“We could go to my dad’s.” Trace offers from the backseat and I’m half tempted to turn around and slap him.

“Your dad lives in Georgia, you ass.”

“Point? Fuckin cops ain’t gonna be looking for us in Georgia now, are they?”

I really don’t know how I got here.

Well… scratch that. I know how I got here. I’m just not entirely sure why I stayed. Honestly, there are times where I’m amazed that this is my life, and not because it’s so perfect. Mostly because it’s full of fucking lunatics.

“He’s right, ya know.” Justin sighs, keeping his eyes glued to the road. “Maybe we should go down there for a few days, let all of this blow over… then bring her back home.”

“Oh… good idea! While we’re at it… let’s rob a few banks and kill some people.” I smile sarcastically as he rolls his eyes. “And you know what… we’ll just go hide in Georgia, and nobody will have any idea it was us.”

“Do you really have to be bitchy mcbitch all the god damn time? Jesus Ellie.” Trace kicks the back of my seat and I fight every urge I have to strangle him.

I love how having a brain makes me the bad guy. I swear, these two are like the very worst of the three stooges. I don’t even want to think about where the hell they’d be if I wasn’t around to keep them from doing stupid shit on a daily basis.

“Ok genius… say we go to Georgia… what the fuck are we supposed to do for clothes, or money, for that matter? Your daddy isn’t gonna foot the bill for three fugitives and a kidnap victim, is he?” I turn in my seat to face him, and he avoids my gaze completely. “Yeah… didn’t fuckin think so.”

“Alright… both of you just shut up, and calm down.” Justin frowns, shaking his head slowly. “Here’s what we’re gonna do… we’ll go back to the apartment, pack up some shit, get all of our credit cards, then we’ll head out. We’ll drive to Georgia, stay for a week… then come back.”

See? Fucking morons.

Do they not realize the longer this girl is missing, the worse this gets for us?

Speaking of which… why the hell isn’t she freaking out? She should be yelling and screaming, doing anything she can to get away. Instead, she’s sitting beside Trace like there’s nowhere else she’d rather be.

And ya know… I can’t quite figure out why she doesn’t remember anything either. I was drugged for christ sake, and I still remembered my phone number and where I lived.

Something isn’t adding up here.

“It’ll take days to drive to Georgia.” I mutter and fold my arms over my chest. “We’ll have to stop along the way.”

“I’m aware of that Ellie. I was… well… I thought maybe we could stay at your parents for a couple days. Tennessee is kind of the halfway point, and I haven’t met your parents yet, and…”

Oh great. Here with go with that shit again.

For reasons I will never understand, Justin has this incredibly strange obsession with meeting my parents. He seems to think meeting them will give him a better sense of who I am. Which, I guess is sort of true. After meeting his parents, I knew for a fact that he was fucking certifiable.

It’s not that I’m against the idea of him meeting my family or anything. It doesn’t really affect me one way or the other. My parents are great, Justin’s great when he isn’t acting like an idiot. I know they’d get along terrifically.

I’m just not too fond of involving my parents in this mess. I didn’t even bother to tell them what happened to me, so there is no way in hell I can walk in their house and say ‘hey guys… we’re on the run, just need a place to stay for a day or two. Don’t mind us.’

Yeah… not gonna happen. No matter how cute Justin looks when he pouts at me.

“I’ve never been to Tennessee.” Shayne suddenly manages to remember she does have the ability to speak, and I whip around to face her.

“Don’t you want to go home? I mean… you do realize he’s holding you against your will, right?”

“Yeah… but… I’ve never been to Tennessee.”

Of course. I honestly don’t know why I’m surprised that Trace managed to find the one girl who doesn’t mind being kidnapped. What I want to know is, just where the hell was she when Justin nabbed me? If he’d found her instead… well… there’d be a hell of a lot less stress in my life, that’s for damn sure.

“El… he had my back with you. I owe him.” Justin looks over at me, the puppy dog eyes on full display.

“Umm… you do remember that I’m the one who dropped the charges and got your ass out of jail, correct?”

“Yes. But I’m pretty sure I already paid that debt.” He smirks and I have an awful, awful feeling he’s about to embarrass the hell out of me. “Three words. Work. Christmas. Party.”

Despite the fact that I am dating him… I really do hate him. And so help me god… if he explains the meaning behind that statement, I will murder him.

“We don’t talk about that.” I mutter and am suddenly very interested in the scenery flying by outside.

“Well we are now.” Trace cackles loudly. “Explain.”

“They had this big Christmas party at the publishing office this past year.” Justin begins, already giggling like a two year old girl. “I didn’t want to go, but she made me. We get there… she starts pounding martini’s like you wouldn’t fuckin believe man. So, it’s like… one a.m, she’s plastered, then she just… fuckin disappears. I finally find her… hugging the god damn tree, while every single person she works with takes her picture. I had to damn near pry her off of the thing. And since I’m probably the best boyfriend in the world… I’m apologizing out of my ass, telling them she’d had some cold medicine before we got there and thought the tree was actually me. So, yes Ellie dear… debt paid. In full.

“Are you fucking serious?” Trace screeches, erupting in laughter. “Hugging a motherfucking Christmas tree? Ellie… as soon as we stop… I am getting you hammered, and whipping out the camera. And if you rat me out, that shit is going on youtube.”

“Oh, it gets better.” Justin grins, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. “I finally get her out to the car, and she tells me how she’d just had a very in depth conversation with the three, about how it’d been chopped down, taken away from it’s tree family, and she really felt it needed a hug.”

Once this car stops… I am going to find a way to leave both of them stranded in the middle of fucking nowhere. Mark my words. These assholes will pay.

Especially Justin.

“Don’t worry Ellie… I don’t think there’s anything wrong with hugging a tree. If I was a tree… I’m sure I wouldn’t mind being hugged every once in awhile.”

Good fucking lord.

This has to be a joke. It just has to be. There is absolutely no way this is actually my life.

*******************

I can safely say I am in the most gaudy hotel room I’ve ever seen. And it’s Trace’s fault.

By the time we went back to my apartment to collect our belongings and got back on the road, it was getting to be fairly late. So, we drove for a couple hours before Trace spotted this shitty hotel in Philadelphia that he swore was the perfect place to stay for the night.

My ass.

The comforter on the bed is straight out of 1968, and everything is covered in roughly six inches of dust. The lamp looks like a lions head, and Justin broke one of the damn chairs when he tossed his suitcase on it.

Needless to say, I am not fucking happy. And it’s Trace’s fault.

“Hope you weren’t planning on taking a shower. We apparently don’t have hot water.” Justin mutters as he exit’s the bathroom and climbs into bed beside me.

“Color me shocked.” I roll my eyes and fluff out my pillow before settling into bed.

“El… I’m sorry, ok? Look… I know this is… it’s fucked up, I know that, alright? I just… it’s Trace, you know? He’s my best friend, and I can’t just… let him deal with this on his own.”

“I just want to know why.” I frown. “Why the fuck he thought this was ok. Why you two are so stupid. Why am I even here when you two are so clearly in love with each other.”

“Umm… I can only answer the last one.” He grins, sliding his arms around my waist and pulling me against him. “You’re here because you like hearing me tell you that you’re pretty.”

“Oh… so I’m a conceited bimbo. Thanks. You’re not getting laid tonight.” I slide out of his grasp and roll over, facing away from him. “Not that you would anyway… god only knows what’s on these sheets.”

“If you want… I’ll buy you a bus ticket and you can go back home. That way… you won’t be involved.” He sighs loudly and fidgets beside me. “If that’s what you want to do, it’s fine. I don’t blame you in the least.”

I wish I knew what it was about him that always manages to get under my skin.

Even when I was a hostage, I couldn’t help feeling bad for the idiot. And this time, it’s no different.

“I’m not leaving you.” I smile when I feel him relax against me. “At least not until they throw us in separate prisons.”