The long journey was once again behind us. Feeling the wind through my hair as the crisp ocean air tickles my nose. This was what home felt like. The van was parked in a parking lot on the beach, while Staton and I were curled up on the hood of it, watching the waves kiss the sand. These were the moments that I wished I could hold on to forever. I wanted to capture an image of this from the outside looking in. What would a stranger see about us? They wouldn't know half of the things Staton and I had been through.

Maybe they would think we were just two rich college students on a vacation? Like this was some kind of spring break fling and in two months we would never talk again. Would they notice the ring that I was fiddling with on my left hand? The one that had busted us with all of our friends when we walked back into the house. I was kind of disappointed we weren't able to keep that secret much longer than the couple of hours we did. But that was still the most perfect day I could have ever asked for.

The world seemed to move around us, without a worry about where we were going and that brought me some comfort. I loved being able to just melt into my place with Staton by my side. We could do anything together and while I thought I knew that before we had run away, I definitely know it now. There was no question that we could survive the worst of the worst storms. He was my person and I would do anything to make him happy.

I hadn't checked my phone in a while to see if I had gotten a reply from the girls. It'd been a few hours since I texted them at the state line. Now all we had left was to figure out what to do with the rest of the evening.

"Do you want to go to that seafood place right there?" I pointed towards the restaurant that was on stilts, sitting at the end of the pier. Wherever we had ended up must have been a pretty touristy town. Unfortunately we were too late in the season to really understand the vibe that was going on around here. Shops were starting to close down for the year. I wasn't sure how we had found this place. Staton just drove until the road ended and we found somewhere that would allow us to sleep.

"Yeah, that seems like it would be a pretty good place to eat. We can go try that. We better get going if we are going to make it before they close for the night." I nodded my head jumping off the hood of the van. The oversized jacket I was wearing scratched my legs, sending shivers down my spine wherever the zipper would hit my skin.

"Great, let me just grab my things and then you can lock up the van." I smiled, giving Staton a quick kiss before heading inside to grab my purse, phone, and sunglasses. The sun was just above the tree line but soon it would be setting. So I wasn't sure why I grabbed my glasses, but they felt like they could be useful.

Glancing down at my phone I noticed there were a few text messages. I opened the group chat between Julia and Aria first.

I'm so glad you finally came to your senses. I've been missing you like crazy Maple. Don't worry about it, you've always been an amazing friend and thank you so much for looking out for me. You kept me safe when I couldn't even keep myself safe so I thank you for that. I just didn't feel like I could open up to you truly about how I was struggling. Things are better now that we are back home, but I miss Tony like crazy. If you are still in California, tell him Hi for me. We text all the time but It's not the same as actually seeing him. - Julia

I couldn't help but smile at her rambly text message. That was so typical for Julia. She would always send the longest messages telling you every single detail and thought that popped into her head.

Thanks friend, so good to hear from you. I was starting to feel like we were really just not going to be friends again. I appreciate the apology. Hope you and Staton are doing well. - Aria

We were doing well, but I was more worried about how she was doing with Breygan. He was never good for her and the fact that she ran back to her family just to be with him still stung in my heart more than I would like to admit.

"Are you coming?" Staton asks.

"Yeah, sorry, I just got distracted by these messages."

"Oh, did the girls finally respond to you?" He chuckled, he must have assumed I texted them earlier today.

"Yeah, but there's one more here that has me a little more thrown off." I muttered, clicking on the last text message. I made a mental note to text Aria and Julia back later, but I couldn't get past the fact that I had an unread message from the devil herself.

"Who?" Staton closes the distance between us, wrapping his arms around me to look over my shoulder at my phone screen. I felt like I couldn't move, my hands frozen hovering over the screen. I hadn't even read the message yet, but already felt sick to my stomach. Why would she have messaged me now.

"Oh, yeah, that must be weird. Are you going to read it or just stand there though?" Staton's words interrupted my thoughts, pulling me out of the small trance that I was in.

"I think I'm going to read it, but I might wait until after dinner. Let's go enjoy some shrimp together, she can wait." I mumbled, putting my phone back in my pocket. Staton wrapped his arms around my shoulder, pulling me close to him.

"Are you sure you don't want to find something else, and we can stay here in the van and work through whatever emotions are bubbling up inside of you?" He chuckled, but I wasn't sure what was so funny.

"No, I want to get dinner and not think about it."

"Okay, dinner it is. I can't wait to sit down at a nice place with you again. You always look so damn cute across the table from me." Staton smiles, leaning forward to kiss my forehead.

***

The food was amazing, the shrimp were some of the freshest I had ever had in my life. The inside of the restaurant was adorable and honestly, I wanted to go back there for dinner every single night this week. I could live off of their cooking.

"We need to figure out how we can make that in the van. That was delicious!" Staton nearly shouts, rubbing his stomach with his free hand. His other hand was wrapped tightly around my, pulling me along with him as we walk to pier back towards the vehicle. All I could think about was the text message burning a whole in my pocket. I needed to get back so I could read it. I needed to know what it said.

Staton stopped, pointing towards the waves as if he were trying to show me something.

"You can't get it off your mind can you?" He asked, searching my face for the answer. He must not have needed to search very hard because he nodded in agreement with his own question.

"What makes you say that?" I ask.

"You've barely said anything all dinner, and now you don't want to take any time to stop and smell the roses. Why don't you just read it?" He pointed towards my phone that was subconsciously in my hand now.

"Uh, I'm not sure I'm ready to see what it says."

"But it's obviously killing you inside, so just take a look and know that I am here for you no matter what it says." His smile was almost convincing that the message wouldn't be bad. Anything from my mother wasn't good though. I nodded, taking a deep breath before heading over to one of the benches overlooking the water. I would have to read it sooner or later so I might as well get it out of the way.

I unlocked my phone and clicked on the notification for the text message. Staton seemed to keep his distance, but his eyes never left me. He was watching to see if he needed to jump in and save me.

Butterflies, but not the good kind, danced in my stomach, making me feel like I was going to puke.

Maple, you can do this. Just read the damn message, it can't be that serious.

I remembered how I felt at the fair when she had told me my cards were getting shut off. She hadn't given me a sign that she cared at all that I was gone, and maybe that was my biggest problem. I was doing fine without her, but part of me wanted her to struggle without me. Did she ever really love me or was it all just a show she put on for others to make her look like the perfect mother?

Finally, after taking what felt like ten more deep breaths I read the message.

Maple, I'm so sorry that you felt like running away was the best option. It wasn't. You belong here and you should really come home. I had to hear from Staton's mother that you and him were now married. What kind of idiotic move is that? Why would you do such a thing? You are supposed to be going to college and look at you, you are throwing your life away. When will you grow up and realize that I'm not so bad. You are just overly sensitive.

I paused for a moment, searching for Staton to make sure he was still close by. He nodded his head as if he knew I needed confirmation that he was still around. A small smile forms on my face, even though everything inside me wanted to hurl.

Your cards have been shut off for a while now, so you must be doing something to make money. I just hope you are at least being respectful. Remember what you does looks either good or poor on this family and after your father's death, we can't have any more bad publicity. You need to clean up your act and get back home so we can fix this. Do you realize how horrible you are making me look by this stupid little stunt? Anyways, I expect you and Staton back by the end of the week.

"No." I muttered, not realizing I had said it out loud.

"What?" Staton questions, closing the distance between him and the bench.

"No, I will not be going home so I can help my mothers reputation." I shook my head. "I just won't do it."

Staton leaned forward grabbing my phone out of my hand. His eyes scanned over the message searching for anything.

"What makes her think this is even appropriate to send? What a bitch." I nearly choked at the thought of Staton calling my mother a bitch.

"I've got everything I need right here, she can just deal with whatever issues she has going on. It's not my job to make sure she looks good. Not anymore."

"You know I will take care of you. We don't ever need to go back there."

"Except for Christmas to see your parents right?" I nodded toward Staton, trying to let him know that I didn't have to keep him away from his parents.

"Hell, they can come here if they really want to see us. This place is nice and they should have never moved us away from here."

Staton was right though. We had each other and that was all we needed. I felt better now than I ever did living with my mother. Things were falling into place exactly how they needed to.

This was my life now.