if these wings could fly for the rest of our lives
It was official. Visiting boyfriend's family was absolutely terrifying. Were all visits home like this for Arlo? Did they regard all the women he brought home with the same level of disdain? What had they called her? A groupie? What even was that? She had considered asking, but now hardly seemed like any better of a time than earlier. She could quite near sense his family within the home behind her, glaring at her back with those raging emotions of terror and anger intermixed into some catastrophic orchestra of....well...stuff. Abigail was equally aware of the very tenseness within Arlo's shoulders. He somehow seemed more rigid at that moment as he marched with such determination to the car. That very sound he'd made inside had caught her off guard. Maybe she should ask about that too....and his sister's whole bedroom comment. God, she was going to have a whole list of things to ask about before the night was over and they hadn't even gotten to their hotel yet! A soft steadying breath left her lips before Abigail cautiously made her way down the front porch steps and towards that walkway that led to the vehicle.

Abigail could tell Arlo was hardly paying attention as he took that box from her and loaded it into the car, his thoughts distinctly elsewhere from her that very moment. That frown overtook the usually bubbly girl's features as she chewed apprehensively upon her bottom lip, unsure of where things would go from here. Had they broken her Arlo? How long would he be broken for? And, more importantly, how did she fix him? Oh, God, what if he couldn't be fixed?!? She hardly expected those keys to be thrust at her, much less his instructions to start the vehicle for them. Easily, the young woman pieced together that Arlo was going back inside, and without her! Her insistence that it was not the wisest choice quite near went unanswered, and unnoticed, and maybe even unlistened to if she was being honest with herself. Rather, Arlo marched off before she could even complete that sentence. A soft sigh left her lips before she turned towards the vehicle and that task that had been presented to her. Clearly, whatever Arlo was about to do was not going to be good if she had been thrust into the role of getaway driver. God, she hoped they didn't end tonight being tracked by hunters. Frankly, the whole idea of it made that adrenaline and fear pump within her system all over again.

She slid into the driver's seat, placing that key into the vehicle as the engine turned over, rumbling to life beneath her. Her fingers dexterously turned towards the GPS unit in the car, typing in the address to the hotel before she leaned back in her seat and....waited. Really, she hardly had to wait longer before that scream echoed on the street, loud enough that she was certain several of the neighbors got out of their beds to shift their blinds. Her fingers drummed on the steering wheel, that very anxiety made her feel....shaky as that reality of becoming Dark Hunter prey began to sink in. They were going to get her first and then they were going to go into that house after her Arlo. She was sure of it. In fact, she was so sure that her panic only worsened at the sight of headlights in her rearview mirror. Thankfully, that fantasy was hardly given much more time to be fostered before Arlo himself walked back across that lawn with something in his hands. Her hazel gaze remained settled on him as he instructed her to head towards their hotel, his voice so...absent of any emotion that it pained her heart to even hear!

The silence within that vehicle was quite near crushing, broken only by the overly enthusiastic voice of the woman on the GPS that instructed her where to go. Her hands tightly gripped the steering wheel, her hazel eyes stole the occasional glance towards Arlo, only to shift towards the rearview mirror as if she expected those Hunters to descend upon them at any moment. Did Dark Hunters have police cars? Would they look like the police?! Her mind was a near blur of sounds with so many worried thoughts that even she could hardly focus on a single one. Her heart was only just equally as erratic. That sudden inquiry of fruit punctuated the girl's thoughts as her gaze turned towards that apple that was held out to her. Her fruit basket. He went back for a fruit basket. For her. She reached out for that apple, her slender fingers hardly had a chance to embrace it before the young woman near burst into tears, Arlo's name on her lips at the sheer incredulousness of that moment. Why on earth would he go back to that horrible place for her?!

The girl was quick to bring her hands to her face, that apple dropped in her lap even despite Arlo's assurance that she definitely shouldn't be crying. She hardly cared if she was crying over apple. After all, it was just..like...SO much more than just the apple! His family had been so awful and he was so wonderful and they had threatened them and she didn't want Dark Hunters coming after them and she was pretty sure that they didn't deserve that and she had wanted to impress them and absolutely all of it had been just so, so, so awful! She could hear that hitch in Arlo's voice as that wetness overtook even his bright blue eyes. She could hear his sniffles over her tears, the girl hardly attentive to the color of the light at that moment. It wasn't until several moments later when that soft press of the t-shirt against her hand drew her hazel eyes tentatively upwards as Arlo attempting to console her. Her head shook ever so slightly. "I just...I wanted them to...like us." She admitted, her voice hardly above a whisper and filled with those shaky breaths.

It was only the sensation of Arlo's thumb brushing against her cheek that finally cause her gaze to shift tentatively towards him. She eyed that shaky grin, those sobs having turned more to sniffles and deep breaths as Arlo attempted to inform her of what had brought his family to this. Her head shook at Arlo's insistence that he had ruined their lives, that very idea was one she was unwilling to even entertain. "Family doesn't do that!" The girl protested between those sniffles. After all, they still had their house, and a nice one at that. It wasn't as if Arlo had murdered any of them or hurt them! She couldn't imagine what he could have possibly done to deserve all of that! In fact, she was mostly sure that this assurance only made her more upset for believing that he deserved all of this! For a moment, those hazel eyes stared at him, and yet, any argument she might have given hardly left her lips. She didn't know how to put those very emotions that so perturbed her into words, all of it somehow too much.

Her head gingerly leaned into Arlo's touch as he brushed that final tear from her cheeks. A soft sigh left her lips as her gaze turned back towards the road, the young woman hardly satisfied in the least. She glanced over towards her boyfriend at the sound of his chuckle, eying that almost peculiar smile that had blossomed across his features. His sudden declaration that they had just cried over an apple caused her gaze to turn back towards the apple in her lap. Slowly, she picked it back up, eying it almost critically. "At least it looks like a good apple..." She added, hardly as willing to simply move on while also not particularly wanting to dwell on it either. It was a precarious balance, one helped along only by Arlo's gesture towards that light that had turned green above them. She stepped on the gas, raising that apple to her lips as she bit down into it. That sweet taste blossomed in her mouth, somehow far better after all those emotions had so afflicted her. Tears, it seemed, made her hungry....and maybe a bit thirsty. Okay, maybe this was like...the perfect post-tears snack. She was altogether content to nibble on that apple as she drove them to the next town over, much less the hotel that awaited them. Her gaze deviated from the road only by Arlo's sudden voice, the very mention of that hot tub was, perhaps, the only thing to bring the girl's smile back to her lips. She nodded quite firmly. "I think we should." She confirmed as the vehicle made that final turn into the hotel's parking lot.