This one shot was based of the song “Here I Stand” by Madina Lake. I recommend you listen to the song after you read it.

Here I Stand

She doesn’t think she could handle this anymore. Always suffocating her, he never let her be herself. She was always the girl that he wanted her to be. She was always playing the roll of the perfect girlfriend like a good little pet.

And she was sick of it.

Of course it was the middle of the night when she decided this; when she was watching him sleeping soundly next to her. It was silent and the only thing that could be heard were her short shallow breaths, while she decided what she had to do.

Being sure not to wake him, she slowly crept out of bed and grabbed her black duffle bag from under the bed.

Stuffing it with clothing, she kept on thinking again exactly what she was trying to do. Was she trying to run away from him? No, if she told him she didn’t want to stay he would let her go. Was she trying to prove something? Was this because of him not being around enough?

Tip toeing into the bathroom she grabbed all of the stuff she needed. Toothbrush? Check. Hair elastics? Check. Tampons? Check.

Stopping to look in the mirror, she took a good look at herself. Messy sweats and a big tshirt, strawberry blond hair hanging around her face, pale as a ghost. Not exactly the best she had ever looked.

She quietly opened the front door and grabbed her keys on the way out. Unlocking her car, she threw the duffle bag in the front seat. Leaning against the car door, she looked at the house and briefly thought about what she was doing.

Not wanting to waste any time, she walked back into the house and turned into the kitchen. Grabbing her Ipod off the charging dock and her cell phone she slipped them into her purse that was sitting on a seat, ready, like it had been waiting for her.

She took a cold bagel from out of the fridge and slipped it into a zip lock bag. Walking slowly into the living room, she checked to see what was there that she needed.

Empting a small basket that held a couple of magazines she tossed in her blue portable DVD player and set all of her favorite CDs next to it. She would come and get those after she got her shoes on. Setting her purse next to the basket, she went into the back room to grab her shoes.

Deciding which pair to bring with her was a hard decision. She slipped on a pair of her most comfortable flip flops and grabbed two pairs of tennis shoes and a pair of heels for the road.

Walking back into the room she stopped dead in her tracks. There he was, next to her DVDs. He looked up at her when she walked in. His brown hair was pulled in wild directions from bed head his green eyes looked confused and hurt. His dark blue boxers were all that he wore and she couldn’t believe he was here in front of her.

She tried opening her mouth to say something. She couldn’t seem to form words.

He just shook his head and pulled his hand through his hair. Walking out of the room, he left her speechless.

Sitting down on the brown couch, she didn’t know if she could think strait. What was he doing?

Coming back in a couple of minutes, he brought back with him a big storage box.

Taking the DVD player out of the basket, he neatly stacked it and all of the DVDs she had laid out into it. He took the extra shoes out of her hands, and put them in the box. He went back into their room, and came back with an armful of her books and her acoustic guitar, in its case. He also stacked the books in the box, and then picked up the box and with the guitar and started walking outside.

Bewildered at what he was doing, she grabbed her purse and keys and followed him out the door, stopping to take one last look at the door leading to their room.

He had opened the trunk to her Jeep and put the box and guitar in the back, and had started the car for her.

He jogged past her back inside. She shook her blond hair out of her eyes, wondering why he hadn’t said anything yet.

Coming back, he took her hand, and led her to the running car. Opening the door for her he slipped something in her hand. Wrapping his hand around the back of her neck, he brought her close and kissed her forehead. Before letting her go, he whispered, “I love you. Be safe.”

He stepped away and went inside the house.

Jumping into the driver’s seat, she sat there, wondering what had just happened.

Uncurling her hands, she saw she had placed a wad of money in her hand, four fifty dollar bills.

Slowly drifting into her lap was a piece of white loose leaf paper. On it, it said four simple words: I’ll love you forever.

It was in his messy, scrawny handwriting, but it was enough to bring tears in her eyes.

She took the keys out of the ignition. Not knowing what to do, she looked at the duffle bag next to her. She had a free getaway. She could go now, be free, be who she wanted to be, her own person.

And her first step in being free is going after a dream she wasn’t about to let go.

Opening the car door and practically jumping out, she sprinted toward the door, looking for the one thing she would need forever.

Turning the door knob she listened for any indication of where to go in the house. She heard some shuffling in the kitchen, so she thought she was safe going in there first.

It was actually in the living room where she ended up finding him, sitting on the couch with his head in his hands.

Running up to him, he stood up and grabbed her in a hug, at just the same time she reached for him.

She could feel him crying, and she was quite sure he could feel her crying too.

His face was buried into her hair, but she heard his quiet whisper, “Why did you come back?”

“I could exactly what I was looking for, in you.” She said into his shirt.

“And here I stand.”