chronometer

rebleed

A/N: please don't hate me

Mitch looks at me worriedly. "Arlington? Scott, I'll stick out like a sore thumb. Look at me."

I want to tell him that he looks beautiful, like a drop of sunlight lingering in indefinite darkness. I hold my tongue and my gaze trails away somewhere I can't even pinpoint. I become lost in thought. We have a small window of time to escape the city before they have a chance to find us. If we stay here too long, we'll be caught. Mitch will have to go back home. I'll end up in jail. He will be imprisoned in his own home.

I look at him again. "We won't be there for long. I need to see my mom and Avi. We'll be in and out in no time. We won't even be outside for more than a minute with a taxi. Just trust me. If anything happens, we have guns. Okay?"

He looks me in the eyes, searching for a reason to trust me. I allow him to search deep into my core, to get lost in the truth of my intentions. I stare back at him steadfast, opening myself up to any judgement on my loyalty to him. He knows I also question his dependability towards me. For this to work, I must allow him to learn to believe me as I do the same to him. After a minute or so, he lets go of a deep breath and the gaze that was boring into me has fallen to the floor.

"Okay."

I change the subject so quickly Sonic would be proud. "How is your wrist? Your nose?"

Without a word, he picks up his arm to flash the ace wrap, but I can tell that even with it wrapped the swelling has gone down. His nose doesn't look as bad either-- but anything smeared in blood looks bad no matter what. "Okay. Good. Let's get going, then. Arlington is a long drive if we don't hit the road soon." I walk over and help him off of the bed, taking him by the edge of his hand. He stands up and stretches long while I pick up the food we ate and toss it. To his request, I save an apple and a pear salvaged from the lobby this morning in case we get hungry. It's accompanied with two bottles of water.

He follows me down the hallway. It is before noon, which means not many people are checking out yet. I remind him to pull his hood up just in case it's busier than usual. The hallway leads into an elevator and we stand there in deafening silence while it travels to the first floor. Uncertainty is settling within both of us, I want nothing but to assure him that everything will be okay. It won't, I'm not sure if it ever will be. We are making a terrible leap into an unknown world of danger. I want things to be okay, but they won't be. Not for a while, but if things are not okay for me -- at the very least -- I want them to be okay for him.

I lay the key to the hotel room down on the counter and thank the attendant through the corner of my mouth. Mitch and I are out the door without sparing a second glance and the first thing I do as soon as we're outside is hail down a taxi. Arlington is the only thing on my mind. Arlington is safe. Arlington is help. I'll be able to tell Avi why he was given a life he didn't deserve and how he can take it back for him and for Esther. That sweet, sweet girl who has to spend every day of her life suffering because of one man sick with greed. It never occurred to me until now how much a disease wanting all of the money in the world could be. My lips curl into a frown as a taxi pulls up to the curb.

Unfortunately Mitch has to keep his hood on so he isn't recognized by the driver. Thank god these cars are small and there's little room to see everything. When we're finished seating ourselves, I press my wrist against the scanner.

"Arlington, please."

The taxi driver eyes the rear view mirror, looking at me with a perplexed expression. "You're going to that dump?"

I want to deck the guy with everything I've got, but instead I put on a fake grin. "Parts of my family didn't do quite as well as we did."

He nods, and two months are stolen away from my body. "Arlington it is. We'll be there in approximately two hours."