Belle's plan works, but Jamie forgets something important

The next evening, Jamie lay awake in his bed. Hidden under the covers in case Momma came in suddenly, he was fully clothed in a long skirt and collared shirt, his heart pounding like a drum and his stomach twisting with nervous fear. His gaze kept flickering to his alarm clock, watching the minutes pass by agonisingly slow as he waited for the hands to reach ten-thirty, when Belle said she'd be back to pick him up from the road outside their house. The hushed plan she'd murmured to him yesterday, as he sat and sniffled beside her on her bed, had seemed so smart back then. At the end, when she'd taken his hand in her big, warm one and given it a firm, lingering squeeze, her cheeks flushed faintly, he'd felt so warm and comforted he'd stopped worrying about his looming marriage much at all. Belle was going to protect him from Momma and that horrible Ms. Berg. She was clever, brave and strong enough to protect him from anything! He'd gone to sleep that night blushing and wriggling happily under his covers, very grateful he had such an amazing older sister.

For all his hope then, today had been a struggle. He'd tried his very best to do everything she'd told him to, pretending to Momma he was still happy to get married, acting normal around Belle when he just wanted to run to her and jump into her strong arms so she could hold him tight and tell him everything was going to be okay again. It had been so nerve-wracking acting like everything was fine, constantly wondering if Momma knew what was going on and worrying about how furious she'd be if she did. Dad had even noticed how highly-strung he was and taken him to one side after lunch to reassure him, thinking he was only scared because of his impending marriage. Then, when Momma had sent him to bed with a kiss on the forehead this evening, he'd stayed up instead, secretly packing two bags with all the clothes and essentials he'd need when he was staying in Belle's dorm. Neither of them knew how long it would be before Momma changed her mind, so Jamie had ended up deciding to take as much as he could fit in his little backpack and shoulder bag.

His older sister had done her part as well, of course. She'd used her savings to buy him a cross-country bus ticket, the receipt for which he was going to leave in his room to throw Momma off when she went rooting around for clues as to where he'd gone. Belle had also taken her car out early in the afternoon and told their parents she was driving straight back to college, saying goodbye to everyone and giving Jamie a nice hug like she always did when she was leaving, though this one had felt rather longer and tighter than usual, and she'd looked kind of flushed when she'd pulled away at last. Jamie knew she'd taken her car to a safe place nearby and parked it there, even texting Momma when she should have arrived back to keep up the deception. Now...as soon as that clock finally hit ten-thirty, she was going to drive back to pick him up, with their parents none the wiser. They'd think he'd run off on his own, and never guess he was going to be sheltering with his sister all along.

The boy glanced hurriedly back at his alarm clock, only to gasp in shock as he saw the time had somehow jumped to 10:32 while he'd been lying here. He struggled out from under his blankets, jumping off the bed as quickly as he could. How had he gotten so nervous and distracted? Belle had done everything for him and he was still messing up and making her wait! What if someone saw her now? Feeling sick with panic, he grabbed for his shoulder bag and darted for the door. It opened up with a squeaking noise that sounded incredibly loud, and the shivering boy crept out into the dark corridor beyond. Momma and Dad should be asleep by now, but he still felt light-headed with panic as he tiptoed past their bedroom, and then onto the stairs below. Even his light little footfalls made an awful creaking noise on each step that made him wince, and he couldn't stop himself from glancing back at his parents' bedroom, half-expecting the door to swing open and Momma to stride out, her face flushed with fury, ready to punish him for daring to disobey her.

Jamie was panting softly and feeling rather light-headed as he made it to the bottom of the staircase. That had been the hardest part, or so Belle had told him last night. He'd be with her soon, and everything would get easier with her to tell him what to do. The memory of her murmured words made his chest feel warm, chasing away some of the panic that had threatened to overwhelm him. He stumbled through into the entranceway, grabbing a raincoat and a pair of his best shoes from the rack and slipping everything on as quickly as he could Then, with a gasp, he grabbed the door handle, unlocked it with shivering hands, and swung it open.

In his fragile heart part of him had still been wondering if Belle was going to be there, if something wasn't going to go wrong and keep her away so that he'd end up married after all to that horrible-sounding Ms. Berg. When he saw her car waiting there on the road, her shadowed figure waiting in the driver's seat, he gasped out in frantic, trembling relief. His chest got all achy and tight, filling up fit to bursting with warmth. He was sniffling softly as he staggered down the path toward the road, his legs shivering so much it was hard to even walk. As he approached the car, the window rolled down, and he saw his older sister's face staring at him, her eyes sparkling. Jamie gasped again at the sight of her, shivering like a leaf under his ugly, worn-out clothes. He'd never been happier to see anyone in his life, and he couldn't stop himself from stumbling toward her.

"Inside, quick, little brother." Belle ordered, sounding stern, but she was smiling with relief all the same. "Get in the back with your stuff and lie down on the seats just in case. You can come in the front with me once we're out of the neighborhood."

"Yes Belle!" Jamie gasped, once again very grateful she was here to help him. He was way too silly and scared to think up any of this on his own. He darted for the back of the car, grabbing for the door handle. His hand was shaking so much it took him a couple tries to yank it open, and then he almost fell forward onto the seats, holding his shoulder bag tight against his chest as he reached up to close the door behind him, then wriggling back to lie across like she wanted.

"Well done, Jamie, you did great. Now we're off." Belle said from the front seat, the firm determination in her voice bringing a shy little smile to Jamie's lips. He wished he was already sitting beside her so he could watch her drive him away and feel much safer for it, but as the car purred to life underneath him and he felt them pull away from the curb he still breathed a heavy sigh of trembling relief. He was with his sister now...and she was going to protect and look after him. Soon enough Momma would realize this wasn't okay and stop trying to **** him to get married right now. He wouldn't have to spend the rest of his life with some woman he'd never even met after all.

Belle drove for a few minutes in silent concentration, with Jamie too nervous to say anything, then she pulled back over onto the side of the ride, glanced back over her shoulder and told him it was okay for him to join her in the front now. Smiling widely, the boy wriggled up off the back seats and awkwardly squirmed between the two front seats. He heard a sharp little gasp from his sister as his butt brushed past her shoulder, and he flushed, hoping he didn't make her too uncomfortable. It was kind of a small car, and there wasn't much space. Blushing hot, he sat himself down in the front seat and strapped himself in, wriggling back until he was comfortable under Belle's level gaze. He grabbed his shoulder bag and set it firmly in his lap. All his toiletries, makeup and the other things he really needed were in it, and it'd be awful if it got lost somehow.

"Is that all you brought, Jamie?" Belle commented suddenly, nodding to the bag. He glanced at her, his heart sinking at the frown on her face.

"No, I had a backpack too, with my clothes..." Jamie began haltingly, feeling a dull, cold weight in his stomach. He glanced at the back seat...already knowing the bag wouldn't be there. It had been in his room, all packed up ready for him to take with him like Belle had told him to, only...he'd been in such a panic to leave he'd gone and forgotten it there. The boy sniffled hoarsely, his throat tightening. No...how could he be so stupid? He'd left all his clothes behind! Belle had done so much for him, making this as simple and easy as she could, and the one thing she'd trusted him with he'd still gone and messed up. The tears came, hot and painful, trickling down his cheeks. "I'm sorry, Belle." He gasped out between sobs. "I think I left my clothes at home."

"Oh Jamie." She leant across in her seat, and suddenly her arm was wrapped around his shoulders again, tugging his shivering body into her side. "How did you manage that?" She sighed softly in his ear. At least she didn't sound angry, but the exasperation in her voice still made his stomach clench in guilt. "I told you to be careful."

"I don't know..." The boy whimpered, turning his head hurriedly to bury his tear-stained face into her side. He was so...dumb, he really didn't deserve to have her help him at all. "I just...forgot." His voice died in another harsh sob.

"It's okay, little brother, don't cry." She interrupted, her big hand rubbing gently at his shoulder. "We'll just have to find you some new clothes another day, alright? Probably for the best anyway. Those ones Mother made you wear were always kind of cheap and awful, weren't they?" She chuckled lightly. Jamie raised his head, staring up into her pretty smiling face.

"Yes, they were." The boy admitted, a little shocked at how easily her little joke had made him feel better. He was still sniffling, hot tears still dripping down onto his ugly shirt, but she just hearing her familiar laughter and knowing she wasn't furious with him made it seem not quite so bad. Maybe it'd be okay that he didn't have any clothes apart from the ones he was wearing. Belle would fix it, like she'd fixed everything...she was looking after him now.

"We'd better get going anyway, it's another couple hours drive back to college and I want to have you safe in my room as soon as possible." Belle nodded, her arm slipping from around his shoulder. Jamie felt a sharp pang, already missing the nice feeling of her hugging him like that, but he knew she had to drive. He awkwardly wiped his tears on his sleeve and tried to stop sniffling, settling back into his seat and clutching the one bag he'd actually managed to remember to his chest. Belle grabbed the steering wheel and pulled the car back out into the road, a look of determined concentration on her face. As they picked up speed and she drove him away from his home and family, Jamie didn't even watch the road. Instead, he kept his gaze on her, his older sister. The one person...who he could rely on right now. He was so lucky she was here to protect him.