Runaways (2)

Meliaa's hand was freezing cold in his as she lead him down her huge marble hallway. Walking silently she turned the corner and quietly opened and shut her door. She flipped on her blue lava lamp and her closet light. Ray flops onto her bed and watches as she goes into her closet. Humming an old Blink 182 song Meliaa proceeded to climb unto her shelf in order to grab an old, oversized yellow backpack. Stretching, she barely manages to grab a strap. She pulls it down and accidently knocks down the entire shelf. 1

"Fuck!" she swears loudly as she jumps down off the shelf.2

"Meli, you okay?" Ray gets off her bed and walks to the closet.3

Meli stumbles out of the closet and shushes him as a nearby door slams open. "Get under the bed."4

He just looks at her.5

"Now, damn it!" Shaking she pulls her boyfriend to the ground and starts to push him under her queen-sized bed. The hall light turns on and she grabs a blanket and hurriedly wraps it around her. In a quick shaking motion she pulls her covers down and desperately rubs her eyes to smudge her eye make up.6

Her door slams open and she ducks away from the light. 7

"Damn it Mel, what are you doing?" Her father says slurring slightly. 8

She rubs her eyes, "Nothing."9

"You're lying, whose in here?" He asks, stepping closer, towering over his eldest daughter.10

"No, no one's here." She says stammmering11

"Lying whore, you're just like your mother." He grabs her crossed arms and shoves her backwards onto her couch. 12

"I'm not like her, daddy I promise I'm not." her eyes are red and a single tear traces a path down her cheek. 13

Her father takes a step back and looks at his hands. "Oh my god, sweety I know you aren't. I don't know why I did that. I'm so sorry." He reaches out to touch her cheek and she flinches away. His eyes fill with tears and he tries again asking his daughter for a hug. Meliaa consents with a shaky nod and hugs him tightly. From his spot on the floor Ray sees Meliaa comfort the sobbing man who had practically thrown her across the room. 14

"It's okay Daddy, it really is." She says gently rubbing his back. 15

"I'm so sorry sweety, I'll never do that again." and with a kiss to her cheek he walks out of the room and shuts the door partway. Meliaa, stands to shut it the rest of the way. Shaking she collapses back onto her couch.16

Ray practically throws himself from underneath her bed. Meli waves for him to go back underneath it, but he shakes his head and shuts the door, flipping the handle so it would stay locked. Wiping her tears away she stands up and takes a deep breath. Ray stops a few feet in front of her and looks at her in awe. "How can you do that?" he asks "How can you comfort a man who treats you like that."17

"He's my father, I love him."18

"Why, Meli, how can you? I felt like killing him, he threw you across the room."19

"Ray it's not his fault, he's been drinking." she says closing her eyes against her tears.20

"But still, he hurts you, physically."21

"And I can handle that. It's my job to be strong for him. You couldn't understand."22

Ray sighs and looks sadly at her. "You're right, I couldn't, my dad split when I was two, he raped my mom, and she aborted my baby sister. So I don't understand how you can love your father, seeing how I don't have one."23

Meliia's lip starts to tremble, and she steps closer and wraps her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."24

He pulls her closer and whispers into her hair, "I know you didn't."25

She sniffles a little and tries to blink back tears, but they fall anyways. She pulls away a little and tries to wipe them away. 26

"C'mon Meli, it's okay to cry." He says pulling her closer. 27

Meli shakes her head and Ray nods.28

With that she burries her face in his shoulder and cries as quietly as she can. Ray rubs her back and plays with her hair, whispering comfortingly into her ear. Despite their proximity Meliaa is still shaking. 29

"Meli, do you want to lie down?" he asks as she surpresses a yawn. 30

"I've got to pack." She says wiping the tears away.31

"Meli, you're exhausted and freezing, and we've got a good three or four hours until dawn."32

She shakes her head, but sits down on her bed anyways. "What about you? You've got to be just as tired as I am."33

"I'm fine, plus what would you're dad say if he came in."34

"He'd scream and yell, and try to kill us both," she says with a yawn, "but that's okay, cause I love you more anyways."35

"All right, but if you're dad comes in I'm not going to let him touch you okay, even if it means I have to hit him okay?"36

She just nods and scoots over. Shivering she curls up next to him and he wraps his arms around her, "Better?" he asks.37

She nods and lets her hair fall across her face. With a smile he brushes the strands away and holds her tighter, "You know, if we are really going to do this, if we are really going to run away, you're going to have to bring lots of sweatshirts."38

She smiles and laughing a little kisses him on the cheek.39

"I love you Meli." he whispers.40

She breathes in and out and thinking she's asleep, he closes his eyes. 41

"I love you too Ray."42