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The sudden movement had the brunette turning her head. She looked him dead in the eye, her expression deadpan.
"I am sneaking you in," she replied. Wasn't that obvious? "I don't know about you, but most people don't make a habit of bringing home strangers to their parents' house in the middle of the night."
Well, she didn't. The lack of people, or in this case, men, entering her house, was significant. She didn't mention that, of course.
Carter Chevalier
Usually I hold the power with both my hands tied behind my back
Her deadpan expression was met with obvious scrutiny. And then joy. Carter looked like he'd uncovered something pointedly hilarious about her. She was sneaking him in. It was just like being in high school. It was just a shame it wasn't into her bed.
He nearly pointed that out, but stopped himself to let her continue.
"My dear, I am no stranger." Carter protested, and in his mind the single point eradicated her entire argument. Sure, she might have been sneaking him in, but she knew him by name. She'd known him for years.
"We're more like old friends, no?"
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
"Mmm hmm," she replied, eyes narrowing at his obvious amusement. She didn't understand what she'd said to amuse him, but she felt far too prideful to ask. Her ego didn't need those bruises.
She raised an eyebrow at him then. Perhaps the word 'stranger' had been bad wording on her part, but old friends?
"My way, or not at all," she announced, almost daring him to challenge her. He still had the option of going back to the bar if that was what he wanted instead.
Carter Chevalier
Usually I hold the power with both my hands tied behind my back
That sounded like an agreement to Carter, and the fact that they were on the same page had him grinning instinctively. At least they both disregarded the idea that he was a stranger; that was a joke worth laughing at, especially given their particular history. He'd remind her of that later, if he got the chance. If he remembered to.
Surely his offer seemed better. But the response she gave highly indicated that she wasn't having a bar of the newly developed label Carter wanted to put on them. He initially raised his hand to indicate that fine, it was probably going to be her way over not at all.
"What, you don't like it?" He asked her, tilting his head to the side as his eyebrows narrowed, "Is this the part where you tell me we're not friends? Or that we'll never be friends?" His free hand clutched his chest in obvious agony; "Luxanna, please."
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
Luxanna imagined, if only for a moment, the peace and quiet she'd might have had she simply put him by the side of the road and left him to himself. Naturally, something like that would have riddled her with guilt and then, she wouldn't have had the peace and quiet she imagined.
Blowing out a breath of air, Luxanna put her hands on the steering wheel. "I don't remember you being this annoying," she replied instead. She offered him a smile, though.
Still, his words resonated within her; If there was something she'd never imagined the two of them to be, it was friends. Perhaps she was putting too much into the term, perhaps it didn't mean what she thought it did. Sure, the two had in theory known each other for four years, but they didn't know each other.
At least, she didn't know him.
Starting the car, Luxanna turned her gaze forward. "Let's go before we end up getting snowed in."
Carter Chevalier
Usually I hold the power with both my hands tied behind my back
Carter was so ready to point out that there was probably a great reason he was so annoying to her, but he stopped herself. For once, his muddled mind allowed him to me smart enough to keep his mouth shut. She was already doing him a pretty big favour by not kicking him out to the street, so he needed to count his blessings.
He eased back in the seat again, glancing forward before drawing his eyes closed.
"Would being snowed in be the worst thing in the world?" He mused aloud, not necessarily to her but just in general. "You and I, alone again. Literally stuck inside a small, confined space. Then you'd have no choice but to tell me all about your last four years." After all, it did sound interesting. She did seem like a little bit of a different person.
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
She pulled the car back on the road, this time heading home. She supposed it was a good thing then that it was in the same direction.
The brunette tossed a sideways glance his way. "You could just ask," she pointed out. There wasn't so much to tell, really. She didn't live the most spectacular life.
Besides, this time around her first instinct wasn't to run away. Perhaps that was because he was drunk and not nearly as threatening. Or maybe it was because they hadn't even touched anything remotely indicating that she had to open up.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but we are stuck in a small, confined space." She tossed another glance his way. "Alone."
Carter looked around slowly, glancing at the door at his side. The seatbelt around his waist. His free hand tapped the glass. "Not completely stuck." He pointed out, literally pointing at the road they were travelling along.
She had a point. Carter nodded his head a few times idly, physically agreeing where his words couldn't. Perhaps he was reading too into things, but he was positive it sounded like she wanted him to ask. Had something drastic happened? Something amazing? Or was it as mundane as he - hopefully incorrectly - assumed it was.
"Then tell me about your last four years, Luxanna. And I might tell you about mine." He said finally.
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
Turning her attention back to the road, Luxanna checked the side mirrors before taking a turn.
In truth, there really wasn't much to tell. Well, that she fekt necessarily to tell, anywho. There was certain aspects about to her life Luxanna didn't normally talk about. Namely her mother and her ability. The two went hand in hand, though.
Only a handful of people knew, two of which was family members.
After a moment's pause, Luxanna spoke. "I had to follow the school moving, since I hadn't graduated yet," she said as she took another turn. "Graduated at nineteen, because I had to retake some classes." She shrugged at that. "Instead of college, I decided to get a job, and here I am." Well, she had two jobs, but that hardly seemed important.
"I live with my dad and younger brother," she continued. "Not much else to tell."
Carter Chevalier
Usually I hold the power with both my hands tied behind my back
Carter didn't know what he expected from her. He didn't expect to hear some worldly travel; that didn't suit her. Or maybe it just didn't suit her budget. It sounded so typical. Carter imagined the way her life would progress if he left her in the small town environment where they met, and it seemed he was correct.
"I never imagined you behind a bar, if I'm honest. You never seemed the type for forced social interaction." And really, that was all her current job was. They might have been quick encounters for the most part, but they were countless.
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
She chuckled softly. "I think most people share your opinion on that." It wasn't something she'd ever imagined for herself, but she'd grown to like it. It forced her to be used to people.
Besides, it offered a form of comfort too.
Her other job was a lit mire suitable with the image she'd been branded with years before.
"What about you?" she asked. "What kind of fancy life did you leave to come here?"
Carter Chevalier
Usually I hold the power with both my hands tied behind my back
Honestly, Carter wanted more than the simple answer he received. He searched for a better explanation about why she chose the job she did. Surely it wasn't because it was the only thing available? There had to be more. Was it a lesson within itself? The best way to learn something was to be thrown into the deep end. He as pretty sure that's what people said about awkward and uncomfortable experiences.
"Fancy life?" He repeated with a laugh. To her though, sure, it might have looked glamorous.
He turned his head to look at her again, practically staring. While she was driving, he had the grace to look at her like he wanted to. She couldn't catch him, let alone deter him. "I worked with my father for a very long time. I spent that time studying the business I'm inevitably going to inherent so I'm at my best for when that time comes." She probably could have guessed that that would be his life, if she ever gave it much thought.
"But that won't be for a long time, and I felt I was wasting my time waiting for that to happen. So I left." He whistled a descending tune in the break; "Where else would I go?" He asked her. Most people sought this as a haven, so why not him?
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
She listened to what he had to say and it struck her then, how mundane their conversation was. How normal it felt. Their conversations before had always been revolved around her, and how incapable she was of actually making a decision. She'd never really asked him about his life. She wasn't sure if she'd cared to, or perhaps she'd simply not felt herself deserving, which meant that she was either incredibly selfish, or even more insecure than she'd first thought.
She wasn't sure if she liked either option.
It was such a simple thing. Something she'd always taken for granted. She'd always looked at him as if he had all the answers. Had it all figured out. And now that some of her questions had been answered - questions she hadn't even known she wanted the answer to - she realized that he was just a guy.
"I didn't know that," she said honestly. Sure, she knew, or had figured, he came from big money, but she had never really given much thought to what that actually meant. "Is that what you want?" she asked, honest curiosity lacing her words.
"You could have gone anywhere." Maybe it was because Luxanna hadn't really been anywhere else other than Kalispell and Stagfort, but the idea of picking this place out of all the magnificent cities in the world was baffling to say the least, and not something she'd ever expect of him.
Carter Chevalier
Usually I hold the power with both my hands tied behind my back
Carter had so simply assumed that everyone knew the general course of his life. It was an incredible cliche, but they did so exist for a reason. Maybe she didn't know that, and maybe that was why she seemed so surprised. Then she asked him the question that no one else ever did. No one ever bothered to; perhaps because they knew he wouldn't answer it. Or they just didn't care. Either way, all he could do is stare at her.
And as he stared, he considered how right she was. He could have gone anywhere. He could, in theory, become anyone he wanted to be. It must have looked like every door was wide open to him.
"Perhaps I wasn't looking for anywhere. Perhaps I wasn't looking for somewhere new." He offered the thoughts as he had them. How one moved into another and he considered that he shouldn't say anything else.
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
There was a certain kind of silence that filled the car. Sparing a moment, she glanced his way only to find him staring at her. She furrowed her brows before she turned back to look at the road. This was hardly the moment for a staring contest. Despite being curious, Luxanna would rather survive the ride and not end up swirling off the road. There was something else she noticed too; the silence wasn't necessarily uncomfortable.
She nodded slowly at his words, supposing that made sense. Perhaps she was biased. Perhaps it had everything to do with how she'd always been here.
Another silence seemed to cradle them as he didn't offer any further explanation and she didn't find it fitting to ask. After a moment, though, Luxanna turned another road. They were almost there.
Turning up the driveway, the brunette parked and stopped the car. Pulling off her belt, she reached for the door. "Come on."
