Runaway Man

Chapter 38: Finally

Chapter 38: Finally

I didn't stop staring at him. I kept looking at him with a soft yet stern expression, waiting for him to respond. One of his fingers trailed against his bottom lip and he smirked, knowing that he had all of my attention.

After that, he rubbed his hand across his bare arms gently. I noticed that there were a few blond hairs poking out of them, but they weren't as manly as some of the arms I had seen around town. However, it wasn't bald enough to be classed as feminine.

We were stood outside of his bathroom, he was leaning against the wall whereas I stood there awkwardly near the door. It was weird because somehow he could control me, manipulate me into something I didn't think was possible for me to be.

It was really crazy.

He whispered gently, as if he didn't want anyone downstairs to hear what he had to say, "I saved you. There was someone from my school chasing you and I put him in place."

I nodded my head, totally hooked into his words.

He flicked his hand upwards with sass, "Then, I brought you here because I knew it was safe. It just so happened that my cousin was staying for the weekend too."

"Your cousin is my History teacher?" 

"It's a very small world," he began chuckling, "Our dads are brothers but he's a bit older than us." My jaw literally dropped. I guessed that explained why it wasn't as obvious as it could have been. There were similarities between the two such as their eyes and their jaws but I never would have put two and two together and figured that out. But now that I knew it, I could actually see the resemblance. They both had the same last name so surely that would have pointed to the most obvious. Learning that now made me feel like a complete idiot for not seeing it sooner.

There was a question that rattled in my mind.

"Why did you come yesterday? You weren't invited," I folded my arms, "I double checked the guest list and invited most of the people anyway. I made sure that you weren't." That sounded harsh but I didn't want Joey coming and ruining my evening!

 "Because..." His voice trailed off.

"Because what?"

Joey chewed on the inside of his cheek and sighed, feeling at least slightly threatened by me, "Because I like to stop any mischief before it gets out of hand." Instantly, I raised my eyebrows in confusion. What was that meant to mean? He tagged along in parties to be some kind of peacemaker? Did he try to prevent fist fights by stepping in the way with his hands in the air?

"With all the drama between the schools and stuff, I feel as if someone needs to be there that knows when enough is enough," he continued, without evening bothering to check if I was following his explanation "I felt so guilty after everything that I couldn't keep my conscience clean without at least trying to give something back." Obviously, he was referring to the stabbing incident. Maybe in his mind, it was a massive burden that he was forced to carry and it troubled him 24/7. I had noticed some sort of pain in his eyes before and wondered why he even bothered messing with the girls from my school if he felt that way.

"So that's why you came yesterday and the time before that?"

Joey nodded his head, "Exactly." I stood there in awe, not sure whether or not to believe it. I wanted to. I really did but there was something that prevented me from being so gullible. Shaking my head, I pretended to brush off the news entirely. I wasn't in the mood for trivia, especially with the hangover I was still experiencing.

"Joey, I want to go home."

"Why?"

Truth was, I didn't know why exactly. I just wanted to absorb everything and make a judgment of it later. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. Honestly, I just wanted to forget about Joey and Mason. The entire journey with them had been exhasting emotionally. My mind was buzzing like crazy and my thoughts were about to errupt.

Clenching my fists into balls, I sighed, "I just need time to think Joey. All of this is too confusing for me. There's so many things that don't make sense and I hate not knowing what it is."

"What don't you know?" Joey pushed himself away from the wall so that our bodies were closer. Not close enough to be touching but near enough for our skin to brush against each other. A sick feeling almost caused me to puke and I stepped backwards, really uncomfortable with his sudden move. However, he just edged forward again, probably not even accepting my personal space.

"I want to go home." I repeated louder. My head let out a pound and I clutched it with one hand. He watched me, going away only slightly. Joey seemed to understand though because he dug his hand into his pocket, lifting up and dangling a set of keys.

"You're having the pink helmet this time."

"But pink looks better on you," I complained with the corners of my mouth tugging upwards. His expression dropped, "I mean it!"

It had been forever since we had been on the road together, since our first technical date actually. So much had changed since then but his motorbike and our surroundings had remained the same. The ride was quiet, meaning that Joey was analyzing something in his head. I had grown to know that him not talking meant that and it was better not to disturb him.

He parked on my driveway and carefully removed our helmets. There was an expression on his face that I was unable to register as he fumbled with the clip that secured mine on. As it dropped down, I put my hands on the top of the helmet to take it off when his landed on top of mine. Awkwardly, I tried to move them out the way.

He removed his palms first and spoke flatly, "I'm sorry, Florence. But you deserve better than this." I blinked twice while I got off of his vechile. Then, he waved and he drove off, not even giving me a proper goodbye.

I stood there for ten minutes. I really did need to make up my mind soon and it was going to be a tough one.

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I hate to say this but I have actually gone off this story, which is why I haven't updated recently (and because of Writer's Block) :/

I will still continue this to the end but my updates probably won't be as quick as they have been in the past. I have learnt a lot writing this so I hope to apply what I have into my other works.

Also, check out my latest story; "Dreamcatcher". I tried to make it unique as possible and right now, only the first chapter is up so gooooooo read it if you haven't already. Thanks. <3

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