Driving at night seems to have a certain effect on people. All of a sudden, their problems don't seem as big, they don't seem as unmanageable as they once were. The noise seems to fade away as the dotted lines on the blacktop blur at high speeds. It gives the mind time to think, without worrying about deadlines, work, drama, and anything else that the human mind dwells on and becomes anxious because of.
As the streetlamps fade into the night, the open highway greets us. Surprisingly, not a car is in sight.
Abbi had been mostly silent during the drive. She didn't move, didn't say anything either. She just kept her head down. I couldn't tell if she was crying or angry or frustrated. If I didn't know better, I'd think I had a corpse in the seat next to me.
While continuing down the highway towards town, I heard the faintest whisper.
"I'm sorry… I couldn't stop him… I failed you…"
…
I swore I just heard my heart break in half.
I looked at her, saying while turning back towards the road, "Abbi…. None of that was your fault. Do not blame yourself for what that arrogant piece of shit did. If anyone is to blame… it's me. I should have never left you alone with Elon. I never trusted him but at the time I thought nothing of it. My misjudgment, led to you being… well, attacked."
She stayed silent once again, giving me a look that I couldn't quite understand.
*Crash*
She lunged across the center console and clung to me, if I hadn't reacted and put my right arm out to catch her, we'd be in the ditch.
"Whoa, whoa there, why would you go and do something like that, I could have killed us," I lectured, slowing the pickup to a stop, "Why---"
Cutting me off, she pressed her lips against mine, slipping her tongue into my mouth, kissing me with a passion that I hadn't seen from her before.
She broke the kiss, looking into my eyes with a teary look, and a pleading look on her face.
"You're not the one to be apologizing! I was the one in that situation, I should have followed you to the cellar, I should have stuck by your side like I always do. I am so sorry…"
I…
I didn't even begin to have an idea of what to say back to her.
'She thinks it's her fault?'
Why would she even think that? Elon was the one in the wrong, he was the one attempting to force himself on her. At least, of what I saw, it looked like she was resisting and trying to get away from him.
"Abbi, what did Elon say before he tried to kiss you?"
She looked at me and said with a straight face, "He said that he was in love with me. He said that he had been for a long time, and he would give me anything to be with him. When I politely refused him and said that maybe he had too much to drink he said. 'I guess I just have to show you what I mean.' By that point, you had come back and well, you know the rest."
That greasy little bastard, I knew he had a puppy crush on Abbi but…. I should have killed him.
"Ayden?"
When I heard Abbi's voice, I realized I was gripping the steering wheel so hard that my knuckles had turned completely white. I also realized that I had ground my teeth so hard, I'm surprised they didn't break.
"I'm going to kill that fucker….."
Abbi didn't say anything to that, she just buried her head into my chest, giving me a little bit of reprieve. I can feel my anger subsiding with her holding onto me, just her warmth alone is enough to make me feel better and calm me down.
We sit there for a while, just enjoying each other's embrace, silence surrounding us as the darkness of the night acting as a shield to hide us from the world.
Abbi finally broke that silence with a muffled voice, "Can we go home? I just want to be home for now."
I kissed her forehead, lovingly stroking her hair, trying to give her as much comfort as possible.
"Yes Abbi, let's go home."
After putting up the center console, she slides into the middle seat, my arm wraps around her as we take off again. Soon after, I shifted into drive again and slowly sped back up.
At some point during the drive, I feel her slip her head out of my arm and down to my lap, laying her body along the length of the seat.
I just continued to stroke her hair, and at some point she grabbed onto my hand, holding it in her embrace.
The miles seemed to move slowly, they seemed to pass by in a haze while my mind was elsewhere. Thinking back onto the night, I should have noticed the signs. No, even before then, I remember the weird gazes Elon gave us while we were driving to the house. At the time, I thought it was a little weird, but I brushed it off due to focusing on Abbi. I should have put two and two together and figured it out… The past is the past I guess, I can't rewind time, bring Abbi with me and everything will turn out all fine and dandy.
….
Fuck.
I just remembered that Abbi said she wanted to….
Alright now I am actually going to skin that bastard alive.
Haaaaa...
Whatever, there will be another chance, at least I hope there will be.
Anyways, we were driving at a pretty decent pace, we should be back in about a couple hours. However, I could feel myself getting tired and figured that the right thing to do would be to…
Turn on the fucking gospel channel.
I wanted to listen to some country music, well, because throughout my time in college I have maybe heard a grand total of 3 other people in a school of 70,000 students play country music. Hell, I can only listen to it at home while having earbuds in because Nolan throws a hissy fit if anything other than rap music is playing.
I mean sorry I don't enjoy listening to it, there are good songs don't get me wrong. It is a very popular genre of music but that isn't what I grew up listening to. I grew up on Kenny, Tim, and Lonestar, so yeah, my taste in music is related to that. Yet, every time I tried to tell him that he'd just say, 'No dude, you're just gay as fuck. Only weird people listen to country music.'
Real open minded of you there bud.
Fortunately, the country station was one station over, but I couldn't get over until hearing, "And MOSES, when he crossed that Red Sea, he didn't do it on the wings of a pterodactyl, this is BULL-…."
…..
They crusaded the wrong damn people.
Thankfully, 'Amazed' by Lonestar came on and the drive became a lot more relaxed. Listening to the piano and the slow love song made me glance down at Abbi.
Her long blonde hair cascading over my lap, her soft skin, illuminated by the lights of the touch screen…..
"Every little thing that you do, I'm so in love with you, it just keeps getting better. I wanna spend the rest of my life, with you by my side, forever and ever. Every little thing that you do, baby I'm amazed by you."
I softly sing along to the song as it nears it's end. Looking down at her just eases my mind, I don't even feel the anger that had been consuming my heart and mind. The sound of her breathing, her soft breaths hitting my leg, she's completely defenseless.
But she trusts me that much.
Now, I'm not the one to get sentimental, but to me that means so much more then anything else. The fact that she trusts me so much and is able to sleep so soundly after something like that occurred, it just goes to show how much she really does believe that I will keep her safe.
"Thank you Abbi, I will not let your trust fall to waste."
Saying that under my breath, I made a solemn vow.
To never hurt her, and to never lose that trust she gained from me.
Soon, the traffic started to pick back up, signaling that we were near town. Instead of seeing one car every 3 miles, it started to become more congested on the road.
'Man, do people even sleep anymore?'
Now, I know that sounds pretty hypocritical due to the fact that we are out here driving this late but man, I guess the city really never does sleep.
Pulling onto the off-ramp, turning to the route that would take us to Abbi's home, I could feel her begin to stir. I patted her head as she tossed and turned in my lap.
"Uh…. um… are we home yet?"
"Soon, soon love."
"Mmmm."
She let out a cute noise as she clung to me a little tighter. I gave a soft smile as I took the twisting road over to her neighborhood. Now, while not being anywhere near as wealthy as Elon's family, Abbi's parents were both well respected and had high-paying positions in their respective fields.
Her mom, well stepmom, was a fashion designer and her dad was this rags-to-riches guy from the slums of Oakland, California. He broke out in a music career in, rap of all things, despite the color of his skin. With it being a normally black artist dominated industry, for him to explode as he did made it seem even more crazy. While he sings of the hardships of his life he uses a lot of the money he makes and reinvests it into poorer neighborhoods.
He's really a hell of a guy.
Anyways, Abbi's home came into view, I pulled into the gated driveway, the security guard recognized my pickup and waved me through. I pulled up to the front door and shifted into park, shutting off the engine. I slightly nudged her.
"Abbi, wake up, we're home."
She half opened her eyes, rubbing them a little and said, "Mmmm, we are? It didn't seem that long though?"
Well, yeah, when you sleep through majority of the drive that tends to happen. But, I just chuckled and patted her head.
"Yes, we are at your house dear. Now come, let's get your things unloaded and inside so you can sleep the rest of the night in your own bed."
She nodded her head, grudgingly hopping out of the pickup as I got out and grabbed her bags.
She took notice that I only had hers and she stopped me, "Why do you only have mine? Are you not coming in too?"
I shook my head, "No, I am not. I need to head to my house and get everything packed up. After what happened, Nolan will probably burn all my shit and try to kill me if I am still there. Besides, I need to start making my way back home. My actual home, need to get back to help my dad out."
The look on her face was one of sadness and panic.
"Then I am coming with you! I'm not leaving your side!"
She had such a fierce look on her face that I actually felt a little scared.
"No, you need to stay here, where your parents are. At least until this blows over, it's safer for you here."
Oh boy did she not like that answer, she pouted and came to me, grabbing her bags, "Fine then, go back without me, whatever."
She turned back and, while struggling with the weight a bit, walked into the house. I caught a glimpse of her face and, tears were streaming down it.
"Haaaaa…."
I sighed, but there really isn't anything I can do. She needs time alone to sort out her trauma, she may not know it but she needs it. If I stayed she'd cling to me, and while yes it would help her through it, it would have the adverse effect of her not being emotionally stable when I'm not there. Maybe I'm the biggest dumbass in the world, but it's either stay here and face Elon's wrath, or go home and ride out the storm.
You don't piss off the son of the most powerful man in the world and come away unscathed. Well, I didn't piss him off, I threw that fucker off of a balcony. Yeah, looking at it from another perspective, wasn't really my smartest move. Oh well, the past is the past.
After watching her go into the house, slamming the door so hard, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole neighborhood woke up. I got back in the pickup, waiting for a couple of minutes before starting it back up. I had a thought, now call me paranoid but I got out and climbed under the pickup and…
"No fucking way."
Staring back at me, right next to the oil pan, was a blinking blue light.
'A fucking transmitter.'
Elon, you sneaky bastard. He must have planned all of this from the start. If his confession to Abbi didn't pan out, he tapped my vehicle, knowing that me and her would run away from the house. Now, there really isn't anything he can do in the short-term. Abbi's father has too much influence and can bring an unprecedented hell onto Elon's father with bad publicity. But if they were really serious about it, then they could start using corporate espionage and….
'Jesus Christ, would he really go that far?'
Shaking my head, I used my pocket knife to break the transmitter free. Climbing back out from under the pickup, I smashed it with my boot.
Well… I better get to my house and pack up….
I don't think I'll get any sleep tonight…