Chapter Text
"You should take this with you." Maddy said, voice barely above a whisper as she continued to toss things into her bag. It took Owen a moment to catch up to what she was referencing, but there laid the long, soft, pretty purple dress he had worn once on the football field.
"Are you sure?" His hands itched to reach out, to take the dress and hide it in the bottom of his own bag. Just for safekeeping. And it was expensive, he could tell.
"Yeah, why not? I was supposed to wear it to prom, but, I obviously don't need it now." She grew quiet, looking away as she spoke next. "Besides, it fit you better."
"O-Okay." Another pause as he swallowed. "Thank you." He did just he had planned, seemingly rehearsed in his brain. He cherished the soft and silky touch, before hiding the garment under the rest of his clothes and supplies.
"You ready?"
"...as I'll ever be." Which was basically just one step above not at all. But after mom died and The Pink Opaque was canceled, causing both he and Maddy to have a sort of breakdown that was difficult to comprehend or think back on, there was nothing else keeping him here.
His father wasn't his family. His house wasn't his home. He didn't belong there, here in this town, at their high school. Or even in his own body. Not that he would tell anyone that last one. Except Maddy.
After a final check of their bags, pockets, and Maddy's bedroom, they left. In the dead of night, pedaling on bikes through empty streets. The world seemed so different, here in the darkness of small suburbia. Not a single soul, car, or person on their entire journey towards the woods just on the opposite side of the school.
It almost felt like they were the only two in the entire world. It was a terrifying thought, but then comforting. He knew he could trust Maddy. Even if her confidence, her assurance in everything did even if it could be reckless, was more than a little intimidating.
"I hid some stuff out here, money and shit." Maddy had confessed one time her stepdad had stolen her tips from her newspaper job she had in middle school. Absolute scumbag, she called him. "Here, help me dig." She said, as if it was the most obvious thing.
"What?" Owen froze after he climbed off his bike, kicking the break out.
"My stuff, it's buried out here." She shrugged, obviously losing her patience. After all, they only had so much cover of nightfall. They had to be well and far away from their suburbs before sunrise. Before people could tell they had left.
"Right, um, okay."
They began to dig a hole, moving much faster now with them both shoveling. It was silent for a long time, just the sound of metal clacking and the wet slap of overturned earth. Then, Maddy spoke.
"It's almost like we're unburying Tara and Isabel, isn't it?" Owen swallowed, remembering his meltdown as he had watched that last episode she had recorded for him. How he destroyed the TV, how his father treated him after.
How it was the final straw.
This was the first time either of them had acknowledged the last episode in person to each other. Something painful squeezed in Owen's chest and he took a break from shoveling to take a puff of his inhaler. "Yeah. If only we were, huh?" He let himself smile at the possibility.
Once they were done shoveling, Maddy reached down into the hole and pulled out a lunchbox. While it was rusted and peeling, Owen couldn't help but appreciate the taped pictures cut out of teen magazines. Scenes from The Pink Opaque, of course.
She opened the box which held an envelope, a switchblade, brass knuckles, a hand lighter, and a few other miscellaneous papers that Owen didn't recognize. "Here." She offered from the envelope a stack of bills. Probably about half of what was in the envelope if he had to guess.
"Maddy, I can't-"
"Just in case we get separated or something happens." She was firm, nearly glaring up at Owen, before she titled her rocked her chin down, showing there was no room for argument.
"Okay. Thanks. Thank you."
"Right." She tucked the envelope back into the lunchbox and then put that into the bag strapped to her back. "Let's go. We're losing night time."
"Yeah." Owen shoved the bills into a secret zipper in his own backpack, hopping back onto his bike as they both disappeared into the line of trees, away from their suburb.
Hopefully forever.