Kayleigh stepped out of the coffee shop and looked around for a mailbox. No matter how much she didn’t want to be found, she felt that she at least owed Nick a goodbye. A personal one. He had been due to come home the day she ran away and so she was sure that he knew that she had disappeared. Although, she hoped that Brooke had kept her word and not told anyone about why. It would be much easier that way. A baby would only give Nick more incentive to come looking for her. She glanced at the letter in her hand. No return address. Partly because she didn’t have one. And partly because she didn’t want anyone to track her down. The New York postmark didn’t bother her. She wasn’t going to be there. As soon as she dropped that letter into the mailbox, she was getting into her car and driving far away. Originally, she thought about going home to Connecticut but decided that going there would be too obvious. Her mother still had too many ties in Connecticut. She decided that she wanted to get as far away from her old life as possible.

Kayleigh walked across the street to where her car was parked and spotted a mailbox sitting on the corner. She glanced down at the letter, briefly, seeing Nick’s name scrawled in her handwriting. With a deep breath, she opened the mailbox and dropped the letter in. Without a glance back, she walked over to her Jeep and climbed in.

“You ready baby?” she whispered quietly, patting her stomach. “It’s just you and me now.”

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Four Days Later:

“Yo Nick!” Brian called entering his best friend’s house. “You home?” He didn’t hear a response but Nick’s car was in the driveway so he had to be around somewhere. “Frack?” Brian walked towards Nick’s kitchen and saw the door to the deck partially opened. He walked outside and saw Nick sitting down on one of the chairs, staring out at the water. He looked awful. Like he hadn’t slept in days. Brian patted his friend on the shoulder. “Hey buddy.” Nick looked up at Brian with empty eyes but didn’t offer a response.

“Nick,” Brian began, sitting down in the chair next to him. “You look like hell. Have you slept at all in the last week?”

Nick shook his head. “Nope.”

“You gotta snap out of this, buddy,” Brian advised. “It’s really not healthy.”

“It’s been a week, Bri,” Nick whispered. “No phone call. Nothing. She’s all alone out there.”

“Then she’ll be back,” Brian told him, not quite believing it himself. Kayleigh was stubborn. He knew that. But this went way beyond stubborn. She was scared.

“Lauren left,” Nick said after a few minutes of silence. Brian figured as much but didn’t say anything. After everything she heard, he knew there was no way in hell that Lauren would stay. He wasn’t even sure if Nick wanted her to.

“What’s that?” Nick asked, glancing down at Brian’s hands.

Brian looked down, momentarily forgetting that he had picked up Nick’s mail on the way in. “Oh. I got your mail. Looks like you haven’t been out there in a few days.” He handed it over to Nick and watched as he sifted through it. He tossed the junk mail on the ground and was about to drop the whole pile down when something caught his eye.

“Oh my god,” Nick whispered.

“What?” Brian asked, looking over his shoulder.

“It’s from Kayles,” Nick replied. “That’s her handwriting.”

Brian suddenly felt like he would be intruding and decided that he would leave Nick alone to read it. “I’m gonna get going,” he stated. “I gotta meet Leigh soon. Let me know if you need anything.” Nick nodded and waved at Brian as he walked back through the house. He stared at the envelope in his hands, almost afraid to open it. Finally, he tore into the envelope, hoping that whatever Kayleigh had to say would give him any clue as to where she was.

Nicky,

I’m not sure exactly why I’m writing you. I guess I felt that I needed to tell you goodbye. I owe you at least that. I’m so sorry I didn’t wait until I got to see you one last time. But that would’ve made this ten times harder.

I can’t tell you the real reason why I left, Nick. Just know that I didn’t want to get in between you and Lauren again. I saw how much that hurt you the first time and I couldn’t do it again. It was my fault she left in the first place and I’m so sorry. But this time, she wouldn’t have come back and I could tell that you were ecstatic about the fact that she was giving you another chance.

I needed to get away, Nick. To get a fresh start. I mean, after everything that happened in the past few months, I couldn’t live like that anymore. I needed to get away.

I can’t tell you where I’m going. Partly for the fact that I’m not exactly sure right now. I just can’t be there anymore. I need to get away from Florida and all of the memories. I’m so sorry, Nicky. I wish I could turn back time and make things go back to the way they used to be for us. But I know that’s impossible. Tell everyone that I’m sorry and that I’ll be okay. Especially my mom. She’s probably going insane by now. Maybe someday we’ll cross paths again. Until then, know that I love you more than anything in this world and that I’ll never forget you.

Love,

Kayles

After reading it four times, Nick stood up and walked back inside, flipping on the stereo in the living room. With the paper still in his hand, he flopped down on the couch and let the tears fall, smudging some of the handwriting on the page. How could she do this to him? Not only leave him but take their baby away as well? Doesn’t she realize how much she’s hurting everyone? Doesn’t she know how much everyone loves her? How much he loves her? The letter fluttered to the ground as Nick buried his face in his hand and cried, his sobs being drowned out by the song on the radio.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Kayleigh parked her car and stepped out, staring out at the ocean. She took her sandals off and began walking through the sand, stopping about a yard away from the water and flopping down in the sand. She stared out at the water and tears began to well up in her eyes. Kayleigh just realized that Christmas was a week away and she was all by herself. In front of her was the Pacific Ocean, two thousand miles away from where her old life had been.

Kayleigh had cleaned out her bank account and left the East coast, wanting to get as far away from Florida as possible. It was just her and the baby now. Her twenty first birthday was in four months and she would be able to have access to her trust fund. The one that her father had set up for her when she was born. She couldn’t even imagine the amount of money that his investment had grown into over the years and she was counting on that to support her and the baby until she got on her feet. It was just the two of them now. No one else. No Carolyn. No Jane. No Brooke. And most importantly, no Nick.

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