Runaway
It was beautiful at night; the playground completely silent with the stars shining bright. Her favorite time to come was at two in the morning. Grace came whenever she couldn't sleep, whenever he was just getting home. It was her escape from reality.
She sat on the bench with her backpack on the ground right beside her. Grace was lucky the park had street lights so she could use the time to do her school work. She was never able to study at home- not with the screaming and clanks of the beer bottles. She looked up at the stars and smiled as she found the Ursa Major constellation. Grace continued to look up for awhile, in search for new stars to give names to, before rummaging through her backpack to find her headphones and notebook.
Music plays quietly in Grace's ears as she does her math homework. She scribbles numbers and words across the page before taking a break and looking back up. Her eyes squint when she finds someone running through her park. Grace quickly grabs her glasses out of her bag and puts them on- only to be shocked by who she sees.
Grace watches Ryder as he runs past only to come to a sudden stop when he sees her. Ryder walks up to Grace with a confused look etched on his face.
"Grace, is that you? What are you doing here?"
"Looking at the stars," she pauses, "why are you here?"
"I couldn't sleep. Running helps my insomnia. Mind if I sit down?" Ryder asks and Grace nods her head.
"Why do you have your backpack with you?" Grace glances at him as he questions her before looking back down.
"Oh, I'm just writing notes.. about the constellations," she mutters hoping he doesn't see through her lie.
"Do you always come her this late?"
"Typically, yes."
"Oh, well maybe I'll see you around sometime." Ryder waves goodbye as he leaves.
"Yeah, maybe," Grace mutters.
It's not even almost light outside when Grace hears the front door slam close. She jumps up, realizing that he is home and rushes to her closet. She locks her closet door and thinks about how grateful she is for finally getting a lock after the last incident. Tears fall down her cheek as she quickly puts on a heavy sweater to stay warm. Footsteps grow louder as Grace falls to the ground and starts shaking uncontrollably.
"Grace," a booming voice yells before repeating his words again, getting no response. "Whatever. I'll be back."
As the footsteps fade away, Grace quickly unlocks her closet door and grabs her backpack before running out her window and jumping off of the roof. The downstairs lights are off as she quietly tiptoes away.
Her steps become louder as the house fades into the distance and Grace runs to the park. She finds her bench and sits down as she sobs out in pain. A hand touches her back and she gasps as she jerks up to find Ryder.
"Hey, it's okay," He holds onto her and allows her to cry into him. The sobs start to quiet down as Grace looks up at Ryder.
"Thank you," she whispers.
"I'm not going to make you explain why you are crying but I do want you to know that I'll be here every night at two in the morning to be your shoulder. I want you to be able to trust me," Ryder looks at Grace before hugging her tightly.
"Please, stop." Grace begs as the man slaps her again.
"Worthless piece of crap," he mutters and kicks her down before exiting Grace's room.
Once he leaves, Grace exits her house through the window and runs to the park finding Ryder already waiting for her. He jumps off of the park bench and gasps as he sees her cheek.
"Who's doing this to you, Grace?"
"I can't say."
"You can trust me," Ryder responds and holds her hand tightly. Grace sighs as they sit down together.
"It's complicated. When my mom was pregnant with me, she got really sick. The doctors told her that she was going to die unless I left her body," she started the long story, "My mom didn't want to get rid of me and my dad loved her; he allowed her to kill herself because she wanted me to live. My mother died a few hours after giving birth to me. Although my dad allowed my mom to do this and told her he supported it, he changed his mind and left three years later. My older brother- he was seventeen at the time- had to care for me because we had no one else. He hated me and blamed me every single day. I was six years old when he first laid a hand on me," Grace tries to continue but starts to sob. Ryder runs her back as a way to calm her down.
"It's okay, shh, you don't have to finish the story. I'm not letting you go home tonight. We'll stay here."
Ryder checked his watch and realized it was almost two in the morning. He jumped out of bed and yawned, rubbing his eyes. His parents were fast asleep as he tiptoed past their room and left the house.
Ryder jogged to the park and waited for his watch to change to two. He stayed waiting as the watch changed hours. It was six in the morning when he realized that she wasn't coming back.
Ryder walks up to the park and sets down a rose on the park bench he shared with Grace and blows a kiss onto the rose. He walks away from the bench, tears rolling down his cheeks.
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