I didn't want to believe what I saw that night. It was horrifying to know that my best friend was capable of something so awful. I guess you never really know what your loved ones are made out of. But it makes sense really, Oakley has always been perfect and kind and loving, she was a diamond. Rare to find and precious to have. And like everyone knows, diamonds are made under pressure.

I was furious to find out what Jason had done to her. I had known about the abuse but every time I brought it up she swore it was over. That it hadn't happened in months, but as she lay here, asleep in my arms. I could see the burn on her neck and the bruises on her arms. And on her light stomach, right where her shirt was lifted, I saw scars.

If I'm honest, I'm glad she did it. I'm glad she didn't let him break her to the point of no strength. She had that sort of power to protect the ones she cared about even if it meant taking another's life. Some people might have thought this to be frightening, but I found it admirable. Besides, if she hadn't done it I know that I would have after hearing what I just had.

Her red hair laid lightly against my chest. I didn't want to wake her, but I knew that I couldn't let her see her fathers dead body. There were a few times when I thought she was about to wake, but when she did I would find myself humming the tune to Piano Man to get her to fall back asleep. I didn't want her to wake up in the house with her fathers rotting corpse.

I carefully replaced my body underneath her with a pillow and a large stuffed dog. It seemed to work well enough, she cuddled up to it and smiled in her sleep. I took a deep breath as I walked down the stairs to the living room where her dead father lay, and almost vomited. He hadn't rotted away yet, it had only really been a few hours. Carefully stepping over the body, I made my way to the kitchen. My swift hands opened drawer after drawer to find some trash bags. Once they were located, I made my way back to the body and lifted his head into the first bag. I tried to keep the blood off of me, but there was too much. The slit on the throat was the most difficult to avoid. After I had his torso covered, I had to get the other bag. I lifted his feet and slid the body inside. I felt a strong temptation to vomit again, but I kept it down, knowing that if I started I wouldn't be able to stop.

"H, what are you doing?" I looked up towards the stairs at Oakley's confused face.

I tied the ties of the bags together. "I know how seeing him made you. So I figured I'd take care of it."

"Oh." She seemed relieved.

"You alright?"

"I'm as alright as anyone can be after that." Her voice was a little shaky as if she might faint again. I almost ran to help her but she steadied herself against the wall so I figured she'd be okay. "What are you going to do with him?"

Lifting the body, I made my way to the back yard. "Until we can think of something to do I'm going to put the body back in the shed. We don't want Chelsea seeing it."

"What am I going to do about the blood?" She asked.

"Well most of its on the rug right?" I observed.

"Yes. But some is on the wall and the hardwood."

I sighed. "If you can handle it, roll up the rug and take it to the shed with me."

"I can do that." Oakley proceeded to roll up the rug. She gagged when her hand sunk into some of the crimson liquid. When she had recovered, she finished the job. She lifted the rug and walked past me.

"Wow." I laughed. I honestly hadn't expected her to have that much strength.

She rolled her eyes. "H, I'm stronger than you think."

"I'm well aware." I told her. "Now lets go." I opened the door to the shed and dragged the body inside. The bag had a few tears in it. I couldn't lift a 250 pound man for too long so I dragged him most of the time.

I laid him down in the back corner behind his large toolbox, and Oakley put the rug over the bags.

"Can we go?" She asked.

I placed my hand on her back and we walked out together. "You did good." I reassured her. "You'll be fine."

"I don't know...."

When we arrived back at my house, Chelsea was still asleep. Mom and Dad must have been asleep as well because I found DeeDee alone on the couch, an ice cream cone in each hand.

"Dee?" I said snatching the cones away. "What are you doing up?"

"Chelsea's in my bed!!" She argued.

"Well we'll make you a pallet if you want." I told her.

That made her smile. Dee had this weird thing about sleeping on the floor. She said it made her feel like she was at a sleepover. Which I guess she kind of was.

I went to toss the ice creams and when I got back Oakley and I grabbed some extra blankets from the linen closet and went to make DeeDee a pallet in her room. We laid blanket after blanket on the floor and gave her a pillow. Once she had laid down, she was out. 

Oakley and I returned to my room and she sat on the side of the bed. "Hudson, I'm scared."

"I am too." I told her. "You aren't alone." For some reason she just didn't seem to grasp the fact that I wasn't going to leave her alone in this. She may have dragged me into this, but I would have helped her anyways. I just have no idea how to tell her that.

"But you didn't do it." She looked at me with those crystal blue eyes, "I did."

I sighed. "I didn't say I was scared for me, now did I?"

"Hmph." She rolled over on the bed and went to sleep. I laughed and tried to fall asleep, because as of right now, we were okay.

She woke up in the middle of the night. Her hand was on her chest and she was breathing heavily. Beads of sweat danced on her forehead. I rolled over and placed my hand on her back and she turned to look at me.

"It was just a dream." She nodded her head as I reassured her. I pulled her a little closer and she fell back asleep slowly.

Considering the amount of sleepovers we had had in the last twelve years, you would had thought I'd be used to seeing her sleep. If you had asked me a week ago I would have told you I was. But something about tonight, maybe it was her closeness, or how the tears made her cheeks shine, or perhaps it was just her. But something about tonight, made me want her in a way I never had before. And by the time I fell asleep, I must have had the worlds largest grin on my face.

"Oaks?" I was awakened by a small Chelsea at the foot of my bed tugging at Oakley's toes.

She snuggled up closer to me, and mumbled. "Hmm?"

"I want to go home." I turned to Oakley just seconds before her eyes flashed open wide.

I looked at Chelsea, I had an idea to make Oakley smile, and I wanted nothing more than to do that. "I bet I know how you can wake her up."

Her eyes widened at the same time I felt Oakley's nails on my chest. "Don't. You. Dare." She whispered.

"Get her!" I yelled. Before I knew it, Chelsea and I were tickling her as much as we could. Chelsea's laugh made Oakley smile, and Oaks' smile made me laugh. So we continued to tickle her. I wanted her to have this moment of happiness before she remembered why she was here. What she had done, I managed to keep those thoughts away until Chelsea got up and yelled, "I have to PEE!" and darted for my bathroom.

I stared at Oakley, waiting for her to remember. "You good?" I asked her after she got up to get changed.

"Yes. I have to make plans for Chelsea." She told me. I felt embarrassed watching her change her clothes. I had seen her do it millions of times, but it felt more intimate. I had to ignore it though.

I sat up straighter, "I thought you already had plans?" I asked.

"I do. I just have to put it in action." She slid her shirt on and crawled back onto the bed.

"Well what is it?" I asked her.

"Miss. Sharah." I dropped my jaw when she said her name. "I'm planning on telling her Dad and I are going on a trip not fit for young girls and our sitter dropped out last minute."

I shook my head. "Are you sure that will work?"

"Almost certain. You know she's always wanted kids, and she absolutely adores little Chelsea here." She patted her sister on the back when she returned from the bathroom.

"Who adores me?" She asked her sister.

"Miss. Sharah." Oakley smiled. "Daddy and I are going on a trip and we need Miss. Sharah to watch you." I was impressed. She was surprisingly good at this lying thing.

"Can we go now?" She begged.

I laughed in sync with Oaks. "Sure."

I drove us across the small town, following Oakley's poor directions. I had to turn around at least six times, but I didn't mind. I just laughed at every mistake and kept going. It took a lot to get me angry.

I watched from the car as Oakley walked up the steps to Miss. Sharah's front door. When she opened the door, I smiled. She always made her students laugh and was definitely my favorite teacher. She was a plump woman in her sixties. She always wanted kids but for reasons we didn't get the privilege of knowing, she didn't. I couldn't tell what was being said, and apparently neither could Chelsea who kept asking me if she said yes yet from the back seat. "No." I would tell her, as I watched anxiously.

I sighed when I saw Oakley jump up and down and turn to hug her. Oakley motioned for Chelsea to come to the door. She leapt out of the car and stumbled up the driveway.

Once Oakley was back in the car, she told me to drive back to her house. We had to pack some clothes for Chelsea and get the stuff for us and the gang.

I went to packing in the kitchen and Oakley ran upstairs to grab some things for Chelsea. Meanwhile, I spent my time in the kitchen trying to fill a duffel bag with food. I grabbed loaves of bread and canned beans. I also grabbed mac and cheese and all of the fruits I could find. Id be lying if I said I didn't snatch a couple of beers.

I looked across the hall where the living room was and I saw a knife laying on the coffee table. I walked over there and grabbed it. This must have been her weapon. I ran back into the kitchen and wrapped the knife in an old rag. I tossed it in the bag and went upstairs to wait on Oakley.

I walked into Chlesea's room and saw Oakley with a pen."What are you doing?" I snatched a piece of paper out of her hands.

"Saying goodbye to Chelsea!" She told me. "She needs to know I love her."

I cupped her face in my hands. "Oakley she knows. I promise." I told her. "But you can't tell anyone what were doing. It's not safe. And we're walking on thin ice. We can't take any chances."

"You're right." She stood up. "I'm sorry." She yanked the paper out of my hands and tore it in half, and then quarters.

"Are you ready?" I asked her. "Because I still need to grab stuff from my house. Do you have your money?"

"Yes. I took some money from my Dad's wallet. He had another $200." She said.

"Okay."

She walked over to the window and looked towards the shed. "Can I leave him there? I mean, is it safe?"

"I don't know what else you would want to do with him. We locked the door and we hid the body." I reminded her. "We can't do much else."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just scared. "

I hugged her. "We'll be fine."

I drove down the street to my house and grabbed a bag of my things. Then we went back to the Sharah residence and dropped off Chelsea's things. I figured I should treat Oakley one last time. So when she returned, instead of going back to my house, I took her to a build-a-bear workshop. Her face lit up when I pulled into the parking lot. We hadn't been here since we were fourteen, but it made her laugh all the same.

"H, we haven't been here in years!" She giggled.

I grinned. "Well you wont be able to come back for another so let's go!" I took her inside and let her choose her bear. I watched in admiration as she stuffed, dressed and dressed it again. A

"I'll be right back." I told her. I went through the line with a panda of my own. Stuffing, placing the heart, and dressing it were fun. Oakley laughed at me as I struggled to find a dress that I felt matched it's fur. Little did she know, I didn't actually care about the dress. I was just waiting for her to look away.

After she finally turned her attention back to her bear, I walked up to the desk and told the lady that I wanted to add a message with mine. She smiled and handed me a recorder. I walked into the bathroom and recorded my special message for Oakley. I knew I wouldn't be giving it to her yet, but I knew that I'd give it to her when I was ready.

I walked back up to the front and gave her my panda and the recorder. I turned to look at Oakley and she had changed the outfit for what had to have been at least a third time. She was finally walking towards me with her final choice when the lady gave me the bear back and said, "Whoever Oakley is, she's a very lucky girl."

Luckily, Oaks didn't hear that but I smiled and took the bear. I paid for the stuffed animals and got back in the car. I threw my head back in laughter as Oakley made me turn around and drive back to Chelsea so that she could give her the bear. Of course she made the bear for her. I should have known.

I parked my car on the bridge. When we got out, we realized we were late.

"When I say you need to be somewhere at a specific time, I mean that time." Noah glared at me.

"Sorry man, We got a little distracted." I laughed as I thought about the stuffed bear in my bag.

Noah rolled his eyes. "We can't risk anything. We have to be prepared. Anyways," he reached into his bag and pulled out three knives. He handed one to Oakley, one to Ravyn, and one to Ashley.

"What's this for?" Elliot asked a little shakily.

"I hope y'all brought more than one extra shirt." he reached into his bag and grabbed one of his. He took the knife back from Ashley and cut right along the palm of his hand and rubbed it all over the shirt.

One by one we all pulled out our shirts. Well, everyone except for Elliott.

"I don't know if I can go through with this guys." He told us.

Ravyn turned to him. "Elliot, I love you to death but you can't go back now. You know too much. You agreed and you have reached the point of no return. Besides, a small cut can't be worse than months of life with Ethan." She took her knife and slid it across her hand and used her shirt to soak it up.

Eventually we all did the same, soaking our shirts, and holding them tightly to try and stop the bleeding. Now we didn't know how this was going to end. We had no jobs, no one but each other. But when Noah stepped to the edge of the empty bridge on that cold November night, none of us hesitated to follow him. The darkness encompassed us and we held our shirts over the edge and looked at one another with fear. The wind blew against our bodies. And there we stood for what felt like an eternity. Six kids, alone in the world with no one but each other. Some of us had no family, others had some we were leaving behind. But all the same, we felt that this was right. We knew we weren't just leaving our lives behind. We all took a deep breath and turned to each other one last time, then we let go. We watched as our shirts fell to the rough water below. We were free, we couldn't go back, and we had to live with our choices. Many of us were chasing our new lives while doing this, holding on to our dreams and letting go of our fear. They had know idea what they wanted besides freedom. But I knew what I wanted, and I knew that I was going to follow her to the end of the world