You Never Gave Me a Reason

Disclaimer: I don't own Revenge or its characters.

5) A Long Night Lying in a Limousine

Victoria wasn't looking forward to the drive they had coming their way. They were looking at three hours on the road, and since the Graysons were neither able to agree on a radio station nor make pleasant conversation in a closed environment without a heavy measure of sarcasm (and an occasional slap on her part), it made for a long period of awkward silence wherein two emotionally-distant people sat with a foot of space between them and stared at their phones, or out the window, or into the back of their eyelids, depending on the time of day. Since this trip took place through the latest hours of the night - specifically, from midnight to three o'clock in the morning - the two expected sleep to entertain them, and not much else; although they were otherwise distracted from their boredom by the scattered jolts of their limousine driver, Reese, for whose clumsy road etiquette he would have been fired much before now if it weren't for his now-and-then preference to Victoria in the case of an argument, for which she was too grateful to let him go. Conrad didn't much care for him, but Victoria was adamant in his presence as both driver and mediator. Whatever the reason, Reese wasn't the smoothest chauffeur, and this made for quite restless evening rides.

That night, after a never-ending dinner party, Mrs. Grayson was even less patient with the three long hours ahead. As soon as she was released from the grasp of the Grayson family reunion, saying her goodbyes to Daniel as he drove home with Emily and apologizing once again for Charlotte's inexplicable absence, she fell into the back of the limousine and let out the breath she had been holding all evening. Her eyelids instantly fell prey to gravity and she lay back as well as she could in the chair's upright position, sleep already pleading with her. She tried to stave it off, knowing that rest would be nearly impossible to reach on the road, their ride stopping and starting with endless interstate traffic simply because the weather was too tumultuous for a jet that day. It was tempting to broach the idea of finding a hotel, but she knew Conrad would not consent and she had no desire to fight.

So she turned on her side and rested her head between the seat and the door, allowing no discomfort to deter her, and permitted sleep to do its number on her until her husband found his way into the vehicle. Perhaps she could manage to work a little rest under her belt before he escaped his family...

"...certainly a night for the books, wasn't it?"

His voice ushered her back into reality and out of half-sleep only a few minutes later, and she wished with everything in her that he hadn't. One of her burning eyes managed to expose itself to the harsh lights of the street lamps, and she inhaled a hot breath, realizing just how warm the vehicle had grown during her unconsciousness. "What was that?" she exhaled the question, glancing over her shoulder. Through barely-parted eyelashes, she saw an uncomfortable expression on his face as he sized her up.

"I didn't realize you were sleeping," he stated sheepishly - this was a strange color on him. She sat up and turned toward him to investigate.

"Not well," she muttered, stretching lightly as she attempted to return to the world. "Were you asking me something?"

Conrad shrugged, shaking his head. "Nothing important. You can rest."

She rolled her eyes. "I won't." Arm reaching up to fix her hair, she leaned her side against the back of the seat and examined the smile on his face. "I assume you've had a nice evening."

It was apparent as he attempted to play down his expression that he truly had enjoyed himself this year. "For once, my father and I are on good terms; no doubt due to something you've said," he pointed out knowingly. He was fully aware of his wife's close relationship with his father, and whenever his own happened to turn up, it usually had something to do with her. "I've never realized how much easier things can be when you're with me rather than against."

Victoria laughed. "Don't think I'm on your side merely because I helped you. I tend to keep my enemies dangerously close."

"But not as close as the people you love," he reminded her.

She smirked. "Don't think I love you, either."

Looking her straight in the eyes, he replied lightheartedly, "I don't."

With that, the conversation ended, and their drive began, as Reese stepped into the vehicle and started the engine. Victoria rolled onto her side once again, knowing fully well that she would only stare out the tinted window and pretend to be resting so that Conrad wouldn't turn on the radio, or make any noise at all, really. Something about the fact that she was asleep always managed to shut him up.

For the next twenty minutes or so, she lay there in desperation for sleep. She tossed and turned every once in a while, switching from one side to the other, tilting to her left and to her right in an attempt to find a comfortable position in which she could possibly find rest. Conrad noticed her restlessness from the other side of the vehicle, but he pretended not to notice - after all, Victoria was a woman of her own means and would, by and by, figure out how to make herself comfortable. Still, though he knew this was true, he couldn't help but think about how tired she must have been. He had watched her play happy, shiny wife all through the day: sweet-talking his father into getting along with Conrad and working his cousins like a charm, complimenting his god-awful sister and calmly receiving showers of insults in return, and even offering to say grace over the meal, which won over his religious aunt in an instant. There was nothing that day Victoria hadn't done to make this reunion a success, either for her husband or her father-in-law whom she loved like family, and at the end of the night, she was treated to exhaustion and hours left before returning home. Conrad felt he ought to express his thanks somehow.

"Victoria?"

She looked over at him. "Yes?" she mumbled, lack of sleep burying her voice somewhere deep inside her lungs. He watched her for a moment.

"You don't seem extremely comfortable," he noted vaguely, catching her attention.

Victoria raised an eyebrow and sat up slightly. "I've underestimated your observational talents, Conrad. You have a gift."

Her voice dripped with sarcasm, but he didn't allow it to annoy him. Instead of replying at all, he reached out an arm, offering her something more comfortable on which she might lie her head. She seemed startled at his offer, eyes widening, but she didn't scoff or roll her eyes as was expected. Actually, she responded quite unexpectedly by sliding over in her seat - tentatively, but nonetheless moving in his direction - and cautiously, eyes stuck on his all the while, allowed him to loop his arm around her. Once settled, she rested her head on his shoulder gently, without a word.

Conrad was tempted to freeze beneath her, being so unused to her nearness and unsure of what had caused her to actually accept an offer that was simply made out of courtesy and in the knowledge that she wouldn't respond positively. Still, afraid his tenseness would scare her away, he relaxed beneath her and allowed his hand to naturally curve around her waist, holding her loosely at his side. He was amazed when she remained, lying calmly in his arms. Although he couldn't crane his neck down to see, she soon allowed her eyes to close, taking the chance that he wouldn't suddenly eject her from his embrace in the name of bewilderment at their strange situation.

A minute or two passed by the time her breaths grew deeper, her heartbeat slower, her body softer. Surprised that he had actually put her to sleep, he waited another ten or fifteen minutes before venturing to rest his head atop hers, lightly enough so as not to wake her until he, too, drifted into a light sleep...

When they arrived home hours later, Reese exited the limousine and opened Victoria's door, expecting to find her eager to escape the vehicle. Instead, he found two Graysons curled up together, fast asleep on the far side of the backseat. Flustered by a sight he had never expected to see in all his years of working for the couple, he didn't know whether to wake them or to leave them there. After a moment of careful deliberation, he opened his mouth to address them; but Mr. Grayson opened his eyes, blinking up at the driver. A slight shake of his head was all he needed to know that it was better to leave them where they were than to break whatever spell had enchanted the back of the Grayson limousine.

Thanks so much for reading! To everyone who reviewed, followed, favorited, or is just following along, you guys are awesome-possum :) I hope you'll continue to read and review so I'll know if you like it!

It's funny, because I was never going to post this story; I usually just write for myself as practice. My main reason for writing a multichapter story like this was because I really wanted to write cute ConVict fluff, but I was having trouble writing it from their current position of "I hate you don't touch me" - so I went back to season 2 (the ConVict happy place, haha) and made them start to fall in love instead, so I could use it as a base for fluff fics full of kissing and hand-holding and all the stuff they wouldn't do now. I'm trying to keep them in-character, of course, but my point is... this isn't following the show. I don't even know what area of season 2 I'm in, so don't bother trying to figure out when Patrick comes in or Emily and Daniel get married or whatever. I'm just screwing around.

Sorry. You didn't care about any of that. Carry on.