Delusional

Chapter Nine

Patrick and I didn't have anywhere to go. My mom texted me an apology, but none of it was meant for Patrick. She said she loved me unconditionally, but if I were to bring him back she would call the police. What a hypocrite. But that threat almost sounded good to me. Maybe then we could explain what's been going on with Patrick's parents, but he didn't want me to do that, and I wanted to do whatever he said. I was worried on what kind of story the police would accept us as anyway.

We ended up outside some old building, mostly hidden in the woods. It was freezing as we sank down inside. Most of the windows were broken, not providing much shelter against the wind, and, God, I wished I could do something. Patrick was shaking, and I wish I was smarter and grabbed some money from my moms purse for a hotel.

But none of that mattered now because we're, on a dusty floor, in the forest, freezing our asses off, and all because I couldn't remember my mom's work schedule.

I watched Patrick, trying to come up with a plan, but I only managed to shrug off my jacket and wrap it around him, hoping it was offering some warmth. He glanced at me with a small smile, climbed into my lap, and turned into my chest, so I wrapped my arms around him. The gesture was almost second nature to me now. It went from feeling right to the only thing that felt right.

We stayed like that on the stone floor of the decaying building, my jacket keeping him warm, and his chest doing the same for me. He must have fell asleep some time soon after because our conversation died off into just my voice. "I wish I could protect you, keep you here in my arms forever, and never let anyone hurt you, but this is life, and, even if we ran away together to some sunny place in Mexico, we would feel the same sense of abandonment and neglect. You and me, we're lost baby." I finished, the last words a whispered cloud of foggy breath as I laid my head on top of his.

By the time the sun was coming up the next morning we were both numb. The cold was seeping into us through waves of warmth and a comfortable sense of exhaustion now, and I knew we had to get out of here.

"Stay. Sleep." He insisted in a groggy voice that could have been strong enough to convince me, if it were a month prior. It reminded me of that morning, waking up with him naked and pressed to my chest, and the way he said good morning. I almost felt like I was back in my bedroom, but the bliss couldn't last much longer.

"C'mon." I urged him, standing with him in my arms, the effort painful. My blood and muscles were frozen and every move shattered them into pieces that pierced my lungs. I was panting by the time I had managed to stand, my arms too weak to hold him up, so I set him down, but he still leaned onto me heavily as we stumbled back out onto the road.

There were barely any cars out since it had started to snow, and the roads were slick from the freeze last night. Clouds formed a gray blanket, splitting the sky from the ground. It almost appeared as if the day and night had no differences.

Still, no cars stopped although I tried several times to flag someone down, but I couldn't blame them. I can't imagine how we look.

Finally, a car stopped, a friendly looking man with a smile asked us if we needed a ride, and where to. I smiled and mumbled my gratitude as we got in, but I practically had to pull Patrick. I assumed it was because we were still both pretty much frozen, but I knew something was wrong when I looked over and saw how terrified he was.

Author's Note: Hey! Please remember to vote for each chapter and leave a comment on parts you liked. I'm very interested in your thoughts because I want to use it to make my writing better. Also, in this point of the novel I'm really interested in hearing if I have any readers who consistently read this. Like am I actually hooking people with the way I end things, or do I just sound really boring and look dumb? Probably the latter. : )