The next morning I woke to find my head resting on Eric’s chest clutching his t-shirt. I removed my fingers from the soft cotton of his shirt. I glanced up at him and he was still asleep. I should let him sleep, I thought. I carefully moved his arms from around me and slipped out of bed. I tiptoed to the bathroom and quickly brushed my teeth. I took a glance in the mirror and was horrified by the blueish purple lines under my eyes and the frizzy mess of brown hair on my head. I quickly grabbed a hair comb and the straitner. I plugged in the hair straitner while trying to comb through the snarls in my hair. After my hair was frizz and snarl free I walked back into my bedroom. Eric was still sleeping, I tiptoed to my closet and pulled out a pair of jeans and a dark, teal green, long sleeve shirt. I placed the clothes on the side of the bed that Eric wasn’t sleeping on then walked out of my bedroom. I walked down the hallway and peeked into my parent’s and my sister’s room; they were all still asleep. Then I walked downstairs and stepped out onto the porch. It was a little cold but the sun was just coming through a cloud and shining down on the world below it. I closed my eyes and took in the warmth of the sun. I heard sirens and quickly opened my eyes seeing a police car drive by the house. That’s when I remembered everything, it hit me like one electric zap. John, the gun, the shattered glass, Eric getting knocked to the ground, and John getting away with it all. I walked back inside trying to push away all the horrible memories. I took the steps two at a time to get to my bedroom fast. I peeked in my bedroom surprised to see Eric out of bed running his fingers through his hair. “Your up.” I said. He turned around to look at me and said “Yeah, it was a long day yesterday.” I shrugged. He walked past me and I quickly fell into step behind him while hopping into my jeans and pulling my shirt over my head. He walked down the steps and put his jacket on. “I have to go.” he said but before he reached the door I grabbed his wrist. “You can’t go! Are you crazy! John is still out there with a gun, he can kill you!” I yelled at him, angry at his stupid decision. He uncurled my fingers from his wrist. “Take care of yourself.” he said before kissing me on the forehead and then he walked out the door. I quickly wiped the tears from my eyes and stormed out the door after him. “Eric you can’t leave!” I screamed grabbing his arm, this time with both hands to get a better grip. I tried to pull him back inside but it was no use, he wouldn’t budge. “Skylar just try to understand. If I stay here I am putting not only you in danger but your whole family. I don’t want to be the cause of you or any of your family members getting hurt or worse killed. So I have to leave.” He said trying to get away. “I wont let you!” I said holding him tighter. I tried to fight the tears from falling from my eyes but they fell and once they started they wouldn’t stop. “Skylar.” Eric sighed, but before I could say anything else to convince him to say he took a step toward me and pulled me into him. I couldn’t help but cry into his jacket getting it filthy with my salty tears. We stood like this for a long time, until I couldn’t cry anymore. I didn’t feel like crying anymore, I have done enough crying over the past couple of days. I took a deep calming breath and stepped out of Eric’s hold on me. I looked up at him and I was about to say something but he beat me to it. “Ok so leaving you is…..out of the question, for now anyway.” Eric said scratching his head, “but if I’m going to stay I will have to get my stuff.” I smiled at the thought of him staying with us. “I am only staying for a little while because who knows what John is planning to do.” he told me. I frowned a little but then I took his hand. “WE will go get your stuff.” I said emphasizing the word we. Luckily he didn’t fight me, we walked together hand and hand to his house.