Watch Your Words

Chapter 4: One Step at a Time

Recap

The house was quiet with both his best friend and a random, cocky kid upstairs sleeping. The one thing he always hated about insomnia was how lonely it could get. That wasn't the problem tonight however. He started unpacking supplies from their bags putting food in the makeshift cabinets and setting the med kits on shelves and hanging from walls where they always sat. He took clothes and laid them in separate drawers taking his time to refold them. He even found a bag he didn't recognize upstairs and immediately assumed it was the kid's. He left that alone though.

Milo knew it would be difficult for him and Ivy to take care of and look out for another person but they weren't just going to kick him out. He really only seemed cocky and Milo was sure that if they left him in the woods he would just come back anyway.
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"Hey look at that, your finally awake!" Ivy cheered as the young boy walked down the steps. Ivy had woken up a little over an hour ago to the smell of Milo trying to make some form of breakfast. They had a food supply the kid either hadn't found or left alone.

The aforementioned kid was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and wasn't fully processing what was going on. Sitting down on the now empty couch, he let out a slight yawn and fully opened his eyes. The moment he did however, he realized where he was and what was going on. Scrambling off the couch and falling onto the floor, Ivy couldn't help but laugh at the kid. He looked at her with a scowl, eyes wide at his former realization.

"Is the kid awake yet?" Milo shouted with no regard to the answer.

"I'm not a kid," was the immediate response from the child on the floor. Now with his former confidence, he was standing, almost pressing into the wall like he wanted it to swallow him whole. "My name is Eli so you can stop calling me a kid now, which I am not."

Ivy only smirked as she walked past him and into the kitchen.

"Whatever you say kid."

Eli's frown only deepened as he watched her move around to grab different plates and utensils. Milo watched to two with a form of amusement.

"Alright if you two are done, I made breakfast," Milo laughed as he went to start serving the two. Eli watched the two closely, eyes occasionally glancing at the stairs. If he wanted to leave, he needed his bag that very well could have nothing of use in it now that he let himself sleep.

Slowly, Eli started towards the stairs. Slow enough to not attract unwanted eyes but fast enough to actually get there one day. Somehow he found himself at the top step carefully treading over to the bag on the floor without being spotted.

The bag itself was just as heavy as before when he picked it up to put it on the bed and with further inspection, hadn't been touched. He sighed in relief and looked around the room. He had originally scouted out the place upon arrival just in case he got trapped upstairs and had picked the best window to make an escape route. He had also made escape routes through the other windows had his first choice been blocked.

The rope in his bag was specifically for this purpose as he strung it up to a slightly loose floorboard. Loose enough to get the rope around but still able to hold his weight. He smiled at the accomplishment despite not actually doing anything and made his way over to the window. He had never climbed mountains and had went to a rock climbing birthday party once when he was ten so his experience was very limited.

With the backpack cinched tightly to his back and the rope what he assumes was securely around his waist, he slowly swings his legs over the edge. Doing a test pull, it was safe to assume he'd get far enough to not fall and dies at least so leaning out the window, Eli let himself lean towards the ground.

The boy could feel his heart thumping and knew he had to be quiet. The part of the lower house didn't have a window but that doesn't mean he couldn't be spotted by something outside.

He was startled when his feet hit the ground and gave the rope a hard pull. It came loose and Eli realized he was lucky it hadn't done that before.

He only too a second to breath until his feet were pounding against the ground and he was dodging trees faster than he saw them coming. The plan was to get out and away from the people he doesn't know. He didn't have trust anymore, not after the first group and no matter what those two said, he wasn't buying it.

Eli didn't turn around until he heard a door slam and distant shouting. He kept running until he stumbled, his feet not being the only thing to catch upon making out a few words in an argument.

"Milo what if he gets hurt?!"

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A/N— hahahahahhahaha I am so sorry. This was supposed to be supper long for missing a few days and then Wattpad being down for like a week but then I kinda sorta forgot I was writing and then writers block hit me like a truck without breaks on a highway sooooooooo here we are.

Happy New Year guys let's give 2020 a good kick on the way out. You are all amazing and I am so thankful for all of my readers even if there's only like... four of you.

GOOD BYE 2020!!!!!!

- Splish