Moving right along! I used to not update on weekends because traffic was always so slow, people out and about and such, so I may not update chapter four until Monday. Hope everyone stays safe out there! Thanks for reading =)
Chapter Three
She was being extremely stupid. This boy was a complete stranger, obviously at least a little bit violent, and here she was, getting excited about bunking with him in a van. She should have turned right around as soon as he stopped and walked her ass right back home. But there was something about him that didn't cause alarm bells to ring. There was something about him that was much more intriguing than intimidating, despite the busted knuckles and the cut on his lip. It wasn't something she could really explain and regardless of how stupid it was, she trusted him.
It was mostly in his eyes. There was something there, even though he had only met hers a few times and never held them, that had her wanting to know everything there was to know about him. He was shy, that was obvious. He was easily embarrassed. He was hesitant to smile. But she also sensed a vulnerability about him that made her want to get closer to him. And it didn't have a damn thing to do with the fact that he was almost too beautiful to even look at.
She propped her legs up on the dash and ran her fingers along the side of the seat, looking for a lever that would let her tip the seat back a little. She was tired from all the miles she had walked and the little sleep she had managed to get after leaving. When she found it she pulled and then cried out when the back of the seat gave way behind her until she was completely horizontal.
He swerved a little and cursed, likely startled by her shriek. "Jesus! You alright?" He asked quickly. He turned on the blinker and eased onto an exit ramp.
"Yeah," she muttered, trying to push her dress back down over her thighs. She was sure that when he looked over when she yelled like a moron he had gotten a full view of her underwear. She wasn't as easily embarrassed as he seemed to be but that was pretty embarrassing. "Where are we?" She asked as she pulled her legs down from the dash and sat up, trying to find the lever that would bring the seat back up.
"Holly Springs Mississippi. We're makin' decent time but I'd like to find a place to stay for the night. That seat is broken, by the way. I'll fix it when we stop."
She sighed. "So we're out of Georgia." The relief in her voice was clear.
She saw the corner of his mouth tilt up a little as he nodded. "Yeah. We got nearly two states away from Georgia," he mumbled.
They had been in the van for about five hours with just one break. She was ready to stretch her legs and she would have killed for a shower. Her stomach rumbled embarrassingly loud.
"You want me to stop and get some more burgers or somethin'?" He asked, turning onto a busy street and heading towards the promise of fast food.
"Are we camping?" She asked.
He nodded. "This town looks pretty rural. Probably plenty of places off the grid to park for the night." He pulled into the parking lot of a Dairy Queen and killed the engine.
"You sure you can afford food for both of us? I have some granola bars in my bag and I can eat those."
He shook his head. "Nah, here." he handed her a twenty. "Just get whatever is cheapest. I'll be over there." He pointed to a group of trees out behind the building. "Sick of being cramped up in here."
She took the money and opened the door. "Thank you, Daryl," she said, hoping he knew that she was sincere. "I'll pay you back somehow."
He nodded and hopped out, strolling towards the patch of grass and the promise of shade. She watched him for a second before she yanked her bag around, took out her camera and quickly readied it. She was able to snap three pictures of him walking towards the trees and then he turned around, so she had a full view of his profile and snapped a few more as he raised his arms above his head and stretched. Another photo of him running a hand through his hair. Before he could look and realize she hadn't even left the van yet she hurriedly put the camera away and took off towards the building.
She ordered some hot dogs, since that was about the cheapest thing on the menu and then splurged and got herself an ice cream cone. It would be good for him to learn early that he couldn't give a girl money and send her into a place like this without expecting her to buy herself something sweet.
She found him leaning against the trunk of a tree, chewing his thumb nail. His eyes shot up, locking on hers for a few seconds before he looked away. She handed him the bag with a grin. He glanced at her cone and that half smile appeared on his face.
~H~
They sat down in the shade and ate in relative silence. He was rattled enough because he had gotten a full frontal show of her underwear earlier when the stupid seat had nearly dumped her onto the floor. Now he was suffering through trying to not watch her licking the hell out of the oversized ice cream cone.
She looked up at him from under her lashes and he stifled a groan. "You wanna lick?" She asked, holding the cone out to him.
He shook his head quickly, earning him an eye roll.
"I promise I don't have germs. Might make that cut on your lip feel better," she urged.
He shook his head again and her bottom lip poked out a little bit. "I wouldn't have bought it if I knew you weren't going to have some."
He snorted and took another bite of his hot dog to keep from having to say anything. He wasn't good with people. He never had been. She made it exceedingly difficult to keep his distance. Her easy smile and that free way she carried herself was pretty captivating.
"Please?" She asked again after catching more on her tongue. "If you don't I'll feel guilty all night."
"You always so pushy?" He asked.
She nodded solemnly, her eyes widening.
He sighed heavily and surprised himself by gripping her wrist lightly and pulling the cone towards his mouth. He gave it a tentative lick and then leaned back. "There," he grumbled.
"More," she said, sounding incredibly bossy.
"I don't want anymore."
She huffed out a breath and finally he pulled the stupid thing closer and used the flat of his tongue to sweep up the melting mess.
She pulled her hand back, a strange smile on her face. "That was much sexier than I thought it would be. Has anyone ever told you that you have a fantastic tongue?" She cocked one eyebrow at him.
He gaped at her, his heart stuttering out a pounding rhythm as she grinned and then continued licking at the ice cream.
"You shouldn't be embarrassed. It was a compliment. Haven't you ever gotten a compliment before?"
Sure he had gotten compliments before but he'd never gotten complimented on having a sexy tongue. He could only imagine what kind of comments that would elicit from his brother but he wasn't his brother. He wasn't suave. He didn't have the slightest idea how the fuck to talk to girls and he definitely didn't know what to say after hearing something like that.
"I make you uncomfortable don't I?" She asked after he felt some of the heat leave his face.
"No," he said, looking out towards the van. Another few minutes of silence stretched on until she spoke again, this time his head came up sharply.
"This town seems like a decent place. If you want to continue on by yourself, I'll be okay here. I can probably find another ride pretty fast."
He stared her, scowling. "What? Why the hell would I do that?"
She shrugged. "Because you're obviously not having a very easy time with me being around. Some people are just better suited to be alone than others. It's okay if you are."
That was true. He didn't like being around people. Usually any people. But he wouldn't just leave her in some strange town, a whole state away from where he'd picked her up, just so she could catch a ride with a possible freak. "I don't mind you being around," he said, unsure if she would believe him.
"If I do anything that makes you feel like you want to get rid of me just let me know and I'll tone it down. Honestly, though, you're the first person that I've been around that I haven't felt like I've wanted to get away from. My coworkers are all jackasses and my ex boyfriend is a real piece of crap. It's nice to be around someone that I feel so comfortable with."
He was actually surprised that she felt comfortable with him. Not many people felt comfortable around the Dixon brothers. Not people like her anyway. A thought occurred to him then. "Is that what pushed you into just takin' off with nothin' but a bag? An ex boyfriend?"
She met his eyes and he forced himself to hold them. She didn't hesitate before she nodded. "Yeah. I guess my ex knocked some sense into me. I dated him for months but I didn't like him much. I mean, I guess it sounds really stupid but my life has been pretty lonely since my mom died. He came around a lot when I was off work and we hung out. It was pretty much going nowhere. And then the other night we were sitting there watching television and he gets down on one knee and asks me to marry him! Like we were in love or something!"
His eyebrows shot up as her brow furrowed and then she glared off towards the van.
"I told him to leave and then he starts raging at me. He was so angry. I hadn't ever seen him like that. Anyway, he roughed me up a little bit but I could see it in his eyes that he wanted to seriously hurt me. It wasn't that bad. I had a bloody nose but it could have been worse. After he left I realized that my life totally sucked and it was going to suck until I did something about it. So I left."
He was mesmerized by her story. It wasn't exactly like his but enough so that he felt almost like he had found a kindred spirit in her. He quickly shook the thought away. "You didn't have any family or friends you could have turned to?"
She shook her head. "No. I mean, I had friends in high school but they're all gone. Moved on to start their own lives. And here I am. Sitting with a boy I know nothing about, ready to embark on some journey into the unknown. Go Carol," she muttered.
He shrugged. "I don't see anything wrong with your plan. You wanted to do something so you just up and did it. That takes guts."
"You apparently did the same thing," she smiled softly.
He shook his head. "There's a big difference in running towards a dream and running away from a nightmare, Carol. Me and you ain't alike in that aspect." He stilled when he realized that he was revealing a hell of a lot more of himself than he needed or wanted to. "Fuck, you ready to get outta here. I didn't get much sleep either. I wanna get some rest as soon as we lose light." He stood up, dusting off the seat of his pants.
She reached for his hand and he hesitated before offering it to her. Hers were warm in his as he pulled her up from the grass. He was a little more than startled when she didn't let go of his hand right away. She cleared her throat smiled uncertainly and then dropped his hand quickly. "Thank you, Daryl. I'm not sure what the hell I'd be doing if you hadn't stopped."
He had no words for that since he was easily flustered so he gave her stiff nod and then motioned towards the van. "Let's get the hell outta here."