Out of existence with a stranger

Decision

"Ah.. shit." You winced with your teeth clenched. It was a cloudy day and you finally had the courage to run off by yourself. Away from your parents and this mess everyone called a life. You gathered everything and took your bike with you. "Off into the woods.. How silly of me." You wanted to run off into the woods and start a new life there. Maybe build a house. You just now realized how dumb that sounded. It was around 6 in the morning when you left home and the day had gotten lighter, but no sun was in sight. Peacefully riding your bike while listening to music, a car had come straight towards you leaving you with a bloody knee and a twisted ankle. You wanted to yell at the person and chase after him but you had no energy to. Your body was not in shape to lift itself up and you were already far off the town you lived in. There was no connection out here. You sighed and a tear began rolling down your cheek. You didn't even know what you were running away for. Was it the pure hatred for your father? Or was it the constant mood change of your mother? Either way, you were now in an unfamiliar place and you couldn't move.

"Are you alright?" A soothing voice came up from behind you. You looked up to find a boy about your age with blonde and eyes that reminded you of nature. It was nice to see someone out here. "Uh.. not really." You let out a light laugh while scratching your head. "I suppose we should get you off the ground first." The blonde-headed boy held out his hand. You reached for it and tried your best to get up before sitting down on the road again. "Thanks but I don't think I can move." The boy looked around and saw your suitcase a few feet away. He walked over and pulled it until it was next to you. "Here. Sit on this." He held out his hand again. "Thank you." You smiled after you sat on your own suitcase. "I'm River. Nice to meet you." River gave you a warm smile. "I'm (Y/N). I would stand up and give you a hug but as you can see, I'm in a bit of a struggle right now." You cocked your head towards your bloody leg. River had what looked like a camping backpack. It was fairly big and seemed full of stuff. "What happened?" He asked. "Oh. I was riding my bike and this car ran into me. I can't blame the driver. It is a pretty foggy day after all." "Do you live around here?" "No. You?" You asked in hopes of River showing you how to get back home. Home. You didn't consider that house a home. "No." "Camping?" You looked at his backpack. "Oh. This thing." He patted the army green fabric. "I guess you could call it camping. What about you? You've got a suitcase." He let out a chuckle before looking back at you. "It's more of a never ending trip in the woods but sure. You could consider it camping." You shrugged. "Where are you headed then?" You wondered what he was actually doing. Why would someone be in the middle of nowhere? It was foggy, cloudy and nowhere near a good enough day to be going out. "The forest that's all the way up there." He pointed his head towards the exact destination you had in your mind. Up in the mountains, there was a huge patch of trees. From here, it looked like nothing more than a dot. "What do you mean by you could call it camping?" You were curious. "This is going to sound like a very stupid idea but.. I'm running away. From home." Your eyes widened in shock and joy at the same time. "Really?! Me too!" You both smiled at each other. "That's good to know! And I almost forgot." River started digging in his bag for something. He took out a small paper bag and inside were medical supplies. "Do you mind..?" He asked as he held an alcohol swab near your knee that was now already beginning to swell. "No, not at all." He gently cleaned up your wound when you winced in pain again. "Am I being too rough?" River was being very caring. Noone had ever been this kind to you before. "No. Thank you." "You're welcome."

After a short period of silence, you asked "Wanna run off together and never look back?" Your cheeks immediately began to turn bright red. You regretted blurting out such a silly sounding sentence. "To where exactly?" "Nature." You nodded your head in the direction of the green patch of trees. "I don't see why not." River raised his eyebrows.