'Well don't lean on me because I am falling,

please don't fall with me'

She gets up quickly. "What are you saying?" Her eyes holding pain.

"I can't risk you in danger Bella, I need you to leave." Even the mere thought of her being gone causes me physical pain.

"I'm not leaving you," she says with pleading eyes.

"You have to..."

"No! It's my decision and you don't get to make that for me," she says angrily.

"I told you that I would break you," I say feeling defeated.

"And I told you that I could handle it," she says defiantly.

I get up and grab her face between my hands. "Don't you get it? My life is over now, I can't drag you down with me."

She rests her hands on both of mine. "We will find a way out of this together, okay? I'm not leaving you," she says again.

Then she sits me down and tends to my face, now that the adrenalin has worn off, my eye and lip ache ferociously. I feel a sting each time she moves the cloth to somewhere knew. Her face wincing with mine every time I flinch a little. "Bella..."

"Tyson no."

"This isn't even as half as bad as it can get...we are talking about a bikie gang."

She puts the cloth down and runs her hands through my hair. "How many times do I need to tell you that I'm staying right here?"

I sigh. "If something happens to you, I couldn't-"

"Tyson, I make my own decisions," she interrupts to remind me.

I smile at her stubbornness. "You are impossible."

"So what is our first move? Do we stay at mine?" I can see she has shifted back to rational mode.

"Not unless you also want to put Anna in danger," I say sadly.

Her face flickers a bit of fear before she composes herself again. "Right, well we need to go fix your door then."

I sigh again, "Bella what are you going to tell people? Are you really just going to stop living with Anna?"

She pauses for a moment to think. Then her face lights up, like she is about to do something really rebellious. "We run away together!"

"Bella..."

"Just you and me, the open road with your bike...we could start a new life!"

The temptation and the excitement in her voice nearly make me agree. The fact that she would give up her entire life for mine, it was enough to make me realise that; the way we feel about each other is stronger than any love poetry I have ever read. "I couldn't give you a life on the run like that," I whisper.

"As long as it's a life with you," she whispers back.

Fuck, what is this girl doing to me.

The sun is beginning to come up outside, "I know you have work today so, you are going to do that-'' She goes to interrupt me but I hold up my hand to stop her. "You are going to go to work why I fix the door, then I'm going to go to class. We can meet back here tonight for dinner. Go pack some clothes and tell Anna you are staying with me for a few days."

"You can't go to class with your face like that..."

"Yes I can, we will go to this race, find out what Finn wants; then decide what we will do from there."

"Why do I feel like you are going to do a runner on me?" She asks nervously.

I stroke her cheek softly, "we are in this together remember?" I say reassuringly.

"Okay," she whispers.

"I will give you a lift to yours, but Bella you can't tell anyone...you would be putting yourself and them in danger," I try to say calmly.

"I know...we are on our own," she says dismally.