Run Away; C.R

(twenty)

                             chandler:

I focused purely on the sweet scent of honey vanilla that came with the privilege of having riley cuddled inside the warmth of my arms in attempt to shield the cold.

        her teeth chattered with
each gust of wind that took a blow
in our direction as we stood outside          of brandon's driveway. his mother loaded up the final boxes into the trunk while brandon's smaller siblings gathered into the backseat.

      riley snuggled her head deeper into my chest as she shivered, but I was all too focused on the mere fact of how close we were. the feeling that came with holding her was one that was growing to be my favorite of all time. it was more pleasurable than the full blown adrenaline that came with racing, or the rush of partying (which I haven't done in months, by the way.) it beat everything.

      being with her beat absolutely            everything.

"we have to get going, bud." brandon's mother called out from the car, loading up the last box.

       an overwhelming wave of realization had suddenly hit me that one of my best friends since junior high was actually leaving. I didn't expect to be saying goodbye to any of them until they all left for college.

brandon looked extremely solemn as he hugged each of us goodbye, going along the line of matthew, emily, me and riley, and finally cage.

cage and brandon were the equivalent to spongebob and patrick, bert and ernie, or phineas and ferb. you just never had one without the other.

I knew brandon wasn't one for touchy, emotional goodbyes, but I also knew he was going to miss us, even if he was still angry with me.

"we'll skype you as soon as you get to your new home." a sweet, calming voice said delicately as he walked towards the car. it was riley.

he smiled at her, but didn't give me very much of anything before climbing into the passenger seat and clicking the car door closed.

after the car zoomed down the street, leaving smoke and trail marks behind, our entire group looked like we had bad cases of the stomach flu. we looked weak, sad, and cold.

"can we go home now? i'm sad and cold." emily asked quietly, breaking the ear splitting silence between us all. I nodded in agreement, followed by everyone else.

---

riley:

everyone seemed gloomy and lazy so, of course, I suggested we all just relax to a calming movie night. they all seemed up for it, and we flipped a coin with a tied vote and ended up binge watching all the harry potter movies in one night. it wasn't much later than four in the morning before everyone was peacefully fallen with slumber. I admired the way we all cooped up into chandler's fancy living room, under sleeping bags and pillow pets, nothing bothering us about one another.

but something about the way my mind was racing with random thoughts and daydreams had kept me from falling asleep like the rest of them. I especially knew I would never get any rest with chandler's muscular arm wrapped around me waist as it was now.