Getting Away With You

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^*Danielle’s POV*^
The next day I was discharged, but before I left, I needed to go see Brian, and Matt thought it would be best if I did too. I knocked lightly on the door, and waited a moment for Brian’s response.

“Jimmy, for the last time…I don’t want to find a way to bust out.” Brian groaned. “Just go away you delusional giraffe.” I held back a laugh as Matt just rolled his eyes. I opened the door and walked in. “Oh, hi.” Brian said upon seeing Matt and I.

“Hi.” I said somewhat shyly and went over and sat down in the chair.

“I’ll leave you guys to talk.” Matt said, and turned and walked out. I looked back at Brian.

“Feeling any better today?” I asked and he nodded.

“Tons. Jimmy came in earlier this morning and told me about what happened with Freak.” Brian just sighed. “I can’t believe he did that.” He said, taking a deep breath.

“It’s okay, I mean, trying to kill me probably wasn’t his choice to make.” I said, and he nodded.

“I guess so.” He said, and we sat in silence for a moment. “Danni, I really hope you don’t think it’s your fault I’m in here.” He said, and I looked up at him.

“Isn’t all this my fault? I mean…if I hadn’t of run away, you guys would probably be better off.” I mumbled and he shook his head.

“No we wouldn’t. We’d probably be in this same predicament, if not already dead. I know I’d be dead already, because that day in the kitchen, when I picked the gun back up, you stopped me.” He said, looking me in the eyes. “If you hadn’t of ran away with Matt, they probably wouldn’t have cared enough to stop me from shooting myself. But you did. And look at Matt. I can give you a guarantee that if it weren’t for you being with him, he probably would have went home that night and killed himself out of anger and sadness that his whole life was gone, and that he just killed another person that probably didn’t deserve to die.” He said and then got a curious look on his face. “And Jimmy…well, I’m sure you probably saved him from completely losing the last bit of his sanity and being admitted into an asylum, before being wrapped up in a straightjacket and thrown into a padded cell.” He said, earning a light laugh from me. I guess he was right. “See, you’ve never seen this other side of us, the side that has us all just needing a quick and painless escape from this life and into the next. You’ve never seen it because you’ve saved us from it, and kept those kinds of thoughts out of our heads. You give us a reason to try and fight back against Chase. You give us a reason to live. You…you give Matt a reason to live.” He said basically what Matt had told me a few days ago. Which was basically the truth. “After…after Michelle got…killed, Matt was more broken than Jimmy and I had ever seen him. He was a mess. But when you came along, it was like a complete turnaround in his life. You gave him a reason to smile, and not be a walking dead man.” He said, a light smile coming across his face. “You see, Danni, I threw myself in front of you before Matt could kill you because if I could just save you; if I could just keep you alive so you and Matt could be together, then my whole life would be worth everything I’ve went through. Because I knew that if he did that to you, then he’d turn into that person again.” Brian’s voice dropped slightly. “Matt’s like my brother, and…and I’d do anything to keep him out of that mess. Even if that meant giving up my life to save you so you could be with him. Plus, you never deserved to be in this. You didn’t deserve to die by the hands of the guy who had just told you he loved you.” His voice dropped again. “You never deserved a lot of this.” He said, and I got up and hugged him, and he wrapped his arms around me tightly.

“Thank you, Brian.” I whispered, now realizing everything that I hadn’t before. He rubbed my back, and I felt him smile against my shoulder.

“No problem.” He pulled away. “Now, go tell Matt you love him.”

“I’ll be back rather tonight or tomorrow.” I said and he nodded.

“Take your time.” He said, and I turned and walked out the door, and as soon as I spotted Matt I tackled him in a hug, trying my best to not suffocate him.

“Woah, are you alright?” He asked and I nodded into his chest.

“I love you so much, Matt.” I whispered, and pulled away just enough to see the smile on his face.

“I love you too.” He said, and I leaned up and kissed him. Now I knew that I truly did love him. I loved him more than I had any other human being in my whole life. I never wanted to be with anyone else; just Matt. …My Matt. “Did you work out things with Brian?” He asked quietly and I nodded.

“Yea, I worked everything out with him.” I pulled away and smiled at him. “Let’s go home.” I said and he nodded, letting his hand trail down and hold mine.

“I don’t know what he told you in there, but I like it.” Matt smiled; that dimpled smile that just brought a grin to my face.

“After what he told me…I can see things more clearly now. Especially why I love you.” I said, and leaned up, kissing him once more. I love him. There was no way through, or around that. That feeling wasn’t going away anytime soon, either.

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^*Brian’s POV*^
Danni she…she was a really good kid. She had a good heart, and I don’t think Matt could have found a better girl to fall in love with. And she couldn’t have found a better guy than Matt. Not even me, and I think pretty high of myself in that category. But right now, all love aside, this game is back on, and now it’s us against Chase. I just pray they’ll make it out of it together. If they don’t…I don’t think Jimmy and I would be able to take seeing Matt or Danielle broken. They’re so perfect together it would be the work of the devil if they got ripped apart. Though…that’s exactly who we’re dealing with: the reincarnation of the devil himself.

“Knock knock.” I looked over to the door as Jimmy walked in.

“Hey.” I said, mustering up a smile. He came over and sat down in the chair that Danni had been sitting in.

“Feeling better?” He asked and I nodded.s

“Back’s still killing me, but my breathing’s back to normal, so I’m making it.” I said and he nodded.

“I just passed Matt and Danni in the hallway…did they sleep together last night or something? They seemed a little off, like…super clingy.” I couldn’t help but laugh lightly at Jimmy’s sentence, but stopped when my back ached slightly.

“That’s what you get when Matt’s in love.” I said and he gave me a look that told me he didn’t quite know what I was talking about.

“I’m just glad they weren’t skipping.” He said and then got serious. “Have you talked to Danni yet and convinced her that it wasn’t her fault you’re in here?” He asked and I nodded.

“I talked to her and explained it. She understands.”

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^*Danielle’s POV*^
“It’s freezing in here.” Matt said as we walked inside the house. “I guess it’s time for another fire.” He said, and kissed me on the cheek before walking into the living room. I walked upstairs to my bedroom, and over to my nightstand. I was going to do it. It was now or never, and sadly I needed to choose now. I picked up my phone and then made my way back down the stairs and into the living room, where Matt had gotten a fire started in the fire place. I went over and sat down on the couch next to him and he immediately turned the TV off as he saw my phone. “Are you going to do it?” He asked, and I nodded.

“I can’t keep hiding from them.” I said, and he nodded.

“I guess it would be for the best.” He said, and I looked down at my phone. I dialed my home number, and let my finger hover over the ‘Talk’ button for what seemed like forever until I finally pressed it. I put the phone to my ear, and it barely rung one time before my mother’s voice answered.

“Da-…Hello?” She sounded frantic, and I couldn’t bring my mouth to speak, her voice just sent something into me that made me quickly hang up.

“Danni, are you okay?” Matt asked, watching me as I stared at my phone and the little pop-up of ‘Call Ended’. “Danni?” Matt took my shoulders, a worried tone in his voice. “Danni!” I hadn’t realized I had stopped breathing, but I started again, the life coming back to me as I simply shook my head.

“I-I can’t do it.” I whispered and Matt sighed.

“Yes you can. You have to call them. I don’t like the fact either, I wish you could just forget about them, but they are your parents.” He said and I nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. I looked back down at my phone before taking another deep breath and dialing the number. I put it to my ear, and it was answered half way into the second ring.

“Hello?” My mom’s shaky voice came back.

“M-mom, it’s…it’s Danielle.” I said, looking at Matt and I could tell he was holding his breath.

“Oh my god, Gavin, Gavin, it’s her. It’s Danni.” I heard the hopefulness in her voice. “Danielle, are you okay? Where are you? Who are you with? Are you still in the state? Are you hurt? Do you need me and your father to come pick you up? Honey, just tell us where you are and-”

“Lisa, my god, calm the fuck down, you’re scaring her.” I heard my father in the background, cutting off my mother’s worried string of questions. “Here,” He said, and there was shuffling. “Danni, are you alright?” My dad asked, a calmness in his voice that I had only heard on rare occasions.

“I’m fine.” I whispered.

“Okay, sweetie, do you know where you are?” He asked, that calmness still in his voice.

“Yea, I’m at this place with a friend.” I said, and then found some courage to speak without being asked something beforehand. “You guys don’t need to worry about me. I’m in a good place, and I’m perfectly fine here. I-I didn’t call because I want to come home, either, I called just to let you guys know I was okay.” My dad hesitated for a second.

“You...you don’t want to come home?” He asked, his voice quiet and sounding like I had never heard it before.

“No, I like where I am. Are you and mom still fighting?” I asked and he sighed.

“No, we’re not, actually-”

“Don’t lie to me, Gavin.” I said, and he fell silent again.

“A pretty good bit.” He finally answered.

“Well…maybe if you two can straighten your shit out, and stop acting like children, I’ll think about coming home.” I said, but before I could hang up, he stopped me.

“Wait; at least tell me who you’re with.” He said, sounding almost defeated, and I sighed and looked over at Matt.

“I’m with this really nice guy that I met on Halloween and his two friends. I told you I’m fine, don’t worry.” I said, and hung up.

“Is everything okay?” Matt asked as I stared at my phone and I nodded.

“Everything’s fine, they’re worried as hell, and I feel really bad about it, but…” I looked up at him. “What can I do?” I said, and readjusted myself so that I was right next to him, and he wrapped his arms around me, kissing the top of my head lightly as I rested it against his chest.

“It’s going to be okay, Danni.”

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^*Gavin’s POV*^
“No it’s not going to be okay, Gavin! My baby girl is out there, with some guy she’s only known for a week or so, and she’s probably scared, and upset, and crying, and being mistreated, and beaten, and-” I grabbed Lisa’s shoulders, cutting off her teary, worried rant.

“Lisa, listen to me.” I said, ignoring all of the FBI agents and police officers standing around, awaiting our answer to the fact that they had been able to trace the call. “She’s going to be okay. Alright? I don’t know why I think that, but I have a feeling she’s okay.” I said, loosening my grip on her shoulders lightly.

“Why? What would make you think that?” She asked, tears sliding down her cheeks.

“Because…she sounded…happy. Genuinely happy.” I hadn’t heard Danielle sound so…content about something in years. She’s always been stressed out, and upset over one thing or another but she sounded like she was in a good place not just in life, but in her head.

“Gavin,” Lisa stated and I brought my eyes from drifting into space to look at her.

“Yea?” I asked, my voice quiet. I now realized how close I was to her. This was as close as I had been in a years. And…and for a change, it felt kind of nice to not be fighting with her.

“I want our baby girl back.” She said, and cried harder, falling into me, and I wrapped my arms around her, brushing her hair back from her face, and holding back tears of my own.

“Henry,” I said, and looked over at him.

“Gavin?” He questioned, looking at me with sympathetic eyes.

“Book us a flight to Florida as soon as possible.” I said and he nodded as I went back to rubbing Lisa’s back. “Don’t worry, we’re going to get her back. I promise we are.”