Finally at home, in his arms, where I belonged. “Sora, I couldn’t forgive myself for saying all those things to you before you left.” He said, his eyes set to the ground. I threw a bra sharply in my bag. “I was so mad at my self I, well, I, Here look” He thrust his wrists out sharply at me. I examined the red scars he had left. One looked fresher than the others. Cutters marks, I knew it instantly. I threw is wrists back at him in horror. I softened my expression under standing why he did it but not understanding at the same time. I took a step forward and wrapped my arms around him. He put one hand on the back of my head and the other on my waist. I had missed his fatherly touch since I had been here. This was the first time since I left that I remember being loved by someone.

            With my bags packed, we waited in my locked room until the night came. We knew people would not be out past dark. “So what did you do here?” he asked while I changed into my regular clothes. “Went to school from 5 in the morning until 6 at night. That’s basically it” I called from behind the screen dividing us. “Man that would suck!”

“You know it, and the worst part was, you weren’t there to help me through it”

“You know I would have been if I had the choice” I had to smile at that. I could just imagine my aunts face as he walked through the door holding me. I walked out from behind the screen to meet his gaze. “So much better” We both said at the same time. I walked over and sat on the ground next to him. He pulled me onto his lap. I leaned my head against his shoulder, “When is this going to end” I said to myself. “What?”

“This painful love” I smiled. “What do you mean? If I am hurting you, I give you permission to leave me” He said trying to pull me off of him. I grabbed his shirt. I wasn’t going to budge. “It’s not that! It’s every minute that I am not seeing you; I am aching inside, wishing I was.” I cried, loosening my grip on him. “I have the same thing. That’s why I came for you.”  He said. He stroked my hair.

            A BANG from the other side of the door made us both jump. Another quickly followed. The door was being run down by people outside. He scrambled up helping me up. Peering through the curtains I could see people were surrounding the house. BANG! The door fell to the ground. Delsin wrapped his arms around me protectively. The angry mob was closing in on us. I grabbed his arm and held myself to him. 2 large burly men grabbed my arms pulling my away from him. I screamed as I was tugged in 2 directions. “Leave us alone!” I heard Delsin shout. The two large men had won the tug of war game. They pulled me out the door and into the dusty street. Delsin soon followed being pulled by 2 other men. We lunged for each other; he was making more progress than I was. He was half way to me when he was yanked back. “Let me go!” I cried against the iron grips. My aunt walked out to calm the angry group. People went quiet and still. The only noise was me and Delsin’s heavy breathing from our struggles. She walked over to me. She stopped. Her eyes said everything. She slapped me to get her point across. I fell backwards, I heard Delsin scream “Leave her alone!” Her heels clicked in his direction. I looked up to see her strike him. I hung my head and went limp. I gave up. Delsin kept fighting. “Leave us be, we haven’t done anything wrong” He called. “You haven’t done anything! You wrecked one of the girls we have been taming, you ruined the town, and you were alone with a girl in a bedroom. That alone is enough to give you both a god whipping” She said. This was all wrong. We were supposed to be together, freely. Not held from each other. We had to do something. “No” I whispered. “What was that” Aunt Winona said spinning around to meet my gaze. I shrunk back. “Nothing” I whispered. “I can’t believe your father let you date this, good for nothing boy” She said for everyone to hear. “He’s not a good for nothing boy! He is my boyfriend,” I called after her. I turned to meet Delsin’s gaze “And I love him” I called. That made her stop in her tracks. She spun around and marched back to me to slap me again. “I love her too” Delsin yelled.

            “How dare you. Both of you!” She called. “Let them go” She whispered. Delsin ran to pick me up and kiss me. “I do love you” I said softly. “Now, run them out of town.” She called. The angry mob that had formed dove straight at us. He grabbed my hand and we started to run. “I-promised I –wouldn’t let anything happen to you” He called in between breaths. I smiled as I panted. He grabbed my waist and turned directions. He leapt over a fence with me in tow. I could see a few horses. “We’re not riding are we” I called. He didn’t answer. We were way far out. He helped me onto the horses bareback and he climbed on behind me. I leaned forward and grabbed the horse’s neck. He grabbed some mane and started us at a walk. Then we were running. We leapt over the fence and continued down the dirt road. “Have you done this before?” I called. “What’s life with out risks” He said in my ear. We had just jumped over a fence with a stolen horse which we were riding bareback. I think this was more than a risk. We slowed down to a walk once we were out off the main road. We swerved into some random field. “This should get us closer” He reassured me. “I hope your right” I said softly. Judging from as far as I could see, this field went on for miles. The soft clip clop of the horses hoofs was mesmerizing, almost like a lullaby. Delsin started to hum in my ear, a song I didn’t know. My eyes started to drift close. I leaned back on Delsin’s chest. The thumping of his heart matched mine. I closed my eyes and relaxed, he knew what he was doing. “You tired?” he asked one arm wrapping around me. “No, I’m just closing my eyes for a bit” I sighed.