Left Behind (Completed) *editing*

Chapter Nineteen

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Valerie

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From the balcony in Dylan's hotel room, I sat and watched the rain pour down. The weather was warm despite the rain and it all just seemed too fitting. The rain seemed to just heavily stream without any signal that it would stop in the near future. I had already made my mind up and I wasn't going to school. I deserved to take a day off and mourn. Losing my unborn child was a loss, after all. It was extremely painful but emotionally it was tearing me apart. A portion of my heart and soul died last night with my unborn baby.

I rose to my feet and put out the cigarette I had stolen from Dylan. He had yet to wake up. This appeared to be a pattern with him. My eyesight fell to the ground, far from the balcony. It crossed my mind that I could simply jump and end this all. Falling to my death wouldn't be a bad way to die. I leaned forward, checking out everything beneath. I'd probably fall into the below ground pool or close to it. I know that it'd be a terrible end to the situation for the people I had that cared but that was becoming a smaller number almost by the day. I could be weeks away from losing everyone.

Dylan would go back to school and move on. Colin already seemed to be trying to forget me. Colin pushed me away as far as he could and decided to use Lauren as a clever distraction. If he kept things up, going down the path he already was I highly doubted he'd even miss me. At some point, Liam would be free from jail. He'd find me and I would probably pay with my life. From what Dylan said, Liam was facing 5 to 10 years. That wasn't nearly enough for everything he had done. I knew I hadn't truly escaped him either. Deep in my bones, I believed that I'd see him again someday.

I huffed a deep breath at the sight of Dylan still sleeping. Our relationship was already a time bomb. I couldn't guarantee a year. He was a huge risk to my sanity. My heart had already been so broken that it could never heal. I don't know what I could offer Dylan but I'd given him everything that I had left of me. There was already too much of my faith invested in something that had temporary stamped all over it.

Inside of the bags I had packed, I had a ticket to leave this town. I had to be on the bus by 10:30. By the way, I still have no idea why or how Dylan got my things. Obviously he was in my house, but I didn't know why he would take them. I was looking at three options, essentially. Option number one: End this now. Option number two: Get on the bus. Option number three was a hard one. I could stay and see how the story unfolds. Currently, option number one was off of the table. The glass door behind me slid open.

"I don't like waking up and finding that you're not in my bed," Dylan told me as he moved outside into the balcony. I moved away from the edge. I could feel his blue eyes on me. I'm sure he wanted an explanation for yesterday.

"Good morning to you too," I greeted him. Dylan's hair was an adorable mess and he looked tired. I still thought he was astonishingly handsome, even not at his best.

"This is way too early for me," he muttered. Dylan turned away from me.

"Do you want me to go downstairs and get you coffee?" I offered. Dylan shook his head.

"No, not if you're going to run off," he declined. The frown I wore deepened. I knew a discussion about that was unavoidable.

"You can't keep me here," I responded. I know that was probably the wrong answer. His eyes told me that when his head spun around. It was just the first thing that popped into my head.

"I'm not trying to. I just don't understand what I did, Valerie. I try so hard to do everything right and yet you're still not happy," Dylan spoke and I walked inside to avoid the conversation. I knew the peace and quiet of his room wouldn't last long. There was knocking behind me on the door. I groaned and walked over, swinging it open. I don't know why but it shocked me to see Colin standing on the other side.