Matt’s Point of View:

“What are you going to do?”

I shook my head, shaking the terror of what I had just done from my mind and focused on the petite, beautiful, woman that lay underneath me.

“What?”

“What are you going to do?” she repeated softly, taking my large hand in her tiny one.

“I…” I began to say, and I suddenly realized I didn’t know what to say. I stared down at Ariel in a silent battle with myself over what I should do. I needed to go get Val on one hand, because knowing her and her hysterics she might end up hurting herself. I couldn’t live with that kind of guilt. On the other hand…I wanted to stay with Ariel and make passionate love to her like we were just about to do.

“Matt, baby…you need to do what you have to do,” Ariel whispered, and I realized she had been rubbing my hand trying to comfort me. It suddenly made me recognize how lucky I was to be able to hold her again.

“I don’t need to do anything, I need you,” I whined, pretty much like the little bitch I was making myself into over this.

“You can have me for the rest of our lives, but right now you need to do what you think is right.”

“I fucking hate it how you’re always right,” I growled, pushing myself off of Ariel, and out into the hallway of the bus.

“Am I coming with you?” she asked timidly, peeking out of the curtain to our bunk.

“I was planning on it,” I smiled, taking her hand and lacing her fingers through mine, “You’ll need to be the one to keep me sane on this trip to Hell,”

Ariel’s Point of View:

The trip in the Escalade was quiet, to say the least. Matt had decided to check the coffee shop in town, since he knew Val sought out coffee and pastries for comfort food everytime she got in a fight with him. When there was no luck there, he thought to try the movies, then the mall, but Val seemed to have disappeared into thin air.

I stole a glance at Matt when he pulled the car over on the side of the highway. It had been 6 and a half hours since we started looking for her and it was almost pitch black out and he needed a break, and bad. A look of total defeat spread across his features and I didn’t think I’d be able to comfort him this time. I reached into my purse to pull out a pack of cigarettes when something in the ditch next to me caught my eye. We were pretty far over close to woods on the side of the highway, so no one would probably be able to see what I saw from the road. The right light of the Escalade barely made it visible, but it was there. It was a light blue Honda Civic buried halfway in the ditch, and it was smoking slightly. It had just recently run off the highway.

I tapped Matty and turned to face him, and he immediately stiffened at the fear in my eyes, “What’s wrong, baby?”

“What kind of car does Val drive?” I spoke, my voice shaking slightly. I was praying to God it wasn’t the destroyed Civic in the ditch.

“Uh, last time I knew she was driving Michelle’s Civic. Its this really ugly blue color, why?” he replied, raising an eyebrow.

My heart lept up into my throat and I couldn’t breathe. What if Val was in the car still? It’s been hours since she left. I threw open the door, forgetting how much I hated Valary and how much she hated me and I sprinted downhill towards the car.

“Ariel!” Matt yelled after me, instantly on my heels. I fell to my knees when I got to the drivers side door, and picked myself back up to try and open it up.I couldn’t see inside the car since the windows were so tinted. It was dark, and the door was pretty banged up.

“Matt, open the door,” I commanded, panic racking my every thought, and by this point Matt knew exactly what was happening, he had seen the car, he had seen the damage…

He grunted, yanking it open in one try and I jumped back screaming at the top of my lungs. Matt didn't even move, he couldn't have even if he tried.

Val’s body had fallen out of the car, and she landed right at Matt’s feet.