Brooke folded and packed her last shirt and placed it into her suitcase, shutting the large piece of luggage with a heavy sigh. Leaving the Palace had been hard, it was her childhood home but leaving L.A. altogether was downright scary. She was 17, with no real life experience or idea what she was doing and the same went for Sam, Nicole and Lily. They were literally making it up as they went along and Brooke couldn’t help but think they were about to make a monumental mistake.

"Are you sure about this, Sam?" she asked, turning to Sam who was quietly packing a few feet away. Sam shrugged and shook her head.

"No, no I’m not," Sam answered honestly. "But do you really want to give Mom and Mike the opportunity to ship one of us away?" Brooke frowned.

"Do you really think they would?"

"They were ready to send me to Chicago, Brooke. What does that tell you?" Sam walked over and enveloped Brooke in a comforting hug. "Look, hopefully this isn’t going to be a permanent thing. We’ll take off for a while and make them see exactly how far we’re willing to go to stay together. Drive home our point, as it were."

"But what about school? And money?" Brooke wondered. Sam sighed although she knew they were valid concerns.

"We’ll make up the work when we get back, or start at new schools if it comes to that. And we emptied our accounts, we’re going to max out the cards in cash advances and Nic’s going to get as much as she can. Stop worrying, we’ll be fine," Sam reassured her. But there was one more thing bothering Brooke.

"What if they report us missing or as runaways?" Sam pondered that one for a few minutes.

"I honestly don’t know," she said. "I guess we’ll just have to deal with it if it happens."

"Sammy, this could get really complicated," Brooke pointed out. Sam nodded.

"It already is, Brooke," Sam clarified and Brooke realized she had a point. "We’re gay and in love; our parents have rejected us and turned us out. I hate to say it but everything from here on out has got to be better." Brooke rested her head against Sam’s shoulder.