Before I Ran || Perrentes

Chapter 5: Kiss/Hug, Miss Danielle

The drive from Klamath Falls to Redding was only two and a half hours, but due to the fact they'd driven almost solidly for twelve hours they had to detour thirty minutes to a rest stop for gas. Jaime got out to fill up, Vic went into the store to buy a chocolate bar and Mike and Tony remained in the car.

"Do you guys think Kellin will ever forgive you?" Tony asked, fingers fiddling with the seatbelt. Mike shrugged, both hands still resting on the wheel.

"Time is a funny thing," he reasoned. "You never know. After a while, he might relent, but...at the moment he has a lot of healing to do still. But no matter. Until he comes to us, we won't come to him."

"Seems fair." Tony chewed his lip and put the visor down to shield him against the rapidly intensifying sun. This backroad was almost completely arid and dusty, patched with the occasional sparse, spindly tree. This particular backdrop was beginning to bore him slightly, and he was ready to see where they went next. "So, this person we're going to now...what's that for? Why do we need them?"

"Ah," Mike said sharply, brightening. "Right. Yes. Well, as far as the authorities are concerned, Tony Perry no longer exists - but over the next few weeks there'll be instances where you'll need identification and means of paying for things."

"Wait, so...fake IDs?"

"Fake IDs. And a new SIM for your phone, so you can use it again on a different number and you won't be traceable."

In the weirdest of moods, Tony actually found a ridiculous grin bursting onto his face. It was a silly thing to be excited about - but having been obedient, kind and an all round good kid for most of his life, having fake IDs was like a little taste of subtle rebellion against the people who wanted his head on a stake, and that made him oddly glad.

Eventually, he let the idea slide and shook himself back onto the task at hand. "So, can I trust this person?"

Mike chuckled as he thought. "Well. Yes, you can, but watch your back anyway."

"Why?"

"It's not that she's a bad person at all. She's actually a very good person, very kind, very generous...but she's also very clever and an outrageous flirt. So be careful."

"Right," Tony nodded. And then he frowned. "Wait, if the only problem is that she's flirtatious why do I need to be careful? I wouldn't have a shot?"

Mike looked over at him then, and Tony got stuck in his gaze. He was pinned down in place by his sparkling hazel eyes, and he didn't say a word as they looked at each other. And then Mike smiled and he laughed. "Definitely not. Anyway, she's only seventeen. Far too young for you."

"Two years."

"That's far too young."

The door behind Tony opened and Vic slid into the passenger seat, Oreo chocolate bar in hand. A few seconds later, Jaime got back into the car too, pulling the door closed. He then spotted the bar of chocolate in Vic's hand and his eyes widened.

"Oh," he said in adoration. "Chocolate."

"We can share," Vic said sternly, and Jaime sagged slightly before putting his seatbelt on, and Mike pulled out of the rest stop and accelerated back up to seventy. The road whizzed by beneath them, the sun beat down, and Tony rolled the window down a crack.

"You like riding with the windows down, huh?" Mike piped up, noticing the way Tony was tilting his head to catch the breeze. Tony smiled.

"I guess so."

There was a short pause, and a few moments later Tony noticed all of the car windows rolling down simultaneously as Mike pulled the buttons in the console. Rushing wind buffeted around the inside of the car and Tony couldn't help laughing in pure glee as he began to get cold, the air taking the heat from his skin. He didn't care about the chill. He just leant on the window sill, head tilted out slightly, and he felt the sun and the wind and it felt like a taste, a small offering of freedom. He wondered if that same freedom could be found at Veil Hill.