| Chapter One: First Loves He held on to her tightly, he was running away and this might be the last time he saw her. Her long hair, golden red even in darkness, felt soft as his fingers toyed with it. He brushed the hair from her forehead and cupped her pale face in his hands. He stared down into those innocent hazel eyes. This was the face that had so silently consoled him when his world had begun to crumble. He knew he was running from his father, and his father�s beliefs. From what everyone had wanted him to be. He refused to believe he was running from her too. �I don�t mean to run from you, I�m not running from you. I just have to know that these beliefs and thoughts that were been crammed down my throat are mine. No one else�s.� He whispered, desperately wanting her to see it all through his eyes. �I know � but I�ll still miss you.� She smiled into his defiant greenish-brown eyes; �I�m going to miss this face.� She kissed his forehead, his deep brown eyebrows, ran her thumb down his nose. She kissed his ears, warm neck, eyelids, and the palms of his sensual, hard-working hands. She buried her soft face into his hands, and he tenderly stroked her skin. She adored the sensation of his callused fingers rushing over her face. �This isn�t about religion is it Scott?� Her soft voice asked, looking up again. �What do you mean?� He asked, watching her slowly open her hazel-gray eyes. �You�ve got dreams Scott Stapp. You wanted to play and create, fall down and start it all over. You wanna taste life instead of just being in it.� She gracefully smiled, using her usual poetic words. �How do you know so much?� He held her to his chest again. �Simple, I�m a women in love.� �So that would explain it.� He chuckled against her hair. �Scott we gotta go.� Mark whispered from the car. �I�m coming.� He closed his eyes and held her tightly against him, absorbing as much of her into his memory as he could. He felt her breathing quietly. In�out�in�out, the rhythm was hypnotizing. �Let me know when you make it to Florida.� She finally pushed away, �You�d better go.� �How are you getting home?� He pushed the brown bangs out of his eyes. �My dad�s coming to get me soon.� She answered, looking at the deserted Tennessee road. They were in the middle of nowhere, by Hannah�s house. It was dark and getting cold. She knew Mr. Stapp would be here soon, and she would play clue-less, just like they�d planned. Her father, who thought of Scott as his son-in-law already, would be her alibi. �Well, bye Hannah.� He whispered picking up his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder. �That was abrupt.� She smiled. He swallowed slowly and bit his lip. He couldn�t stop looking at her. �Sorry, I�m not good at this sort of thing.� He gave her a sweet, lopsided smile. She nodded, staring at her feet. Quietly he unclasped the silver ball-chain from around his neck. His father hated it, but he knew that she�d wear it, if not to just enrage his father. He tapped her chin and her eyes shot up. �Here.� He draped the chain around her neck. He laughed as he examined it on her. �What?� She asked, hazel eyes narrowing. �Nothing,� He smiled, �You�re quiet, and sweet � it looks so � not you. I feel like I�ve corrupted you in some way.� �Well if being corrupted means I get to be with you, I�ll take what I can get.� She smiled, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him. �I love you.� Scott held her one last time. �I love you, now go.� She smiled and shoved him towards the direction of the car. She didn�t want to say good-bye, it was too final, and it left no option of ever restarting their relationship. �I�m coming back for that necklace.� He shouted, jumping into Mark�s car. �I�m counting on it.� But that would never be. Hannah O�Connell watched as the man that she loved got into a car that was headed for Tampa, Florida. She was happy, because he was happy. He would be away from the one person who wouldn�t let him grow up. Who wouldn�t let him be himself, his own father. She wouldn�t see him again for six years. |