Taken By The Bad Boy

48 We Are Meant To Be

~Raleigh's POV~

Everything in me shatters. I can't do it anymore. I can't. I can't lose everyone all over again. I can't go on the run again. I can't risk losing Liam again. I'm not going to go through that agonizing circle of hell again.

       "NO!" Liam screams at me as I jump off the branch. He tries to grab me but I slide in between his hands; I hope that's the only thing I miss on the way down. If I hit every branch at the right angle and hard enough, it will kill me by the time I hit the ground. I close my eyes, enjoying the few seconds of falling before I hit something. I hit the branch with my ankle and then fly forward and down. My ankle doesn't feel broken, just bruised. I'm about to smack my head onto a branch when I suddenly stop only a few inches away from it.

      "What do you think you're doing?" I hear a familiar voice and I turn to see Zoey and Zoey holding onto the tree with one hand and them holding me back with their other hands.

       "Jumping to my doom." I respond with tears running down my face. Both girls glare at me and pull me back to their branch. I see Liam climbing down to me and I see all the tears in his eyes; it makes my heart ache.

"Why would you do that?!" Liam depends as he crushes me to his chest, holding me tight. That's when my tears start flowing out of control more than they already were.

      "Shh, it's going to be okay. I got you." Liam repeats over and over again. How can it be okay when part of my family is missing all these years later and most of my family that I did find just exploded?! I can't keep doing this. I want it all to end. The pain. The torture. The unknowing. We've been through so much and yet there's always more. I make my way over a mountain only to realize I only made it over a hill.

"I-I can't! I can't keep doing this!" I tell Liam as he holds my shaking body. My sobs shake my body and my soul. I just feel my heart breaking and my whole world falling apart. Just when I finally have everything together, it all falls apart. "God can get you through it", I hear a soft voice whisper in the back of my mind. No. No. No one come get me through this, not even him.

        I don't know how long we sit up in the tree as Liam holds me tight, scared to let me go. Zoey and Zaya watch the ground as well as our surroundings. Just when I think I'm good, I catch a glimpse of the burning house and I fall apart all over again. How much suffering am I supposed to go through before I have my peace?! How many more people am I going to lose until enough is enough?

        No one says anything for what seems like hours and maybe it was hours before someone opened their mouth again, I don't know for sure. But I do know that the next person to speak was Zoey and she didn't speak, she yelled.

       "RANDY!" As soon as that left her mouth, Zoey was climbing down the tree as fast as she possibly could. Through my tears I can see her running straight to him. Once Randy sees Zoey, he sprints to her, dropping his bag on the ground in the process. They just crash into each other and kiss passionately. Zoey and Randy wrap their arms around each other and embrace each other. I let out a sigh of relief when I see them break apart.

At least that's one more person that's alive. I sigh and try my absolute hardest to focus on the positives. That's one more person I didn't lose. That's one more blessing for the day. That's another good thing to keep me going. That's one more person I have to live for. Even though I should live for me, I'm not there yet; not anymore. I can't jump that far forward when I went so far backwards.

I see Randy's smile as him and Zoey look up into our tree and I find myself smiling back. I take a deep breath before tapping Liam's arms around me; letting him know that it's okay to let go. Then I take another deep breath as Liam looks at me with panic and worry. When I get ready to climb down, Liam wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me to his chest again.