Chapter 2

After the half-hour drive it took to get to the company building, Jack had finally made it home. Well, what used to be home. Now, it was just a place where he used to live with Kai, his now ex-fiance.

Closing the door behind him, Jack leaned on the door, taking a deep breath. He would have to call his family to let them know what had happened. He also needed a place to stay, and probably for a few days. So much had to go into the planning of his escape from the house. Why couldn't he have put this much effort into planning the wedding? But, if he had, a lot more money would have been wasted on only a dream. A faraway dream that Jack had deluded himself into believing was within reach.

After collecting himself, Jack headed upstairs and to their shared bathroom. Connected to the bathroom was their closet, one side was Jack's, and one side was Kai's. Jack, still feeling the remnants of the very excitable rage, stomped to his side of the closet and reached for the shelf that lay just out of reach. Jack had never put anything up there, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get it by himself. But, he didn't have time to worry about that right now. Jack sighed again before backing up and readying himself to make a jump to get to the shelf.

Making the lunge, he was able to barely grab the handle of the suitcase he was aiming for. But, as he came down, everything that was up on that shelf, and the shelf as well, came down. Jack covered his head and squeezed his eyes shut against the onslaught of hard objects free-falling onto him and then bouncing off onto something else, indirectly causing the damage of said items.

Jack was able to grab the run money he had stashed a few years ago when he had just started living with Kai, convinced something was going to happen. With the suitcase and money in hand, Jack makes his way to the clothes and begins shoving in light and dark pairs of clothing into to case and counting the money at the same time. He grabbed up the suitcase and hobbled to their bedroom dresser where he grabbed multiple pairs of underwear and socks.

Hobbling to the bed, he throws the suitcase onto it and scrambles to put everything that had burst out, back into it, before dashing into the bathroom to grab a toothbrush and toothpaste, along with soap and the mini First-Aid kit underneath the sink. Running back out into the bedroom, Jack shoves all of the items into the suitcase and roughly jerks the zipper closed before going to recount the money, finding the stash held $2,000, grabbed one of his spare backpacks to stash the money and some leftover things he had forgotten to put into the suitcase.

Making his way out of the room and down the stairs, he grabs a few bottles of water and a few snack bars, before heading out of the front door to get to his car. As he is going to open the door, he hears Kai's car pull into the driveway and decides to leave the car and make a mad dash for the backdoor.

Jack heard the front door open and Kai calls his name, "Jack, my love please, just give me a chance to explain what happened!" his voice broke as he continued to shout throughout the house, hoping, that by some miracle, Jack would listen to him. But, his hope was in vain, as Jack threw open the sliding backdoor and ran into the backyard.

Jack had two choices now. Run into the woods behind the house, or try and make it around the house to get back to the car. Jack paused for what seemed like forever, but was only a few seconds, and thought about the effects in the long run. Going into the woods would provide cover, but it would also slow him down as there were no paved roads in the woods. It was also a risk to his safety because there were animals that could hurt him.

The second choice, being the car, was starting to sound better. However, it would take money to put gas into the car, and he didn't know where he wanted to go. It would also make it easier to get to places and provide shelter at night.

Running around the house to the side gate, Jack jiggles the rusty lock and manages to slide it open just as Kai bursts from the backdoor. "Jack, it wasn't what it looked like!" He tried to reach Jack, believing that if he spewed enough bullshit Jack would stop in confusion long enough for him to catch up.

Jack felt that at this point, Kai was only taunting him. Toying with him, wanting to see if Jack was stupid enough to run back into his arms. That is what he had done in the past but now was different. If he ran into Kai's arms again, he would look dependant on Kai. That was something he could not be anymore.

Jack continued, uncaring of the words that were falling out of Kai's desperate mouth. Uncaring of the tears they were starting to stream down his face again. All Jack wanted at this moment in time, was freedom. Freedom from his relationship with Kai, from the house, and from the onslaught of paparazzi that were sure to surround him like a pack of starving wolves. He wanted to be free, to be rid, of it all. But first, he had to find a place to rest.

Yanking the driver side door open, Jack hurled the suitcase and his backpack into the passenger seat, before following after them. With the keys that he had grabbed before leaving, he hurriedly turned on the car and waited for the fuel gauge to show him just how much he had left. Just in time, the gauge showed him a half tank before he could see Kai getting ready to catapult himself onto the hood of the car again.

"Jack, baby, please! It was a mistake, she tricked me into it!" Kai's muffled yelling could be heard from ontop the hood. "I was going to call you before she came in, baby!" Kai began desperately banging his palm flat against the palm of the windshield. Jack paused for what felt like the millionth time today, before deciding to speak the last words he would ever say to Kai.

Rolling down the window, Jack poked his head out of it and looked Kai directly into his eyes before speaking. "Listen here you little shit, I gave you everything I had! I was ready to drop family and friends to be with you and this is how you treat me?!" Jack took a deep breath before continuing, "For too long you have been lying to me and using work as an excuse to stay late at the company, how do I know you weren't staying late for her? How do I know that this hasn't been going on for longer than that?" Jack spoke with such ferocity and venom in his voice, the sound of it alone would have made any feral wolf become submissive.

Jack watched as Kai's face contorted into a look laced in pain, anger, and desperation. But, before he could open his mouth to speak before he could even think to register Jack's next words, Jack spoke.

"You are going to get off my car, you are going to go back into the house, and you are going to never speak to me again. Am I understood?" Jack spoke with so much finality and authority that Kai couldn't help but nod before think about his words. Finally, realizing that it was over, Kai slowly slid down the hood of the car. The car squeaking against the friction between his stomach and the metal. Jack nodded and moved his hand in a sort of shooing motion, indicating for Kai to continue with the next part of his instructions.

Kai slowly turned around looking as if he were a member of the undead, instead of alive and going through the worst breakup in his entire life. Trudging towards the front door of the house, Kai would look back every so often and see Jack sat there, in his car, arms crossed and with an expecting look scrawled across his face. Nothing has ever been this painful for Kai. No one has ever dared to break his heart as Jack had just done.

But, maybe he had deserved it. He had promised to stay loyal to Jack, his one and only, or at least that's what he said. He never meant for the cheating and the lying to go this far, he wanted to quit before they got engaged. But that was when he saw her, her hair, her eyes. Everything about her had just screamed beautiful. Her confident stride had oozed self-esteem and confidence. Who was he to deny her the chance to be with him. But, that's what got him in this predicament in the first place.