Chapter Text
Evan lets the plush seats of the bus soothe his bones, the engine kicks on and it's like everything this town gave him falls through the floor, it was like dropping a bag of mouldy bread into the trash, it was for the best, it left the air smelling fresher.
He's not scared of leaving this town and going to a place he doesn't know, he's excited.
Okay so maybe he was a little scared but in his defence he's never left his little town, much less by himself. His fingers drum against the seat anxiously, it's only been half an hour but he was already having second thoughts.
What if Maddie wasn't at the same address she gave their parents?
What if she decided to turn him away? He knows his sister never would but Doug? Yeah, Doug would tell him to leave.
God, what if she really did turn him away? Evan had only brought enough money for the bus ride there, the clothes on his back and she shows tied to his feet, he's glad Eddie had given him his Chucks back- they were the only shoes of his that were still hanging on to life.
Was he just hanging on to life himself?
He watches his hometown disappear into the distance, the snow becoming rain, the rain becoming cloud, it was weird. Most people should feel sad at leaving the place they grew up in, they should miss the places they used to hang out with their friends, Evan felt nothing. It wasn't relief, it wasn't anger, it was just- nothing.
Hershey wasn't the sweet smelling town most people thought it was, Evan hated the thick scent of chocolate most days, it's why he insisted on adding cinnamon and vanilla to his hot chocolate, it overshadowed the smell enough to the point where Evan could actually stomach it.
He rests his head against the cool bus window, the old lady next to him clicks her knitting needles together, the man scrawls in his little notebook as his pen drags on the page, a little girl 3 rows down talks quietly to her mother about the rain and the rainbow she hopes will come later- it's all background noise to Evan. It's soothing, it's calm, he doesn't feel his eyelids close as his breathing evens out, he doesn't even realise he's falling into the clutches of sleep before it's too late.
His mind drifts to those caramel eyes he'll miss dearly.
Evan hopes, just like the little girl and her rainbow, that he'll get to see Eddie again in this life.
The little old lady beside him on the bus walks off with him, he helps her down the steps and gets a pat on the cheek for his troubles, she calls him a ‘kind young man’- Boston was already better than Pennsylvania in his opinion.
It's not even a day but he already misses Eddie, he wishes they were older, he wishes he had asked Eddie to run away with him but he knows that would have been selfish. Eddie had an entire family that would miss him if he just disappeared.
Evan had no one.
That's why he's out here looking for his sister in the first place.
He gets a few odd looks when he asks for directions, one man scoffed in his face and turned the complete opposite way- rude. It doesn't stop him from heading towards his sister. One step closer to freedom.
The house is smaller than he thought it would be, he can see his sisters beat up jeep in the driveway, he breathes a sigh of relief when he doesn't see Doug's own car. Evan raises his hand to knock on the door when it opens, the person rushing his way without looking where they were going, his butt colliding with the stone pathway painfully, he groans as he rubs at the offended area. That was gonna leave a bruise.
The familiar voice above him begins to apologise, her face blocked from view by a large purple binder juggled in her arms along with a thermal coffee cup, her keys and a bag hanging off her shoulder. Evan sits, just waiting for the moment she realises who is sat in front of her, Maddie freezes the moment her chestnut eyes catch a glimpse of him. She scans his entire face, he grins widely at her. God, he's missed her so much.
His sister drops to her knees, pushing everything in her arms aside as she tenderly cups his face, manoeuvring his head from side to side to examine the yellowish bruise still over his eye. She brushes a thumb over his birthmark tenderly as her eyes begin to well up with tears. She still smells like cinnamon, subtle and comforting.
“Evan…” She chokes out past the lump in her throat, Evan can't help but smile brighter. He's really missed her.
“Hey, Mads. I didn't expect to bump into you, literally. I was about to knock but-” She cuts off his rambling with a tight hug, cradling the back of his head as she pulls his face closer to place a kiss to his brow, he wraps his arms around her as tightly as he can, he's not sure how well he's hiding his trembling but she doesn't mention it. They don't say anything. They sit there for what feels like hours, simply existing in the same place together after so long of being apart.
He's not sure how he's supposed to tell her why he ran. Would she even believe him?
Was this a bad idea?
Maddie is the first to pull away, rising to her feet and pulling him right along with her, she picks up everything she left scattered on the floor as she opens the front door wider for them to walk through.
“Doug left earlier, he's not due back until later. I was about to head to work myself but it can wait. I want to hear about why my little brother is here and with a black eye no less.”
Fuck, this was not going to be fun.
She sits in silence.
Evan had spilled his guts, starting at the very first slap until just the other day when he smashed the bathroom mirror himself, he'd shown her the bruises and scars that littered his body, he'd seen the look of horror on her face, the way she turned pale from just a glance. He'd left out a lot of the details with Eddie; he didn't really want his sister to know what they did. It was their moment, no one else's. He wanted to keep that secret just a little closer to his heart. It was his first, in many ways, that he doesn't want to tell her about.
He watches her mouth open, then close, her hand tightening around the ceramic mug filled with milky tea, his own honey tea sits untouched in front of him. His fingernails dig deep into the palm of his hand, crescent moons sure to appear later from the pressure.
He shouldn't have come. He knew this was a mistake.
She was going to kick him out, she was thinking of a plan, she was going to tell their parents where he was.
She was going to-
Nothing. She doesn't yell at him, she doesn't tell him to leave, she just- moves.
Maddie grabs their mugs, washing them thoroughly before placing them on the draining board, she leaves the room, he thinks maybe she's going to grab her phone. She's gone for almost 20 minutes.
Their parents had hurt Evan.
They still called him the name he hated, they still treated as the girl he never was, they'd hit her baby brother. His bruises were so similar to her own, left by people who were supposed to love them. She always told herself Doug hurt her because he loved her so deeply, she knows now just how wrong she was.
Her little brother had been abused by the people she left him with and still- he got out.
Evan was brave enough to run for help, away from Hershey, away from the Buckley's. Could she be brave like her brother?
She stares at the duffel bag laid out on the bed, her clothes piled high, cash stuffed into the front zipper pocket for emergencies, she had stared at this bag so many times in the past before closing it up and hiding it back in the attic.
Just in case.
She'd never had the strength to leave for herself, she'd decided long ago she could live like this, it wasn't that bad she'd tell herself. Denial.
The engagement ring sitting on her finger screams her name, she hears Doug's voice in her mind telling her this is the best she'll ever get.
Did Evan think this way when he was deciding whether to run away or stay and endure the abuse thrown his way by a town that was supposed to be a comfort, a home?
If she can't leave for herself, maybe she could leave for Evan. Yeah, for Evan.
Maddie tugs at the ring on her finger, slipping it off gently before laying it down on her side of the bed, she zips the duffel up before slinging it over her shoulder and heading out to the kitchen where her brother awaits her.
She doesn't look back.
Maddie comes back after 20 minutes with a bag over her shoulder and a look that could floor even the strongest of people, she was the embodiment of determination in that moment.
“Hey, uh, what's with-” He's about to ask until she cuts him off.
“We're leaving, both of us.”
“What? Wait, what about you and d-”
“Evan.” She speaks softly, her gentle hands cupping his face tenderly. “You matter more to me than some boy, you're my baby brother and I'm so sorry for not protecting you. I'm so sorry you felt like you couldn't talk to me about this over the phone, but I'm here now. And I'm never leaving. Promise.” She holds her pinkie finger up to him, he smiles at the gesture, the Buckley sibling promise, they were an oath. They were set in a stone they placed years ago, every promise carved out over the years, this one felt a lot more important than those that came before it. It felt like throwing the old one away and starting a new one, like they were about to do. They were about to start a new life.
Together.
He links their fingers, their shared smiles never dimming. Evan takes her bag for her as they walk out to her jeep, he watches her tuck the key to her home under the plant pot as he closes the trunk. Maddie doesn't look sad as she climbs into the driver's side, she looks like she's breathing for the first time after being denied oxygen for so long.
She looks like how he felt when he saw the exit sign to his home town.
Was Doug like their parents? Did he hurt Maddie?
He looks over at his sister, trying to look for any evidence he hadn't noticed before. Her long sleeves were like his own.
Fuck.
She looks over at him with a smile, he ignores the way his heart races as his attention flickers back up to her face instead of her hands, she doesn't seem to notice.
“So, where are we headed first, little brother? Maybe we could go see your little boy-”
“Nope. Don't, he's not, we- Eddie isn't-” Evans entire face burns brightly as his sister giggles, he already regrets mentioning Eddie's name, it's a good job he didn't go into too much detail earlier. He'd never be able to look his sister in the eyes again.
He thinks hard about her question, where should they go? On the bus ride here his destination was just wherever his sister was, he didn't expect her to pack a bag of her own and leave her life behind for him. For them.
Maddie may not have told him anything but Evan wasn't dumb, he knew what it looked like to hide things, he's kinda an expert at this point.
This wasn't about him.
It was about the both of them leaving behind what hurt them and starting over again.
“I don't mind. You choose the first place.” He tells her as he rests his head against the passenger side window, it's so nice to just be in the same space as his sister again after so long.
“Hm, El Paso it is-”
“No!” He screeches over her as she laughs loudly, he can't stop his own chuckles from escaping as he watches the way her eyes crinkle, her hand clutching her stomach from how hard she was laughing.
It's the same feeling Eddie gave back to him. Was he giving it back to Maddie?
He's so glad he got out, he's grateful for Maddie tagging along with him on this new adventure.
For once in his life he's not scared of what the future holds for him.
He can't wait to see what the future holds.