You guys!
Thank you so much for the reviews. The fact you are discussing things about this story with each other warms my heart.
It also gives me a lot of insight on how the words I write are being perceived.
You are the best.
Hope you all enjoy this next chapter!
The moon was full and lit up the night sky, making the streetlights appear like weak little dots in the dark concrete streets. The big round orb formed the perfect shape in the background to give shape to two figures, who stood on top of one of the many buildings in Chicago. These two tall shadows were positioned across from the Last Chance Garage with there arms crossed, all the while keeping a watchful eye on the building in front of them and the people currently sleeping peacefully inside of it.
"Tell me again why I am here?" Vinnie said, his eyes focused on the house below them.
"Because despite you being the loudest mouse, you are also the most relaxed one. If I'd told Modo, he would have moved in with Charley. If I had told Throttle,- okay, I honestly don't know for sure how he would have responded. But I've seen him looking at Izzy, so he probably wouldn't let it go as easily either."
"What are you talking about, Throttle looking at Izzy?" Vinnie arched an eyebrow. "Is this about the time he smelled like her?"
"No!" Stoker replied a bit too quickly. "Never mind."
"I still can't believe any of it." Vinnie continued and he shook his head. "Sam a gambler? With fishy dealings on the side?"
"I know. I know." Stoker confirmed. "I wish it wasn't true either."
The former rebel leader had told Vinnie everything. He had to in order to get him to come with him to the Last Chance Garage. Otherwise the youngest mouse would have never left the scoreboard. He'd told Vinnie about Mr. Morden and the henchman who'd showed up and practically threatened Izzy. Then he had to explain who this guy was and in what way Izzy was connected to all of it. How Sam Davidson had been a gambler and had fallen into a big debt with some guy. That there was a good chance he had killed himself because of that debt and had almost taken Izzy with him along in the process. It was due to his death, that she was left to deal with the consequences.
There was still the matter as to how she'd managed to pay off that debt in the first place. Stoker did not believe her story. Sure, part of it might have been true. But he just knew it wasn't the whole truth. He could see it in her eyes. He could sense it from her mind. He had seen things in her head that still called forth unanswered questions. But that was something for another time. Now he was here with Vinnie, keeping watch outside of Charley's house, in case someone dangerous would decide to show up. He may have given Izzy her gun back, but that didn't mean she would be able to keep herself or Charley from harm.
"I still don't understand your reason for not telling the others. You know it will come out eventually. Stuff like this always does and you and I both know how everyone is going to react once they find out we've been hiding it."
Stoker clenched his jaw. Yes, he did have a hunch as to how the others would react. Throttle would call him irresponsible and selfish, Modo would ask him why he hadn't told them. Then they'd wrestle it over and after a couple of hours everything would be fine and dandy. Still, Stoker felt no remorse for not telling all of them. He was already breaking his promise to Izzy by telling Vinnie about it, and he knew neither Modo nor Throttle would keep quiet once they'd learn of it.
"Come on." Stoker said as he walked back to Vinnie's bike. "Let's get a bit closer."
::::::...::::::
Izzy stared at the television screen. Her eyes red and drowsy due to the lack of other light sources in the room. She'd purposely decided not to turn any lamps on as to not disturb Charley who was already sound asleep in her bedroom, or so she hoped. The only other source of light came from the full moon shining inside through one of the windows. The truth was she couldn't sleep. She'd tried to, but the couch really wasn't that comfortable. If anything she was going to find a mattress and ask Charley if she could sleep on the floor or downstairs in the garage.
But the couch wasn't the actual reason why she was awake. No, it was because of Morden's henchman from this morning. She was worried he somehow might have followed her back to Charley's house. But seeing as he knew Sam, perhaps he already knew about Sam's sister. It was a risk she initially didn't want to take, but Stoker had convinced her it was okay. That she and Charley would be kept from harm and that he would do everything he could in order to do so. It didn't take away the guilt she felt and thus sleep did not come to her.
She clicked on the remote and flicked through the channels, stopping at some sort of nature programme about small rodents. Even the television reminded her of the four alien creatures from Mars. They no longer scared her as they'd done so in the beginning. Yet that didn't take away the fact they appeared very intimidating. They were taller than any man she had ever seen, well except for Vinnie maybe. Compared to the other Martians, especially Modo, the white mouse wasn't as ridiculously tall.
When Izzy caught Modo and Charley having a chat earlier today in the living room, she had secretly observed them for a couple of seconds. It seemed as though there was something going on between the two of them. Was it friendship? Camaraderie? or more than that? Izzy couldn't deny that her mind immediately thought of the latter. Especially from the way the two had stared at each other. A small physical touch with their hands, as innocent maybe as a pat on the shoulder, was exchanged between the two of them.
During the car ride towards the scoreboard Izzy hadn't planned to ask Throttle about it, or any of them for that matter. He had been incredibly quiet from the moment they got into the car, now normally Izzy didn't mind a piece of quietness but the atmosphere somehow felt awkward. She wasn't really sure what she could talk about with Throttle. Talking to Stoker was easy, but that was probably because he did most of the talking. Throttle was a different story. Izzy wasn't afraid of him, not really, but he seemed difficult to approach. Almost as if he didn't really want to be near her.
So she decided to ask him something about their species and automatically her earlier wonderment popped into her head. She couldn't really reveal her true thoughts to Throttle, about how she thought there was something going on between Charley and Modo. No, she had to be discreet about it. Which she tried to do the best she could. Throttle did appear rather taken back by her questions, though he had assured her she wasn't being impolite. Nonetheless, his answers didn't really help in the end.
Izzy turned her attention back to the television where a dark forest filled the screen. A small critter which looked like a mouse with a long snout, scurried across a tree trunk.
"In Australia during the month of August, a small marsupial creature is on the move for love. This mouse looking species is called an Antechinus and the male only has one purpose in life. Reproduce.
In fact, the creature is so focused on achieving its goal, it puts all its energy into preparing himself for the ultimate challenge which is to fertilize as many females he can before kicking the bucket.
During a time period of two to three weeks, this creature takes as many females as he can. Sometimes he can go on for as much as 14 hours at the time. Something us humans will, thankfully, never achieve.
The Antechinus will keep going until his body literally falls apart from all the action thus resulting in its dea,-"
Izzy quickly turned the television off and threw the remote next to her. She stared at the dark television with shock. A mouse looking species which had sex until it died of exhaustion. That was something she had no desire to listen to, especially as she'd recently learned what the habitants of the planet Mars look like. She was most definitely not going to be able to fall asleep now.
She got up from the couch and decided she might as well do something more valuable with her time. Quietly Izzy made her way down the stairs which connected Charley's living room to the garage. There were three bikes currently residing in there. Charley's bike, Stoker's slightly damaged bike and Sam's completely broken ride.
Izzy wasn't a mechanic, she would never be able to fix Stoker or Sam's bike. The latter she wouldn't touch anyway, even if she was able to, she never wanted to do anything with it ever again. It was Charley's legacy now and nothing more than a bad memory to her personally. Stoker's bike was a different story. Patching it up was also something she would leave to the others, but she could try and see if there were any physical fixings that needed to happen.
She flicked the light switch and tied her hair in a loose bun. First thing she had to do was check and separate all of the spray paint Charley had saved in a box for her. After that, she was going to thoroughly examine Stoker's motorcycle for any superficial scratches.
::::::...::::::
"Lights are out." Vinnie noted.
"And they just turned on the garage." Stoker muttered.
"You think it's someone uninvited?"
The older mouse shook his head. If it had been a stranger they would have known. There were two ways to enter the garage, from the front and from the back. The front was still shut tight and had been since the two mice arrived. The only other option was the back door, but seeing as they were currently standing on top of the building they would have noticed it for sure.
"You want to go ahead and double check just to be safe?" He asked the white mouse.
"How about I go look through the windows of Charley's bedroom and living room while you go down to the garage?" Vinnie suggested.
Stoker let out a chuckle, knowing full well Vinnie was probably more interested in watching Charley sleeping in her bed safe and sound rather than thinking there was a stranger currently roaming about in her garage. "Fine by me."
It probably hadn't gone unnoticed by Vinnie, seeing as Stoker had seen it too, that there was only one answer to who was downstairs at the moment. The answer being Isabel Davidson. He should have known the woman wouldn't be able to sleep tonight after what happened this morning.
Stoker made his way down towards the street using the drain pipe on the side of the house. He landed on the sidewalk and crawled towards the first window on his right side. There she was with her honey hair tied up in a bun. She was leaning against one of the workbenches, shaking a can of paint and spraying it on a surface before setting it aside.
He watched closely as she walked over to his bike and crouched down next to it. Her hands gently touching the surface of his ride. A tickling sensation went through his body and his fur tingled. Was she planning on doing something to his baby? Knowing Izzy he doubted she would without asking him first. The thought made him feel warm inside.
Stoker wanted nothing more than to head inside and talk to her, despite the fact he'd spent the night with her. Well, not really with her, but did that really matter? He had promised to leave her alone for the time being. But he found it incredibly difficult and he knew exactly why. He let out a deep sigh and moved away from the window.
This would do for now. At least he was certain she was safe and despite having guessed she probably couldn't sleep anyway, it did worry him a little that she was doing stuff at three o'clock at night. He climbed back up the drain pipe to Vinnie who he found standing next to Charley's bedroom window.
"Vincent." He hissed.
The white mouse jumped a little, his tail flicked around nervously. "Geez, Stoke. I didn't expect you to get back so soon."
Stoker grinned and walked up to the younger mouse. "Charley sleeping alright?"
Vinnie nodded. "Drooling a little bit." He chuckled.
"You want to head back to the scoreboard?"
The white mouse frowned at his former rebel leader. "Really? I figured you out of all people would want to stay here and make sure Izzy and Charley are safe. After everything you've told me, I can totally understand."
Rookie has a point there. Of course Stoker didn't really want to leave, but he didn't want his bros, or Izzy for that matter, to find out that him and Vinnie have been out for most of the night. Stoker shook his head.
"It'll be fine. Let's go back."
But Vinnie seemed kind of reluctant, was he as equally worried as Stoker was? "If you're worried about Charley, don't be. But if you want to stay behind on your own. Be my guest."
Vinnie turned his head towards the window, taking another glance at the shape of Charley sleeping in her bed. Her auburn hair spread out on her pillow, her chest slowly moving up and down. He could watch her all night if he wanted to. He looked back at Stoker, who had his arms crossed and stared at him rather impatiently. Okay, so perhaps Vinnie had his own reasons for wanting to stay at Charley's house a bit longer. It hadn't gone unnoticed by him that Modo was beginning to make advances towards the female mechanic, whether or not it was intentional, Vinnie was starting to feel a bit nervous about it.
It reminded him of back on Mars, when both him and Stoker were pining for the same mouse. Harley. With her caramel fur and vibrant blue eyes, a colour you rarely saw on a Martian female. In the end she had clearly chosen him over Stoker. Heck, his former leader even acknowledge it at some point right before Harley was abducted and they never saw her again. Charley reminded him a lot of Harley, not completely, but close enough. She managed to make him feel things again, after he had lost the woman he'd loved dearly.
"Say, Stoke,-" Vinnie began as the two mice began to walk back to his bike. "Do you ever think of Harley?"
Stoker immediately stopped and gave Vinnie a surprised look. "Harley?"
He scratched the back of his neck. Where was this question suddenly coming from? No, he hadn't thought about Harley in a long time. It was clear during the war that she preferred Vinnie over him and at first he was more than willing to fight it and make her his. But in the end you can't fight for love if you know in your heart it belongs to another. It was painful at first, sure. Nonetheless, Stoker accepted it. Some species of cave mice shared their females with each other, more so if it turned out she was a compatible mate for more than one mouse. But that wasn't a life Stoker wanted.
No, the mouse was far to dominant to share what was rightfully his. That was something Harley wasn't. She wasn't for him. After that became apparent, he never thought about it again. He'd cried though after she was taken, because he had felt for her. But as time passed, so did the memory of her.
Stoker lost himself in the thrill of battle and science. His mind filled and occupied with creating devices to help the planet of Mars become again what it once was. He honestly never thought he was going to find someone to claim his heart. That there was no match for him out there. And in a way he had been right. It wasn't on Mars where he'd find his heart's desire. If it hadn't been for his bros he probably would have never even found it in the first place. They were the ones who crashed on Earth after all.
A human female, in the disguise of Charley's sister-in-law, who he probably would have never found, if it hadn't been for Charley's friendship with Vinnie, Modo and Throttle.
The minute he saw her, he was intrigued.
The second he smelled her scent, he was in love.
And the moment she said his name, he was truly lost.
Now more than ever Stoker realized what it meant to find the one that matched you in every sense. Though he'd never expected to find it in another species, let alone someone who barely had a hair on them and a lack of tail. But her skin was as smooth as velvet and Stoker was certain he'd probably find even softer skin underneath her clothes. He truly hoped one day he'd get that chance to find that out.
He coughed and turned his attention back to the mouse in front of him. "To tell you the truth, Vincent, I haven't thought about Harley in a long time. After searching for her for so long and no luck finding her, it all simply faded away after a while." Stoker admitted.
"Yeah, I get that. Sometimes I still think she's out there. But then again all I really hope for is that she has found peace. Whether it's somewhere on another planet or in the after life,-" He choked on his words all of a sudden and quickly cleared his throat.
Stoker felt bad for his bro. Vinnie, as much of a macho mouse he seemed to be, was very much a sensitive one. It was clear he would never fully get over the loss of Harley. But Charley came pretty close, though Stoker wondered sometimes if it was the same. He reached out and patted Vinnie on the back.
"I know. Come on. Let's go back to the scoreboard."
The next day
Charley found her sister-in-law downstairs in the workplace. Cans of spray paint scattered across the workbench she'd managed to fall asleep on. The auburn haired woman sighed and gently moved Izzy's hair out of her face and tucked it behind the woman's ear. Charley herself has slept quite peacefully, she felt guilty in a way that she had and Izzy hadn't. Despite having offered her bed to her, Izzy had declined. Perhaps she could head over to the guys and take one of their mattresses. They had enough of them anyway, always using them as practise material or to protect furniture during target practise. She was certain they were more than willing to let her borrow one of them.
With one final glance she looked at Izzy before grabbing her keys from back pocket and heading out towards her car. There was no telling how much sleep Izzy had gotten last night, but knowing her, Charley knew it couldn't have been very long. The scoreboard wasn't that far away though, if she hurried she could make it back before Izzy woke up. She stepped into her car, started the engine and drove of to her friends.
Within not even half an hour Charley had made it to the guys, with a coffee to go she'd picked up along the way. Quietly she made her way up the metal staircase, knowing for certain the guys were probably still fast asleep just like her sister-in-law. Charley opened the door and peeked inside. No loud voices, no explosions, no laughter, not even the sound of a television. The guys were definitely still sleeping.
She found Stoker first, sleeping on his stomach on a mattress which he'd conveniently placed underneath the couch. Strangely enough his right leg was lying in top of it while the rest of his body was on the floor. A loud snore escaped his throat and Charley chuckled. She made her way over to one of the bunk beds in the corner, the place where she'd usually find Vinnie. And she did. He was lying on his back, lips slightly apart and drool hanging from the corner of his mouth. Very endearing. The female mechanic smiled softly at him.
A door opened across the room and Charley quickly stepped away from Vinnie. It was Modo who appeared in the opening. His eye widened and he looked at her with surprise. "Charley ma'am?" He said as he shut the door behind him. "What are you doing here? I wasn't expecting to see you here."
He watched her closely as she threw one last glance at Vincent before making her way over to him. How long had she been at the scoreboard exactly? Had she come back with Stoker and Vinnie? The two of them had left suddenly last night, taking only Vinnie's bike with them. Modo was already asleep by the time the two of them probably returned. At least, he assumed it had just been the two of them.
"I uh,- I came over here because I want to take one of you guy's mattresses with me for Izzy. I figured the couch is probably not the most comfortable place for her to sleep on and she's declined my offer to use my bed." Charley explained. "You don't mind, do you?"
Modo shook his head, of course he wouldn't mind. She was more than welcome to take any mattress with her, even the one he slept on if she so pleases. Though he'd rather have Charley sleep on it than Izzy. "I'll go and grab one from the other room. I'm sure there's a spare in there."
"Thank you." She smiled warmly at him. "Or we can yank the one Stoker is currently sleeping on from underneath him." Charley grinned as they walked past the former Freedom Fighter.
"Knowing him, he'd give it up in a heartbeat." Modo replied in a serious tone.
Yes, he would. Charley's smile faltered. That's kind of what she's afraid of. It hadn't gone unnoticed to her that Izzy wasn't afraid of the guys anymore. Which was exactly what Charley had hoped for in the first place. But it did bring along another set of worry. She knew Stoker had affection for her sister-in-law, Throttle had explained that in detail.
Heck, even Modo and Vinnie tried to explain it to her how their biology worked. Charley still didn't buy it though. Stoker had a reputation as a womanizer, at least if she were to believe the others. The last thing she wanted was for the older mouse to make a move on her dead brother's wife.
"You alright, Charley-girl?" Modo looked at her.
Quickly she turned her eyes to him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get that mattress, okay?"
"Uh, why don't you wait here for me? I'm not sure Throttle would be very comfortable if you entered our sleeping quarters unannounced. He might not be decent." The tall grey mouse scratched behind one of his ears and went into the bedroom by himself.
Throttle not decent? That sounded highly unlikely. Charley shook her head and sat down at the kitchen table, waiting for Modo to return. Within a minute or two he came back into the room, carrying a large white mattress together with Throttle. The tanned mouse looked a lot better than he'd done yesterday. Izzy had been right about him not being a weak mouse and Charley knew from personal experience that the guys healed a lot faster than any regular human ever would.
"Morning, Throttle." She greeted him.
"Charley-girl." He nodded at her. He suddenly paused and narrowed his eyes into the direction of the couch. "I see Vinnie and Stoker are back." He noted.
Charley frowned at him. "Back?"
"Yeah, they were out for most of the night. Don't know when they returned exactly, but they left around midnight." Modo replied.
"Oh well, as long as the city is still in one piece, no complaints from me." Throttle shrugged. "You want this in the back of your truck, Charley?"
"Yeah, just throw it in there and strap it down. I'll give it a thorough cleaning when I'm back at the garage."
Throttle huffed. "Thorough cleaning. You make it sound as if we've been using it for something disgusting."
"Hey, for all I know you eat in your bed or leave your dirty laundry on top of it. Can't have Izzy smelling like you guys."
Charley had no idea how much trouble that could bring if Izzy did smell like them. It would be the same incident as a week ago when Throttle had supposedly saved her life from the beach. Thus accidentally placing his own scent over her and hers on him. Stoker almost lost his mind and would have most certainly knocked Throttle out cold if he hadn't defused the matter in time.
"Right, let's go, big guy." Throttle cleared his throat and the two of them carried the mattress with them towards her car.
In the meantime Stoker began to wake up. The dusty brown mouse groaned loudly as he pushed himself upright. That had been a long, long night. He rubbed his eyes. After him and Vinnie rode away from the Last Chance Garage, they'd driven around the city for a bit. Grabbed a quick bite to eat near the pier and a couple of root beers. Chicago was a different city in the middle of the night. Bright neon lights, crowded streets with young people. It wasn't his scene. No, he preferred smaller establishments, like the ones back on Mars. Sure, those places weren't always danger free, but at least it didn't have those ridiculous bright lights everywhere.
It took him a couple of seconds before he realized there was another person standing near him. A person who was definitely not a mouse. "That you, Beautiful?" He asked with a frown.
"Morning, Stoker. How was your beauty sleep?" Charley grinned at him.
"Beauty sleep? I don't need sleep in order to maintain this good-looking physique." He replied as he straightened himself. He flopped down on the armrest of the couch and looked around the room.
"Heard you were out last night?" The female mechanic arched an eyebrow at the mouse in front of her.
Like a deer caught in the headlights, a light blush crept over Stoker's cheeks. "Uh, yeah. Vinnie and I went out. You know, bonding time. So, what brings you here? You came by because you missed us bikers, didn't you?"
He was obviously deflecting her question, using his macho bravado. Just like Vinnie always did to her when she asked him something he was reluctant to answer directly. Charley crossed her arms. "Modo and Throttle are currently carrying one of you guys' mattresses into the back of my truck."
"Mattress?"
"For Izzy. I found her sleeping on one of the workbenches in the garage this morning. I figured she could use a proper surface to sleep on while she's staying over."
Stoker's mouth twitched slightly, remembering how he watched the woman working in the garage in the late hours of the night. To think she'd actually fallen asleep there didn't sit well with him. The garage was rather exposed compared to the upper area. Though there were only to was through which you could probably enter the workspace, you could peek inside through the windows if the drapes weren't properly closed, which that hadn't been last night.
"I'm sure she was more than happy when you suggested giving her something more comfortable to sleep on."
Charley nodded. "I'm sure she will. I didn't tell her yet. She was still asleep when I left the garage."
Suddenly Stoker stood up from the couch and uncrossed his arms. "Sorry?"
"She was asleep when I left. I didn't want to wake her up,- Stoker?"
But Stoker was already making his way out of the room and down the metal staircase down towards the bikes. Charley left Izzy all alone? He cursed under his breath. It wasn't Charley's fault. He was sure if she had known what happened yesterday, she wouldn't have come here on her own. But leaving Izzy behind at the garage was a risk. Probably not extremely high, but a risk nonetheless. The brown mouse passed both Modo and Throttle as he made his way over to the red motorcycle in the corner.
"Coach?" Modo frowned at the mouse as he walked by them. "Where are you going?"
"Out! Don't worry about it, I'll be back soon." Stoker shouted back as he put his helmet on and rode away with Vinnie's red bike.
::::::...::::::
He couldn't believe this. Angrily Stoker hit his fist against his thigh. If anything had happened to Izzy while he was gone, he would never forgive himself. He should have never suggested to leave her alone with Charley last night. Sure, nothing happened during the night, but what if this Morden guy or his henchman was watching the garage? Waiting for the perfect opportunity to catch Izzy on her own?
If Stoker thought about it a bit more rationally, he would have realized he was approaching the entire situation rather dramatic and paranoid. But the former rebel leader couldn't help it. His normal logic, well,- half logic, thinking was clouded by his senses and emotions. It was a common experience, comparable to the expression 'blinded by love'. But he doubted the others would approach the situation differently.
The mouse finally arrived at the Last Chance Garage and thankfully everything appeared quiet and peaceful. No signs of a break-in, even Izzy's car was still parked next to the building. Just to be safe he was going to go inside and check on her. He'd have no trouble thinking up an excuses in the meantime if she would question him being there.
Stoker used his metal tail to open the front door and quietly entered, leaving Vinnie's motorcycle right next to Izzy's vehicle. He tiptoed inside, half hoping and half expecting to find her still asleep in the garage, but he soon realized she wasn't there. He double checked every window and the back door, but also there he found no traces of someone trying to get inside uninvited. But the main question lingered on his mind, where was she?
"Izzy?!" He shouted loudly at the staircase which led to Charley's living space. He listened for a few second, but there was no reply. He decided there was no other choice but check every room inside the house. Stoker ran up the stairs, all the while calling for her. But after checking every room, he still hadn't found her. She was gone.
He stopped, his eyes searching frantically for a sign or a clue as to where she was. Her car was here. He'd even spotted her jacket hanging on the coat rack. Where was she? For a quick second he walked back to her jacket and checked the pockets for a hint on possible whereabouts. But there was nothing there.
"Dang it!" He cursed loudly and went back downstairs. He had to find her. There was no point in waiting. It was common sense that the longer you waited to make a move, the less chance you had of finding the person that's gone missing.
Stoker opened the door and stepped outside onto the street. He was about to head over to Vinnie's bike when he suddenly stopped. There was a person standing between the motorcycle and the car.
"Oh, thank the stars." He let out a deep breath and ran over to Isabel Davidson.
Just in time he stopped himself from throwing his arms around her and picking her up from the ground. She was there and she was fine.
"Hey, gorgeous." Stoker flashed a smile as he slowed down. "How are you this fine morning?"
"I'm doing great." Izzy replied. "Were you just shouting my name from inside of Charley's house?" She arched an eyebrow.
"Heard that, did ya?" The mouse cleared his throat. "Yeah, I was just looking for you, it seemed too quiet when I entered the house. But you know, I hang around three extremely loud mice. Everything seems quiet compared to those guys." He let out a low chuckle.
"I can imagine that. So where is everyone else? I see you came here with Vinnie's ride?" She nodded at the bright red motorcycle next to her. The bike suddenly bleeped and she jumped back. That was odd.
Stoker walked over to the vehicle and patted it gently. "They're at the scoreboard. Charley came by to get you a mattress. She told me you'd fallen asleep in the garage?" He turned his head towards Izzy whose face suddenly turned slightly red.
"That's kind of her. She's right, though. I couldn't sleep last night so I went downstairs to keep myself busy. Guess in the end I managed to tire myself out." Izzy said honestly. She was kind of hoping to wake up before Charley did, so she wouldn't find out that Izzy had been up throughout most of the night. But that ship had sailed already.
A soft chuckle came from Stoker as he stepped back to lean against Izzy's car. "I take it you must have missed my velvet soft voice? I remember that made you fall asleep rather quickly the other night." Okay, that was an incredibly obvious pick-up line and for a second Stoker wished he hadn't said that.
Izzy narrowed her eyes and gave him an odd look before snorting. "Honestly,-" She mumbled.
"You want to head inside, darling? I'm sure Charley will be back soon from the guys." Stoker suggested trying to ignore the tingling sensation fluttering in his stomach because of how Izzy responded to his cheesy comment. The woman nodded and together they walked back to the garage.
"If I may ask, Izzy." Stoker suddenly began. "Were you unable to sleep because of what happened yesterday?"
They walked through the door and entered Charley's workspace. Izzy stopped next to Stoker's broken motorcycle and lowered her eyes. "Perhaps. a lot of things have happened since I came back to Chicago." She turned her head and looked up at Stoker. "And that includes meeting you guys."
"Hey, like I said we are a loud handful." The dusty brown mouse laughed as he scratched the back of his neck. "I guess while we're being honest here. I,- uh,- I had a hard time sleeping as well since arriving in Chicago. That's not because of the guys, however." He then went quiet and locked his red eyes with Izzy's ocean blue ones.
She didn't look away from his intense gaze. In fact, Stoker was certain she was staring just as hard at him as he was staring at her. Then she blinked and licked her lips. "Stoker, did you come here because you were worried about me being alone?"
Oh, he was not expecting her to ask him that question. This felt like a predicament. Was there a right or wrong answer here? The truth was always good, but what if that scared her off? Or what if it didn't? Izzy was quite independent and she made it clear she was perfectly capable of defending herself. If he told her he had come over because he was concerned for her safety, it might blow up in his face. Could he lie to her? Why was this so damn difficult? He was only a decade older than the guys and you'd think wiser and more experienced when it came to women. But he wasn't so sure of it at this moment.
"What do you think?" He replied instead, his voice low and husky.
Well, I hope you enjoyed that! Let me know what you think :)
Also, hope you all enjoyed the conversation between Vinnie and Stoker. I felt the need to address how those two feel or felt about Harley. Especially Vinnie, considering how he's behaving around Charley.
Lack of Modo and Throttle is this one, but you know they've had more time in the last chapter ;)
Have a great day everyone! Until next time!