The Runaway

Chapter 27

Inside of a low-lit motel room, Riley and Colton were alone. "Do you think they're dead?" Riley was flipping magazine pages on the small bed of their current room.

Crossing his arms, he answered, "I have no clue."

She giggled and flopped over to his side. "It's not that bad without them. There's less to worry about."

"Then why am I still worrying?"

She closed the magazine and rested her hand on his shoulder. "Don't stress about it. Em and the others are going to find them. Don't forget we have Phoebe looking as well."

"Yeah, I guess." Colton sighed and fell back onto the bed. Their faces were close as he stared into her green eyes. It was a rare moment when they weren't fighting. Old memories of them began to resurface.

Riley cleared her throat and turned the opposite way. "You know, I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused. I'm dramatic sometimes, I know."

"It's alright. At least we're okay right now."

She smiled. Somehow, they were getting along better than usual. "It's funny. One minute you're telling me to leave and now it's as if that never happened."

"I can never stay mad at you and you know that."

Her smiled widened. "Yeah. I remember when you took me to the carnival and I wasted all our tickets on the same ride over and over again."

"And I got really angry." Colton laughed. "I didn't speak to you for a whole day."

She spun back around. "Those were good times." Staring back at him, the room grew silent. All she could focus on was his lips and the desire to feel them on hers. Slowly, she leaned towards him.

For a second, it seemed like he was accepting it, but he quickly backed away and made an excuse. "Um I think I'm going to call Em to see how they're doing."

After he left the room, Riley sat there feeling stupid and embarrassed for her actions. Deep down she knew he was over her, but for some reason there was a slight hope that things would return to normal. Unfortunately, they were already too far from normal.

"Wait what? No way," Colton said aloud while re-entering the room. "How the hell did they end up in Los Angeles?"

Riley gasped in jealousy. Los Angeles was her favorite place to be. It was where she grew up before she was forced to leave. "So Violet and that idiot are In L.A. right now?"

He ended the call and slid the phone back into his pocket. "Yeah, they just called Em. News flash, we're going to Los Angeles to get them."

Forgetting their awkward incident, she squealed. "I'm ready."

Aiden kicked the trash off the bench seat and sat down with Violet. They had just called Em and were waiting to get picked up.

"Can we please get to a gas station? I'm hungry," Violet said.

"You can go. I'll stay here."

She stared at him in disbelief. It was dark and the streets felt unsafe. After everything they went through, the least he could do was watch out for her. Violet shrugged it off and walked away in search for a gas station alone.

There were plenty of cars and several people roaming, but it felt like everyone's eyes were on her. She started to speed walk until there was a convenience store in sight. Its appearance was a bit messy, but all Violet could focus on was finding food. Pushing through the doors, her eyes first met a giant rack of potato chips. She was practically drooling by the sight of them and felt attracted to the jalapeño bag stuck in the corner. Everything was going fine until a random man appeared in front of her.