If I Was Young, I'd Flee This Town. I'd Bury My Dreams Underground.

"Zach, I think someone's following us," I blurted out, the infinite feeling already beginning to fade. "I'm really scared," I admitted. My slender, feminine hands gripped the ukulele as if my life depended on it. 

"You think so?" Zach sounded unfazed by this until he noticed my death grip on the ukulele. "We'll be fine. We'll go so far off the beaten path that no one will ever find us. Then we'll go to the big city, where we'll be just two people among a million others," he reassured me, sounding wistful and dreamy as he immersed himself in the fantasy. 

I couldn't help but crack a smile at that description. "You're right. I don't... I don't even know what I was scared of." I even managed a laugh. 

Zach smiled and switched on the radio. "I'm not expecting much from these rural radio stations, but it's worth a try..." Most of the stations he flipped through offered only straight static or a mixture of static and song. A few seemed to be crossroads between two stations in which two songs attempted to play simultaneously, one occasionally overpowering the other. 

Finally, a station came in loud and clear. The rolling acoustic guitar and steady, simple bass and drums made it sound almost like an old country song, but the singer's rough, gravelly vocals made it instantly recognizable as Arcade Fire. "I like this," I said suddenly. 

Zach looked at the small car radio for a moment and nodded. "Yeah, it's alright. And even if it wasn't, I think we're stuck with it." He smiled at me silently for a moment. "It's good driving music," he continued. 

"Yeah," I said breathily. Just those few simple words were bringing the infinite feeling back. His disarming smile and manner made me feel warm from my head to my toes. Most of my mind had given up fighting the feeling by now, and my heart was in control. My gaze flickered back to his lips, and I let myself think about how much I wanted to kiss him. Even though I hardly knew him. 

"Caitrin, do you recognize that car? The one you say's following us?" Zach asked, tearing me away from my daydream. He was looking intently at the car that still loomed in his rearview mirror. 

My heart stopped. Cold sweat broke across my hairline. "Blaine. It's Blaine. We have to do what you said - we... we have to go out to the middle of nowhere. So far off the grid that no one will find us," I said quickly. 

Zach looked at me, worried. "Hey, hey, calm down. Why don't we pull over and see what happens? It might not even be Blaine." He offered a half smile and awkwardly placed one hand on my back, as if to comfort me. "And besides," he continued, his tone equally comforting, "What could he possibly do to us?" 

I shrugged, causing his hand to shift slightly on my back. I didn't even want to begin to think about what Blaine would do to us. What he would do to Zach. "Nothing, I guess," I lied. I stared down at my feet nervously.