Running Away

He stood in the doorway, silently looking at the woman lying in the bed, her chest slowly rising and falling with every intake of breath. He wandered softly from the room, his eyes falling on the packed bags leaning against a cupboard. He padded into the kitchen, and fell into a chair with a loud creak.

He sat there for numerous minutes, just letting time pass him by, the only sounds coming from the clock and his slow, shallow breathing. All he could think about was his problem. His own horrific past which was rushing forward to meet him once again. He didn’t dare to let it taint her perfect world.

He loved her too much for that to happen and he was willing to cause himself tumultuous pain to avoid it ruining her. He could cope. He had before and he could again. He’d thought about leaving for weeks, ever since he knew they were coming back.

But life had never been like this before. Normally, when he ran, he wasn’t leaving anything behind. He didn’t make ties or attachments so that when he upped it and left, he wouldn’t be hurting anyone. Then he met her and he didn’t care about his original intentions. His original plan that was to never to fall in love. He loved her the moment he laid eyes on her and to his joy she returned the love.

He didn’t dare hurt his beloved fiancée with this. That’s why he planned to leave. Tonight. Before they got too close to her.

He lifted up his bags from the floor, pushed the chair back and walked through to the lounge. He took a bulging envelope from his pocket and sat it on the coffee table. (Initially it was meant to be a hurried explanation but he felt he owed her more than that. He had to tell her exactly how he felt and why he had to leave. The letter ended up six pages, front and back.)

As he walked to the front door, he passed the mantle piece and the photograph in the middle stood out a mile away. It was a simple picture of them together. Their stances were comfortable and they were gazing at each other rather than the photographer. Her mouth was turned up into a grin, her eyes creased and sparkling with delight. He stopped there to stare at the picture, his eyes glistening with tears.

The bags fell from his hands, landing on the ground with a soft thud. He crept back to the bedroom and snuck over to the bed before lying down next to her. Her arms found him and she hugged him close to her, greedy almost, like she never intended to let him go.

“Where have you been all this time? I started to freak out that you were never going to come back. You can only spend so long in the bathroom.” She laughed quietly, her voice thick with sleep.

“All you need to know, my love, is I’m back. I’m here, I love you and I swear I will never leave you.”

Then, he knew he meant it. He was not strong enough to leave her because she was part of him as much as he was a part of her. With her there beside him, he could face his demons and succeed, as she was with him. Without her, he would be a shadow, unable to focus on anything and his past would engulf him, like it had always threatened before.

He ran because he had nothing to stop him succumbing to them. Now, with her, he had a reason to move on.

He lay back against his pillow, put his arms around her, kissed her forehead gently and let sleep wash over him. Tomorrow was one more day. They’d fight it when it came.

Author's Note: This is my first one shot on Fictionpress. I wrote it one night in about 20 minutes and I actually rather like it. It isn't brilliant, I know but this time, I'm not too fussed. I think it does the job. Yes, it's rather fluffy and quite vague (his past, for example. When I know what that is, you can be sure, I will tell you.)

Reviews are SERIOUSLY welcomed for this one because I would love to improve it because I do love it (it seems very much like a prologue to an actual story. Oo-er, watch this space). Please don't flame but if you feel the must, I will be very snotty in return. (:

thanks you for reading.