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Lux still didn't know what to make of it all. She'd expected to never see him again, with the school moving to another state and him graduating. She'd been fine with that, and yet, at the same time, she wasn't sure if she had been.
Pushing all of that aside to be contemplated at a later time, Lux nodded. She moved forward, pushing through the small crowd surrounding the bar area and moved towards the door. The bouncer offered the pair a single nod as Lux opened the door, stepping out into the crisp January air.
"My car's over there." She pointed towards the end of the parking lot. Less chance of getting hit by someone dumb enough to drive home while drunk. Unlocking the car by pressing a button on the keys, she sauntered over.
Carter followed Luxanna with relative ease; simple steps through as the crowd seemed to practically part ways for her. Maybe it was the way the bouncers looked at her. Maybe it was him. After all, he was now a known trouble maker for the night. The whole thing added just another air of mystery. He watched the careful nod given by the bouncers, knowing it was more for her than for him. They were probably dying to get rid of him.
He followed to the point given, wandering just a beat or so behind her. It made it easier to look without getting seen. What car she drove was hardly the most prominent thing on her mind. But when it came time to part ways he dragged his fingertips across the back of the vehicle and up the side before hooking his hand around the handle and dragging the door open.
Carter fell into the seat provided, easing a seatbelt on a little awkwardly. He leaned back to rest the side of his face against the head of the seat, and he stared at her like she had all the answers. For once, he had nothing to say.
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
What stuck to her mind the most, was how mundane all of this seemed. She was driving Carter Chevalier home. Didn't he have a private jet hidden on top of a roof somewhere?
Entering the vehicle, Luxanna put the belt on before putting the key in the ignition and turning. She looked at him from the corner of her eye before putting the gear in reverse. "Address?" she asked then, looking at him directly.
The dull roar of the engine indicated that it was probably Carter's turn to speak again. She looked at him expectantly, and he looked at her like he didn't know what she wanted. It was almost as if he forgot she was driving him home.
What? It as such a simple question. Carter dropped his jaw, intending on giving a great many answers. There was no one answer to that question. Not when it came to this woman.
"Head towards the school." He instructed her finally. "The new school."
And then he had a thought; one that highlighted in his eyes before his mouth could form the words; "You don't live there, do you?"
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
She almost wanted to pinch herself in the arm to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Not because she thought it so unrealistic to see him again (it sort of was, really), but because he wasn't acting like anything she remembered. Sure, being drunk was a huge factor to that, but it was almost as if he was vulnerable. This open book she could pry open with little force.
It was tempting.
He lived at the school? It was oddly shocking. Instead of letting it show, though, she simply nodded. Pulling the car out of the parking lot, she started driving.
"I don't, no," she replied with simple ease. "Haven't for a long time." Well, she hadn't since her mother's passing. And even before then, she'd stayed home for the most part.
Carter couldn't help but look at her intently. Now that he wasn't playing any games, he got the chance to take in exactly what she looked like now. Her image had easily faded from his memory; four years would do that to most people.
He frowned when she mentioned she didn't live at the school. Like that mattered.
"Me neither." He admitted then, straightening up in his seat. He looked out at the street they were taking, well aware of how unfamiliar everything looked. That had nothing to do with the alcohol fueling his loosely connected thoughts.
"I don't have a home yet, by the way." He continued on, "Tonight's my first night here."
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
Frowning, she stared at him directly. Only for a moment, though. "You're a dick," she said then, head shaking as she turned back, eyes on the road ahead.
"I live with my dad," she said then. Not that he was home at the present time, but it needed to be said. "He's a cop." Well, detective, but whatever.
There was plenty of hotels Carter could pick from. Even a motel or two, though she didn't think he'd enjoy those. Even she would have been vary of it before laying down on those beds.
"You didn't arrange a room with one of the hotels?" she asked then. Wasn't that like, the first thing one were supposed to do when arriving somewhere new?
Carter's grin went from something of a victory to a very real discrepancy. The information he received wasn't exactly what he was looking for. Who lived with a parent? At their age? Disappointment struck him on a clear wave for a multitude of reasons.
"Um, no. Why would I? I thought I had you." He retorted a little sharply. Truthfully, that was clearly a lie. He had no idea she even existed in this place until about an hour ago. "Honestly. It's new years. I didn't plan to sleep alone." That much should have been obvious to her by now. Some things struggled to change.
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
The brunette shook her head whilst letting a soundless chuckle out. "Some things never change, it seems." Pulling the car over to the side of the road, Lux turned so she could face him.
"Do you want me to drive you back to the bar?" she asked. He still had a few hours to work his magic before the bars closed. She wasn't about to take that opportunity away from him. She knew better than that.
"If not, then..." She trailed off as she leaned to the side, stretching her arm to the backseat. She had a brochure over all of Stagfort's finest tourist attractions here somewhere. There had to be a list of hotels in there somewhere.
The brunette shook her head whilst letting a soundless chuckle out. "Some things never change, it seems." Pulling the car over to the side of the road, Lux turned so she could face him.
"Do you want me to drive you back to the bar?" she asked. He still had a few hours to work his magic before the bars closed. She wasn't about to take that opportunity away from him. She knew better than that.
"If not, then..." She trailed off as she leaned to the side, stretching her arm to the backseat. She had a brochure over all of Stagfort's finest tourist attractions here somewhere. There had to be a list of hotels in there somewhere.
Carter was acutely aware that they had stopped moving. He closed his eyes for a spare set of seconds as if he wanted to think, but his entire mind was blank. Cool water dwindled down his skin in the passing moments. Her words washed over him quickly before he glanced at her again. Bright blue eyes searched the look she gave for some kind of clarity.
"I certainly have no intention of finding a bed like that now." He declared, refusing to make this about his face.
As she moved, Carter reached to the side to drop the passenger's seat as flat as it would go. He exhaled a sigh of relief at the strange sense of comfort it gave him. "Drop me off anywhere, Luxanna. I'll make my own way." He offered, waving his hand idly in her direction.
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
She couldn't just drop him off of the side of the road and expect him to find somewhere to sleep in his state. Never mind the fact that he didn't really know the area if he hadn't been around the past four years.
Even she wasn't that oblivious. Or cruel.
Narrowing her eyes at him, the brunette's lips pursed. "You're a child," she said then, breathing a sigh of defeat. "A drunk child," she added for good measure. As if that proved any kind of point she was trying to make.
She found the brochure then and flipped it open. For all the times she'd brought a drunk Jack home with her, she supposed it wouldn't make much of a difference to her father even if he found out. Naturally, bringing Jack home, and bringing Carter home was two completely different things.
In Carter's mind, there wasn't all that much wrong with disappearing into the night on his own. It was his worst case scenario, after all. Finer details mightn't have existed, but she didn't need to know that.
"I'm older than you." He pointed out, reaching towards her and pressing his index finger to her arm lightly." Not that that excused his behaviour. He let his hand drop to the brochure she shifted through.
"Darling, it's after midnight. This is the end of the road." He explained to her as he watched the way she filtered through paperwork. "Put me back where you found me. It's fine." And he genuinely seemed to believe it, too.
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
"Yeah, well," she argued, staring at him. "You're certainly not any smarter." At least, not in his current state, but perhaps that was just her being stubborn. Perhaps that was just her worrying.
She could try to fight it. She probably should have, too. But every fiber in her being told her she couldn't just leave him. Maybe she was overthinking it. Maybe he would be fine.
Groaning, she threw the brochure down and leaned back up, placing both hands on the wheel. "I have a spare bedroom if you want it," she said then, looking out the window at their snow covered surroundings. "My dad won't be home until late, and he'll be gone early in the morning."
There. At least she'd offered. He could make of it what he wanted.
Carter had already accepted the defeat that coincided with Luxanna's help tonight. He had settled back in the seat as he waited for her to turn around and drive the other way. When he didn't feel such movement, he thought to question her. He even opened one eye to peer at her in his peripheral vision.
She wasn't looking at him anymore. Maybe that was for the best. But she did offer him a solution. Honestly, a spare bed wasn't what he'd been aiming for. He sat up instantly, eyes wide open as he stared at her, realisation beaming.
"Are you asking me to hide? Like you're sneaking a boy home?" He asked her, eyebrows raising in painfully obvious curiosity.
