FLORENCE
55, 56, 57, 58, 59 – Six minutes.
I swallowed another breath, trying to calm the despair bristling under the surface of my fingertips. It had been six minutes since the train had departed and I felt like I was going to fall apart into a million pieces as I watched Aidan's face disappear into the distance. I had no idea what love was, but this felt like a fucking obsession like I wouldn't be able to live without the man. A lone tear escaped down my cheek and I hastily brushed it away. I wasn't going to break for him.
But I'm pretty sure I already had.
Fifteen minutes to the train station. Five minutes waiting for the train to arrive. 30 seconds for a goodbye. 20 minutes to the school. Five minutes to find my room. I had it all planned. I had the campus map memorized like the back of my hand. It was going to work. In less than an hour, I was going to fully assume my identity as Florence Cole, someone who had never met Aidan, who wasn't running for her life, and who fit into Pleasant Grove Institute like a natural. A place that specifically catered to rich kids. I'm not sure what Aidan had been thinking, how he could have categorized a campus as a 'safe' place, but I wasn't going to stay there long anyway. It was just until I had to run again.
Unfortunately, there was one itty bitty thing that I hadn't planned for. Aidan. Motherfucking Aidan and his emerald eyes, the worried expression written into his face, and his fucking hands wrapped around my waist, tugging at my heartstrings. We had made it to the train station. We had even made it to the platform. But when it came to saying goodbye? I choked on it. Aidan saw it and tugged me to the nearest family bathroom before he devoured my lips in one of those heated kisses in the middle of those sappy RomComs where the man leaves for war.
This wasn't that.
Not even close.
Ok… maybe it was a little of that.
I hung to him in desperation, digging my nails into his shoulders as he hoisted me up against the wall, my legs wrapping around his waist as we sunk into a natural rhythm. I drank in his scent as he dragged his teeth along my bottom lip, his hands dropping to my ass. I moaned into his mouth, and he thrust his hips into me, his bulge pressing into my core, sending heat waves through my body.
"Fucking hell, Charlotte. Who are you running from?" He whispered against my lips. His question lingered, wanting more than just the obvious answer.
My fucking skin felt like it was on fire as we stood there, pressed against each other, trying to catch our breaths and clear our heads. I trembled against him, unable to form the words. I wasn't going to tell him that my foster parents had been trying to kill me since I was 16, nor the fact that my foster brothers had joined in on the 'fun' shortly after. I definitely wasn't going to tell him that the younger of the two, Lance, was a fucking psychopath and his own personal assassin, Oscar – another psychopath at his every beck and call – always seemed to show up moments before he did.
I wouldn't tell Aidan that the running never stopped, that not once had I been able to sleep peacefully without one eye open and watching my back. Until him.
"You don't have to leave, babe."
I stared into his eyes; the emeralds glazed over with tears. This fucking machine of a man before me was falling apart in my hands. Because of me. I knew he had a rap sheet and a few kills under his belt. I had seen the way he wielded his power over his men. I had even seen him make another crew leader stand down with mere words. Yet this man was about to break because of one woman, a woman who wouldn't even tell him why she was running.
I sighed against his lips, wrapping my arms around his neck and leaning into the embrace. No part of me wanted to leave Aidan. But I knew deep down that if I didn't, my foster family wouldn't hesitate to take Aidan out with me. And the only reason I knew that was because of one specific time I had tried to return and found a previous lover's horrific death plastered in the newspapers.
I knew what Lance's kills looked like. And his name had been written all over it.
I refused to have Aidan end up like that.
His hands slipped under my skirt, fingering the edge of my panties as his lips reattached to my skin, feathering touches down my neck. I arched into him, ignoring my conscience as my core reignited with need. He smirked against my skin as his fingers curled around the fabric and tore them from my legs. I yelped before biting my tongue at the sensation.
His eyes met mine, a growl leaving his lips, as his fingers dipped in between my legs, the other hand supporting most of my weight. I whined when I felt him stroke against my clit.
"So fucking wet. Were you thinking about this while you were about to leave me?" He slipped a finger in between my folds and I fucking sighed. Like it was exactly what I fucking needed. Like the whole feeling of being complete. I had never thought much about sex – it had always been a means to a pleasurable end. But right now, it felt like all was right with the world. And that was fucking terrifying.
Another finger joined the first one and my core clamped down on them as I dug my nails into his shoulders. His lips captured mine in another kiss, demanding the truth. But I couldn't give it to him as he began thrusting his fingers in and out of my core, my breath coming in short pants. His body pressed against mine gave me no room to move as his rhythm set an impossible pace, the heat building up inside me. When his thumb pressed into my clit, I was a goner. I screamed as I came on his fingers, locking my legs around his waist and burying my head in his shoulder.
I swore I heard him whisper 'don't leave me', something so out of character for this hardened man but I snuggled farther into his embrace anyway until the distinct sound of a train whistle brought me out of my blissful trance.
I shifted in my chair again, unable to still my wild thoughts. I hated being stuck in this moving box, unable to escape at a moment's notice. If any of my foster family had boarded the train or if Oscar had found my scent, I was going to be fucking screwed. I still had 14 more minutes on this moving metal contraption.
My gaze drifted to the suitcase Aidan had shoved in my hand as we entered the train station, saying that it held essentials and a few extra dollars to make my next steps a little more comfortable. I bit back a laugh when I remembered him telling me why he had gotten the one with the frilly lace and obscenely large flowers.
I kept my head on a swivel, mapping out the exits, strange people, and anything that looked suspicious. Hell, this whole place had my stomach in knots. My hands were wrapped tightly around the one backpack I owned and the suitcase Aidan had bought me. It was the girliest thing I had ever seen and a lesser person would have complained. Me? I had never received a present since my parents were alive and deep down, I was really happy to have something so pretty even if it was a bit… atrocious.
Aidan saw me staring at it and cracked a smile, before worming his hand into mine and lacing our fingers together. I froze at the contact. I knew what would happen if Lance saw it. "The lady at the store said my girlfriend would like it." He pinked at the statement, trying to read my expression.
I cracked a smile at his nervousness, despite everything else that was going on, before giving the station another once over. If I had been in my right mind, I would have been a little more subconscious about the fact that we had nearly fucked in one of the family bathrooms and I was now commando under my skirt.
Instead, I pulled my hat down farther to hide the hair I had expertly tucked inside as if that would make me invisible. A dull ache settled into my stomach again, only his mere touch keeping the full onslaught of despair away. This had nothing to do with feelings and everything to do with some kind of fucked up biology between us. It just wasn't possible for my heart to hurt this much for someone else.
I stood on the platform, rocking on the balls of my feet. 30 seconds till train arrival. I had already missed the first two trains. Missing this one meant waiting for another two hours and my heart was already screaming at me. I might have been making the biggest mistake of my life, but fuck if I was going to stay. Aidan's death wouldn't be on my hands, that is, if they hadn't already found my location.
Aidan embraced me one last time, placing a soft kiss on my head and as much as I wanted to, I didn't fight him. "Someone's after you and you won't tell me who. I can't protect you if I don't-"
I shook my head frantically as I pushed away from him, clutching at my bags again before putting two steps between us. "There's no protecting me from them." I watched his eyes go wide as I sucked my bottom lip in between my teeth. Fuck. He always knew that I had been running from someone, but never who and how many. I'm sure he just thought it was an abusive ex or a police officer with a vendetta or any of the million things that didn't include running from a family of killers.
"Them?" He croaked, as he cupped my face in his hands. I had misjudged his reach; two steps hadn't been nearly enough space. His worried eyes searched mine, once again demanding answers. Tears gathered in the corner of my eyes as I heard the train approach, sending out a hearty 'choo choo' to signal its arrival.
"I have to go," I whispered.
He laid a soft kiss on my lips and another until he was peppering them in rapid succession, "I'm just a call away, babe."
I could see the fight in his eyes, knowing full well that I wasn't going to call him. But why the fuck did it hurt so much? I felt like my heart was ripping in half as Aidan pressed his lips to mine one last time, seeking relief from his heavy heart. I wanted this moment to last forever.
The last call for boarders broke the tension as I slipped from his grasp, fighting myself every step of the way to the doors. I didn't dare look back until they slid shut and I had found a particularly empty cabin to wallow away in.
I clutched at my chest, unable to breathe – no, not metaphorically – physically. I was going to fucking hyperventilate and pass out on the floor. I dialed his number without even thinking, tears streaming down my face as I choked on my own saliva, my other hand clutching at the window even though I had long since lost sight of him.
"Babe," His voice was heavy, "You couldn't even wait five minutes? You're going to break my heart." The words trembled from his lips and I could hear the small sob he tried so hard to hide.
"It hurts. So much. Like I feel like I can't breathe." I was stronger than this. One guy wasn't supposed to break me. Then again, this didn't feel normal. Like Aidan had somehow been a part of me and now I was ripping it out and leaving it behind.
A moment of silence fell between us and I held my breath, thinking he might have hung up on me until I realized he was trying to steady his voice. It wasn't working. I could still hear the quiver and knew that my favorite emerald eyes had released their own waterfall. I was glad the train had left the station as I wasn't strong enough to watch this man cry for me. I wasn't worth it.
"Fuck. Charlotte, babe, just… do you need me to meet you at the next stop?" I didn't answer, trying my damndest to not let him hear the sobs I fought so hard to swallow. And then just barely above a whisper, his voice slipped through the phone again, "Just… come back."
I was going to break both of us. "No," I hiccuped. Goddamn emotions. "I… I shouldn't have called." As if that were going to make everything better.
"I love you. Stay alive."
I muttered something intelligible back at him, before hanging up, deleting his number, and then shoving my phone back into my pocket. But I couldn't delete it from my brain. I tore my attention from Aidan to the greenery passing us by through the tinted windows.
This was it. A new beginning. A new life. Just like all the other times. Except for the first time in my life, I actually wanted to return somewhere, to someone. For the first time in my life, I had someone to protect. And for the first time in my life, I was going to listen to my head rather than my heart.
If it didn't break me first.