The Runaway Soldier Ch.8

"It's my greatest treasure."




*Andy's POV*

The next day I woke up hugging a pillow. I remembered that girl...what was her name?...What was it?! Damn, this is will bother me until I find out.

I got up and grabbed some new clothes for the day. Pulling off my Batman Pajamas, I grabbed a pair of black skinny jeans with my other hand. I heard a shower going and Ashley, Jake, and Jinxx were talking behind me. I walked around, looking for a shirt to wear. I spotted a dark grey, loose, tank top and a leather vest. I grabbed some leather gloves & was mostly ready. I went over to talk with the other guys.

"Morning!"

They all replied back, "Morning!" I could tell something was bothering them.

"So..uh...do any of you remember that girl's name?"

Jake squinted his eyes a bit like he was thinking. Ash immediately answered, "I actually don't know..."

Jinxx thought for a few seconds, "Lia...her name is Lia...I heard her mom call her that."

I thought back and remembered.

Oh yeah...

I wanted to see her again. CC came out of the shower.

"Hey guys! Can someone give me my clothes?! I left them on the floor over there!"

Jake looked around and found them, then threw them over to CC.

"Thanks man!"

We sat in silence for a little longer, then CC came out.

"Am I the only one who has no clue what the hell there is to do here?"

"Nope!" Ashley replied, enthusiastic.

"What if we could go see that girl?!"

Jake answered him back, "That would actually be pretty cool..."

Jinxx, the one with the most sense so far, pointed out one problem.

"Her parents? We don't know where she is."

CC looked crestfallen.

"Maybe we should talk to her parents...we have a while before the tour, so we're pretty much stuck here for a while...if we go anywhere else we might be recognized too easily."

They all agreed with me.

"So, are you all ready?"

"HELL YEAH!" CC shouted loudly, "LET'S DO THIS THING!"

We all laughed and piled into the car.

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We all walked up to the front door. It was around 11:00. I hoped no one was too busy. I rang the doorbell. I saw a woman open the door. She was pretty short, at least to me. She looked at us with shock & opened the door slightly, shooing her dog & children back inside.

"How can I help you?"

She sounded so professional. I did my best not to sound totally stupid or child-like.

"Uhm, we were the ones who brought your daughter home yesterday...and we wanted to talk to you..."

She glanced over us carefully, as if checking for signs of danger. Finally she opened the door wide.

"Come in, you can sit on the couches."

We all came in and sat down, there was enough room for three of us on one couch. CC and Jinxx sat on the other one. Her mother stood, and her daughter came up to her, asking a question. She was adorable. She had long brown hair & was wearing a lot of pink. A pink skirt, a pink shirt...pink headband...

The the baby boy. He could walk, I'm guessing 3 or 4? He came up to us, talking about "Pokeman" and Power Rangers and Beyblade. I tried to follow along but I couldn't understand anything he said. Finally his mom shooed him away and talked to us.

"Why did she leave?"

I looked at her. Lia's mother. She was so concerned for her child.

"We're not 100% sure, she got upset and...ran...she was running so much that when she found us she was out of breath and passed out. We took her home as soon as we could..."

"Thank you...for bringing her home safely..."

"Of course."

I knew her mother didn't really like us, but she was grateful. I guess that's a good start.

"And...also...uhm...me and the guys were wondering..."

Don't sound like a pedophile Andy...

Jinxx spoke up, thank god.

"We were really worried about Lia. We wanted to make sure she was okay seeing that she was so upset yesterday. She had fun hanging out with us, and we had fun with her. She's a sweet girl & we wanted to know if you would allow us to see her again today."

Her mom looked confused.

"She's only 13...what will people think?..."

"I assure you, we will take good care of her. We are staying in this city for a few more months before we start making our next album...so, we don't really know anyone or anything like that..."

Her mom got a sad look.

"I know she was sad to have you leave yesterday...I just want her to have a good future and avoid trouble..."

She paused for a while.

"I'm trusting you, this time. If anything goes wrong then never expect to see Lia again. School ends for her at 4:00ish, you can pick her up...but I want her home by 10:30."

We all grinned widely. We didn't expect this. We thought it would be a no. We shook her mother's hand and assured her she would be safe.

While the other guys piled into the van I stayed back to say thank you once again.

"Thank you. This means a lot to us."

Her mother smiled back at me.

"I just want her to have a nice life and keep her out of bad situations. I know I am protective but, I love her...I want her to be safe..."

It was almost as if she was talking to herself.

"I won't let you down ma'am."

She looked back at me.

"Andy? Is that it?"

I nodded.

"Take care of my daughter. I'm putting a lot of trust in you."

"I will," I said. Then i turned around and walked to the van. Turning the keys in the ignition I checked the time.

1:26
That had taken a lot longer than I thought.

Still had a few more hours to go.