To Leave It All Behind

To Leave It All Behind

Chapter Two

Mixed signals, mixed signals

They're killing me

I don't know what you want

But I know what I need

“I’m sorry.”

Karolina glanced at Alex in confusion before quickly turning her eyes back to the road. Those two words were the most that had been spoken in the past two hours

Sitting in the cab alone with Alex was uncomfortable to say the least. They’d been driving for hours in relative silence, save for the rumbling of the tired engine and the sounds of Old Lace grunting in the back. They had tried to lessen the silence using the radio but every station in the state seemed to play the same news report between every song.

Breaking news. An amber alert had been issued for a group of four teenagers with regards to the alleged homicide of ‘Destiny Gonzalez’, previously ruled an accidental drowning. These four teenagers: Alex Wilder, Nico Minoru, Chase Stein and Karolina Dean are also wanted in connection with the disappearance of Molly Hernandez from her home in Montebello. Anyone with news regarding this case please contact Detective Florez of the LAPD at the following number...

Alex had quickly shut the radio off.

Every so often he would mutter a direction and despite the fact that Karolina had never had any reason to leave the Bay Area she had enough of a sense of direction to know they were heading for the state line, and Nevada.

Around this time of year the sun set pretty early in the afternoon which meant they had been driving in darkness for quite some time. The loud clattering and mumbling from the back of the van had quieted soon after sunset which, Karolina supposed meant everyone else had fallen asleep. A loud snore that either came from Chase or Old Lace had confirmed her suspicion.

Even back when they had all been best friends it was Alex who she had the least in common with. She could only think of one thing they shared and that was a girl, but she couldn’t exactly strike up a conversation about how amazing Nico was without Alex catching on. She was pretty sure Nico would want to tell him about them.

Whatever ‘they’ were because they’d never had a chance to talk about it. All she knew was that she wanted Nico to be hers. She wondered if Nico wanted the same.

“Are you glowing?” Alex’s voice broke through her haze and she realised that the tips of her fingers were glowing a bright purple colour.

“No, sorry.” She clenched her fingers around the wheel and the brightness faded until they were once again sitting in darkness. She cleared her throat before continuing. “What were you saying?” she asked hoping he would choose to ignore it.

Luckily Alex seemed to have bigger things on his mind as he turned to look away.

“I said... I’m sorry.” He mumbled, eyes staring resolutely out of the passenger window.

“Okay, about what though?” She asks worriedly. They had only just got out of immediate danger and if Alex had done something warranting an apology then they could all be in trouble again. Had he called his parents like Nico said?

“Wanting to leave without you, twice. I-I wasn’t thinking straight and Nico made me realise how much of an idiot I was being. We shouldn’t have left you to fight Jonah on your own in the first place.” Alex admitted slowly and Karolina made sure to let him finish before answering. After he stopped talking he let out a deep breath and swung his gaze from the window to shoot her an apologetic look.

“Alex, I’m the one that told you guys to go. You have nothing to apologise for.” She assured him with a kind smile. She reached out to squeeze his hand before quickly returning it to the wheel as the van swerved out of her lane.

The last thing she needed was to give Gert anymore ammunition of her ‘Atrocious driving skills that only serve to reinforce the stereotypes about female drivers’, something she’d heard the other girl shot earlier from the back of the van.

“It doesn’t matter that you told us to go...” Alex groaned and snatched off his glasses, rubbing agitatedly at his eyes. “We’re all each other have now and we need to look out for each other.” He clenched his jaw tightly and Karolina could see the tension building in his shoulders.

Out of all of them Alex had taken everything the hardest. After all he was the only one that had a good, normal relationship with both his parents before everything went down. Well, apart from Molly but the Yorkes weren’t actually her parents and she had a good relationship with pretty much everyone.

“I told you to go Alex.” She insists again but a quick glance his way showed her words hadn’t offered any comfort. With a sigh she turns fully to face him. “I forgive you Alex.”, even though you didn’t do anything wrong, she added in her head.

After that he seemed to relax just a little but she could tell he was still upset. She tried to lighten the mood.

“After all as it says in the Book of Gibborim, ‘Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving to one another.’” She quoted easily and plastered a faux bright smile on her face.

Alex snorted in reply. “Did you ever really believe that stuff?” He asked skeptically.

“It was all I knew. I was born with the bracelet on my wrist and the book in my hand. I’m not sure I ever truly believed what I was saying...” she trailed off because she honestly didn’t know the answer herself.

Alex just hummed in acknowledgment before changing the subject after sensing her discomfort.

“Do you think Nico has forgiven me?”

Karolina raised an eyebrow. Nico and Alex’s relationship was something she tried to block out most of the time so just shrugged.

“I think we had something good going before she found out about Amy...”

Karolina’s grip on the wheel tightened and she bit her lip in frustration at the effort it took not to start glowing again. Where was Alex going with this?

“Maybe she took a leaf out of your book, literally.”

“Hmmm.” Karolina hummed noncommittally and focused her eyes on the road, resolutely avoiding his hopeful looks.

“I think she did.” He nodded to himself and Karolina wondered if he was even talking to her anymore.

“I mean we did kind of have a moment this morning.”

Karolina almost get whiplash from the speed her head had snapped to the right. Alex was wearing a small contented smile as he gazed out of the window, seemingly oblivious to the horrified look Karolina was shooting him.

“This morning? A moment? What do you mean?” She urged, struggling to keep control of both her lights and the car. What was Alex talking about? This morning Karolina had woken to find everyone else already up before her.  What had happened?

“It was before any of you guys woke up. She saw me come back and we sat by the fire together for a couple hours and talked.” Alex smiled warmly and the look made Karolina’s stomach drop.

“Oh.”

She shouldn’t be jealous. Her mother had instilled it in her from a young age. ‘Wherever there is jealousy and self ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind’. Obviously the message hadn’t gotten through because right then she really wanted to toss Alex out on the road and drive without a backwards glance. But she couldn’t.

Nico wasn’t even hers and she had no right to be jealous. Especially when all they had shared was three kisses, not exactly the well defined relationship she wanted. The weeks of build up had made it seem even more magnificent to her when she had finally kissed Nico at prom. But Nico didn’t have all of that build up. In fact, Karolina was pretty sure that night was the first time the other girl had even viewed her as an option. Unlike with Alex, who everyone had expected her to end up with, even when they were kids. Was it possible that she had read too far into the small moments of affection they’d shared. Surely Nico wouldn’t lead her on like that though. After all Nico had kissed her. Twice.

“Karolina! The road!” Alex yelled and lunged across her for the wheel, pulling the car away from the left where it had been teetering dangerously close to falling in a ditch.

“Sorry, sorry! That was me!” She exclaimed and righted the car again.

A banging followed soon after and then Gert’s muffled yells and Old Lace’s whines could be heard through the thin wall separating the cab from the back of the van.

“I thinks it’s time we switch drivers.” Alex stated as both of their heartbeats returned to resting pace.

“Okay.” She answered shortly and the next twenty minutes were spent in silence until she pulled into the dimly lit car park of a gas station. It was one of the larger ones that had an all night supermarket attached. On the other side of the road was a dodgy looking pizza place. Karolina could see from the outside that it was deserted, save for a lone figure at the register.

She jumped out of the cab without a word to Alex. One by one Chase, then Nico, then Gert hopped out of the back of the van and stretched. Karolina watched as Old Lace tried to follow her out but very halted her with a few whispered words before shutting the door.

“Molly’s fast asleep.” Chase informed them when Alex shot him a questioning look.

“Nice driving.” Gert complimented sarcastically. Karolina crossed her arms and looked away. She was not in the mood for Gert’s insults right now.

“You did great.” Nico whispered and Karolina struggled not to glow from the praise. She avoided meeting Nico’s eyes and nodded minutely in reply. She could still feel Nico’s eyes burning into the side of her face as Alex began to talk.

“I think we should fill up some gas and grab some supplies from the store. Maybe someone can grab some dinner from that place as well.” Alex gestured to the pizza place and Karolina struggles not to cringe at the thought of how many health codes it probably violated. When nobody voices any disagreement Alex nodded and handed them each some cash from a giant wad of money in his pocket. She wasn’t even going to ask.

“Okay, I’ll get the gas.” He moved to enter the driver's seat and Gert quickly joined him in the passenger seat, pointedly avoiding Chase. Karolina frowned, she was pretty sure they had kissed at prom judging from their ruffled appearances, so why weren’t they seizing the opportunity for alone time.

“I’ll head to the store.” She decided, knowing she would find one thing in there that would calm her racing thoughts. Plus she really needed to be alone.

“I’ll come with you.”

“No!” Subtlety never was her strong suit and now both Chase and Nico were staring at her with wide eyes. She quickly smiled and added, “Um, Chase might need help carrying the pizza’s.”

Karolina could tell that Nico didn’t buy it but she quickly turned before either of them could reply and rushed across the empty car park, almost tripping over in the process. She hoped to god that Nico wasn’t still watching her because that would be embarrassing. The tips of her ears tingled in the way her skin always did when she was about to glow but she quickly pushed the urge down.

She kept her face averted from that of the cashier as she ducked into the first isle and began grabbing the essentials. She then snuck around to the furthest isle and grabbed the smallest bottle of vodka they had. One that could be concealed discreetly in her pocket.

Halfway to the checkout she spotted a display case filled with the off brand makeup products that these roadside stores sold. She found herself staring at the matte black lipstick for a few moments before she shook her head. She grabbed the darkest colour she could find along with the palest foundation. Just because they were on the run it didn’t mean Nico had to feel uncomfortable.

Luckily the checkout guy was to engrossed in his comic book to look up at her properly because if he had he might have either recognised her from the news or realised that she probably wasn’t old enough to be buying vodka. He bagged everything up for her and sent her on her way with an unenthusiastic ‘Thanks for shopping with us’.

“Did that seem a little...” 

“Weird? Yeah.” Nico agreed with Chase as they both watched Karolina basically sprint towards the store. Nico struggled not to snort as she appeared to trip over her own feet at one point. Chase didn’t withhold his chuckles which prompted her to smack him lightly in the stomach. “Stop.” She told him reproachfully.

“Ouch, sorry. It was funny.” He protested with a grin as they crossed the road to the pizza place. A bell above the door jingled as they walked in and a teenage boy with tired eyes glanced up at them.

“Welcome to Papa Joe's Pizzeria, home of the best pizza in the world. How may I help you today?” He drones almost as if there was a script directly in front of him. They both let out a little breath they had been holding when it became clear he didn’t recognise them.

While Chase ordered for them her mind began to wonder to Karolina, as it usually did these days, and why she had been so standoffish. Maybe a combination of stress and sleep deprivation? The blonde would likely be tired after driving for however many hours they’d been going for.

“He said it’ll be around fifteen minutes.” Chase sighed as he sat on once of the few wobbly stools strewn around the floor of the pizzeria. The kid had disappeared through the doors that must lead to the kitchen.

Nico nodded and jumped onto the stool next to him.

“So you and Karolina, huh? That’s nice.” He commented.

“You and Gert, huh?” She mimicked causing him to frown slightly.

“Nope, she doesn’t want anything to do with me.” Chase admitted, looking all too much like a kicked puppy as he did so. If Nico didn’t find the situation so amusing, after having heard Gert’s side, she would have felt sorry for him. In reality it was much more like she was watching a Hulu teen drama. Next thing she knew, Chase would turn out to be a werewolf or something and Gert would fall for his hairy charm.

“Maybe you should...” she pauses for dramatic effect, “Talk to her.”

Chase shoots her an annoyed look. “I’ve tried. She keeps ignoring me or getting that stupid dinosaur to spit in my face.” He pouts. What kind of grown male pouts like that anyways?

“You’ll find a way.” She pats him reassuringly on the back. “What’s your bet we get food poisoning from this place?” She joked as she eyed the black mould beginning to form around the doors.

“Oh, One hundred percent.” Chase agreed. “On a scale of Gert’s fifth grade birthday party to that one time Karolina tried to make dinner instead of ordering in?”

“Surely nothing can get worse than that.” Nico chuckled as she fondly remember all of her friends choking down Karolina’s undercooked chicken parm and spending the next day vomiting. The blonde had felt so bad that she payed for their takeouts for the next few weeks.

The kitchen door opened and a man wearing only a sauce stained white vest and grey jogging bottoms emerged, carrying their pizzas.  

“Order for Chad Stuart.” Nico rolled her eyes, both at Chase’s stupid fake name and the fact that they were the only ones in this dump, probably the only ones around for miles.

“That’s us.” Chase answered anyway and moved to take the pizzas only for the guy to still as he looks up at him. His hands clenched securely on the box as he looks both Chase and Nico up and down a few times. Chase tuged on the boxes and the man released them quickly.

“Wait here. I forgot, uh, your napkins.” He ordered before ducking back into the kitchen.

Nico quickly caught on and hissed to Chase. “Let’s get out of here, he’s probably calling the cops. As if this place has napkins.” Chase nodded jerkily and they speed-walked towards the exit only for a distinct click to have them freezing. The unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked.

“Don’t move.” They slowly turn to see a pistol being held steadily in their direction. “Get away from the door.” He orders.

“But you just said don’t mo-“

“Shut up, Chase.” She hissed as they both shifted away from the door. He moved to block the door whilst keeping his gun pointed at them.

“You psychopaths are all over the news and you choose to stop and grab pizza?” He chuckled disbelievingly.

Nico could admit that it sounded pretty stupid when he said it like that.

“We were hungry!” Chase protested and the only thing keeping her from smacking him upside the head was the risk of possibly getting shot for the action. Maybe it would be worth it?

“You’ll get fed in jail where you bastards are going to be for a long time.” He answered before calling out to the back. “Dean, call the cops!”.

The kid who took their order pokeed his head through the door and surveyed the situation with wide eyes.

Just as he began to reach for his phone there’s a loud smack and the sound of a body falling to the floor, accompanied by the jingle of the bell above the door. Nico spun around to find Alex standing over the unconscious body of the chef.

The gun he had used to knock out the chef clutched tightly in his hand.

“Where’d you get a gun?” Chase blurted out in shock and his eyes widened as Alex raised the gun in their direction. Nico had the same question, he had shown her the money yesterday but said nothing about the gun. Who was the ‘friend’ he had met up with?

“Not important right now, Chase. Put the phone on the counter.” Alex ordered and Dean who appears to be completely terrified, quickly does as he’s told.

Nico grabs the cracked iPhone and pockets it before crouching down to grab the chefs gun as well.

“Let’s get out of here quick.”

“Sorry!” Chase calls to Dean over his shoulder, pizzas still in hand, as they rush out of the pizzeria and across the road. Gert is already at the wheel of the van and starts the engine as soon as she spots then running.

Alex runs round to the passenger seat whilst she and Chase climb in the back to find Karolina staring at them with wide eyes.

“What happened? Why do you have a gun?” She squeaked out, her face clearly alarmed at whatever state they must be in. The van begins to move off before they even finish closing the doors.

Chase rapidly retells the story of what had just happened and Nico watched as Karolina’s face morphs from shock to horror. “Where did Alex get a gun? Why do we need guns?” She asks worriedly.

“We won’t. It’s just a precaution.” Nico answered as she unloaded the gun and placed it down next to her.

Karolina doesn’t seem sated and eyes the gun as if wondering how to get rid of it as quickly as possible.

“Hey, it’ll be fine. It’s unloaded.” Nico placed a hand on Karolina’s knee and squeezed in an attempt to assuage her. Karolina sighed and leaned her head onto Nico’s shoulder tiredly. Nico hummed softly and brushed the stray wisps of hair out of Karolina’s face as her eyes begin to drift shut.

“Hey, pizza and sadness. This is exactly like our reunion night.” Chase exclaims as he throws Old Lace sparing slices of pepperoni with one hand, stuffing his face with the other.

“Did you say pizza?” Molly asked sleepily as she stretched.