Seth/Kate pairing.
Disclaimer: Don't own the from Dawn till Dusk the Series.
Kate stood on the side of the road watching Seth drive off towards the horizon leaving her behind. The feelings of panic and pain were beginning to bubble up and she felt frozen to the spot and when the car screeched to a halt seconds later joy surged in her chest, her lips curving upward into a small smile. He wasn't going to leave her after all. She wouldn't have to add him to the ever-growing list of people that she missed. Seth was the last concrete thing she had left to hold on to in the whole world, but as she watched his erratic walk towards her, bag in hand, she felt her smile falter. He wasn't staying with her that much was obvious, they had learned each other's ways well during their brief, but intense time together. He barely even lost his stride as he shoved the bag of cash into her arms dropping the car keys on top and just kept walking. She blinked back a tear and felt dizziness threaten to claim her.
Kate had no idea how long she stood on the edge of the dusty road as her brain scrambled to process what had just happened but at some point reality set in and she made her way towards the car her body operating on complete autopilot. She sat in struggling to focus long enough just to get the key in the ignition and then she just started following the road aimless. She had no idea where to go, let alone what she should do next. When she had Seth, all she had wanted was to find Scott and now that she had lost them both, everything felt uncertain and terrifying. She had no one anymore. Seth had been lousy at taking care of himself in so many ways, but at least he had always been working on a plan. There was always another target, always another direction to go in. Until that moment Kate had no idea how much she had relied on that. She had given him such shit for being a mess, but it turns out she was a fucking mess too. Pity she couldn't have realized that when Seth was still beside her, now it was too late. After a couple near misses, she pulled over to the first motel she found and got herself a room, she didn't trust her mental state right now.
She opened the door and walked inside the empty room, had they all felt like this? So lonely and cold? She tossed the keys onto the little table for the TV and dropped her bags, backing up until the bed behind her buckled her legs, dropping her to the too soft surface. She stared at her own reflection in the blank television screen and she realized she had never stayed in a motel or anywhere else before on her own. It was a strange, unsettling realization and she hated it already. Her emotions had been on a merry-go-round of sadness, anger, devastation and a detached numbness for awhile now and all she wanted to do was curl up on the bed and stay there forever, but there was still too much left to do, too many decisions left to make. She was on her own now and she needed to start acting like it, no Seth or heroin to blame anymore.
She sighed and stood walking to the washroom where she found herself once more staring at her reflection. Who was this person staring back at her? She had no idea. She knew she didn't feel like a preacher's daughter anymore, hadn't since the Twister, maybe even before that and she never had really felt like a criminal, even though by almost all definitions she was one now. When she couldn't bare looking at the stranger in the mirror any longer she rinsed off her face and changed her top and headed into the town to get some food. Food was not a decision she could hold off any longer but at least unlike everything else in her life right now it something easily remedied.
She saw the wary glances and judgemental glares she got from the locals but she was used to that in these non touristy towns. She knew how much she stood out here, practically able to read the 'oh look at the silly American girl' on their faces. That was fine, she felt like every inch the silly American girls today. She heard the comments as she walked by and understood enough Spanish to know when she was being talked about, even if she didn't human nature was easy enough to read. Thankfully even in these little off road places her money always worked just as well as anyone else's. So she found a quiet little café in the centre of town. She considered ordering some more food for the road but she had no idea if or when she would be leaving here. She really needed to start working on a plan. Once the food was in front of her she practically inhaled it, barely tasting a single morsel but good manners ensured she still thanked her waitress telling her it was delicious using her best Spanish. Her Spanish that was still pretty rough but at least it was improving, which was more than she could have said for Seth's. He had never much saw the point in learning which made no sense to Kate, maybe it was his way of ensuring he din't stay put in this place for too long and she smiled at his stubbornness. Who would have thought less than a few hours later it would be something she would miss. When she was done she tossed enough cash down on the table to cover her meal and a good tip and got up to leave.
She was on her way to the door when an American accent caught her ear, faded though it sounded and her eyes snapped around to find the source of it before landing on a woman a couple of seats away chatting to a waitress. The woman was beautiful, mid 30's maybe, black hair and blue eyes. Kate's eyes must have lingered a little too long as the woman suddenly turned her head and caught her eye. Kate flushed with embarrassment at having been caught looking and was about too look away when her eyes flicked over to the large ugly scar running down the side of the other woman's face. The woman gave Kate a small sad smile, one which made Kate think that perhaps she might actually know how she was feeling right now. It was one of those moments that made you feel less alone, so she smiled back giving a small wave before she walked out the door.
That night she stayed up as late as she could manage already anticipating a rough nights sleep. Even after sleep finally took her she tossed and turned and woke up more times than she could remember the next day. She missed Seth, she missed his presence in the room, his scent, his touch, his voice, all of it. It was strange they had only been together three months and somehow it felt like a lifetime, not having him in the room with her now felt like torture but she already knew she had survived worse. Finally after hours of trying to reclaim some lost sleep she begrudgingly got up the following afternoon and headed back to the little café in town. She looked around for the woman as she walked in and sat down and felt disappointed when she wasn't there. Had she really expected to see her? Even if she had what difference would it have made? She knew she was being silly but she longed to talk to someone who might understand what she was going through, not that she had any reason to believe this woman truly did.
