Still Alive - Adam Stanheight

Chapter 21

After Lawrence frees both Adam and Brielle, they are instructed to not say a world until they get somewhere safe. Lawrence brings them into a storage room at the other side of the building, locking the door behind him once they are inside.

Adam and Brielle now have a chance to embrace after everything they enjoyed. Adam jumps into her arms and the two begin to cry into each other's shoulders. "Are you okay?" Brielle muffles into his shoulder after a minute. Adam looks up at her, a sincere expression on his face. "Doesn't matter about me. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I promise," Brielle responds, casing him to sigh with the utmost relief. He hugs her again, continuing to cry all his guilt out. "I'm so sorry. All this was because of me. I fucked it up." Brielle shakes her head at him. "No, no, no. I could've been more careful. Look, there wasn't much we could do."

"I know, but I couldn't stand to see you in pain and not be able to do anything about it," Adam replies, pulling her as close as possible. "Me too," Brielle says. "But I couldn't have gotten through that shit without your company, even though we couldn't say a fucking word to each other." Adam nods at her statement before pulling her into a longing kiss. He is in a lot of pain, but the relief that Brielle is okay is enough to block all the agony out. Brielle feels the exact same way. Her foot that was around the shackle is completely numb, but she doesn't give it a second thought.

Lawrence approaches from a corner with a bag of old looking clothes. "No time for that. You guys gotta get changed and clean yourselves up right now." He chucks them the bag and Adam and Brielle both manage to find clothes their size. "Be as quick as you can," Lawrence says, pacing around. "The plane is leaving soon."

The two looks at him in confusion. "What plane?" Adam questions. "I'll explain on the way," Lawrence asks, hurrying around the corner again. Adam and Brielle then quickly wash away the blood splattered on their skin and bandage up any scars with the first aid kit. Adam helps Brielle in wrapping up her foot. They then throw on their new clothes as quickly as possible, still helping each other out. Once Lawrence returns, the two are ready to go. Lawrence gestures at them to follow him.

They are both now in Lawrence's car, driving to what seems to be the airport. They are in the back seat, Brielle's head rested on Adam's shoulder and clinging to each other. They have no idea what is happening, but don't want to question Lawrence too much. He is driving at a fast pace, stress visible in his expression. After a little while, he speaks up. "You guys are gonna be living abroad for a little while. Is that okay? Actually, I shouldn't ask that. You don't have a choice."

Adam and Brielle both frown. "Is this to get away from John?" Adam questions. Lawrence turns back to meet him, giving him a seriously kind of look. "No, you're going on a free holiday."

Adam rolls his eyes, too impatient to have Lawrence stall for this long. He doesn't end up telling them until they get to the airport.

"I didn't want to tell you this in the car, just in case John has put a monitor there," Lawrence then explains. "So here's the plan. Ally and I have a holiday home down in Florida, that we won't be using again. It's lucky I haven't sold it yet because John will never find you there."

"What?" Brielle gasps as he hands them both tickets to a flight headed to Florida in twenty minutes. "I want you guys to live there, for as long as possible. I'll have your essentials sent out to you in a couple of days. Also, no need to worry about rent. I've got it covered."

Neither Adam or Brielle know how to react. "What about work?" Brielle then questions, but not in a worried way. "I'll also cover that. You can get new jobs over there. Do anything you have to, just do not come back here under any circumstances. You can tell your family and friends, but from now on you have to be so careful since you've been in John's radar."

The two nod, a little shocked but neither of them are mad about having to live in a holiday spot for a little while. They glance at their tickets again, now feeling extremely guilty. "You don't have to do this, Lawrence," Adam tells him, almost wanting to hand the tickets back.

Lawrence shakes his head firmly. "No, Adam. I do. I actually owe you so much more. I almost took your life once. Not taking it again is the least I can do."

Adam can't help but well up with emotion. For the first time in his life, he doesn't hate Lawrence with a passion. He can finally forgive him. Impulsively, he runs into Lawrence's arms for a hug. Lawrence doesn't expect this at all but is happy to return it. It's relieving for him too that Adam will be safe.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Adam repeats, absolutely beaming. Lawrence brings his mouth down to Adam's ear and whispers; "you're gonna have an amazing life. You deserve it." Adam hugs him tighter and Brielle jumps into the embrace as well. "You're amazing, Lawrence. Thank you."

The three pull out from their hug when their flight is announced to leave in fifteen minutes and the gate closing in five. "You better go," Lawrence says, hurrying them along. "You both have my number. Feel free to contact me outside of working hours if you need anything at all."

"Will do," Brielle replies at the two turn to leave. They both wave at the man once more, showing their gratitude for rescuing them until the very last second. "Thanks Lawrence! About time you freed me!" Adam jokes, causing Lawrence to laugh about that situation for the first time in his life. He hopes Adam knows that he is a good person, who deserves so much better than he gets. Leaving him in that bathroom to rot made him believe that he deserved nothing. Lawrence believed that himself for a while in the trap, until he saved him from Zep, showing that he had been selfless the whole time. Not saving him back was the opposite of that, selfish.

Lawrence smiles at them one last time and then turns to leave, knowing Adam deserves this more than anybody he's ever met. Lawrence is now an incredibly selfless person, and that is thanks to Adam.

***

Thankfully, Adam and Brielle reached their flight only mere seconds before the gate closed. They have now taken off, leaving John and his sadistic antics for good. Although Adam is extremely thankful to be away from it all, he still feels a little guilty.

"I want to put this behind me," he tells Brielle, her head rested on his shoulder once again. "But it's hard not to feel guilty about everyone else who's gonna go through a trap. They're kidnapping this spy photographer guy, similar to me just a bit more explicit. They've also been talking about some bloody gas house that will kill them all the victims in two hours. I still wish we could've stopped him."

Brielle squeezes Adam's hand tight for reassurance. "I get it. He should be in prison but now I know that the only way to really stop him for good is to kill him. Even then I don't think the killings will stop. He'll have some apprentice like Amanda take over. I understand why you feel guilty, but you've also been through too much to not put it behind you. We kind of just have to accept there's nothing we can do. We did try."

Adam hums a response. Brielle is right, he may always feel some pity for not saving others but he tried his best and ended up losing. That is totally okay in his perspective. No matter what the outcome would be, he was still a hero, along with Brielle.

She leans up and kisses him on the temple. "Let's distract those thoughts with planning our brand-new life together. I can't say that I'm going to miss home to be honest."

Adam smiles. "Fuck this is so cheesy but for me, home is wherever you are." Brielle laughs completely flattered, as she snuggles onto him tight. "That's so sweet. I love you so much, Ad."

Adam closes his eyes, sleepiness beginning to kick in due to the comfort of the flight and Brielle next to him. "I love you too, Brie," he mumbles.

Within five minutes the two are knocked out, sleeping away their memories of being kidnapped. When they wake up, they will have reached paradise, mainly because John will never get to them again.