Broken

Chapter 6

We laid there for several minutes when we had finished, neither of us speaking. I didn't know what to say. All those times when Mitch had made me, it had never been like that.
"A-are you okay?" Taylor stammered finally. I could tell he was nervous, afraid he had hurt me.
"Yes," I said hoarsely. "I'm great."
"Mean it?" he asked, turning on his side and propping himself up on his elbow so his eyes could meet mine.
I smiled and nodded, "I do. That was - different. But different in a good way, not a bad way. It was incredible."
A small smile escaped his lips even as his cheeks flushed red, "I wasn't sure if I'd be any good. I've only done it once before and she was kind of a groupie I guess."
I stroked his cheek softly, "I don't exactly have a great experience to compare it to but it was perfect to me."
I pulled his face towards mine and kissed him.
He smiled when our lips parted and he snuggled up next to me, resting his head on my shoulder.
"I guess it is pretty stupid to be worrying about that," he chuckled.
I shook my head softly, "No, not at all. One thing though?"
"What's that?" he asked looking up at me again.
"Can we go lie on the bed?" I asked. "This floor is killing my back."
He smiled and helped me up. I pulled my pajamas back on and he slipped his boxers on before we climbed into the bed.
"Do you wanna watch a movie now?" he asked.
"Sure," I smiled. "Which one?"
"We can watch the one you wanted," he said, pulling me so I was snuggled into his chest.
He ordered the movie and turned off the light. We were both asleep before the opening credits had finished.
We woke up the next morning to a pounding on the door.
"Taylor are you in there?" We heard a voice shout through the door.
"It's Ike," Tay said and threw on his jeans quickly before opening the door. "What's up?"
"Look i don't know what you've gotten yourself into," Ike said glancing over at me. "But there are cops at home now, looking for her."
"L-looking for me?" I asked, suddenly terrified. "Oh god he knows where I'm at."
"What are they saying?" Taylor asked.
"That she stole a bunch of money from her step dad and ran away," he said shifting uncomfortably.
"Oh god, oh god, oh god," I cried, jumping up. "I have to leave, NOW."
I began shoving things into my bag then the phone began ringing and I jumped nearly falling over.
Taylor picked it up, "Yeah, mom I'm still here. No she's not. I woke up and she was gone. I'm not sure. I know she said she was going to go to California but she was probably lying about that too. She said something about Texas when we first met her. Yeah I know. Yeah if I see Ike I'll tell him."
He hung up the phone and looked at me, "I may have bought you some time."
"What are you doing?" Ike asked him. "You're helping her run off again?"
"I can't really explain," Taylor said, looking at me. "But just trust me she isn't the bad guy here."
Ike looked at him suspiciously then turned to me, "They'll be checking the bus and train stations and probably the airport."
"Take my car," Taylor said, pulling out his keys.
"I don't know how to drive," I admitted.
"I'll drive you then," Taylor said.
"Dude you can't," Ike said, unbelieving of what he was hearing come out of his brothers mouth.
"I have to help her Isaac," Taylor said.
"Ike's right," I said softly. "You can't, Taylor. Your career would be ruined."
"I don't care about that," he said weakly.
"Yes, you do," I said, and touched his cheek. "And it's okay. I can't ask you to get into that kind of trouble. I'm not worth it. I'll just take my chances on foot and see if I can hitch a ride out of town."
"Amelia," he started but I leaned in and kissed him quickly.
"Thank you for everything," I whispered as our lips parted. I could see the corners of his eyes were glistening. "You've shown more kindness to me than I deserve and you've given me more than you could ever even know."
I tried pulling away from him, but he held onto me.
"Maybe if you told them," he started.
"I can't," I said, cutting him off again. "I told you why I can't."
He nodded and released me but leaned his forehead against mine before choking out his next words, "I know. Please be careful out there. And I hope you'll get ahold of me when you can?"
I nodded, "Of course."
I kissed him again and finished grabbing what I could.
"Thank you again, Taylor Hanson," i said smiling softly at him. "And thank you too Ike. I know you didn't do it for me but I appreciate it nonetheless."
I didn't give either of them a chance to say anything else before I quickly ducked out of the room and snuck around the back of the motel. There were woods behind it. I had planned out my escape route in case of an emergency and stuck with it. I entered the woods, deep enough to not be seen but not deep enough to where I would get lost and started heading north along the edge of the woods.
I heard the sirens behind me approach the motel. I wondered if Mitch was with them. I felt a pang of regret and guilt leaving Taylor to explain my "disappearance" and how he got mixed up in all of this. I knew I shouldn't have gotten close to him. He and his family didn't deserve any of this trouble.
I shook the thoughts out of my head and continued walking. I needed to get as much distance as I could. I finally came to a road about an hour later. I peaked my head out of the woods and saw a car approaching. I couldn't make out what it was but I took a deep breath and climbed out of my hiding spot sticking my thumb out as the car neared.
As it slowed I could make out what it was. Shit, it was a cop car. No hiding now. I couldn't duck back into the woods they'd already seen me.
I pulled my hair back into a ponytail as they pulled over and slipped my sunglasses over my face.
"What are you doing out here miss?" the officer asked, stepping out of his vehicle.
"I was on a hike," I said. "And I seem to have gotten lost."
"A hike huh?" he asked suspiciously eyeing me up and down. That's when I realized I was still in my pajamas.
"Yeah," I said with a nervous chuckle. "What can I say? I'm a sucker for nature."
Still eyeing me suspiciously he then asked, "Do you want me to drive you somewhere? Where did you come from?"
"See I'm not sure," I said. "I've been out here since really early this morning. I know I was going southwest when I started my hike so I guess my car would be northeast?"
"Okay well hop in," he said, opening the passenger door to his car. "I'll give you a lift and we'll see if we can find where you parked. See if anything looks familiar?"
I hesitated, was he really buying my story? I couldn't tell but I wasn't sure what choice I had. I was damned if I did and damned if I didn't.
"Okay," I said after a minute. I glanced around nervously before sitting down in the car. He shut the door behind me and I saw him say something into the radio on his shoulder strap.
I swallowed nervously as he got into the drivers side. When he shut the door and put the vehicle in gear all the locks clicked.
He began driving.
"Does any of this look familiar?" he asked.
"No," I said. "But i was in the woods. Maybe it's just a little further?"
He nodded and kept driving. The road had many curves and suddenly we were approaching a town.
"What town is this?" I asked.
He glanced over at me, suspicious again, "Miss, this is Tulsa. You're not from around here? And you chose to go hiking in woods you don't know? In your pajamas?"
"I - uh," I stammered trying to find an excuse.
"You're that girl everyone is looking for, aren't you?" he asked.
"W-what girl?" I stuttered, swallowing nervously.
He shook his head and I saw where he was driving us... back to the motel.
There were several police cars there. I saw Taylor's parents and brothers being interviewed by police officers. And there was Taylor talking to another police officer, a detective it looked like. There were a couple of news vans parked on the outskirts of the police barricade. I tried to fight back tears but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't stop them.
Everyone turned to look at the approaching vehicle. Everything felt like it was running in slow motion.
My gaze met Taylor's and I could see the pain and fear in his eyes.
The detective that was talking to Taylor motioned to another officer and headed over to the car.
That's when I saw him, pop out of an unmarked police car.