Over 3,000 Miles

Run With Me

        Everyday at work had progressively gotten worse since the day of my little freak out. We had to have a meeting with our supervisor and Mr. Hendrickson where he threatened our jobs and told us that we shouldn't have taken that task on by ourselves, even though that was kind of what we were told to do. We were told that we had to discuss a new floor plan with our supervisor and then rearrange the store in that way. It was pure torture. 

       Luke and I haven't been in contact since that day either. Well, besides the day after, since I had stayed there overnight. I met the rest of the band that next morning before I had to go back to work. They were all very nice, but a little loud. Luke said that they were pretty much the same way all the time, but you got used to it. Luke drove me to work that morning too, the other boys wanted to go, but Luke said he had to talk to me. That resulted in all of the other boys yelling, "OOOOO!" and some other things that made Luke and I both blush a little. When we got in the car, we didn't talk much, but I could tell that he was just trying to make me feel a little better about having to go back there.

        "Are you excited to go to work today?" He asked me, looking ahead at the road.

        "Not at all." I replied, rolling my eyes at the thought. 

        He gave me a small smile, before looking back at the road.

        When we pulled up to the music shop, I groaned. Luke turned to me, a concerned look on his face. 

        "Clara, look at me." He spoke. I turned my head away from the window, looking first at the steering wheel, then at him. "If you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to call me or text me. If your boss is there or whoever but you start to feel like you did yesterday, just slip me a message and I'll be there as soon as I can." He gave me a small smile, which I returned.

        "Thank you, Luke. For everything. I'll talk to you later." I gave him one last smile before opening the car door and walking into the shop.

        That night I called him, telling him about the meeting, I wasn't as upset as I was yesterday, but I was still pretty shaken up. The stress of that job was really getting to me, and I was glad I had Luke to talk to about it. 

        Little did I know that that phone call would be the last time we talked for the next week.

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        It was a week after our phone call now. I had been having a horrible time at work. I wanted to call Luke, hoping for some form of relief from my stress, but I knew I couldn't. He hadn't spoken to me in a week, I couldn't just call him and tell him about all of my problems. That wouldn't be right of me. It would make me seem like I only wanted to talk to Luke when I had a problem and that was the opposite of the truth.

        Driving down the road on my way home from work was one of my favorite parts of the day. I could think if I wanted to, the only sounds being the blinker of my car when I turned, the brakes when I came to a stop sign, and the wheels of the car hitting the tar. Or I could blast my music as loud as I wanted to, drowning my thoughts with the pounding drums and the blaring melodies. Today had been one of those days where I blasted music and focused on getting home to be alone, but I swear I almost crashed my car when I saw Luke sitting on a suitcase on the edge of the sidewalk, his thumb sticking out, a blank look on his face. 

        I instantly turned my stereo off, pulling over a few feet behind where he was sitting, he looked over at my car and smiled a little. He put his hand down, staring at my car as I got out, not even turning the car off. He cheeks were streaky, like he had been crying and his eyes were bloodshot. I ran over to him, sitting down next to him. 

        "Luke why the hell are you hitchhiking?! Are you alright?" I asked, looking all over his face for some form of emotion.

        "I-I need to get away from here. The band it-its stressing me out. I haven't gotten much sleep the past couple of days and I just," He sighed. "I just need a break." The look on his face made my heart drop down to my stomach. It was a look I was used to, I saw it quite often in the mirror. 

        He looked like he was just done. With everything.

        "Luke," I pulled him into a hug, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. He rested his head in the crook of my neck, wrapping his arms around me. "It's gonna be okay, Luke. You don't need to run from this. You could've call-" 

        He startled me when he pulled away from me quickly looking in my eyes as he spoke clearly.

        "Run with me."

        My eyes got wide as I spoke, "Luke, what do you mean?"

        "Clara, I know you're sick of being here. You told me right to my face that you hate your job and you want to get away from here. I have it all worked out, I have a plan and everything. I need to get away for a while and I know you do too. Please go with me. We can finally get away. Please." 

        I looked in his eyes and he looked so desperate. I knew I couldn't just run from my problems, he couldn't either. A break would be nice, but what if we were making a mistake? What if I did say yes? I would be out of work for a while, making no money for college. And what about his band? They can't do shows without him there.

        "Luke, I-" 

        "Please, Clara." He grabbed my hand in both of his, squeezing it slightly. He was looking directly into my eyes, a pleading look on his face.

        "Okay." I said, not even thinking about it anymore. I needed a break. He needed a break. We were finally getting a break.

        "Really?! Clara, you mean it?" He asked, his eyes lighting up.

        "Yes, Luke. I do." I smiled as he pulled me into a tight embrace.

        "Thank you." He whispered.

       "You're welcome, Luke. We need this." I whispered back. 

        He pulled back and we both stood up, him grabbing his suitcase, and we walked to my car. Once we got in, I looked over at him, speaking softly. "Let's go get a coffee, you look like you need a little energy. We can talk about your plan then." 

        He smiled at me, it was a bright smile. "Okay." 

        I smiled at him before starting to drive to the nearest cafe, where we would start discussing his plan for getting away. 

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A/N: Hi guys! Thank you so much for all of the votes and reads, it means the world to me. This chapter is dedicated to victori55 for being so wonderful to me and fully supporting my writing. :) 

Sorry that this is a little shorter than the other chapters. I'm gonna try and update either again tonight or sometime tomorrow, so get excited for that. :)