When Arlo met Ellie.

chapter 4

Chapter 4: closer.

**Ellie's point of view**

I woke up to the sound of birds chirping. I was covered with a blanket like a burrito because it was freezing. damn I felt like I was home for a second, I forgot that I was stuck here in someone's shed.

"you're' finally awake" Arlo said, walking inside the shed, "the food's right there if you're hungry" he said, pointing to the fish he cooked on the counter.

"did you clean?" I asked because the place is looking a little bit more presentable.

"I did" he answered. He sat beside me, giving me the food so I could eat, "why were you and your friends in the woods in the first place?" he asked.

"ugh we just wanted to go somewhere far and my friend Kyle brought us here then next thing you know we were being chased by a coyote" I explained, summarizing what happened.

"drinking palm bay?" he asked.

"How did you know?" I said. He pulled out something from his pocket.

"I saw this when I was walking around trying to memorize this place and find food" he answered, tossing the can of empty palm bay. It was the can of palm bay that Alice or Kyle threw.

"Did you find any body?" I asked and he gave me this weird look, "dude we were chased by coyotes" I added.

"No, I didn't see any bodies, that's good right," Arlo answered. He grabbed the bottle of fresh water so I can drink, "aren't you rich? why isn't your parents sending a rescue team out to look for you" he said, "your friends probably made it out alive so they should've told your parents" he added.

"Arlo, I don't know" i said, "did you find anything else?"

"no I didn't" he answered, "hey tell me something about being rich"

"you're a big talker today," I said then he smiled.

"just having a good day, you know, finally being able to explore the outside world" he answered, "so tell me"

"it's fun I guess. but it's not as fun as what other people think. okay this is not all people living in kingswood, this is me speaking from my experience" I said before I started explaining, "it's fun being able to just swipe your card and get whatever you want but it gets lonely. Sometimes I crave for family, I wanted a family not money. I would stay in that asylum room for one more day just to have my whole family in one table having dinner, laughing, and making fun of each other like we used to" I explained.

"Why where's your family?" Arlo asked.

"My big brother is living on his own, he left the house after a huge argument with my dad. My mom is on some other planet drinking wine with her new husband. yeah my parents are divorced and it's the reason why my dad worked even more. now it's just me, Jaime and dad living in that mansion. Jackson lived in our house for a couple months when we started dating but he later moved out" I explained.

"Are the three of you guys on good terms?" Arlo asked.

"Oh yes we are, thank god" I answered.

"Why did your brother move out?" Arlo asked. he seems interested about my life, "you don't have to answer that if it's too personal"

"it's because my brother started doing bad things when our mom left us. left a really big scar on him. My dad loved her so much, too much that he let her go when she wanted to" I answered.

"true love" he said.

"yeah. My dad didn't want to force my mom to be with us if she didn't want to, that's how much he loved her. it broke him like hell but he kept his chin up" I said. if my mom didn't fall out of love with my dad then we would've been complete still, "couple drinks, couple breakdowns and boom, he's back again, living his life even without her. but I know he's still hoping that she will come back one day" I added. My eyes started pooling again, I guess I'm not really over it yet. I just miss the family. i started wiping my tears before they started falling, "ugh i hate crying, makes me look like a baby"