Status: Most recent update: August 31st, 2019 (Two updates this weekend!)

Haner to Save the Day

When Did I Become a Runaway?

Brian sighed, taking a stroll on the sand with his hands in his jeans pockets. His dad took the car for the day to run errands, and quite frankly, Brian felt lost. The car, by no means, belonged to him, but his parents seldom needed the second vehicle, so he became accustomed to it. All his friends were busy that night, and his guitar was in for slight repairs.

He walked back and forth, kicking little pebbles here and there. He wondered what caused such a drastic change that his friends began to cling onto Veronica so vehemently. He couldn’t understand the pull she had on them, especially on Jimmy. He remembered vividly his first encounter with her. Granted, he did act a little rambunctious, but even in their argument, he noticed there was something about her that didn’t sit right with him. Jimmy and the twins seemed to soak that up and took her in like a bird with a broken wing.

From what he could see, Veronica had a very difficult personality. She was wound up way too tight; it took a lot of effort and compromising to convince her to try something new. She always said, “My parents wouldn’t be okay with that.” Brian couldn’t believe her parents would ever tell her no. He noticed how her parents adored and cared for her happiness, going so far as to adopt a dog to help with her California transition. The glaring word that came to his mind was SPOILED.

The sound of crying and sniffling knocked Brian out of his thoughts. He saw a person with a furry something closer to the steps onto the boardwalk. He strayed even closer to the water to not disturb them. As he walked by, he immediately noticed Jack. He frowned, checking his watch. It was almost 10 o’clock at night. They were out way too late.

Walking cautiously over to Veronica and Jack, he noticed her shoulders heaving up and down. He inwardly groaned. He never knew how to help people crying. But still, he relented on and said her name softly. “Ronnie?”

Veronica’s heart skipped a beat. She brought her head up from her knees and saw Brian standing in front of her. ‘Fuck,’ she thought to herself, wiping any evidence of tears on her face. She wanted to tell him she was doing okay, but she couldn’t muster the energy nor the confidence. She knew if she tried to speak, her voice would catch in her breath. Jack stood in front of the two of them, placing his head on her knees. She touched his head to calm him down.

“Are you okay?” Brian asked, sitting down next to her.

She took her head. “Her boyfriend came over. We got into a big fight.” She involuntarily touched her fist.

Brian caught the small action and widened his eyes. Without thinking, he grabbed her hand and looked at the swollen mess. She winced and tried to pull her hand away, but Brian didn’t let go.

“We need to get you ice,” he finally said, giving her hand back to her.

“No, I’m alright. I just needed…air.”

“Well what else happened? You wouldn’t have cried if you only punched him,” Brian pushed on. If anything, she would have run around the block yelling, “I PUNCHED A COCKSUCKER!”

Veronica’s eyes fell to her knees. “Uhm, Alana said she wished I was n-never born.”

In that moment, Brian reached his Veronica epiphany. All his friends wanted to protect her. Maybe Veronica was naïve and covered it with defiance, but all that clouded his mind was how he could make her feel like she was wanted. He couldn’t imagine how her friends treated her back home, if they were actually friends. He finally saw all the missing parts from instances when he and his friends were with her. She could never be alone, for what reason, he couldn’t fully decipher. But as he was sitting there next to a completely helpless girl, all he wanted to do was make her feel like the world didn’t hate her.

Carefully, Brian moved his arms and enveloped her. Her could feel her whole being tense, but he hoped she knew he would not let her go. Eventually, she sighed and angled herself to embrace the hug more comfortably. For the longest time, all he could hear were the waves crashing against the shore, Jack’s snoring, and Veronica soft cries. Truthfully, he was tired, and wondered when she would stop crying. It felt like hours and he wasn’t aware anyone could cry for so long. Wasn’t she dehydrated yet?

Eventually, Veronica let go and stared up at Brian with very red eyes. Why was it always Brian that had to see her vulnerable? She would have preferred for a stranger to see her distraught. She hated anyone seeing that she was weak and couldn’t handle her emotions.

“I know I keep saying it, but I’m sorry what’s going on with you and your sister,” Brian said.

Veronica nodded, looking down at her knees again. “It’s not your fault. I just hate how he changed her. It makes me feel alone.”

It was also the blunt honesty she could never filter. Brian frowned, disappointed in himself for trying to judge her so harshly. All she wanted was to belong somewhere.

“You have us? You know you can always call any of us we’ll be there in a heartbeat.”

“I really appreciate that, I do. But it’s not the same. I always looked up to her and now it’s like we’re not even related.”

He wanted to say words of encouragement, but nothing came to mind. He had never been in her situation. The worst thing he could do was say something to make her upset again. But he was certain it was late, and her parents would worry she got hurt. He didn’t know how to break the news that they had to go home.

“I wish I knew how to help you,” Brian whispered.

“Thank you for just being here,” Veronica smiled, giving him another small hug.

“If you ever need to talk to someone, I can always be there. But you know it’s really late. We have to get you home.”

Panic soared in her eyes. “I can’t go home. I don’t want to see her.”

“Uhm. What if you went to Jo and Nick’s house? Your parents can see you if they want but you won’t be home home.”

After much deliberation, Veronica finally agreed. She would prefer to be far away from Alana, but her options were slim. She contemplated walking to Jimmy’s house and begging to stay for the night; however, she wasn’t sure if his parents would be okay with her husky dog. The only real option was the twins’ house, even if it was within proximity of the Wicked Witch.

They walked in silence for 10 minutes. Any other time, Veronica would have felt awkward and obligated to speak to fill the silence. But after the emotional hurricane she experienced, she welcomed the temporary peace. She had naïvely believed her relationship with her sister was intact. If Marco was still in the picture, she would never save her sister from her own demise. But what could she do? She was only the aborted sister.

Finally, Brian, Veronica, and Jack walked to the twins’ doorstep. Before either one of them could press the doorbell, the door flung open, revealing a worried Jo. She sighed and dragged Veronica into her arms, hugging her as tightly as she could. “We were so worried about you! Your parents told us what happened. Alana is a fucking bitch.”

Brian stood awkwardly at the door with Jack next to him. He smiled at Jo. “I’m gonna go home. It’s late. I just wanted to make sure Ronnie was okay.”

Jo nodded and let go of Veronica. She placed her hands on her friend’s shoulders. “You know that we’ll always be here if anything ever happens.”
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We got a second update for the weekend! I've been wanting to write this chapter for awhile. I think it's fun writing in Brian's perspective!