It was too damn much.

Dodge was sick and fucking tired of living in Carp. Of living in Texas at all, for that matter. He was tired of being constantly ignored, or when he wasn’t being ignored, ridiculed and treated like shit for who he was. He worked out for years to defend himself from bullies, but in Texas, people were a whole different type of cruel.

Your life ain’t so much better, either. You got two parents who treat each other like shit, and the shit rubs off on you. You get pushed around at school just as much as Dodge does, which pisses him off to no end. And your ex-boyfriend is a crazy stalker who you’re pretty sure is trying to kill you.

Friday night is Dodge’s breaking point. He’s gotten into a particularly bad fight with a college dropout who’d heard through the grapevine somehow about Dodge’s rumored bisexuality. Beating up on a nineteen-year-old like that… the inhumanity of people, sometimes.

As soon as he gets to your house, Dodge can even hear the raucous fighting of your parents downstairs. He sneaks up to your room like he always does, climbing various advantageously-placed structures until he can slide open your window and crawl into your room. He sees you sitting on your bed, headphones on and music probably cranked all the way up to block out the sounds of hell. There are fresh tear tracks along your cheeks.

Dodge is quick to make it over to you. He gently pulls the headphones off your head, only so you can hear him.

“Run away with me,” he tells you firmly. “My car’s outside. I’ve got everything I need. I’ll help you pack. Please, come on, lets go.”