The stillness was oddly comfortable, the stars began to fade from sight and the sky was becoming brighter shifting slowly from pitch black, to a navy blue with hints of red at the very edges. The birds had yet to start singing their morning song, though. Carina exhaled, strange, this was the calmest she had felt since the night began, she didn't feel as if she had just made one of the greatest escapes of her life, she feltâ€¦. Normal? No, that wasn't quite it. Carina squeezed Aidenâ€™s hand, the blush had faded a while ago, and she rested her hand easily inside of his, a small part of her brain noticing just how well they fit together. She feltâ€¦comfortable, content even. Just sitting there at a bus station. Just her and Aiden, and nobody else in the world.<br/><br/>Carina found her mind drifting now, that it could afford too. She wondered what her own mother would think of Aiden if she ever met him. She would probably invite him to stay for dinner, pull out the good tin ware, and new candles. and when she thought they weren't paying her any mind sneak out to the porch and yell out to Ms. Adeline, across the alley about how her â€œbaby caught herself a keeper!â€ Carina let out a puff of laughter â€œMy mother would adore you.â€ She mumbled. â€œSheâ€™d probably try to adopt you.â€<br/><br/>A sudden thought derailed her from her musings, what if her mother wasn't there anymore? It wasnâ€™t uncommon for them to move around from place to place, sometimes alone, more often in groups, it was safer that way, but wherever the work was thatâ€™s where they went. But, they had hardly moved at all since her father passed, one, maybe two times at most, she could still be thereâ€¦.<br/><br/>By now she could hear the birds starting to chirp and a few people had arrived, standing around the kiosk bags in hand, to go who knows where. Carina scooted closer to Aiden, but nodded with a small smile when some looked their way curiously. The town was starting to wake up now. Shop owners unlocking doors, and opening windows, flipping signs from â€˜Closedâ€™ to â€˜Openâ€™. No sooner than her mind began to urge the bus to get here faster, they heard the rumbling of an engine, and a silver Greyhound came slowing to a stop. Within a few minutes, they stored their stuff, settled down into their seats, and the bus started rolling, the few buildings passing by in a blur, and sign written in large cursive<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic">â€œNow Leaving Echoing Hills, Come Again Soon!â€</span></div><br/>â€œNot if we can help it. Dear? Letâ€™s go somewhere nicer next time.â€ Carina snorted, finally feeling the night catch up to her. She sighed lightly her eyelids growing heavy, and sleep claimed her as she slumped leaning her head on Aidenâ€™s shoulder.