The ride to Julie's house consisted of drive thru food and two hours of her asking Crane question after question. She was taking full advantage of having a first-hand account of all the things she'd been reading about her whole life. She noticed that Crane seemed to welcome the questions and the undivided attention to his detailed answers.
Another thing she noticed was how tightly he clenched the 'oh shit' handle with his right hand and the console with his left when she hit 65mph. Apparently he had never been on a major highway before. She fought back a smile. She didn't want to embarrass him.
When they arrived they got out of the car and began to walk up to her house. "Ladies first." Ichabod motioned with a wave of his hand. She was thinking how gallant a gesture that was, but then realized he didn't know which house was hers so he had to let her go ahead of him. She was pretty sure, though, that he would have done it anyway. When she got up to the porch she turned to find Crane paused on the sidewalk and looking around the neighborhood. Julie looked up and down the street, trying to see it through his eyes and figure out what he was thinking. There were kids riding bikes, the smell of dinners being cooked, and rows of well-kept lawns. She looked at him and he had a slight smile on his face, almost like it was somehow comforting to him.
"You coming?" She finally said, bringing him back to the task at hand.
"Right. My apologies." He followed her inside and down to her library.
"What do you want to start with?" Julie asked.
"Let's start with anything on Washington. We shall see where that leads us."
They spent hours going through book after book, documents, records, journals. Nothing jumped out at him. He did, however, tell Julie that he recognized a lot of the people and references made in her research.
"This can't be easy for you," she said.
He looked up from a binder he was flipping through.
"All these reminders of the life you had, the people you knew. I'm sorry you have to go through this."
His eyes directed back to his research. "It is not easy, but the task with which Miss Mills and I have been entrusted takes precedence over my feelings. I do not have the luxury of grieving." He said it kind of matter-of-factly,so Julie decided to drop the subject.
The whole time, Julie couldn't help stealing glances. At Ichabod, yes, but also his coat which was laid over the back of the couch, his boots, clothing, even the little ribbon that held his hair back. She was in awe of every single thing about this man. After about five hours, Crane rubbed his eyes.
"You look exhausted," Julie said, "and it's late. I think maybe we're done for tonight."
"I believe you may be right." Crane replied, fighting off a yawn.
"Come on upstairs. You hungry? It just occurred to me we never had dinner."
"Yes, I suppose I should eat something."
He grabbed his coat and they went upstairs.
Julie looked in her cabinets for something quick to make. "Easy Mac?"
"Who?" Ichabod responded.
"Never mind," she laughed, as she added the water and put two containers in the microwave.
They sat at the kitchen table and talked a bit over their mac and cheese and some fruit salad she found in the fridge. She asked him about what 'new' books he had read, what modern conveniences he liked or didn't like, and she cleared up a strange question he had about whether apes rode horses nowadays.
At one point Crane asked her about space exploration, which she thought may be best explained by showing him a video on YouTube. She went into the living room to get her iPad and found a video of a view of Earth from space. She handed it to him and sat back down. As he watched it, she watched him. His eyes lit up with awe and wonder like a child's. "This is...amazing." After a bit, she walked over and leaned down next to him to forward the video to a view of the other planets. "And there's the rest of our solar system." Her face brushed against a piece of his hair. She held back a sigh. She lingered there a moment longer than she should have. She was already so attracted to him for so many reasons, and then proximity became her worst enemy. Her better judgment and self-control were instantly absent. In one motion she reached her hand out to turn his face toward hers and gave him one long tender kiss.
She backed up just far enough for their eyes to meet for a moment, keeping her hand on his surprisingly soft beard. What did you just do? …God his eyes are brilliant. She waited for a reaction. A negative reaction. Any reaction. Nothing? Oh, he must be pissed. Then to her surprise he leaned in and returned her kiss. What? A few more kisses. Oh god. They begin to flirt a bit with their tongues. I can't believe this is happening. "Mmm…"she let her feelings escape from her mouth. In that moment, Ichabod pulled away.
"Oh, God. Oh, my...I...oh, I'm so sorry...I…I've got to go." He stood up quickly and grabbed his coat which he put on while heading toward the front door.
"Crane, wait! I'm sorry! Don't go." Julie said, crouched next to the kitchen chair where he was sitting.
"No, really." He half turned around, looking near her, not at her. "Thank you for your...hospitality. I really must be on my way." He went to the door and opened it.
"How are you going to get home?" She stood up and followed after him.
"I'll call a taxi!" He called as he sprinted down the porch steps.
"You're two hours away and across state lines!"
"I have Miss Mills' credit card!" He went down the driveway and started down the street.
"Crane!" she yelled for him from the front porch. He kept going and didn't look back. She knew enough to just leave him alone at that point.
"Shit. Shit, shit, shit." She said out loud to herself, lightly punching her bannister post. Oh, Julie. What have you done? She was ashamed and sorry at what a bad idea that was. But at the same time, she could still taste his mouth and she didn't completely regret it. You're a horrible person. She put her fingers to her lips. He's so hot. She also noticed he kissed her back at first. That was kind of amazing. But still, how was she going to face him? He was married. Weird, alternate dimension married, but still married. And he was a man of honor. She may as well have been a snake with a damn apple.
She went back down to the library, knowing full well she wouldn't be able to sleep for a myriad of reasons. She began looking through some notes taken by people surrounding Washington when he was General. She came across one small piece of paper that fell out of an envelope when she was taking out some other documents. It was written in what looked like some sort of code. She didn't know for sure if it meant anything but she knew she had to get it to Crane. "Shit."
After a few hours of extremely interrupted sleep, she took a quick shower, got in her car and drove back to Sleepy Hollow.