Broken

Chapter 14 - Friends

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I didn't know how long I had been running but it felt like forever. My mind was racing and I tried to ignore the sharp pain in my side with every step I took. Soon I saw a bridge. Now I knew where I was. I was all the way at the outskirts of town. That means I have been running for about half an hour. That explains the aching in my legs. I was so out of breath by now and my throat was burning. I slowed my pace down to a walk. I headed under the bridge where I sat down at the top of the cement hill that connected the bridge and the ground. I looked out at the water a few feet away. It was beautiful. I pulled my knees to my chest and hugged them. I tried to slow my breathing and concentrate on making my mind blank. All I could see was Aaron face when he looked at me. I sighed heavily and rested my head on my knees. Why me? Why does my life have to be so complicated? Why couldn't I have died in that car instead? Was me being alive a punishment from God for killing my mom, sisters, and Karen? I shut my eyes tightly wishing the thoughts away. Think of something else. Anything else......Why can't I think of anything else but the others?...... Flower. Dog. Butterfly. Chocolate. Monster truck. Beetle Juice. Cantaloupe. Purple. Pillsbury Dough Boy. Dr. Barney. Katy Perry. Finger Nail. CD. Marker. Computer. Tea. Pocket book. Snow Flake...... I just started randomly spurting out the first thing I could think of.

"Door knob." A males voice chimed in and I jumped. I hadn't heard anyone come up as I tried to distract my mind. I looked up to see who the secret person was. I let out a groan and layed my head back on my knees as I realized who it was. How did he find me?

"What are you? A freaking ninja or something?" I mumbled not bothering to look back up.

"Not that I know of." Marc said with a small chuckle. A couple minutes of silence passed before he finally started speaking again.

"Are you ok?" He asked softly and I stayed silent for a moment.

"Peachy." I said unenthusiastically.

"How did you know where I was?" I added slightly turning my head to the side to see his face. He really was beautiful. Nope. Don't even think it!

"Well when you....left, everyone was about to come after you but I stopped them. I convinced them to stay there while I came to find you. I figured you would rather it be me than your brother or one of the others. I told them I would let them know when I found you but I couldn't promise when you would be back. You got a pretty good head start but then I thought about where I would go if I wanted to be alone. So when I got here, I saw you." He said simply as he looked at me. I lifted my head slightly just enough to move my hair out of my way then rested my head back on my knees. I looked at him and studied his face for a few seconds before speaking.

"Why did you think I would rather talk to you instead of the others?" I asked quietly not wanting to sound harsh or rude. He didn't seem offended by my question and I was glad.

"Well I know you probably want a little time before talking to Aaron. You don't really talk to my parents much so I figured you probably wouldn't be ready to talk to them about this. Same thing with Eric. I know you are good friends with Missy and Jasper but I just figured you would rather talk to someone who you have talked to before that wasn't too close. Someone that wouldn't judge you or make things uncomfortable. Not to mention, if they had of came, they would probably try to force you to come back and I figured you needed time to think and decide when you wanted to come back. But I didn't want you to be alone so I figured I would be the best option." He said shrugging as he looked at his vibrating phone.

"I texted Jasper and told him I found you and that you were ok. He will tell the others." He added as he looked back up to my face. I just looked at him for a couple minutes. He was right. I was glad it was him and not one of the others. They would have been pressuring me to talk to them about my problems. I know they only meant best and didn't mean to pressure me but that is what they would have done. I know that Marc pressures me a lot about what is wrong with me but he doesn't know what is going on. Plus I did show up looking like shit so I can't much blame him for trying to push. But now that he knows about the accident, he isn't trying to pry. I actually really appreciated him not asking me questions. And I wasn't ready to go back. But I also didn't want to be alone with my thoughts.