Noah and Adam
Noah glanced over at AJ briefly, she was sleeping. He pulled over at a gas station and created up a blanket for her, then tucked it around her. He opened his door and hopped out of the car, his legs cramped from sitting for so long. He briefly noted to find a motel. no more sleeeping in the car.
He walked around for a second or two before filling his petrol tank up, and then he went to pay for it. As he was leaving, he pulled his phone out and switched it on, and saw he had a few messages. A few from his dad, he could skip them, and one from Adam.
"Noah, mate, your dad just called, he's pretty worried. Look, don't do anything too rash. Give us a call when you can, just to let us know you're ok. Talk to you soon."
Noah checked his watch. 8am. He dialled Adam's number and heard a somewhat groggy answer.
"Adz?"
"Oh Jesus. Noah, where are you?"
"I can't say."
"Noah, you're dad's worried. So is AJ's apparently. What happened?"
"They came home, found us, we got into trouble. AJ was gonna be sent home, to Australia. And I didn't want to lose her, so... we ran."
"But you're both ok?"
"Yeah, she's asleep at the moment, but yes, we're both ok."
"What's the plan? You can't run forever."
"Yeah, I know. We'll go back eventually I guess. I don't know, I'm sorta new at this."
"Noah, just take care of yourself. And AJ."
"I will."
"Can I call you or will you call me?"
"You can call. I'm gonna get another phone, so I'll let you know, but you can't give that number to my Dad."
"I won't. Take care, right?"
"I will. Thanks mate."
Noah hung up and opened his car door and slid into his seat. He started the engine and began to drive again.
AJ
AJ stirred a little, opening her eyes with a yawn.
For a moment she forgot where she was... but soon remembered.
"Hey," she smiled a little, rubbing her eyes, "where are we?"
NOah
Noah smiled.
"A little outside Tulsa."
He rubbed his own eyes and opened her glovebox, pulling out his sunglasses.
"You hungry or anything?"
AJ
"Umm... just a little thirsty," she forwned a little.
Then she yawned again.
"So... what did I miss?"
NOah
Noah created her a bottle of water and handed it to her.
"Just driving, that's all you missed. Oh and a phone call from Adam. My Dad called him last night apparently."
AJ
AJ gulped nervously.
"Let's just hope they don't get the cops onto us just yet," she said quietly, opening the bottle and having a drink.
"I don't particularly feel like being watched like a hawk all the way back to Perth."
NOah
Noah nodded.
"We'll go back... I don't know when. I guess once our point has been made. Anyway, we'll find a motel tonight, sorry we didn't find one last night. And if we get despo, I can create a tent. Or a camper."
AJ
"Or a house," AJ smiled wryly, sitting up and stretching her back.
Then she settled back down and looked out the window at the passing trees.
"Do you have any idea of where we're headed? Like, after OKC?"
Noah
"I'm sorta making this up as we go along... we can head to New York? Easy to blend in there."
Noah reached across and held AJ's hand. "It'll be ok."
AJ
AJ flinched a little, but relaxed at his touch.
"I don't care where we go, really," she admitted, "just... away from here. If only we could have stayed with Adam or someone, but... way too risky."
She rubbed her eyes again.
NOah
Noah sighed.
"I'm sorry this happened."
He continued to focuz on the road, and pulled over at the first available spot. He turned to AJ.
"This is not what I was hoping would happen... look, if you wanna go back, say the word."
AJ
"NO!" AJ exclaimed, with more emphasis than she intended.
"Sorry," she apologized straight away, "I just, I can't go back. Not yet. Not for a while."
NOah
"I get that. Look, come on, we'll find somewhere to stay and we'll get a better nights sleep."
Noah kissed her cheek softly and then started to drive again.
"I have no idea where we're gonna go."
AJ
"That's ok," she grinned suddenly.
"I could live like this. The open road ahead, nowhere to go back to," she chuckled a little, "it's no wonder I loved the Nullarbor so much. That's a... road between Perth and Adelaide."
NOah
Noah smiled.
"Fun... but yeah... hopefully this will blow over. Maybe this will show our dad's that we're serious?"
AJ
"You know what would really show them?" AJ crossed her arms, "is if we settled down somewhere and just lived together until someone found us. That'd really get up them I reckon."
Noah
"Maybe, maybe not. Somehow I don't think - "
Noah was cut off by his phone ringing. He looked at it.
"Dad, again."
He held it over. "You wanna answer or cancel?"
AJ
AJ grabbed the phone and pressed the button to cancel it.
She felt like throwing it out the window, but wasn't sure Noah would be too happy about it if she did.
Although he could always create a new one.
Without a word, she threw the phone down and crossed her arms.
NOah
Noah switched some music on to break the silence. Reel Big Fish's happy tunes started coming from the speakers.
They reached OKC and Noah found a little motel.
"This will have to do, unless you want to keep looking?"
AJ
"Nah, it's cool," AJ nodded, looking up at the place.
"I'll stay in the car. Can you create a new phone, or do you need a SIM or something?"
NOah
"I'll go get us a room, then we can decide where we wanna go. I'll be right back."
Noah opened the door and created himself a new phone before stepping out. He walked into the motel, appearing minutes later holding keys.
"Ok, we've got a room. I put us under a fake name. It's all very sleazy."
Noah hopped into the car and parked it.
AJ
Aj saw him create a new phone, so while he was inside began to pull his to pieces.
"That's no problem," she raised her eyebrows, opening the door.
"Which room?" she looked down at all the doors, "hey, a pool!"
NOah
"Yeah, 302. We can swim while we're hiding out." Noah chuckled and led them to the room. He opened theres and switched a light on.
Oh.
A double bed.
Only one.
"You have the bed."
Noah closed the door behind them and sat on a chair. "Do you want some clothes and stuff? I might as well create it all now."
AJ
"Ah, yeah..."
She rattled off a few items of clothing she decided she needed, and some of the essentials of life.
She had to admit it was embarrassing when it came to underwear.
Once that was over, she went to turn on the TV.
"Is there a map anywhere?" she asked suddenly.
NOah
Noah created everything she asked for, not looking when it came to underwear. He then created up some of his own stuff and looked around. He opened a drawer and found a map.
"Here ya go."
He handed her stuff and the map to her.
AJ
AJ quickly put the clothes away, then opened the map.
"Ok, so we're here..." she traced her finger over the map, "and we want to go..."
She looked up at him for a moment.
Noah
Noah shrugged. He kissed her forehead and pointed at Tulsa.
"We wanna get away from here. How about... LA, NY? Somewhere big, easy to blend in."
AJ
"Agreed," she nodded, playing with his hair a little.
Her eyes scanend the map thoughtfully.
"Where would they not expect us to go? Somewhere like... NY might be obvious. But I like the idea of LA. Strictly because of a certain favourite band."
Then she looked up at him.
"You need to create yourself a guitar so you don't lose anything. Where are you guys supposed to be recording? Tulsa?"
Noah
Noah shrugged. "I'll survive without it. We're recording in Tulsa, but Adz will call and put it off, coz of this. It wasn't until late next month anyway."
He kissed her hand.
"Feel like a swim?"
AJ
"Well you might survive without it, but I wouldn't," AJ pointed out, folding the map up and throwing it across the desk lazily.
Then she stretched her back.
"Yeah, I do actually," she grinned, then stood.
Noah
Noah created up some towels and swimmers and went into the bathroom to get changed.
He waited for AJ to get changed.
"You ready?" he called through the door.
AJ
AJ pulled on some baggy knee-length shorts and a large shirt.
"Yeah," she replied, having another drink from the bottle of water.
She grabbed a nearby towel, and waited for him.
Noah
Noah stepped out of the bathroom. He led her outside to the pool and jumped in as soon as he was close enough.
AJ
"Oh my FREAKING God!" AJ exclaimed, as the splash of water hit her.
She'd been contemplating doing the same thing, but that water was cold!
Hugging herself, she glared at him as he came to the surface.
"As for that, I'm taking the stairs."
Noah
Noah grinned.
"It's cold... but eh."
He waited for her to get onto the stairs then swam over and jumped on the stairs, kissing her gently.
AJ
AJ kissed him back.
"Hmm... now it's not so bad," she grinned, down to her neck in water.
She stood a little out of the water again, put an arm around his shoulders, then jumped toward the deep end pulling him in.
She laughed when she resurfaced.
Noah
Noah chuckled to himself and kissed her again. He let his arms go around her waist and he held her tightly.
"This is nice."
AJ
"Ah... the water or freedom?" AJ bit her lip playfully.
"I for one vouch freedom. It's gonna be hell cold when we get out of here."
She leant in to kiss him again.
Noah
Noah kissed her for a long moment, then pulled away and rained tiny kisses all over her face and neck.
"I think the freedom is nice too. But too bad this had to happen so that we could experience it."
AJ
"At the moment I couldn't care less," AJ closed her eyes with a grin, letting Noah spoil her.
She chuckled a little.
"Nothing but the road ahead, "she sighed, "this is the life, man."
Noah
"Guess it's handy you have a boyfriend who's got creation. We don't exactly have to pay for... anything really." Noah kissed her again and lightly tapped her arse.
"Come on, I'm sorta hungry. Let's go back to the room and decide what we wanna do."
AJ
"Ok," AJ agreed, biting her bottom lip.
She took his hand and led him to the stairs, then up and out of the pool.
She shook herself like a dog, then grabbed her towel and wrapped it around herself.
Noah
Noah jumped out and dried himself off then took AJ's hand again and led her to their room. He unlocked the door and let them both in.
"You want the shower first, or shall I?"
AJ
"Me," AJ grinned, skipping towards the bathroom.
She quickly had a shower and got herself dry, then let Noah in before looking for the map again.
Noah
Noah showered quickly, dried and dressed and went back out to AJ.
"What do you feel like eating?"
AJ
"I'm not that hungry," AJ admitted, "but I guess I could handle some pizza."
She chuckled a little, pulling him down to give him a kiss. Then she straightened out the map.
"You know, this would be a lot easier if I knew half these places."
Noah
Noah created a pizza and took a slice. He looked over at the map.
"Well, pick a place and I'll say if we can go there or not."
AJ
AJ grabbed a piece of pizza and began to eat it, studying the map.
She found the farthest distance to travel to a coast in the States, then pointed to it.
"There?"
NOah
Noah shrugged. "We can try for it. Will take forever though."
He finished his pizza and sat on the bed.
"I should give Adam a call and tell him to put off the recording."
AJ
"I don't care if it takes forever, really. I could live on the road," she kissed him again, then folded the map.
"And yeah, might be a good idea to call him. Wanna do it now?"
Noah and Adam
Noah flipped his phone out and dialled Adam's number.
"Adam?"
"Noah?"
"Yeah."
"Where are you?"
"I'm... AJ and I have a place to stay tonight... look, you're going to have to cancel the recording."
"Yeah, done and done. Look, your dad has been over here since sunrise looking for you. Do you want me to - "
"Don't tell him anything."
"But - "
"Just... tell him we're ok, and we're not coming back until he listens to us."
Noah heard his dad talking in the background. "Adam! Adam, I gotta go. Bye."
He hung up as he heard his dad speak into the phone. "Right, new number. Wanna do the honours?" Noah threw the phone over to AJ and created himself a new one.
AJ
AJ grinned, then looked around.
She grabbed Noah's arm and dragged him over to the back door, opened it, and led him outside. She made sure no one was around, then held the phone out.
She phone shot from her hand, 'falling' into the sky.
"God knows how much space junk I'm responsible for," she grinned, then hugged him, watching it.
Noah
Noah kissed the top of her head then went inside and lay on the bed. He switched the tv on and watched it through half open eyes.
"We'll spend a night here then make tracks early tomorrow."
AJ
"Sweet. No complaints here."
She got onto the bed beside him, and hugged onto his chest as she began to watch the screen.
NOah
Noah kissed her head again and closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep as he heard AJ breathing and a faint sound of the TV in the background.