The Great Escape

Chase ducked her head when he yelled at her. Her whole body went rigid and she stood there her knuckles white as she gripped the window sill. "Andrew.." She whispered, and when he came up behind her, she almost melted, but she kept up the same tense position. In fact, she shrugged him off and spun around to stare at him. "So what, you're breaking up with me?" She cried out, trying desperately to hold back tears. "Because some old long dead person you think is still alive? Is that it?" She cried out and backed into the window.

The earlier sun that had been so warm and soothing before now felt like a glare that wanted to boil her skin off. She turned her face away from him, and then moved around him so that she was by the door. "Okay then.. I guess that's it huh? You're breaking up with me... fine." She heard her voice crack and she pushed open the door, and then stood back away from it, the door wide open. "Go then!" She sounded angry, her body was so tense she could feel herself shaking, but her chin was wrinkled from trying not to cry, and it looked like she might break down at any minute. She wasn't good at hiding her emotions. But she did know that she had to stay strong until he left. Only until he left.. and then.. she didn't know what she would do. But she knew she wouldn't be able to keep up this tense angry appearance.

Andrew kept his face still and firm, yet his eyes were filled with water as he listened to her scream at him. He hated seeing her sad or mad...but it felt worse to have her screaming and yelling because of HIM. "Chassy!" he said in a quiet tone, his voice trying to sound soothing "I'm doing this for the both of us! Do you realize how depressed I would be if you died? Do you realize how depressed you would be if I died? My enemies will try to get us both, if we try to sever our ties now, things will be easier to accept if one of us were to die!" His blood grew cold once he said that. He hated thinking about it, but he knew he would have to say it.

He walked over to where Chase stood, but only closed the door, almost slamming it in the process. He turned back to her, a long water drop falling down his head. "Dammit Chase," he said softly again "I will never leave you...I just don't want us to a nusiance to each other in this war...now there are god damn demons in the picture...please, we both need to accept this." He felt compelled to just run and hug her, but she seemed to be at an emotional state and would probably regret trying to. "I love you Chastity Evelyn Moor, nothing will ever change that. You just have to believe that I will still be faithful to you."

Chase felt her blood run cold. No matter where she was in her life, if he died she would be depressed. No severing ties of any sort could stop that. She felt like her heart had been torn in two and she almost collapsed. But she managed to keep herself standing, even when her knees almost gave out. Instead she leaned against the wall, staring at him with a look of confusion, anger, and sorrow.

When he slammed the door, she winced hard and backed up slightly, her knees hitting the seat. He had never sworn at her before and she could feel the tears falling down her face now. She couldn't keep her strong face up anymore, and she almost fell to her knees. But staying strong, she pushed her chin up, trying to ignore the tears that fell down her cheeks. But when he said her name, she couldn't take it anymore. It was like her full name, one she had been called so many times, by her mother. She fell back into the seat and covered her face with her hands.

"Just go." She whispered. Small sobs starting to rack through her body as her mind turned to all of the sleepless nights she spent with him. The first time she had woken from a nightmare, their first kiss. Every memory sent a wave of shock through her, when she realized that they might never happen again. Her mind went numb, but the tears kept coming. "Please.. just go." She whispered, pulling her knees to her chest and sobbing softly into them, hiding her face from view.

Andrew couldn't handle the situation. He couldn't even try to fix what he had dne now, becuase he knew he was right! He knew that what he did was right! But his heart kept telling him otherwise. In anger, he said "Fine Chase. Just fine. But don't expect me to be faithful if you can't say you will be." With that he opened the door and let himself out, slamming the door behind him. He wiped his eyes quickly with his sleeve, water taintng the dry clothing. He was glad that no one was around to see him that way. He swallowed hard, trying to fight off the soreness in his throat and immediatly toke off in another direction.

He went into the next train car and sat in an empty compartment, not caring that all his stuff was still back in Chase's compartment. Everything seemed to be dead silent, as he couldn't even hear the other people talking. It was if the world had died along with him. What he had done was right...but it felt so wrong. Yet he knew he wouldn't regret it later on, as long as Chase was safe. That's all he cared about at the moment. Not his parents, not his apartment, not his motorcycle, only her. And he would keep his distance if it meant helping her survive. He looked back out the window, noticing that thetrain had begun to travel forward, the lush and green pastures rolling on by. Well at least that was the first thing he would do.

Move on.

Chase gasped loudly and looked up at him. "of course I will be faithful! Do you seriously think I could move on to anyone else?!" She sobbed and he was gone. Gone out of the compartment, gone out of her world. Her mind was spinning and she was sobbing harder then ever. She knew for a fact that she would never be with anyone else. Never in her life, she couldn't think of anything, and even though her mind was numb, she was in so much pain.

"Andrew." She whispered as though hearing it aloud would help. But it didn't, her sobs came harder and harder and she kept on repeating his name. "Andrew.. Andrew.. I'm sorry, I hurt you.. somehow I did, I did something wrong, something to make you angry.." She was talking to herself but she didn't care. She felt tears stain her her cheeks and clothes, but she didn't care. Andrew was gone, away, gone. She kept repeating it, but for some reason it didn't break through, until her own mind recalled the sound of the door snapping.

That one snap, and her mind broke, she curled up on the seat, and sobbed, holding onto her knees. At some point her owl came to the window again, she got up and opened it, and resumed her position, petting her owl every now and then as tears fell down her cheeks, and onto the seat cushion.

Jack walked down the train towards the end to where the compartment that she knew held her luggage and her two ex-friends. She felt dread, anger, guilt, and awkwardness settle deeper into her with every step, making her want to turn, run, and find the first open window and leap out of it. Not that the thought had crossed her mind on the journey once, twice, a few times, the whole ride...

But she was also busy bolstering her courage, drawing herself up with each step, looking more intimidating, strong, and threatening each time. She needed to look proud and cocky like she always had, because if she could at least pull that off, then she knew she could one day make Chase and Andrew understand that she had may the right choice and had not totally abandoned them. It was all apart of her master plan. The road she had picked had made it so that she could help Vito and that Chase and Andrew would be safe. The only stipulations were that they had to watch out for each other, and she would watch out for Vito, and then it would all be hunky-dorey.

Too bad she was miserable and lonely. But she would be able to last... she did not know how long... Maybe forever if she had to, after all she did not expect Chase and Andrew to ever forgive her. Not when she could hardly forgive herself. She knew she had done the right thing, but try convincing that to Chase and Andrew. And again, she did not feel she had the right to even try to explain that to them.

Just get in there, grab you stuff, and get out, she thought to herself for the millionth time on her long walk down the train. She stopped dead in her tracks.

I hope they are not snogging when I walk in.

She shuddered to herself, not in the mood to walk in on her two friends eating each other's faces and continued walking trying to regain the confident posture and walk that she had just worked so hard to build up and maintain. Finally she stopped at the compartment, and opened the door.

"Sorry, I'm just going to grab my stu-"

She stopped when she saw Chase there, huddled in the corner, sobbing her eyes out, Andrew nowhere to be seen. She had no idea where he had gone and why Chase was here, alone, crying. Jack stared at her for a moment, her eyes wide in surprise. "Chase? Wha- Where's Andrew? What's wrong?"

Chase jumped hard when she heard the compartment door open. She tried to arrange her smile into a normal look, hoping that whoever had entered would ignore her tears. But the second she looked up and saw her, Chase started to cry even harder. It was Jack. "Jack.." She whispered and pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face in them. She yelped lightly when she said Andrew and made a soft whimpering noise.

"Jack.. I don't know what I did.. Did I do something wrong? Am I that horrible of a person.." she was looking at her wet hands as though accusing them of something. "It was perfectly fine.. I thought he was.. I thought we.." Chase didn't even bother to wipe her eyes, her hair was a mess from where she had pulled at it, as though attempting to rip it out of her head.

"Jack, I'm so..sorry." She whimpered and hid her face again. "Why is it I..I can never do.. do anything ri..right!" She sobbed pulling at her hair again, attempting to tear the red strands from her scalp. "He.. He.. Left." She sobbed, to afraid to say broke up with her. She whimpered and tried to hide her face from Jack. Her owl perched on her knee fluttered off and landed lightly on the seat opposite Chase, looking at Jack like it was her fault Chase was crying.

Jack's eyes widened once she saw how distraught Chase was and Chase's sobs intensified. Jack knew that Chase was a crier, but it always through Jack off balance. Jack and the people she associated herself with (like Vito) were not people who cried. She had gotten so used to being around Vito and both of them refusing to show any signs of weakness, that now every time someone cried, Jack had to remind herself that people still did that.

Jack could barely distinguish the words that were lost in tears and sobs, but from what she could gather Chase was blaming herself for something that had happened with Andrew. Something that had made him leave or something or other. Jack cocked her head in confusion and then stared helplessly between her luggage and Chase.

She was not good at comforting people. She used to say "suck it up" to everyone, but she was steadily realizing that you can't always do that. Still, it did not help that she had next to no practice helping people with problems like this. Trying to help someone get over a murderous personality, Jack could do. Boy problems...

Jack wondered how much it would hurt to jump out that open window...

With a sigh, she walked over to the seat across from Chase when suddenly her owl leapt to that spot and gave Jack a reproachful look. Jack sneered at it before realizing that one should not sneer at owls... or animals for that matter. What was going on with her?

She gently picked the owl up and transferred her to the seat next to that and Jack sat herself across from Chase, her eyes hooking onto Chase, staring at her as the girl broke down. In a cal, quiet voice Jack said, "What do you mean he left?"

Chase heard Jack sit across from her, and she sniffed hard before looking up at her. She wasn't quite sure what to say. Jack had always been there for her, and she hated crying in front of other people. She hadn't expected Jack to walk in, and everything over the last few days just swarmed into her brain. Jack left her, she had to be her only real friend left, besides Andrew, and now Andrew was gone. Wanting to "protect her" from what she wasn't sure, but Chase could feel the isolation building in her chest, threatening to make her panic.

"What do you mean he left?"

Chase shuddered hard, and tried to hold back the tears, attempting to realign the mask back on her face, the same one that she had had when Andrew had said those words to her. She whimpered hard and then concentrated on putting on the mask for a long moment before she looked up at Jack, tears still streaming, but the sobs were much softer and every so often instead of constant. "He..." She took in a deep breath and pressed on. "Andrew broke up with me." She whispered, her voice weak and tired sounding.

Her eyes burned, and her head was starting to hurt too from the constant pull it had received. She attempted to smooth it flat but failed and ended up sitting there, hugging her knees to her chest. "He said he needed to protect me.. and he broke up with me." She whispered and felt another small sob escape her lips. She buried her face in her knees, trying to hide the tears from Jack. Jack wasn't the type to cry, she knew that, and Chase was a big cry baby.. everyone knew that. "Right here..." She whispered and looked over to her left, staring at the seat where he had been sitting when he said they couldn't be together.

"It was like I was some big joke... he said he'd be faithful, but I bet he's off snogging some other girl right now! I bet he had two or three behind the scenes! Don't care for Chase, she's just a cry baby and a wimp! She can't even fight for herself, so why would he ever like me?" She ranted on, tears now stopping as her fists clenched. "Probably only wanted my money.. because I was vulnerable and weak after my family died!" She felt a sob choke her, and her fell silent, wiping at her eyes. "And then you were gone, and now he's gone.. my whole family left me.. everyone I ever knew, just.. just.. left me.." She burst into tears again, hiding her face from Jack this time, so that she couldn't see her, and reached up, pulling on her hair, digging her fingers into her scalp and feeling the sharp points break her skin.

Jack could see Chase struggling to be strong, to hide the tears and mask the pain, and she was almost succeeding. Jack shook her head to herself. She herself had a lot of practice putting on masks. Hell, her whole life was lived behind the disguise of an emotionless robot. She knew exactly how it felt to put on a grin when she felt like dying.

Jack's mouth tipped open when Chase finally revealed the reason behind her tears..." Andrew broke up with me. He said he needed to protect me.. and he broke up with me." Jack opened her mouth to say something but then closed it again, having no idea what to say. She could not believe...

That prat! The hypocrite! She felt anger explode in her chest. Damn Andrew! The whole reasoning of her decision had been in the fact that Andrew and Chase would always be together and would watch out for each other. Why the hell did he have to go screw that up? Jack had left them, knowing that Andrew could protect Chase! But now- the fool! He was going to mess everything up!!!

"From what?" Jack demanded, more anger and frustration in her voice than she had meant to have. She quickly realized she was failing, epically, at comforting Chase. "I mean, I'm sorry Chase, I don't know what to say."

Chase quickly relieved some of her frustration and began accusing Andrew of things Jack knew he would not do. She shook her head. "Chase you don't believe that. Andrew may be an idiot, but he's not an ass. He's loyal and I don't think he would do that to you."