Before I met Miles, I never enjoyed road trips.  I thought driving  was boring, and I always ended up feeling nauseous.  But sitting in the passenger seat now, watching Miles with the faint glow of moonlight hitting his face, It's something I never wanted to end. 

We've agreed to drive in shifts, at least until we're far enough from home so that we don't have to worry about being found.  As Miles drives, I sleep.  Or well, I try.  But I find myself restless, the excitement of it all is just to much. It's finally happening. We're leaving.

The roads are empty.  Apparently 3 am isn't a popular time for people to hit the highway. 

Our plan for tonight is to get as far as we possibly can before having to stop at a cheap motel to catch up on sleep. Consumed in our own thoughts we drive in silence, apart from the music playing softly from the golf's shitty radio.   Every now and then our eyes lock, and we simultaneously look the opposite direction of each other, smiles spread across our faces. 

"What are you thinking about?" Miles asks, curiosity and concern flash across his face. I look into his deep green eyes, admiring the reflection of the moon that brushes against his face.

I dig deep into my pocket and fish out a letter that's been folded into a small square. "Home.  Brae, to be exact. I forgot to give her this." I unfold the piece of paper that I meant to leave behind for Brae. My eyes scan over my words, and a wave of emotion crashes over me as I picture her asleep in her bed. She has no idea the storm she's about to wake up to. When will she find out I'm gone? How will she find out? "I didn't want her to wake up and find me gone. She's like my sister, Miles. My other half. We tell each other everything, and yet I had to hide a life changing secret. "

"Oh. I see. Maybe you can call her, read the letter out. Tell her you're safe."

"Do you think that's a good idea? What if she's with my parents, or with the police. If they track the call, we're screwed."

"Leave a voice mail, then you won't have to talk to anyone but her. Its 3:46 in the morning, she'll be crashed. No one will notice we're gone until the morning.  Why don't you do it now?" Suggests Miles.

"Oh. That's not a bad idea." 

I quietly toy with the idea before deciding its the right thing to do.  As if he can read my mind,  Miles hands me his disposable phone without a word. My fingers shake as I begin to dial.

As expected, it goes directly to voicemail. She sleeps with her phone on do not disturb. This is something I know, as I'm the one who spams her phone at 2am ritually, in the hopes we can have a late night talk, which we always do. I'm going to miss those calls. The laughing, crying, silence-- all of it.

I unfold the letter I intended to give to Brae. After hearing the distinct beep,  queuing me to talk, I put the letter down. Reading it off just doesn't feel right.

"Hey, Brae. This is Saige. Its 3:48am, and you're probably crashed." Awkwardly, I pause. "Um, I don't really know where to start, or where I should start. Something you should know is that well, I'm sorry. I have a letter on my lap, a letter that I meant to give to you. But I forgot, cause I'm an idiot."

Miles laughs. I give him the eye, smiling, and return to the call. 

"That was Miles.  Brae, I'm sorry.  If I could have told you earlier, I would have.  We're leaving.  I can't tell you where, but I promise you that I'm safe.  I'll bring you back some souvenirs, okay? I promise."

Tears begin to pool in my eyes, crashing down on my cheeks like waves as I begin to think of how long it will be before I see her again.

"You're my best friend. Please don't forget about me. I won't forget about you, and I won't leave you forever.  Where I'm going, I don't know.  But I know that wherever it is, I'll be home. I'll miss you, and think of you everyday. "  I look out the window and the moon, trying to find the words to fill the empty silence.

"Anyways, I'll talk to you soon.  I'll write to you. Okay? Okay. I gotta go. I'm sorry."

Clicking the end button, I feel worse than I did before. I should have explained more.

"That was perfect, S." I jump at the sound of Miles' deep voice beside me. I forgot he was there. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, It's not me I'm worried about.  I hope she's going to be okay with this." My voice catches and I choke back tears.

"We both knew this wasn't going to be easy. She'll be fine.  Like you said, we can write letters and send post cards. Don't stress it, it's going to be a shock either way. Sometimes, you gotta put yourself first. You're own safety is more important, in fact, you're own life is more important." Miles gazes at me, eyes shifting from my face to the road. "Okay? Everything's going to be fine. We got this."

The sound of his voice puts me at ease. Calm, encouraging, safe. I look over to him, moonlight bouncing off his silhouette. "Yeah. Thanks, Miles." I assure him with a smile.

And he's right. Everything will be fine. I knew when I left, things would change. There's no way to avoid it. We're the ones running away, as it is.

We're the runaways.