Run Away [Completed]

8

Alden's jaw fell and his mouth hung open as he stared at Maine standing by the bathroom doorway. She was wearing a white T shirt dress that fell several inches above her knee which showed off her perfectly shaped legs, firm thighs and creamy skin.

"What is it? Why do you have my phone?" she asked him.

Alden shook his head a couple of times to clear his head. "Brent tried to call. We have to try and find another place and get rid of your phone now. He may be able to trace us through this," he explained.

"Oh my God," she said and he saw her hands tremble again as she ran her fingers through her hair in agitation.

"Let's leave now. Just put on your jeans again and I'm going to get our things back to the car," he told her.

"O-okay," she said.

Alden grabbed their things from the cabinet and walked out the cabin to his car. Maine followed shortly wearing her jeans under the t-shirt dress.

They drove for another couple of hours and Alden threw Maine's phone on one of the bridges they passed halfway through their journey. They reached another rest stop - a hostel - and although it wasn't as inconspicuous as the first one, it was still far from the main road.

"We might be late for the earliest flight," Maine commented.

"We're gonna have to take the next one. It's better to be safe than sorry. You said Brent has a way of finding you wherever you are and your phone just might be it. We'll book the flight once we're inside," he told her.

Alden grabbed their things again and took her hand as they walked over to the check in counter.

"Hi!" Alden greeted the receptionist, an old woman around her mid-50's. "Do you still have rooms available?"

The woman lowered her eyeglasses and looked at them closely. Instinctively, Maine ducked her head, avoiding the woman's gaze. "Honeymooners?" she asked.

"What? No." Alden said, glancing at Maine, shyly. Maine's face was blushing as she looked back at him. "We're friends, we're just roadtripping."

The woman raised her eyebrows. "Well we don't have rooms for 'friends' who are roadtripping." The woman said, air quoting the word friends. "All the rooms have one double sized beds and no couches - so one of you, and I mean you, mister, would need to sleep on the floor, " she said pointing her thin finger at Alden.

Alden bit his lip to suppress a smile and Maine lowered her face some more to hide the silent giggle that escaped her throat despite their situation.

"That's okay, ma'am. We'll take one room and I'll definitely sleep on the floor," Alden told the woman.

The woman raised her eyebrows at him some more and handed him a form that he had to fill out. Alden filled it out quickly, putting in a fake name, and handed it back to the woman.

"So, Mr. Faulk... Faulkerson," the woman began, reading the form while holding her glasses up, "are you going to pay by cash or by card?"

"I'll pay by cash," he said, determined not to leave any traces.

The woman handed them the key after Alden paid, her eyes still carefully watching them.

"Thanks!" Alden said shortly and he gently pulled Maine out the door and they slowly made their way to their room.

"She's weird," Maine said.

"Yea, she is," Alden responded, shaking his head.

They quickly got inside their room when they reached it. It was so much smaller than the previous one, and although it was fairly clean and organized, it lacked warmth. There were no cabinets nor dressers, just a double sized bed, a small circular table with two chairs and a small bedside table that didn't even match the color of the bed. It had an AC unit that looked like it would fall off anytime.

"Charming," Alden said. He looked at the area of the floor and judging by the size of it, it would be impossible for him to sleep without having to bend his limbs and his back too much and also not be accidentally stepped on by Maine if she decides to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. "Nice." he said sarcastically.

"You don't have to sleep on the floor. You can sleep on the bed beside me. I trust you," Maine told him.

Okay, wow, thanks for taking out the trust card this early on, he thought.

Maine walked inside the bathroom again to wash up.

And she'll be wearing that dress again - or shirt - or whatever it was that she was wearing - and she'd be lying just a few inches away from me, waving that trust card over my head. Great.

He avoided looking at her as she emerged from the bathroom and walked into it himself to freshen up.

When he got out, he saw her already lying on the bed with her back to him. The blanket was pulled up to her chest, Thank God, and a pillow was placed in the middle.

He took a white shirt from his bag, pulled it over his head and slowly laid down on his side away from her so they were lying with their backs toward each other. He pulled his phone and booked the plane tickets and then set the alarm before closing his eyes to get some sleep.

He heard a sniff after a few seconds followed by Maine's soft cry that she was obviously trying to suppress so he won't hear.

He turned to face her and she still had her back to him, her shoulders shaking as she cried silently.

"Maine...?" Alden called softly.

She stopped crying but he could see her shoulders jerk with her stuttered breathing.

"Hey," he touched her shoulder gently. "Please don't cry. You'll be alright, I promise." he said.

Maine slowly turned to face him and he had to take a deep breath as he realized how close there faces were at that moment.

"I'm actually scared for you," Maine said. "I can't believe how much I have dragged you into my mess"

"Hey, I told you I wanted this. This is my choice," he said and he brought his hand to her face and wiped the tears.

They stared at each other for a few seconds and he felt himself breathing hard. Maine seemed to be taking slow deep breaths too and at that moment he felt the pull again and suddenly had a desperate urge to kiss her. But then he thought about how vulnerable she was at that moment and he didn't want to take advantage of that.

He took one deep breath and bit his lip. "Try to get some sleep now," he said. "We need to start moving again tomorrow."

Maine nodded and turned on her side again, away from him. Alden heaved another sigh and turned his back to her too. Well great job at being a perfect gentleman, Richards, your momma will be proud. he thought as he buried his face on his pillow.