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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."
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.
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?"
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."
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."
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."
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.
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
