Only You

Chapter 2

A/N: Caleb in picture ^

Caleb and I spent the night in the waiting room, my head resting on his shoulder, his head resting on mine. It was around 5 A.M. and still dark outside when my eyes finally blinked open.

"What should we do?" My voice was groggy and raspy with sleep. Caleb stretched his arms above his head and sighed.

"Well neither of us have phones, Dad is gone, Mom is... a-also gone. Aunt Catherine wants nothing to do with us, and even if she did, we don't have her number or address. We're both minors so we can't live alone. So, either foster care, where we'll most likely be separated,  or... we run."

I dropped my head onto the back of my chair. Caleb half-smiled.

"Way to sugar-coat it," I laughed despite the situation. Taking in a deep breathe, I made my decision. "We run."

** ** **

I paced back and forth, now inside my mother's patient room. "Calm down, Vi. We can do this. We both have some cash saved up. We find our way back home, grab it, take Mom's old car, make new names and get the hell out of this crap life!" Caleb sounded very convinced of his plan, and I believed in it too... But this was a huge decision and I wondered if it was the right one.

"Bye, momma." I leaned down and kissed her forehead, my tears dripping on her pillow. Caleb did the same, minus the tears, and when he straightened, we locked eyes.

He took a large breath and exhaled loudly. "Are you ready?"

I nodded. He took my hand and we navigated our way back to the exit. In the parking lot, we looked in all directions, trying to figure out which way our house was. We had never been to this particular hospital.

After a small debate, we headed east, his suggestion, and prayed for the best.

"So we've been walking for almost half of the day and I don't recognize anything. Great choice, Caleb," I snarked. Caleb rolled his eyes and sped up, knowing he was way fitter than me. I puffed out a breath and jogged forward to keep pace with him.

"If you would stop complaining the entire time, maybe we would have travelled faster. To be fair, you slept in the car for a while and we drove pretty far so it's possible we are in fact headed in the right direction, Violet," he snapped.

I sighed, hating whenever Caleb and I fought. And more than that, hating the fact that we were alone, abandoned, and desperate as hell.

"Caleb. Ca-caleb! I'm sorry!" I grabbed his arm and pulled him to face me. He was grinning. "You jerk! Stop laughing, it's not funny!" I giggled, hitting his chest playfully  with my fists. We laughed for another minute and once we had sobered I smiled warmly at him.

We continued walking down the street, when a shock hit me with an iron fist.

"Look! Look! I recognize that, it's The Buffet!" The Buffet was where Caleb and I had worked, washing dishes and waiting tables, for the last three years.

We went inside to rest and use the bathrooms.

"Violet! Caleb! Haven't seen you two in a while, how's it going?" Our boss, Jeffrey, a tall skinny man with a baby face, came to the booth we were sitting in. The seats were slightly worn and had small tears in the fabric. An old-fashioned jukebox played 80s music in the background. It was a small, cozy place; old and worn, but it was like a second home to me. It was actually a diner, not a buffet but for some reason, that's what it was called.

"Hey, Jeff. Sorry we haven't been in in a while, we took time off to help with our grandmother's funeral," Caleb explained. A waitress whom I vaguely recognized passed menus out to an elderly couple; those were the only other residents currently inside.

"That's alright, that's alright. I still got your paychecks here for the last month." He reached into his apron and handed us each an envelope. We each got around $1,700 and I grinned in relief. I had been legitimately considering stealing from the cash register to help pay for our runaway.

Caleb and I shared a look and thanked him.  Jeffrey left us alone. Caleb quietly went over the plan once more until it was seared into my brain. I shifted my elegant gown, and laughed when I realized that Jeffrey hadn't even made a funny face at our outfits.

My feet were killing me-- these darn heels-- but Caleb insisted we get going. I pulled myself up with a huff and followed him out the door. Sadly, I watched the door shut, the small tinkling bell ringing in my ears for several minutes afterward. Normally, Caleb would drive us to The Buffet in mom's car since she no longer used it, but now we would have to make way on foot.

** ** **

We made it home about 15 minutes later, my feet still aching and Caleb surprisingly chipper. Once got to the door, I realized we had no way to get in. Neither of us had a house key and I was running through thoughts in my head when suddenly, Caleb KICKS IN THE FREAKING DOOR!

"What the hell!?" I screamed. He just laughed and sauntered inside. I shook my head, mouth still open in shock. My brother is officially crazy, I thought. I sighed in exasperation and walked into the house.

The rooms were dark, the only light spilled in from the windows. I wandered around aimlessly, wondering what I should take with me. I walked up the steep stairs to my room and grabbed a large backpack. I started by stuffing in essential clothes, then some shoes, then a toiletry bag. The backpack was now pretty full so I threw in another jacket and closed it shut. All that was left of my closet was clothes I'd never wear.

I had changed out of my gown (but I still packed it in a different bag) and now wore a pair of jeans, a tank top and a thin sweatshirt. Currently, it was early April so it wasn't cold, but there was still a chill in the air. I jogged downstairs, out the door and threw my overstuffed backpack into the back seat. Then I went back inside and did the same thing with another bag filled to the brim with unrefrigerated food.

Caleb was loading in everything he had packed-- including a large cooler, two duffel bags of his things, and my last backpack of mine. We met in Mom and Dad's room.

"What should we take?" He asked.

"Jewelry, clothes, mom's wallet, passport, everything really. If we can't use it, we can sell it." I kept my tone all business so I wouldn't start breaking down. We gathered everything until the room was as barren as the rest of the house.

I marched out of the house and gently closed the door behind me. The car purred to life and I jogged down the driveway for the last time. I hopped into the passenger seat and watched as our old home faded out of view. Now we would start our new life. Our life on the run.