Moving On Happens To Be The Hardest Thing To Do

Chapter 8

Tears well up in my eyes, as I get into the car. I see Luke running down the street screaming my name, and that's breaks me.

I start cry, quietly, as my mother starts driving away, ignoring my curled up, shaking figure in the backseat.

I repeat his words in my head; "I love you Ana, forever and always."

My crying gets worse, and I can barely see Luke's figure.

I can't take it, I know I'll be miserable without him.

A few seconds of constantly wiping my face, I give my mother a glare.

"Stop the car." I mutter.

She does nothing to show she heard me.

I pound my hand against the glass of my window. "Stop the damn car!!" I scream.

My mom slams the brakes, and I fly into the back of the front seat, but I shove the door open, and I rush out of the car.

I wipe my face, and run over to Luke, who wasn't that far away.

He captures me into a tight hug, and buries his face into my neck. I can feel his face is sticky with tears, like my own.

"Don't leave me." He murmurs, against my neck.

"No, I'm not." I mumble.

He picks me up, and I wrap my legs around him, and we just stayed there like that, for several minutes, just holding each other.

I pulled away and looked at him. "I love you, Luke Fosters."

He grins and kisses me. "I love you too, Analicia Reade." He murmurs against my lips.

I smile, and press my forehead to his. "Why?"

"What?"

"You say you love me, and you've clearly shown it, but you've never said why..."

I can hear my mom getting mad that I jumped out of the car, and I look at him. "Better talk fast, Loverboy."

He smiles, and looks at me. "I love you, because, you are the funniest, sweetest, most understanding girl in the world, and you mean everything in the world to me, even if I've only known you, really known you a few days. I love you because I can't stop thinking about you, I hear your voice, your laugh, in dead silence, and from the moment I saw you, I knew I was a goner."

He hesitantly lets go of me, because of my mother's yelling and ranting.

I drop to the ground, and grab his hand. "Come on."

We start running, and we don't stop until we get to edge of the water. We get into the boat that was up on the shore, and he pushes us off and gets in.

Inside the boat, the was a backpack, and a lantern, and a blanket.

"Where are we going?" I mumble, my voice still a little shaky.

"I have a friend, he's...different, but he'll help us."

I nod, and close my eyes tightly, and in a matter if minutes, Luke is talking to me again.

"Hey, Ana..."

"Hm?" I mumble, opening my eyes and looking at him.

"You trust me, right?"

I nod, and look at him, the midday light shining down on both of us. "Of course."

He smiles weakly. "Good." He mumbles, getting the boat to a rocky ledge of a shore.

I stand, and he helps me out of the boat, and onto the shore.

He grabs the backpack and then the lantern and the blanket, and gets out after me.

"Where are we going, exactly?"

He smiles faintly. "Now that would be telling, wouldn't it."

I smile, and shake my head. "Lies, and secrets, lead to nothing but heartbreak, sweetheart." I smile, repeating words my father had told be before he died.

He smiles. "Wise words, who told you that?"

"My dad."

He nods. "Does it upset you to think about him?"

"Not about him. His death."

He nods, and takes my hand, with his free one, and he starts leading me to the dark green grass beyond the rocky shore. "Then, we won't talk about it."

I smile weakly, and nod. "Thanks..."

"I just want to warn you, these people we're going to see, they're very forceful, and protective." He mumbles squeezing my hand.

I nod, and look up at him. "I think I can handle it."

He takes a deep breath, intertwines my fingers with his, and hesitates, looking around.

"What...?" I ask, stopping, and looking around as well.

He pulls me over to him, and wraps an arm around my waist. "Something's wrong."

Instinctively, I put my hand on his arm, starting to worry. "Luke..." I mumble, quietly.

"Ssh..." He murmurs, pulling me so close, that I can feel how fast his heart was beating.

Something was definitely wrong.

Before I can think about it any longer there's a sharp, penetrating pain in my lower stomach, just above where Luke's arm was. I wince, and bite my lip, feeling myself getting weaker and weaker.

I can hear Luke talking to me, but I can't hear his words, they're all jumbled together in my head.

He touches my stomach, barely, and I scream out, my legs giving way, so that the only thing keeping me from falling down was Luke holding me.

My focus comes in and out of fuzziness, and I start seeing patches of black. It takes me a second to realize how much blood was gushing out of my stomach, and then it dawns on me.

I've just been shot, in the stomach.