Falling for a Freak (Ford x Reader)

Running for Our Lives

Stan POV

The world turned into a blur as I ran out the front door into the faintly lit street, afraid that if I looked back I would be met with the flaming eyes of my father chasing after me. My lungs ached along with my legs, begging for me to stop, but no matter how loud my mind screamed for me to stop, my body kept moving forward.

A hundred thoughts circled through my head, unable to make out a single one, all of them jumbled together into a screaming ball.

I could hear voices call out from behind me, but I couldn't hear what they were saying, too focused on the thoughts that wouldn't stop and the road that stretched out before me.

Oh my God, did that really just happen? I asked myself, looking back on the events that happened what felt like only seconds before. The scene of me tackling my father played in my head over and over again, fully processing what I had done.

At that moment, my entire body was surrounded by invisible flames, burning in my regret and self exhaustion from running for God knows how long. Overwhelmed by the sudden shame along with the fear from seeing what my father did to my father and learning the Y/N's traumatic past, tears that I had been holding in pouring from my eyes.  As I cried, all the thoughts that were jumbled together became clear.

Oh God, what's gonna happen to me?  To Stanford?  To Y/N?  I shouldn't have done that.  Why did I do that?  Why did Dad do that Mom?  Shit, what have we done-

A cool droplet of water snapped me from my thoughts as it landed on my forehead. Finally out of my daze, I realized how badly my body hurt, slowing down until I collapsed on my knees, barely able to breathe. And just as I stopped moving, the droplets multiplied, growing in speed until it was as if little bb's were pelting my skin. Tired and soaked, all of my other thoughts drifted into that gutters of my mind, only one thought remaining:

I always hated the rain.

Ford POV

As we sprinted out of the shop, all I could think about was getting Y/N to safety, ignoring the pain that was seeping into my legs as I followed after Stan.

While we ran down the street, I made sure to never let go of her hand, letting her set the pace for the both of us (which I admit, was a bit fast for my comfort).  And never in my life have I cursed my lack of athleticism as much as I did in that moment, the burning in my lungs making it almost impossible to breathe.  But I couldn't let her down.  I just couldn't.  So I kept on going, for her sake.

"Stanford," she panted, squeezing my hand and glancing over at me, "are you okay?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but all I could muster was a cough, sucking in what little air was able to make it into my lungs.  Even as I breathed in, I knew it wasn't enough for my overworked body, my vision turning staticky.  One fumbled step and my face was on the concrete, it's cold surface contrasting my burning skin.

I wanted to lay on the ground and never get up, the exhaustion setting in as the adrenaline wore off, but to my misfortune, I was pulled back up to my feet.

"C'mon, I... I know you're... you're tired but we... we have to keep going," she managed to say between struggled breaths.  "We... we need to ca... catch up to Stanley."

Before I was able to fully register what was happening, she was pulling me forward by my hand, now forcing me to match her speed.  Ahead of us, Stanley remained strong, the distance between us growing as he ran harder.

"Stanley, slow down!" Y/N shouted with as much breath as she could, sending herself into a coughing fit.

Still, he didn't slow down. In fact, he ran faster.