He narrowed his eyes at her, laughing nervously.

"What do you mean you've killed someone?"

"I'm dead serious, babe. We need to get moving. Pack your bags.”

His mouth dropped and the laughing died in his throat.

“My goodness… you’re actually serious?”

“Yes and we need to get going before the police arrive.”

She seemed calm, already packing her bag.

“Oh, and only bring the essential items. We don’t want them to think we moved but to think we’re on vacation.”

He stared for a while, heart pounding so hard, he felt like it would jump out of him soon. She stopped packing and looked at him. A bit irritated to still see him standing without doing anything.

“Babe, let’s go. Get your stuff. I’ll explain more in the car.”

She went back to packing and he slowly went to his side of the room and started packing as well. The silence in the house was deafening and his emotions were all over the place. Once everything was packed, they got inside the car. As she started to drive, his nerves were higher than ever.

“Babe, wait-!”

She looked at him, concerned.

“What’s wrong?”

“This is wrong. Everything that has happened in the last 24 hours is wrong. If- if you killed someone, you need to face the consequences.”

She sighed and thought of a way to talk to him and also soothe his nerves.

“Jake, listen. I know what I did was wrong but emotions were high and the guy crossed the line. He would’ve done worse to me and to other women in the future if I hadn’t have killed him. Don’t think of it as running from justice but think of it as running from an unfair trial that will ruin both our lives over me bringing justice to that man.”

He listened and somehow, it worked. Her voice and message soothed his nerves. He nodded slowly.

“If you say so… where are we going?”

She smiled, happy he was on board now.

“Far away from New York… California.”

He sat back and got comfortable in his seat.

“It’s going to be a long drive…”

She put a hand out for him to hold. It took him a minute but he held her hand.

“I love you, Babe.”

“I love you too.”