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Nobody's Hero

V. || Flawed Plans

Andy drove until he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. Glancing at Phoenix sleeping quietly beside him, he pulled into the first motel he saw and rented them a room. After trying to wake Phoenix unsuccessfully a handful of times, he gave up and just carried her bridal-style down the shady hallway of the motel and to their room. He was sure that if anyone saw them, they'd probably think he'd drugged her or something. Mostly he just didn't want to wake her for real because he wasn't sure if he'd ever seen her look so peaceful.

He put her down in the bed in the room, tossing the thin covers over her and just watched her for a while. When he was satisfied that she was okay, he plopped down in a relatively hard lounge chair in the corner and was asleep in minutes.

"Andy! Andy, wake up!" Phoenix yelled some time later, snapping him out of a fitful sleep.

"What? Are you okay?" he yelled, jumping to his feet and moving across the room to where she was still lying in the bed. Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, he saw that it was just after five in the morning. He'd been sleeping for a whopping three hours. He looked around the rest of the room, not seeing anything that seemed threatening.

"Patrick's dad is outside," Phoenix said in a much quieter tone, motioning to the window. Only then did Andy realize that sure enough, there were flashing red and blue lights outside the window.

"Are you sure it's him?" Andy asked, moving to her side and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Positive," she said, and he nodded.

"Good thing I booked the room under a fake name," he said, and she gave him a weird look. "What? I've seen movies," he told her, and she couldn't help but chuckle.

They stood there watching through a crack in the window blinds for a long time before finally Patrick's dad came out of the motel lobby and got in his car to leave. She wasn't sure what would have happened if he had found them, but she was definitely relieved that they wouldn't have to find out. Not yet, anyway.

Shortly after they watched the car leave the parking lot, Andy's phone started ringing on one of the bedside tables, startling them both. He picked it up and examined it, shrugging at the number. He showed it to Phoenix and he knew it had to be Patrick because her face instantly drained itself of color. She grabbed the phone from him and before he could say anything to her, she was answering it.

"Patrick, leave me alone," she said, and when she looked up her eyes were filled with tears. She put the phone on speaker so both of them could hear and for a moment they both thought maybe it wasn't Patrick at all.

"Listen, Phoenix. I'm going to find you. We both know that. One way or another, I'm coming for you and your fuckin' boyfriend. Although I've gotta tell ya, answering the phone that I can easily track definitely wasn't your best idea-" Pat's voice came through the phone at them, and Andy grabbed it and ended the call before he could drone on any more.

"Why the hell did you answer?" Andy asked her, sounding much harsher than he'd meant to. She cowered at the tone of his voice and he was instantly reminded of how much shit she'd been through. "Damn it, I'm sorry. Come here," he said in a much softer tone, opening his arms to hug her. She fell into him and he held her there for a moment before realizing she was sobbing.

"We've got to go," she sobbed into his chest and he couldn't believe how broken she sounded. He wasn't sure exactly how much she'd been through with Patrick, but it was obviously so much more than he'd even imagined.

"Yeah. But first, look at me, okay?" he said, reaching under her chin and pulling her face up so that she was looking at him. Her tearful eyes stared blankly at him and for a moment he wondered how she'd even handled all the shit she'd been through. He wasn't sure he could have. "We're going to be okay, Belle. Okay? We're going to be fine. I'm going to keep you safe and we're going to be fine. You believe me when I say that, don't you?" he asked, and she seemed to think about it a moment before nodding slightly. "Good," he said, hugging her once more and then linking his arm with hers and leading her out of the room quietly, both of them looking around for anything that seemed suspicious.

Once they were safely in his car once more, both of them seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Andy set off driving again, no destination in mind.