I'll be here forever

chapter 23

Then I hurried along the alley, looking for Percy. I had no idea which way he'd gone, until I heard a shrill scream. I turned on my heel and ran in its direction, coming to a stop when I spotted him.

He was standing with his arms crossed, a smug smile on his face as he watched Kate getting sprayed by the water from a fire hydrant.

The water was spraying so forcefully that it pressed her up against her small red slug bug, not letting her move. It probably bruised her all over, the force was so much. She screamed and begged for Percy to help her, and he just stood there, watching, a smile on his face.

It scared me.

"Percy!" I yelled, trying to be heard over the loud din of the water. He didn't hear me. I placed a hand on his arm and he startled, whipping his head around to face me.

The force of the water waned, allowing a sobbing Kate to break free and throw herself into her car, pulling into the street and recklessly driving away, much faster than you'd think possible. The water from the fire hydrant dwindled and slowed to just a steady stream onto the sidewalk.

"Percy... did you do that?" I asked him, my voice low. He blinked, looking over to the fire hydrant, and then back to me.

"I- I don't know," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"What happened?"

"I- I just wanted to get her out of there so she would stop bothering you, and she kept insulting you for no reason and I- I got so angry and then the- the fire hydrant it... it exploded, and-"

"Okay. It's okay, let's just go," I gently grabbed his hand led him away from the fire hydrant. He looked lost and confused, and... scared. I didn't like it.

We didn't talk about it again. I didn't feel like letting go of his hand, and he didn't make any move to take his out of mine, so I kept it there, to reassure him as much as it reassured me. When I looked over up at him, he had this intense stare, like he was trying to dissect whatever was in front of him with his mind. A couple people passed us, and each time they skittered out of the way of his gaze. I couldn't blame them.

If I hadn't come find him, he might've killed her. And while that lady was a horrible person and a dick in general, I didn't think she needed to die for it.

"And... you know I'd- I'd never do anything to hurt you, right? Never."

I remember him saying, after he'd had that first dream, the one that scared the shit out of him. I did know. I knew he'd never do anything to hurt me. Him subconsciously attacking Kate was trying to protect me. It seemed that the reason the fire hydrant exploded in the first place was because she was insulting me.

And while the extremes Percy seemed to be willing to go for me was terrifying, at the same time I felt loved. I felt cared for. It was strangely comforting.

We walked in silence for quite a long while. Neither of us really knew what to say, and I pushed the image of Kate being slowly drowned by the fire hydrant out of my mind. It didn't do us any good to dwell on it. Plus, she deserved it. More than a little bit.

I found myself distracted by him. I liked the feeling of his hand in mine much more than I wished to admit; it fit perfectly, almost like two puzzle pieces. While it shouldn't have, it dominated my thoughts.

We stumbled across a bustling internet cafe off the street, people coming in and out. It reminded me a little bit of Faire's, where we'd met Bia. If only because it reminded me of her, I pulled him inside.

We found an empty table tucked away in a corner, and we sat down. Percy just kind of stared at his hands, like he couldn't believe they were his own.

"Hey," I said softly.

"I could've killed her," he replied, his voice hollow.

"But you didn't."

"But I could've, and I could feel it. I knew what I was doing. I'd done it before."

"Hey. Listen to me," I told him, and his eyes met mine.

"Maybe you could've killed her. And maybe you have done it before. But it doesn't fucking matter, because you didn't kill her, and you're going to go crazy with all these maybe's. Even if you had killed her, to hell with it. She was a bitch."

Percy nodded.

"I don't know what kind of insane weird things you can do, but I don't care. All we have is each other, and I'm going to be here with you through everything, okay?"

"Okay," he attempted a weak smile, before reaching over and pulling my map of New York out of the backpack.

"Now can you tell me what this is for?" he asked, obviously trying to change the subject. I let him, moving the map over to my side of the table.

"It's a map, duh," I told him, smoothing out the corners.

"Well yeah, I know that, but why are there lines all over it?"

"It's our route."

"What?"

"It's where we're going. The hat is from New York, right? But all of New York cheers for the Yankees. So I drew us a route; we're going town to town, and hopefully one of them will... I don't know, jog our memories or something."

"Huh," Percy leaned back in his chair, considering it, "that's actually pretty smart."

"Thank you," I considered my map proudly.

"What if we're not from New York, though? What if one of us just cheers for the Yankees?"

"Well, then we're fucked."

"Gee, thanks for the optimism."

Percy and I watched the parking lot. He had told me the he was fairly sure he knew how to jumpstart a car, and if he didn't, then I probably had some idea. I didn't, really, so I was kind of riding on him knowing how to do it.

We were waiting on a smaller car, but one that could go pretty fast if needed. It also needed to be the property of a single person, because It'd be less hassle.

We got our opportunity when a young man pealed into the parking lot, obviously cocky and arrogant. We watched as he stole the parking spot another person was already about to pull into, then get out and flip them off. Basically, he was an asshole, so I wouldn't feel as bad about stealing his car.

Percy and I glanced toward each other; we both knew exactly what to do.

I watched as he walked inside, the door swinging shut behind him, confident as can be. I couldn't imagine being so carefree, so clueless. I wish I was. I wish that Percy and I met the way that regular people do. Maybe at school, maybe at the grocery store. So many wishes, so little time.

We stood and strode out of the cafe, careful to avoid attracting attention, going out the same door that he came in. We avoided the cars in the busy parking lot, striding up to the car we'd picked out. It was blue, and smaller, but sleek. Certainly not as glamorous as the first car we'd stolen, but it would do nicely.

Percy used someone's driver's license that he'd pickpocketed, jimmying the lock on the door. He slid inside and sat in the driver's seat, unlocking it, and I ran around to the passenger side. By the time I'd opened the door and sat myself in the seat, Percy had already jumpstarted the car.

I caught a small, proud, smile on his face before he pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road.