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Chapter Sixty-Four: Maggie

We drove mindlessly through LA with no particular destination in mind, passing street after street as we let the silence consume us.

He didn't have to say it, but I could feel it, I could feel his anxiety seeping right out of his body and into the atmosphere, I could feel his sanity hanging on by a thread, knowing fully well that no matter how long he'll drive around in circles trying to get away from the situation, is that we can't run away forever.

We can't keep running back in circles like how we once did, we can't ignore what was hurled right into our lives just when we thought we had finally done it. Achieved a peaceful life.

I remember thinking to myself back then that as long as we were both side by side with each other, chaos was always straight ahead, but I thought it was because we supplied our own torment.

But as soon as we've progressed past the need to wear ourselves out, is when life decided to throw a massive curveball at us and think hey, did you think this was the end of it?

My life isn't simple, I'm always paranoid for a reason and it's mainly because I know what it feels like to be constantly pulled out of every moment's worth of happiness, and feeling like the happiness life gives to you is limited.

Like I'm never supposed to be happy, in the first place.

I can never be settled and live a peaceful life without having to always look over my shoulder, trying to see if something is lurking in the shadows, ready to pull me back into the darkened depths of the hell I was brought into since the day I was fucking born.

That's why dreams of going to places like New York and meeting a nice guy I genuinely like aren't just easy to wish for, thinking I could achieve them in the future, it was never easy for me to just hope.

Because this is reality, and no matter how many times you think you can just get the guy, move on, and live happily ever after, one way or another something or someone is gonna deter that.

We humans were never meant to be at peace with our lives, we're always running away from something one way or another.

I felt the world around me spin in an infinite rotation, my head pounding like crazy as I cupped my head in between my hands, closing my eyes as I groaned "Fuck, I hate this. I hate this so much."

"Maggie, are you-"

"Can we please stop somewhere? My head is hurting and with the car moving I feel like I'm about to pass out." I said gruffly as Evan nodded

"Sure, sure, hold on."

With that, he took a couple of quick turns before he stopped his car at a nearby park that was mostly empty with at least one man walking his dog and a woman jogging.

I unlocked my seatbelt and turned to Evan only to see that his eyes were already on me "Can we please take a walk?"

His gaze softened at my request. "Of course, anything you want."

We got out of the vehicle and made our way into the park, feeling the crisp air bite into my skin as I wrapped my arms around my body.

But it didn't take long for Evan to notice my state as he grabbed onto my elbow, halting me in my steps as he turned me around and started removing his jacket.

I watched him as he took off each sleeve and pulled them from the inside out before gently placing his suit jacket on top of my shoulders, his hands lingering there for a moment as he slowly lowered his palms down my arms and squeezed them.

Smiling down at me as I bit my lower lip at the sight. His boyish grin, his eyes that hold so much warmth and reassurance, his strong but comforting presence that makes me feel like he could shield me away from all the madness in the world.

Him. The boy that my father resents so much for no reason at all and thinks isn't good enough for me when he is, he's grown and evolved and became more than just a person I grew fond of throughout our engagement. He became someone whose arms alone already felt like home.

"Maggie..."

He cupped my cheeks in his hands, coaxing me to look at him as I feel the tears cascade down my face "Maggie baby, hey no, come here." he pulled me against his chest as he ran his fingers down my hair, all the while as I sobbed and clutched the fabric of his shirt into my hands.

"It's okay, don't cry, I'm here, it's okay," he whispered as I tried to stop, but I couldn't, I just fucking couldn't when he's over here holding me and I'm right here holding him back, feeling like he's about to slip away from my fingers anytime soon, so I latch on in more ways than one.

"Don't cry, fuck, I can't stand it when you're like this." he said, his voice shaking as he held me tighter "I can't stand seeing you fall apart in front of me and how I can't do anything about it."

I shook my head, stifling my cries as I willed myself to speak "You're already doing so much, don't say you're not because you are. Just you being here is enough."

"But still, I hate seeing you in pain. I hate seeing you get hurt because of that man, I know how you feel about him and I know he's your father and all, but my God, I just wanna punch him."

"No one's stopping you."

He laughed despite his devastated state, looking down at me as I remained engulfed in his strong arms "You're not even gonna stop me from wanting to beat up your dad?"

"He fucking deserves it," I said, sniffling "He deserves a quick punch or two for coming back here thinking I want anything to do with him, especially with what he said about you."

"It doesn't matter what he said about me, what matters is what he's doing to you. I don't care if your dad hates me, or if your mother is wary of me and your friends are suspicious of me still, what matters is what you think and what happens to you," he said firmly as I gulped at his sudden declaration.

Leaning his forehead against mine, we just stood there in the middle of the park, the pitch-black darkness of the sky embracing us as we only had the stars navigate us through the night.

I snuggled deeper into his embrace, letting out a shaky breath and seeing the foggy mist of the cold air slip past my lips.

"I hate this," I muttered, "I hate what's happening because I can't decide what to feel. I'm angry and I'm hurt but at the same time I'm terrified of what's going to happen to the both of us, what's going to happen to our engagement, to mom, to Tiffany and Mason..."

"Nothing's going to happen, trust me." he proclaimed, though the reluctance in his words was evident.

"You don't know that," I croaked out "You don't know what my father is capable of and how truly twisted he is, he holds so much power and as much as I wanna fight him I know what he can do, Evan. He's not just someone you can mess with and easily run away from."

It's true, I don't know how my father managed to find out about the engagement and how he'll find a way to stop it, but what I do know is that he can.

He can do anything because he spent the entirety of his adolescence and adulthood constantly trying to assert his power and just making sure he had a tight rein on everyone around him. He's not just someone you can mess with without having to expect any consequences in return.

That's why I fear the outcome of him finding out about the engagement and what it can lead to because the way he swore to stop the engagement didn't indicate the slightest bit of pretense.

Once he makes his mind up about something, he promises to go through with it.

"I just... I hate how he has to come back. I hate how he's here, how once we finally overcome the problems the arranged marriage brought into our lives, we have to deal with this bullshit. I just hate how something so simple became so complicated again." I sobbed, screwing my eyes shut as the tears started to sting even more "I hate this place that we're in. I just wanna get away from it. I just want it to be us."

"I just want it to be us," I repeated like if I said it enough times and shouted it to the void, it might come true "I just want it to be us, is that too much to ask?"

He tightened his hold on me, almost as if he too was afraid that I'll slip away from his fingers. He didn't say another word after that as we let the silence calm us, but life was anything but peaceful right now.

We can't just wish for things to go away, we can't just hope things will settle down the second we try to run because life is always going to find a way to pull us back to where we started.

It's just the reality we have to deal with, no matter how painful.

"... But what if?"

Gazing up at him as he slowly pulled away to look at me, his eyes glossy though there was a certain emotion there, determination almost "What if we can? Just let it be us?"

Furrowing my eyebrows in confusion, I was baffled by his question. But before I could question him about it, he grabbed my shoulders and stared at me with wide eyes, as if a sudden realization dawned upon him.

"What if we just ran away, from here and everyone else, and started new? Where no one can stop us from being happy, where we can start fresh and have a new beginning. What if, Maggie?"

Despite the overbearing weight of my sadness still crashing me, I momentarily snapped out of my stupor to look at him with an incredulous gaze, like what he was proposing right now was just downright absurd "Evan, we can't just run away from our problems because we want to-"

"But what if, Maggie? God, we've let our parents control our lives enough as it is, I'm sick of all of it and I know you are too. I know you just wanna fucking leave everything behind-"

"I do but that doesn't mean I just can!"

"Why? Because your mother is left without any money? My parents are already helping her with the company so it's guaranteed she'll be supported financially, while we both still have years of college to go through before we manage our family's businesses, we can use that to get away from all of this shitfest. They can't do anything about it and if they try to fucking find us, we'll keep running until they get tired, until we get tired. But we'll keep running until there's nothing or no one we have to run away from anymore."

I blinked, once then twice, still registering his words and thinking how I've never heard something more reckless, insane, stupid, and yet... inviting.

"We both wanna go to New York, right? Then we'll save up enough money to go there, we can stay at a relative's house, I have tons who live in different states, heck, I have one who lives in London right now. We can go anywhere we wanna go, I have my allowance saved up in my bank account and I'm guessing you have one too, we can use that because why the fuck not?"

"Evan-"

"Think about it," he pressed on, laughing softly, "Think about how it would feel like to be free."

I let the seconds pass by as I thought about it, like I really thought about it, feeling my heart pound and mind spin as I find myself leaning into the idea.

Free. To be away from it all, just him and I. With no one else to pull us back.

I swallowed at the knot forming in my throat, my voice trembling as I tried to speak "I... fuck." I cursed, smiling through the tears "You're so fucking crazy."

His eyes lit up at my response, almost as if he already knew "So is that yes?"

I nodded, letting out a shaky laugh "Y-yes, fuck yes, let's do it."

He pulled me into his arms and hoisted me up, hugging me as he spun me around as I let my feet float in the air as we let the sound of our roaring laughter bounce off into the dead silence of the night "Then let's go, let's run away now. Leave everything behind because at this point, I don't care what road I'm on or where my feet take me, as long as it's you I'm with," he declared, the elation in his tone not faltering, meaning he was sure about this.

This. This crazy fucking idea that I can't help but anticipate because much like him, I also don't care anymore. As long as it's him that I'm with, I'm okay. I'm fucking okay.

"B-but when?" I asked, putting some distance between us.

"Tomorrow, we'll do it. Heck, if you want we can do it right now, I'll stop by my house to contact my aunt from San Francisco and we can go there, and if they find us, we'll go to Washington DC. We'll keep running until our feet give out and we can no longer run." he said, "What do you say?"

I didn't even hesitate this time as I nodded, no fucks given whatsoever.

"Yes, absolutely, yes."

* * *

The car jerked to a stop as soon as we were by the driveway of my house, I unclicked my seatbelt open as I turned to look back at Evan, the smile on my face from hours ago still not leaving my face. We're doing this. We're really fucking doing this.

"Remember, we'll meet at the same park, okay? I'll contact my aunt right now and tell her we'll be going to hers, and it only takes what? A five-hour drive to San Francisco from LA? We'll make a whole fucking road trip out of it, you'd want that?"

I laughed "Yes, yes I do,"

"Then go! Pack your things and I'll meet you there at 7:00 AM, okay? Get some rest, write a letter to your mom, just do whatever it is you need to do, and I'll be here waiting for you."

I nodded once more as I leaned forward and kissed him "I love you, I can't wait to do this."

He smiled against my lips "Me too, baby. Me too."

I stepped out of the car and waved at him goodbye, as he then drove out of the neighborhood and I made my way into the house, my adrenaline kicking in as I opened the front door in a hurry, about to make a beeline to the stairs and up to my room, pack my things and-

"Someone's in a hurry."

The sudden voice that arose from the living room caused me to freeze in my tracks, my heart slamming against my chest as I was halfway upstairs.

With heavy footsteps resonating inside the house, the deep, daunting voice of my father spoke once more "Where do you think you're going, Maggie?"

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