there we have it.

The engine... doesn’t start. “No!” I slam the stupid piece of crap. “Work, stupid!” I hit it a few more times as Missy hurriedly tries to make it work. “I’ll kill you if you don’t work!” I snap.

It starts.

We shout in victory and Missy cheers as we start on the road. Quickly I try to calm my breathing. I’m really going… I’m seriously doing this, aren’t I?