Song: Settle For a Slowdown
Artist: Dierks Bentley
Characters: Lou Vartann/Catherine Willows
But your wheels just turned down the road ahead
If it hurts at all you ain't shown it yet
I keep a lookin' for the slightest sign
That you might miss what you left behind
I know there's nothing stopping you now
But I'd settle for a slowdown
Of The Heart
He knew tonight was the night she was leaving. She wanted to get out of Vegas as soon as possible, unfortunately for him it doesn't leave much time to get to her. But he knows the route to her house by heart and it takes him half the time it probably would anyone else.
It looks empty from the street, through the huge windows he can see that almost everything has been packed into boxes, labeled and thrown into the truck. Only the larger pieces of furniture still remain, and the house looks so bare he can barely believe she used to live in it.
Because Catherine has taste, she admires bright colors and she loves to decorate so to see this makes him shake his head sadly. She appears suddenly wearing black yoga pants and a white t-shirt, her hair pulled back in a ponytail and he can't shake the fact that she looks happy.
And Lou knows she's tired. He also knows he's somewhat responsible for her exhaustion, from pushing the limits to their relationship and showing up on random nights only to weasel his way into her bed and disappear the next morning. He wouldn't be surprised if her answer as to why she was really leaving was him. He was a mess after all.
He draws in a breath of the still warm air, because the sun hasn't set yet and the breeze swimming around him is light and smells like summertime. He walks a few feet closer and when she turns around with a box in her hands she smiles sadly and he rushes forward, prying it from her hands and ignoring her angry huff.
"I can take care of it," she mutters, melting into a smile when he turns around and pretends to roll his eyes. It takes some of the tension out of the air and makes it easier to breathe. When she moves to walk past him their arms brush and he's almost sure he heard her sharp intake of breath before she brushes it off and hands him the next box.
"When do you head out?" he asks, because he doesn't like surprises and he dreads the fact that he may wake up and she'll already gone. He wants to know now.
After a pause she tells him, "Tomorrow. I wanted it to be today but there's too much to pack."
Damn. He has until tomorrow, and that's only if she doesn't push him away in fear that they'll become to close. He looks over and sees her taping another box shut, blowing out a puff of air and walking to her. She stops as eh stares at her, slowly straightening up and looking at him with unreadable ice blue eyes.
"Tomorrows real soon," he whispers, lowering his head and brushing his lips across her cheek. She leans in to him and nods, arms wrapping around his waist and savoring the scent of his aftershave she used to smell every day.
"It is. If you want we can go inside, try to make it last a little longer?" it'll have to do he decides, because even though he can't make her stay he'll surely take the chance to slow her down.