𝐈𝐓 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐀 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 since Cecelia and James left that house in the woods. Now they were in the truck from the man's house driving on a highway. There was a map on Cecelia's lap as James drove the truck.

She was sitting on the passenger side, sitting on her heels. "Put your seatbelt on and sit on your butt, you're gonna hurt your legs," James commanded, Cecelia looked over at him and rolled her eyes. Of course, he was bossing her around, like usual. She sat on her bottom and put her buckle on.

She reached out for the wallet in the cup holder and looked in it. There were several credit cards and a little bit of cash. Approximately twenty-four dollars and seven cents.

She took out the I.D., squinting as she read, or tried to read the name. She didn't exactly know how to read well. It wasn't exactly a lesson Hydra taught. She knew little things from when she was young, like a couple of letters and the sounds they made, but nothing that was gonna help her a lot.

James glanced over at her and saw the I.D. and the wallet in her hand. He sighed, frustrated with her constant need to touch and look at things. He snatched it away from her, taking his hand off the wheel for a split second. "Don't fuck with that," He commanded his tone of voice harsh.

It had scared Cecelia into listening. She just nodded her head and let her hands fall to her lap. The sad look on her face put a pang of guilt through James, and he sighed.

"Hey, just don't lose anything in there, okay?  There's stuff in there we could use." His tone was much softer compared to the harsh command he sent her way moments before. Cecelia nodded her head, her expression becoming less sad.

It was silent for a few seconds. Cecelia was looking out the window silently, letting her mind race for a moment. That was before she looked back at James, who was looking at the road in front of him.

"I'm bored." She complained, playing with the adjusters on her seat. The clicking sound annoyed James as her seat moved back and forth and up and down. He decided just to ignore it.

She looked down at the to big clothes that were on her. The man's house didn't exactly have a lot. Cecelia was barefoot, and she had a large flannel on her and a pair of pants that had to be rolled and the drawstring triple knotted, James also cut off the cuffs with a knife so she wasn't tripping over them. Though Cecelia was much too tall for her age, the clothes were still big on her.

"I'm sorry to hear that." James really wasn't sorry, he just wanted to shut her up. She slumped back in her seat, looking out the window again. She looked in the rearview mirror, seeing her scraped hairline. James had put several bandages on at the man's house, despite him having little to no medical supplies. But what he did have was bandaids. So, now they were all over the top of her hairline, such Cecelia didn't like very much.

She unbuckled, turning to look at him. "I look stupid." She complained, referring to the bandages.

James glanced at her, sighing. "What would you like me to do, Doll? Let you get infected and die? Now put your seatbelt back on." She rolled her eyes, now facing away from him. She slumped in her seat, crossing her arms across her chest.

"I'd rather." She muttered, but, James heard. And he didn't like it. Not at all.

In fact, he hated that she said that so much that he slammed his foot on the break. She went forward and luckily used her quick reflexes to catch herself on the dashboard.

She looked over at him, an angry, annoyed look in her eyes. James was staring back in the exact same way, angry and annoyed. Maybe even a bit of concern because she had said that.

"Why the fuck did you do that?" She yelled at him, frustrated and upset that he did that to her. He scared her more than she'd like to admit

"Watch your mouth." James scolded as he pulled over so cars could pass by.

"You almost killed me and your mad that I said fuck? And you say it all the time!" Cecelia exclaimed as James scoffed and shook his head at her immaturity. Well, she was eight, so he couldn't act like he would get much maturity from her.

"If I ever hear you say that you'd rather get infected and die again I'll slap you right across the face. You don't say shit like that." She stared at him, not taking his threat seriously. She was sure that he probably did want to slap her at times and let his anger come out, but, he wouldn't do it. He wouldn't do it to her at least. Not now, not ever. "Now put your goddamn seatbelt on." He huffed, and she glared at him.

"Fuck you." She said to agitate him. He had it at that point. He reached over and grabbed her seatbelt, put it over her body, and locked it in.

"If you say fuck, or that you'd rather die, or if you un-buckle your seatbelt one more time you are walking to South Carolina." James threatened and she frowned. She rested back in her seat, crossing her arms across her chest.

He stepped on the gas, turning back onto the highway. She turned her head away from him, looking back out the window. Stupid James. She thought to herself, upset by him even though she didn't have to be.

He started to drive again and it was dead silence. But it wasn't that usual comfortable silence that they shared all the time. It was an awkward silence. There was tension in that truck and neither of them liked it.

Finally, James spoke up. He turned to her, sighing as he did. "Take a nap, you're cranky." He commanded as Cecelia crossed her arms. She continued to pout as he shook his head at her behavior. Maybe she had the right to be a brat for once. For eight whole years, she never cried much, complained, or whined about things. She was always compliant with whatever anyone ever said to her. So maybe she really did have that right. That right to be a bratty, cranky little kid who cried and wailed until they got their way because she was never able to do that.

But despite being annoyed at James, she was curious again. It seemed like she always was. Because James had never told her about where they were gonna go. So when he said they were going to South Carolina, it piqued her interest.

"Since when are we going to South Carolina?" Cecelia asked as she put her seat back to be comfortable.

"It might be the best place right now. It's far away." James told her and Cecelia nodded her head. "We'll probably stop somewhere in North Carolina, and then we'll go from there." He told her. He was calm again. After having that silence he calmed down.

He felt bad when he got stern with her, but he reminded himself that he might have to do that if he was the one taking care of her. He had to keep her safe and in line. Not letting her be a kid that would say they'd rather die and get infected. Or a kid who said fuck and didn't wear their seatbelt.

Unfortunately, she didn't have a normal start to her childhood. But now, maybe she could. And that started with James. So, he was gonna give her that as much as he could.

Cecelia was never going to be a normal kid. Normal eight-year-olds weren't five foot four and hadn't killed and slaughtered people. He couldn't erase that. But, he could move forward with her, or try to.

That was the plan.

To move forward.

Literally.

So, he was gonna try to give her the life she deserved. He was gonna try to let her be a normal little girl that was gonna have a happy life. Try was the keyword in all of those statements. It wasn't guaranteed that those things would happen, but he had hope. And that wasn't something that came easy to James anymore.

He sighed before continuing. "But for now, close your eyes and go to sleep, okay?" He asked her, still being soft with her.

He knew he needed to have patience, and he was gonna do his best with that. So, he took a deep breath, watching as she contemplated listening to him or not. He didn't know if she would just agree to sleep, or if she was gonna just argue for the hell of it. But, he hoped that she would go to sleep at some point, or at least try.

"Okay."

James sighed with relief that she didn't argue. Cecelia leaned her head against the window, letting her eyes close. Though she didn't want to listen, she knew it was a better idea. She was tired and she didn't want James to get angry again.

So, she let her eyes close listened to the hum of the truck's engine, and let her imagination run wild. She let herself dream of the stuff that was gonna happen in South Carolina. And honestly, the more she thought the more excited she got for South Carolina...

          𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐂𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐀 𝐀𝐖𝐎𝐊𝐄, she was in the backseat of the car. She now had a big blanket over her. James was pulling out of a parking lot. The sun was setting and only streetlights illuminated the roads ahead of them.

She sat up, her eyes still slightly heavy. She rubbed them. James heard the shuffling in the backseat and he looked at her through the rearview mirror.

"James?" She questioned, he hummed in response to her. She let her legs sprawl out across the back seat, and her back leaned up against the back door. "Where are we?"

"Just got into North Carolina. I went inside a store a couple of hours back. Got you and me some clothes, food, blankets. Stuff we'll need." She hummed, resting the back of her head against the window.

"You left me in here?" His eyes glanced at her through the window again. "Alone?" James rolled his eyes at her dramatics as he turned onto the highway again.

"Don't be dramatic, I was a few minutes." He knew that it was risky, but, he had to do it. She huffed, feeling a pang of annoyance when he said it.

"I could've gotten kidnapped!" James knew the risks, but he took them. He'd be taking a lot of them as they kept moving. Both of them would be taking risks.

They'd been doing that all their lives. Taking risks. James knew that. Everything he has done, said, or will do will be a risk. He was a criminal on the run. Both of them were. One wrong move and they could have people after them. They did right now. Hydra or not, there were most definitely people after them.

"Trust me, Ceil. They would've sent you back after three minutes." She scowled at him, rolling her eyes.

They let the conversation at that. James let music softly play in the background as he became a little bit familiar with it, the new bands, artists, and everything. Cecelia didn't pay attention to it. She was busy counting the lights on the highway.

After a few more hours, James had gotten to a point where he couldn't keep his eyes open. He pulled off the highway to an exit. He knew he couldn't stay anywhere for too long before they got caught.

They were in the middle of North Carolina. James was tired and so was Cecelia, despite just waking up.

James sighed, looking around the lot, muttering under his breath, knowing he wouldn't be able to sleep because people would see the two of them in the car, asleep. He couldn't manage to get himself comfortable knowing that if someone so happened to recognize the two of them, they were screwed.

Cecelia was comfortable in the backseat, getting on her side, trying to ignore the aching pain in her head while James was not. He was crammed up front without the comfort of a blanket or anywhere to put his legs. He knew Cecelia would need it more than him, even if he wanted it badly.

Though Cecelia was exhausted, something was keeping her up. It was about earlier. When James had gotten so angry he slammed his foot on the break. Why had he gotten so angry?

Cecelia never realized how much she had meant to James. She didn't know if James cared if she lived or died because she had the impression that nobody ever did, nor if they ever would.

But, James cared much more than she knew. He would put himself in front of a gun for her, run into a brick wall for her, walk through flames for her. James would do anything to keep that annoying little eight-year-old safe, no matter how much she pissed him off.

But, Cecelia didn't recognize it.

"James?" Her voice asked as she looked at him as he tried to get comfortable up front.

"Yeah, Doll?"

"Why did you get so mad earlier, when you slammed on the breaks."

James thought back to it, remembering what she said.

"I'd rather."

James didn't know if she said it to get on his nerves or if she said it because she meant it. But, he prayed she said it to get on his nerves.

But, that didn't stop him from explaining why he did it. "When I told you that that cut in your forehead could get infected and you'd die if it did, you said you'd rather." She stayed quiet for a moment.

She didn't mean it. She didn't wanna die. Not if she just escaped the worst place ever. She wanted to stay here, alive and living with James, even if he was stupid and annoying.

"Ceil, if you died, I don't know what I'd do with myself. You can't say stuff like that." She nodded her head in return to that statement.

A warm feeling went into her heart. Like someone was giving her the biggest hug ever. Like it was a big fuzzy bear wrapping his arms around her. It made her feel happy, and good that he said that. Because that meant that he cared.

She could've smiled at that.

But then a thought came into her head.

He's just saying that to make you feel bad.

Her face went back to its usual look. That one where you couldn't tell what she was thinking.

Maybe James didn't care. Maybe he was just saying it to say it. Cecelia didn't know.

"Okay," James didn't know what she thought. He swallowed the lump in his throat, turning to look back at her. "Are you just saying that? Or do you mean it?"

He scoffed at her question. "I mean it, Doll. If you died..." He trailed off. There were many things he could say at the end of that statement, but he kept it simple. "Cecelia, if you died I'd fall apart."

Her face softened at his words. She wasn't expecting it again.

Not true, not true, not true.

NOT TRUE

It can't be true! It can't! How could it be true? Cecelia didn't know why she felt all good when James said this to her. Like someone was just smothering her with love even though he was just saying simple words to her.

She didn't know if she liked it.

Because the more he said it the weaker he made her. The more vulnerable it made her. The more happy, sad, and confused it made her.

Because little eight-year-old Cecelia wasn't sure if she was capable of being loved...

A/N:

Okay I lowkey love this chapter a lot. So, in the old version I made it that Cecelia was just so attached to James but I kinda wanna make it that she had this rough exterior and she doesn't think she's deserving of the love he gives her. I want her to slowly trust James and be aware of his love and I want James to always remind her of how much he loves her.

But i rlly do love this chapter i'm not gonna lie 😊