Run

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Waking Alex up as we pull into the bus station is a little nerve wracking. I had to listen to him for what felt like forever.

"Don't make me hurt her. Get out! I don't want to! I won't. Please don't."

Almost nine hours of listening to him beg. Every fiber of my being hopes he was just having a bad dream and was arguing with himself. He told me before we left that when we fight, if he gets angry enough he wants to hurt me and he told me he hates that feeling.
Maybe talking about it opened that up in his mind and he's having to deal with it instead of burying it?

I stare at him, scared of what I could see, as his eyes flutter open and his arms stretch over his head.

"Hey," He groans, eyes still half shut as he gives me his cocky grin. "You alright?"

I nod, feeling the smallest amount of relief in me. "How'd you sleep?"

"Pretty good, weird dreams but I feel better now." He looks at me for a second, head tilted to the side as he looks me up and down. He takes my hand and squeezes. "Thank you, you easily could have disregarded me and ignored me after today, thank you for being so open."

I nod again. I want to be open. I want to not be worried right now, but my brain is just playing like a broken record.

"Don't make me hurt her! I don't want to hurt her! Please... Leave her out of this! I don't want to hurt her!"

Alex gets out of his seat and waits for me. I feel stupid when I look up and see him staring and waiting. I need to come back down to earth. Everyone has bad dreams, it happens.

"Are you sure you're ok?" He asks as we climb out of the bus.

"Yeah, just a little overwhelmed I guess."

I'm not necessarily lying, especially stepping off the bus and being met with huge crowds of people and a bright, warm sun beating down on us. Looking around I see what looks like a train station, people are standing around waiting or moving to any of the neighboring buildings or streets.

"Whe- Where are we?" I ask.

"San Diego." Alex looks around with me.

"California?!" I feel my jaw dropping to the floor.

He nods, "I always wanted to come,
thought maybe it'd be nice drawing on the beach. Maybe we could have some fun here."

He still looks tired, but he's calm. His smile is genuine and his eyes search over our new surrounding.

Looking around, I decide California isn't quite what I expected. Yes there's lots of people, but they aren't as fancy looking or laid back as I'd expected. I expected to see the beach right when we arrived, to see surfers and celebrities. I see lots of different types of people, some dressed like hipsters some dressed like glamour queens, some wearing work uniforms.

"Come on," Alex takes my hand and pulls me over to a small sign just outside the station.

A line of people are waiting. Looking up I see the sign is a bus stop sign.

"Another bus?" I groan as Alex smiles down on me.

"This is different. Trust me, you'll like this one."

I bite the inside of my cheek. I want to trust him, especially after the talk, well argument, we had in Vegas, but hearing him on the bus makes trust a little difficult.

Some of my discomfort eases when a red and white bus pulls up in front of us. Seeing it reminds me of home, waiting outside work ready to go back to my home with my mom and my bed.