I'm finally getting another chapter posted for this story! A special thank you to MizReesa for letting me know that some of you folks were still interested in what happens next in this story. Thanks for the shot of motivation to finish this chapter, which I'd been working on, but not making much progress with!
Vic leaned against the Bronco, arms crossed, chin jutted out, waiting for Walt to come out of his cabin. After telling him she needed a ride, she'd spun on her heels and exited, not waiting for a response, and not wanting to stay in a space that now felt confining.
As she stared off into the distance, she thought of the storm that had raged the previous night. The wind had howled, the tree limbs had bent and moaned, and the torrential downpour had driven down hard and mercilessly. But sitting with Walt in the cab of his truck, and later on his couch, she'd felt connected with him, and separate from everything going on outside.
This morning, the air was still heavy, indicating the heavens would likely be opening up and unleashing more rain on them soon. The sky was a grey canopy of clouds that stretched out as far as she could see, and the wind had picked up. And where last night she'd felt separate and sheltered from the turmoil around them, this morning she felt like she was right in the middle of it. A sky about to unload. A relationship strained at the seams.
The screen door behind her creaked open, and she heard the sound of Walt's boots on the wooden boards of the porch. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then straightened, taking a step back from the truck. Without waiting for him to reach the vehicle, she opened the passenger-side door and took a seat. When Walt came in to view outside the driver's side window, she placed her hand against her door as if bracing herself, or possibly preparing herself for a quick exit.
Walt paused outside the truck, and when she followed his line of sight she saw that he was taking in the sky, as she had done. When he turned to open his door, she quickly shifted so she was facing forward, and busied herself with putting on her seatbelt.
The door open, Walt paused again and then lowered himself into his seat. As he fumbled with his keys she snuck a peek at him noting how tired he looked. It has been a long night for both of them, and an even longer morning.
After turning the key in the ignition and firing up the Bronco, Walt leaned back into his seat. After a long pause, he lowered his window, and then turned toward her.
"You ok?"
She blew a few strands of hair that had fallen in front of her eyes away. "Just peachy."
His eyes scanned her for a moment, and then he reached over and put the truck in reverse.
As they drove in silence, Vic watched him out of the corner of her eye. He was seated in his usual position. Right hand gripping the steering wheel, left arm leaning along the bottom of the open window.
Her headache, which had never really gone away, had ratcheted up a notch over the last twenty minutes, and she brought her fingers to her right temple.
"Drop me off at my place."
Walt looked over at her quizzically, bringing the Bronco to a stop. "What about your truck?"
She dropped her hand, but continued to stare straight forward, knowing if she looked into his eyes she might waver. "I want to shower and change. Probably not a good idea to have you drop me off wearing the same clothes I was wearing last night when we left the Pony. I'll just pick up my truck myself."
"It's still morning. Who's going to see?"
She looked down at her hands in her lap. "It's late enough that the bar is open, and you know Henry has patrons who can sit there from opening to close."
"But they're likely all inside."
Vic pulled at her seatbelt to give her hands something to do. "Likely, but not guaranteed. I know you don't want anyone getting the wrong impression that there's something more than professional going on between us. So we probably shouldn't take the risk."
She saw Walt clench his jaw briefly, and then turn to his left to look out the open driver-side window.
"My house is back towards—"
"I know where you live." He moved his foot from the brake to the gas, turning the Bronco around.
Vic looked over at him. She considered asking him how he knew where she lived, since he'd never been to her house, but held back and resumed looking out her window.
After a few minutes of silence, he turned his head toward her slightly, but kept his eyes on the road. "How are you going to get your truck?"
"I'll walk."
"It's a few miles."
She half-turned toward him. "I think I can handle it."
His eyes darted briefly over to her, but he held back from saying anything further.
Vic decided she needed to roll down her own window to get some fresh air. Hoping to ease her headache, she closed her eyes and leaned towards the opening, letting the breeze wash over her. She stayed that way until she felt the vehicle come to a stop. She opened her eyes and saw her house through the windshield.
She placed her hand on the handle. "Thanks. I'll..." The silence was thick between them, and her throat felt dry and scratchy. With an exhale, she pulled the handle to open her door.
"Vic. Let me drive you to your truck. It looks like it's going to rain."
Vic didn't respond, but looked up and confirmed the threatening conditions above.
"You can run in and grab a jacket. Or change, if you need to. I'll wait."
Vic looked at her front door, and after one more glance at the sky, dropped her hand to her lap. "Fine. You can take me to my truck."
She felt Walt's eyes on her, and when she made no move to exit the cab, he put the truck in reverse, backed out of her driveway and headed back toward the Red Pony.
Vic watched the trees along the road bend and thrash around violently in the wind as they drove, and noticed many fallen branches. Walt navigated around the limbs in their path.
"I didn't say yes."
His voice caught her off guard, and she went completely still. "You didn't say yes to what?"
"To the questions you asked earlier. Whether I agreed with Cady and thought us getting involved was weird. Whether we should go back to how things were. Whether you should give your number to Cady's co-worker. Whether I'd be ok with you going out with some other guy. I didn't say yes."
She turned half-way toward him. "But you didn't say no."
"I said I didn't know."
"You also said maybe."
"But I didn't say yes."
"You said I deserve better."
"You do."
Vic paused. "You shouldn't think that about yourself. You aren't lesser or undeserving."
He remained silent.
"So what does that mean? That you didn't say yes?"
Again he looked out his open window. After a stretch of silence she thought he might have said all he was willing to say and turned back toward her window.
"It means there are a lot of things to consider. It can't just be about what you and I want."
She looked over his way and found him running his fingers along the hair at his neck. "Do you want something more with me?"
Walt cupped the back of his neck. "I'm not sure that's enough reason for us to..."
When he trailed off she shifted in her seat to face him more fully. "The hell it's not."
Walt said nothing.
"What's the first thing that crossed your mind this morning when you woke up? Did you think 'Oh crap, that can't happen again'?"
A pause. "No."
"Then what's making you think that now?"
Again he said nothing.
She paused, watching him. "Why did you kiss me back last night?"
He turned his head, his eyes finding hers, but didn't answer.
"You could have stopped me when I approached you. Or not responded to my kiss."
He focused back on the road, but his silence made her wonder if he was thinking back to that moment on the couch.
"I...I stopped thinking about all the reasons not to."
"But you're back to thinking about those reasons?"
He drummed the fingers of his right hand along the steering wheel. "Yes."
Vic closed her eyes and swallowed.
"When did these doubts start surfacing? When you were out picking up breakfast? When Cady asked if we were dating and you denied it? When she said it would be weird for us to be together?"
"They've been there all morning...when I left, and since coming back."
She looked directly at him. "That overthinking I told you not to do?"
He glanced at her again. "Yep."
"So you didn't say yes, but you have all these doubts, so you're also not saying no."
Walt drummed his fingers along the wheel again.
She watched his hand, and then brought her eyes back up to his face. "So, where does that leave us?"
"I don't know."
"Oh my god, Walt, you've got to stop it with this 'I don't know' shit."
He looked apologetically at her, but remained quiet.
She felt her eyes grow moist, so she turned away from him and looked at the landscape outside her window. The grass rippled as gusts of wind blew through the strands, and the dark clouds billowed, hanging low in the sky. In the distance it looked like rain had started, and she wondered how long it would be before they were in the thick of it. The dreary, overcast morning wasn't helping her attitude. She closed her eyes and pressed her fingers against her eyelids.
Walt pulled the Bronco into the Red Pony's parking lot, and brought his truck to a stop to the left of her vehicle. He bowed his head slightly.
Vic grasped the handle and pushed her door open. Placing one of her booted feet on to the pavement, she leaned back against the headrest and glanced his way.
"So I'm getting out of this truck, and we're just leaving it as...what...a one night stand?"
Walt's head snapped up. "That's...that's not..." His voice trailed off as he dropped his eyes and brought his hand to his forehead.
"That's not what? That's not what you intended to happen between us? Is that what you told Lizzie?"
Walt's blue eyes darted sharply at her.
"That's completely different."
"How is it any different? You sleep with a woman once. You regret it. And it's over. Seems like a pattern to me."
"I don't...it's...it's not the same at all."
Vic waited to see if he would elaborate any further. When he didn't, she turned back toward the passenger door, pushed it fully open, climbed out and shut it behind her. As she dug into her pocket for her keys she heard the other door open and rotated to see Walt emerge from the Bronco. He walked around the front of his truck and appeared next to her in the space between the two vehicles. He leaned back against the Bronco and watched her.
She straightened, defensively. "What?"
"I don't want you to leave like this."
"Like what?"
"Angry."
"Worried how it's going to affect our working relationship?"
"Well...yes. But that's not why—"
"I'm not angry."
He cocked an eyebrow at her. "It seems like you are."
"Well...maybe frustrated...and disappointed."
Walt looked down at his boots as he kicked the surface of the parking lot. "Disappointed? In me?"
"Disappointed in the situation."
"What does your...frustration and disappointment mean for you and me?"
"There is no you and me."
He looked up briefly and Vic saw something flash in his eyes. Was it pain? Sadness? But then he schooled his features and looked to the side.
Vic felt the burn of tears in her eyes and also turned away.
A raindrop hit her cheek, and then another. She looked up, noting that the thick layer of clouds made the sky above them almost black, even though it was only mid-morning. When the next raindrop hit her forehead she closed her eyes. She felt two more drops against her skin, and then nothing. She opened her eyes to check if the rain had halted, only to find Walt close, the brim of his hat above her, shielding her face.
Her eyes locked with his and she was seized with an impulse to lean into him, but caught herself before she did, and took a step back.
"I...I need to go." Her fingers made contact with the handle of the door behind her but she made no move to turn around. Walt didn't step back, instead taking a small step toward her.
"Vic—"
His words were cut short by a truck pulling into the lot. Neither of them looked in the direction of the vehicle as it parked near the entrance to the bar. Vic looked up at a Walt, but he refrained from saying whatever he'd planned on saying. His shoulders slumped slightly, and he took a step back, and then another until he made contact with the passenger door of the Bronco.
The rain was coming down harder, and she blinked as drop after drop hit her eyes. Again she felt her eyes smart, but with the rain wet on her face, she didn't know if he could tell.
Walt stood stoically, as his eyes unwaveringly held hers. She watched as his shirt grew wetter and wetter as the rain bore down on them, but he didn't make a move to get back into his truck or approach her again.
With a small shake of her head, she turned to face her truck, and lifted a trembling hand to unlock her door, fumbling with her keys. "Shit." She'd had it with the rain. That's what got them in to this mess.
Vic managed to open her door. She sank into her seat, yanking the door shut behind her. After a couple breaths, she ran her hand through her wet hair and then started up the truck. Turning her wipers on, she watched their rhythmic movement. She paused and then looked out her window at Walt, who hadn't moved from the spot he was standing in, despite his clothes being soaked through.
She finally broke eye contact, put her truck in drive, and shifted her foot to the gas. She pulled her car out of the parking lot and on to the road. She had just rounded the first bend when the storm turned fierce, and the steady rain became a downpour. Unable to see even with her wipers set to the fastest speed, Vic pulled her truck over to the shoulder and put it in park. It was at this moment that the storm within her finally broke, and as the tears fell, she bent forward and rested her forehead against the steering wheel.