SEVENTEEN.   AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH

two years ago.

Mia stared out the window of her father's vehicle, watching the way the fallen leaves blew from how fast he was driving. It was cold in the car and her forehead was pressed against the cool glass. She hadn't said a word since they left their home in such a hurry. She was afraid to say anything. Her father was in distress. Paris, practically still a baby, was whining in her car seat. Lucas was silent. Only his silence was because he was afraid. It was because he was trying to appear strong. He was like their father in many ways. He never wanted to seem weak. He always tried putting his best foot forward.

Riley Jones shifted his eyes from the road to the mirror and looked at his daughter in the backseat.  "You okay back there, Mia?"

Mia shifted her head so that she was looking at him and she nodded, but no words came out.

A small sigh passed his lips and he glanced over at Paris, who was sucking on her fingers. He looked over at Lucas,  seeing him stare out the window. He looked back at the road and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel in thought. He used his other hand to turn on the radio and turn the volume up. He smiled when Ain't No Mountain High Enough started to play. "Listen baby!" He sang. "Ain't no mountain high, ain't no valley low, ain't no river wide enough, baby,"

Lucas chuckled at his terrible singing and Paris let out a string of giggles.

"If you need me, call me, no matter where you are,"  he sang again and he looked into the mirror at Mia.  "No matter how far, don't worry, baby. Just call my name, i'll be there in a hurry,"

She cracked a smile.

"Cause baby, there ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no valley low enough, ain't no river wide enough to keep me from getting to you, baby!"

"Daddy, you can't sing." Paris said from the backseat.

Lucas laughed out loud and Mia held back a laugh.  Their father gasped sarcastically. "Why didn't you say anything before?"

"I didn't want to hurt your feelings!"

"I think you're good, dad." Said Mia and it was the first thing she had said since leaving Dallas.

Riley looked into the mirror again and smiled at her. "Cause baby, there ain't no mountain high enough.  ain't no valley low enough, ain't no river wide enough to keep me from getting to you, baby."

present.

When Mia heard footsteps, she looked away from the window to see Carl standing in the doorway of her room. She sat on the bay window with her knees brought to her chest. "I'm going on a run. Are you coming?" He spoke to her.

Mia shook her head and looked back out the window.  "No."

Carl sighed. "Come on, Mia. Please."

"I'm staying here with Rick."

"He's fine,"

She finally looked at him with a dark look in her eyes. "I'm staying." She repeated sternly.

He went quiet and they stared at each other for a few minutes. Her stare was challenging, his was pleading. After another minute, he gave up and walked out of the room. 

She walked downstairs after hearing the door slam shut. It was completely silent in the house. Rick was still out cold on the couch. He was almost unrecognizable. A bloody face and broken body. His scruffy cheeks were cut and blood stained. His bandaged hands were red and stained with grime. His clothes were torn like rags. It was hard to see a man so strong and full of so much integrity look so weak.

Mia trapped a couple pillows from the other chair and carefully lifted his head. She slid them under him. "Just trying to make you comfortable," she mumbled, through she knew he wasn't going to respond.

She found a torn up rag in the kitchen and wet it with water. She came back to the living room and dropped to her knees by his head. She began cleaning the blood off of him. "I'm sorry this happened to you," she whispered like she was afraid of her own voice. "All you ever did was try to help us. To help me."

Rick didn't say a word. He was like a statue.

"Carl's wrong. You're not nothing. You're a great man," she continued and gently cleaned his cuts. "I don't think we would have made it this far without you. I hope you know that."

Riley and Mia used to watch movies in the living room past her bed time when she couldn't sleep. The rest of the family would be in their beds but her father always knew when she couldn't sleep. So he'd curl up on the couch with her until she fell asleep. Since she was a baby, Mia never left her dad's side. He was her best friend. Now she was taking care of somebody else's father. A man who was as strong as Riley Jones used to be.

She went back to her tending. "Sorry. I was thinking about my dad." She slipped out a small laugh. "You would have liked him. Or hated him. You two are very similar. When the sickness broke out, he did everything to keep my siblings and I alive. Our mom just died. He did his best. I miss him everyday."

She started wiping the blood from his face. "I know it's weird to hear, but, I see a lot of him in you and it's really hard. Sometimes when I miss him, I think about this song that he used to sing to us. It was usually always in the car when it came on the radio. What was it?" Mia said to herself, trying to remember the song. "Listen baby," she sang to herself. The lyrics clicked in her brain. "Ain't no mountain high, ain't no valley low, ain't no river wide enough, baby."

She smiled in a daze. "He was a terrible singer but it always made us laugh, so, it was worth it." She finished cleaning his face. "There. You kinda look like yourself again." She laughed to herself as he still didn't wake up. Mia sat down on the floor by the arm of the chair. She rested her head back. It was still so quiet. Carl wasn't back yet. A part of her was worried about him. She wanted to go find him. But she was also still angry with him. "I don't know if you can hear me or if you're listening, but, I just want to say I'm grateful for you. I'm grateful for all of you, even if we're not all together anymore. Without all of you, I would be dead. You took a chance on me and let me into your home. I'll always be grateful for that."

She should've screamed. It's a natural human response when you feel someone come into your room. Her muscles immediately tightened but when she opened her eyes, Mia didn't see an intruder. It was Carl. It was completely dark outside, the moon shining through her window, and it was the first time she'd seen him since he left that morning. He was crying. "Carl?" She spoke, half confused, half concerned.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Mia." Carl cried with a cracked voice. Tears slid from his blue eyes and fell down his sweaty face.

She stared at him from her position against the pillow. He cried to himself and it was the first time she'd seen him cry since the prison. He'd been concealing his pain for so long that it was unraveling no matter how much he didn't want them to. Because Carl was broken. He was a young boy growing up in a broken world. Mia knew all of his dark secrets. He wasn't hateful because he chose to be. It was because he was scared.

She shifted her hand and placed it over his. "It's okay." She whispered.

"I can't do this without you. I need you. I'm so sorry." He cried again. He hiccuped and more tears fell onto his lap.

Mia slowly allowed herself to let the anger go and remember that they her were the same. Young, afraid, and simply trying to survive. Carl, like her, had to do unspeakable things to keep himself alive. He was covered in the blood of his own sins. Drowning in his own regret. Suffocating with grief of killing his mom and losing his sister. Mis understood that. She understood better than anyone. "Come here." She whispered again.

Carl slowly looked at her, his eyelashes wet with tears. She nodded, silently telling him it was okay. He shifted on the bed and Mia lifted the covers from her body, allowing him to slip underneath them. Carl laid on his side, facing her, and she rested on her side as well. The moon shined on his face just enough for the tears on his face to glisten. "You're my best friend." He uttered with a heartbroken whisper.

She nodded against the pillow, her once angry eyes now a soft blue. "And you're mine."

In the darkest night, Carl's knuckles touched hers. It was the slightest touch, but it sent tingles down her spine. A shaky breath passed through her lips and slowly, Mia moved her hand so that their fingers were touching.

There was another sharp tingle. And then her heart pounded faster. Carl blinked his eyes rapidly but he didn't move his hand.

He grabbed her hand, his large palm covering hers. They didn't say anything for the rest of the night. Mia watched him fall asleep, his tears finally stopping, and she closed her eyes, his face being the last thing she saw before she slept.