I can't find my words, so instead, I just nod.

"We're going to start at the basics all over again," he murmurs. Slowly, he grasps my right hand with his and lifts it up towards the dashboard. "Keys. Headlights. You tug this upwards once, the windscreen wipers come on, okay?"

I nod once more. My heart flutters at his breath against my ear.

Suddenly, he grabs my other hand. "Indicators," he advises before dropping our joined hands and pointing them towards the floor. "It's a back to front alphabet," he tells me. "C, then B, then A. Clutch, brake, accelerator. Still with me?"

"Yes," I manage to breathe out this time.

"Okay," he murmurs before placing my hands onto the steering wheel. "I'm not going to bother explaining what this is."

"Good," I mutter. "I'm not stupid."

"I wouldn't dare say otherwise," he counters. I can practically feel the smirk against my hair. "You know what to do before we move anywhere, don't you?"

"I... uh... check the handbrake?"

Riley hums. The noise vibrates through his chest, into my back. "I mean, that's true. But we also want the truck ready to move forward before that point, don't we?"

"Yes," I whisper in response.

"Okay. To do that, the truck needs to be in gear."

"The clutch!" I breathe out, realisation slamming into me. Of course, Kayla. Duh...

"Yes," Riley replies. Picking up my left foot, I press it down on the left pedal until it hits the floor. "Alright, now we need to shift the gear stick." His left hand curls over the top of my own, lifting it to the top of the stick in the centre console. My heart hammers against my chest and my stomach twists in excitement as the warmth of his touch dwarves my tiny hand.

Tightening our fingers around the top, he then pushes the stick left and up. "First gear," he murmurs against my ear. I just nod mutely. "Now, what I want you to do is put both hands on the steering wheel." He moves my left one within his own and I lift the right one myself, curling my fingers around the plastic wheel. He doesn't move his hand away. "This next bit is the hardest." I nod once more at his words. "I need you to, ever so slowly, inch your foot off the ground until you hear the engine get louder. Like it's itching to move."

Swallowing my nerves, I reluctantly lift my foot slowly. My leg is shaking but I freeze when the engine roars in my ears, ready to go.

"Calm down, Kay-Kay," Riley mutters into my ear. "You sound like you're going to have a heart attack." I bite my lip and try to contain my loud breathing. "You're doing perfect. At this point, it's time to release the handbrake and start driving."

I knew that. It's why my heart is in my mouth.

"Come on." Riley lifts our conjoined hands off the wheel and down to the handbrake beside us. Pressing his thumb over mine, he knocks the button in and shoves the brake down before returning our hands to the wheel. The truck rolls forward and I squeal quietly, my eyes pinned to the road ahead, the cracked tarmac that the headlights are illuminating, the way forward.

"It's going straight," I exhale.

Riley chuckles against my hair. "I don't know why I didn't start with this method."

I smile, grip tightening around the steering wheel. I'm ecstatic. We're only going ten miles per hour. But I'm ecstatic nonetheless.

"Let's shift up a gear. Get moving a bit faster," he suggests.

"Okay," I agree, letting his hands and words guide me through the action. Soon, I'm hurtling down the road at forty miles per hour, the biggest grin on my face as Riley's hands slip from mine, instead coiling around my middle as he lets me take control.

With the windows down, the cold night wind whips through my hair and I giggle to myself, leaning back against Riley's chest as much as I can. The muscles that adorn his torso press against me, the hard contours far more comfortable than I ever would have dreamed them to be.

His arms hold me tightly, keeping me close, despite the fact that I can't move away even if I wanted to. He chuckles in my ear at my obvious enthusiasm and joy over driving. Why haven't we done this before now? I should have insisted on learning earlier this week, crammed in as much time as I could with Mr Riley, the teacher. He's damn good at it.

After twenty minutes, he instructs me to pull over, giving me a final lesson on safety when leaving the vehicle. I just smirk as I look out the windscreen, not wanting to interrupt and tell him that locking the vehicle isn't really the biggest concern in this day and age.

I'm gutted when he shifts out from under me, moving around to the other side of the cab and climbing back into one of the passenger seats. I don't let him know that though. Instead, I get used to the feel of the seat without him taking up half of it.

Pulling onto the road on my own, he's shooting women driver jokes at me instantly before I send him a glare, shutting him up for all of half a minute before he's rambling on about how he'll miss the chaos of the North.

*~*~*

The sun has set and it's completely pitch black for miles around when we pull up behind the truck that Zac drove down here. Listening to Riley's instructions in my head, I gently brake before pulling up the handbrake, leaving it in gear, and turning the key. The engine noise is gone and I exhale before turning to Riley.

He's grinning at me before giving me a slow thumbs up.

I roll my eyes. "Shut up."

"I didn't say anything, Kay-Kay," he responds.

"Stop calling me that."

"Can't."

"Why not?"

He smirks. "It irritates you."

Swallowing down the frustration, I lean over the centre console towards him. He seems surprised.

"I'm glad you're going South."

"Liar."

I shrug, shifting back over to my side of the truck and opening the door. I jump onto the ground and slam the door closed. Stepping in front of the vehicle, I head towards the other truck as Zac stares at us, obviously amused. Riley is right behind me.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Zac asks me.

I shrug before smirking. "I'm sure we'll find out. Riley is a pretty shit teacher."

Liar. That was the best freaking lesson I've ever had.

"I am not," Riley argues, rolling his eyes. "She didn't even know how to use the gear stick."

"Maybe because the war came along when I was fifteen," I retort. "I couldn't exactly drive around the streets of Nottingham before that, could I?"

Riley's eyes narrow as he scowls at me. I cross my arms across my chest — something that's never been my best asset — and his eyes drop.

I open my mouth to give him a piece of my mind, but before I can, Zac interrupts.

"Alright!" Zac holds his hands up between us. "You know where you're headed, Kayla?"

"Yes," I assure him before pointing around the side of Riley to his sandy brown haired friend, and the brunette, short girl beside him. "Carl and Lyla are going to direct me."

"If you stay away from the main roads you shouldn't come across anyone," Riley tells me.

"No shit, Sherlock." I can't stop my response from pouring out of my mouth.

"Good luck, idiot," he reponds, his eyes twinkling.

"You too, dickweed."

"Are you done?" Zac mutters. Riley turns on his heel, heading back towards the truck. Clearly — apparently — we are done.

"Sure." I force a shrug.

"If there's any sign of anyone then don't go in there—"

"Zac," I interrupt him. "We know what we have to do. Don't worry about us."

I'm worrying enough as it is.

"I do," Zac admits before folding up the paper map in his hands and handing it over.

"Emilia really has made you go soft." I grin. "I remember how you were before this. Claudia used to tell me all about what a fuckboy you were."

"Alright, Kayla." Zac's jaw tenses and he rolls his eyes. "We need to go."

"Okay." I smile before turning to look at Lyla and Carl. "Get the others and get in the truck," I plead with them, pretending that I'm confident with what we're about to do. My heartbeat is roaring in my ears. Looking back at Zac, I bite my lip before admitting, "I never thought this would be us. Not even when I was lying alone in that blasted cell at Kilmoor."

"We're doing the best we can," Zac replies. He's the only one who understands what I went through back in that cursed prison. Well... it turns out that Riley does too.

"We are." I smile. "I only wish Jace, Claudia and Ray could have done it with us."

"Me too," he replies before his face clouds over, his eyes darkening. "Kay, maybe you should come—"

"Don't go soft on me now, Hastings!" I cut him off. It's too late for us to change the plan. If I go, there's no-one here to look after what we've achieved so far. To further our support. We need me here. They need me to stay here. "I'll be fine, trust me!"

"But—"

"You just worry about Emilia."

"Emilia?"

"Promise me that you'll keep her safe?" I plead with him. "I know you're in love with her."

"What?" He scrunches his face up so much that it's comical. He's in so much denial, it's ridiculous.

"Just promise me?"

"I'll protect her," Zac assures me and I smile before reaching out and squeezing his shoulder.

"Thanks, Zac. Stay safe."

"You too." He nods his head at me. With that, I step back, working my way back through the group that's here. Anna's goodbye is swift, rude and brief. Kieran pulls me in for a hug, and Jordan begs me to stay away from the Enforcers as much as I can.

By the time I reach Emilia, I'm verging on full blown tears, struggling to hold in the sobs that are teetering just below the surface. She takes one look at me, her long blonde hair tumbling over her shoulders, and opens her arms.

I fall into them, wrapping my own around her and squeezing her tightly.

"You're going to come back, right?" I mutter into her hair. She responds by tightening her grip. "I mean it. Rayden wouldn't be happy with you if you left me here forever."

She laughs, pulling back and letting her hands drop to mine. "Good job guilt tripping me."

I shrug and smile. "I had to say something to convince my enemy to return."

She hums before shaking her head. "You stopped being my enemy a long time ago."

"I know," I tell her softly.

"Let's go!" Zac's deep, loud voice echoes around us as he urges everyone to move.

Emilia lets go of my hands, dropping to the ground to pick up her rucksack. "I'll be back, Kayla. I promise."

"Good," I say softly. We smile at one another before she's gone, disappearing into the bed of the other truck. I inhale, a sharp, shaky breath and writhe my hands together.

I'm terrified. Worried. Scared. Panicked.

But it's now or never.

"Come on, Kayla," I mutter to myself. "You can do this."

Letting my own hands detangle, I step back, listening as the leaves crunch beneath my feet. There's no-one left standing around and I bite my lip and drop my head. I guess Riley didn't want to say goodbye.

Turning on my heel, I shake my head and step closer to the truck. Why would he, Kayla? It's not like you even like each other. You irritate him, he irritates you... doesn't he?

I'm just confused. There are too many emotions running through my head and I don't know how to deal with them.

My fingers trail across the bonnet of the truck, running through the mud and dust that lays there and picking every inch of it up.

This is my truck now. And it's time to put my hour long training session to good use. There's no time to screw it up. And... I won't. I can't.

Here we go.

I grab onto the door handle. A large hand covers mine and I gasp as their body presses against me from behind, forcing me against the metal.

"Did you think I would let you go without saying goodbye?" His husky voice washes over me and I close my eyes as butterflies erupt inside my stomach.

"Riley," Is the only word I manage to breathe out.