"Aria." Gage called out the next morning. Aria huffed as her head was pushed down into the pillow, "Aria, come here for a sec!"

The girl grumbled as she sat up, rubbing her eyes a minute. Shes always sucked at waking up, always stuck in a deep sleep. It's why she hadn't gotten the hundreds and hundreds of missed called and text from Rafe that night.

"Yup?" the Whitlock girl asked as she walked down the short hallway, leaning on the doorway as she stared at her dad sitting at the kitchen table.

"Have you heard from Rafe?" he asked her honestly, looking at her eyes to catch if she's been lying. Aria knew the tactic well by now, she use to lie a lot in her early teen years and through her childhood. It took her a bit but she slowly started to understand that she'd often times look to the left when she'd let a lie slip. Shes stopped doing that with her dad.

"Not since the Bahamas." she lied, holding eye contact with a shrug, "Why?"

"Ward hasn't reached out to me." Gage shook his head, lighting the cigarette in his mouth.

"Maybe he doesn't have any bodies that need to be thrown into oceans." Aria mocked on the slightly, a good distance away from him to make it to her room if he came at her.

"Yeah, still with my gold too." Gage scoffed, his words muffled with the cigarette in his mouth before he pulled and blew the smoke her way, "Maybe I can rattle him up a bit if I turn in his kid that's on the loose."

"Sarah isn't gonna go to jail for anything." Aria commented back, breaking the news to her dumbass father, "They already have John B serving time."

Aria did shots with Raft and Barry when they found out John B was arrested yesterday.

Gage laughed as he shook his head, "Boys been let go. They're after Rafe, he's on the loose."

Arias face fell, "What?"

"If you'd get out more instead of cooping yourself up in that-" Gage began, Aria went to run past him for the door before she felt a sting in her arm. She gasped, flinching when she turned and pulled her arm away from her fathers cigarette that he reached out and burnt her with. Gage grabbed Arias wrist suddenly and pulled her closer, "Don't you screw anything up for me."

"I'm not." Aria whispered to him, pulling her arm away and hurrying out of the little house.

Thirteen was the worst age ever for Aria. It's the age she started her first period, had her first therapy session, started to realize her mind wasn't normal, had her first heart break, had so many hormones running through her body, and it was the age her dad burnt her for the first time. He'd hit her ever since Jade left OBX, but never did he burn her with the end of his cigarette. The first time she did, it hurt her heart more then it had her hand.

"Hey." Rafe nudged her, the pack of peas over Arias hand as they laid on his bedroom floor. At fourteen, he felt nervous laying next to her girl in his bed so they ended up on the floor, "How's your hand?"

"Hurts." Aria said back as she watched his fan twirl above them, "I wish he'd die."

"Your dad?" Rafe asked as Aria hummed, "Actually?"

"Not die." she huffed, turning on her side, "But go away for a while. Just leave me alone."

Rafe cleared his throat as he rolled over to face her, keeping a good distance, "Where do you want him to go?"

Aria thought a second, "Maybe he isn't the one that needs to leave. Maybe I should."

"Like, run away?" Rafe gave a small laugh, "Where do you wanna go?"

Aria cracked a grin, "Massachusetts is nice around halloween, and that's my birthday so maybe it's a sign."

"Massachusetts." Rafe repeated as he nodded, "Let's go."

"What?" she asked with a odd look. Rafe sat up quickly as she followed in no time.

"I know the password to the safe. Dads birthday. We can get money for plane tickets and go." Rafe said as he helped her stand up, backing up to put a distance between them, "We can just grab the ferry to the airport."

"Like, seriously?" Aria smiled as Rafe nodded, "Let's go, like, now."

Before he thought about it, they were taking money from the safe and running to the ferry. They never made it on, getting worn out three streets down the road and saying they'll leave when they both turned sixteen and could both drive. But still, it was enough for them to hold onto. A new life out there for just the two of them, waiting.

"So he's just sending you away? Like, shouldn't you be getting a fake ID and dying your hair?" Aria asked, looking over at Rafe. She went to Barry's trailer, figuring it would be the only place he'd be the police wouldn't figure to look at.

"Dying my hair?" Rafe asked with a odd look her way.

"Obviously missing posters are gonna go out soon and everyone's gonna know what you look like." Aria explained, standing infront of him while he sat, "I could break your nose so it's off centered."

Rafe gave her a wide eyed look, "My dads gonna take care of me. He isn't gonna let me go to jail."

"Are you even sure this is fonna work? And what? You're gonna be alone, with a months worth of money and some boat that's gonna give out in a few days?" Aria questioned in disbelief as she took a deep breath, "I do have a lot of experience in running away."

"Never made it past the ferry either." he pointed out knowingly to her. Aria bit the inside of her mouth, "This is gonna work. All right?"

Aria hesitated, "I'll go with you."

"What?" Rafe asked suddenly, not expecting it.

"A extra set of eyes for you. I can help, seriously." Aria explained as she sat down next to him, her eyes getting wide and a quick nod, "Like a off brand run away mission to Massachusetts."

Rafe leaned back at her stared over at her, "No."

Aria was certain he would say yes.

He saw the hurt in her eyes as she looked at him, "No?"

"I'm gonna need you here." Rafe said back at her, sitting up and turned her way better, "You'll have to lead the guys in blue away from me, right? That'll help me more."

Aria nodded, though it was clear she was bothered by his words, "Right. No, you're right. That was a dumb idea anyways."

"Yeah." she confirmed, "Of course. I'll lead them the opposite way. No one will even suspect it."

Rafe nodded as both his hands placed on the side of her shoulders, "I owe you."

Aria nodded, "Yeah, you do."

•

kylie speaks

cleo wya? i'm getting sick
of rafe!