Needing/Wanting

It was nice, for just a moment to be held by Mercy and she allowed herself to be calmed by the sound of his heartbeat against her ear. When he pulled away she found herself disappointed and wanted to move back into the same position until she realized what he was saying.

The world spun for a moment and she felt queasy and thought she might vomit, but she held her lunch down and instead grabbed her peers hand. "Run away with me, right now. It will be like before when we were lost but....but only better because we'll want to be gone. We can be a family, you me and the baby." Her eyes were alight with panic as she tugged on his hand, urging him down the peer, she made eye contact and whispered brokenly, "Please."

He felt like he was going to pass out. Aponi grabbed his hand and begged him to run away with her, but he felt the world spin beneath him and he pulled away, stepping back and staggering as he covered his face with his hands. He breathed through them audibly and rubbed them over his temples before he ran them through his hair and looked back at her. She was desperate.

"You need a doctor, Aponi, we can't just....Skip town," He said. "I have no money...I would, Aponi, I would," He said, moving forward to caress her cheek with one of his hands, gently. His voice lowered. "They'll send the hounds. We'll be hunted," He said in a hushed voice- knowing fully well that his mother would be one of the ones sent to track them down- and she was one of the best.

Mercy pulled away from her and Aponi could do nothing but stand and watch as he covered his face from her, hiding his emotions and his thoughts. She leaned into his hand as he stroked her and whispered, "I have money, I stole my dad's wallet so I could pay the clinic in cash, I emptied his emergency account. We have more than enough money to spare, we could pay for the best doctors and still buy a house somewhere in the country, change our names, move to Europe....I don't know, but we have to do something." Tears slid down her cheeks and into his palm where he held her as she spoke.

Neither one of them said it, but when Aponi had woken up to puke when she was hungover it was him who had been next to her in that bed. It was him who had held her all night, it was his shirt she was wearing and it was him who hadn't been wearing any clothes.

Mercy's eyes widened when she explained about her father's wallet. For a moment, he saw a glimpse of hope. He knew the kind of money that Aponi's family had...And if Aponi said they had enough money to go to Europe- then they had enough money. He moved forward and kissed her forehead, wrapping his arms around her again when she began to cry. "Shhhh," He said quietly, and took that moment to think.

They had money. All they had to do now was find somewhere to go. "We'll stay somewhere tonight and we'll leave first thing in the morning," He whispered into her hair.

It was then she said something she had only said once before in her life to the boy, "Thank you." She remained in his embrace for many long silent moments before pulling away as they walked down the boardwalk and into the darkness.

-FADE OUT-