Restoring Force

I got a few angry strides away from the bus when I heard someone running up behind me.

"Okay... Okay just wait." I kept walking, ignoring him.

"Hold on! Just fucking wait a minute!" A hand grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. It was Austin. His cheek bright red. The guilt spreading through my body like pin-pricks.

"Look. I'm sorry okay, I shouldn't have called you a slut."

"Yeah, but you did." I growled back. "Maybe you should just get back on your bus and forget about me. Forget about everything. Go continue living your perfect little life." I squinted towards him, and crossed my arms. The sun brightening everything except my mood.

"Hah, my perfect little life?! You think I live the god damn dream sweetheart?" He shook his head and let out a laugh filled with pain and sarcasm. "You know what, you're the seventh girl Alan's tried to seduce this tour." He said. "The only difference is, you're the only one who didn't get it in." He turned to leave, stopping to say one last thing before making his way back to the bus. "Besides, you're not missing much. It must be pretty traumatic sex, if the last girl he slept with, killed herself."

Shocked, was an understatement. I took a step back, like he was the one who had slapped me this time. Then said the one thing I didn't say to anyone. "I'm sorry, I-I didn't know." He kept walking and I thought he didn't hear me. So I said it again, but this time louder. "I'm sorry!" He wavered in his step. "Everything would have been different if I'd known!" He was turning the handle now. "Don't just fucking walk away!" I screamed, wanting to do anything to make him stop and look at me.

He finally stopped, but didn't look. "What do you want me to say?"

He popped open the door and climbed inside silently, when I stood there speechless.

-

I lazily walked down the freeway with my thumb up, and my shoes still in hand. Scavenging for a way to the hotel.

The sun had gotten higher in the sky and it was beating down, making me sweat. It felt like 1000 degrees. In fact, it probably was and my skin was slowly burning away leaving nothing but my scarred bones.

I know I had overreacted when I slapped him. I could've just left and never seen him again, but I couldn't. Not after the last time someone had called me that.

-

I caught my ex fiancé cheating on me with a girl I worked with. He managed to turn around the situation so that I was the one that cheated on him. It was fucked. Literally.

When our two families were at a rehearsal dinner, he stood up, and called the wedding off. Telling them that I had slept with another man. He called me a slut in front of everyone. A dirty, cheating, slut.

They always loved him, anything I said was a lie in their minds. That night was the last time I ever spoke to anyone I was related to. I reached out once, but was turned down, so I gave up completely.

-

A few older, scruffier men offered me a ride but I waved each of them off due to their outrageous looks.

I wiped my forehead, I must've walked at least a mile by now. I stopped for a second. Putting my hands on my knees, to catch my breath. I heard the crunching of gravel under tires, as someone pulled to the side of the road behind me. I glanced over my shoulder briefly and saw a black hatchback with tinted windows.

I had two options. One: go over and see what kind of shifty character was driving this time, and run when I realized I was going to get raped by them. Or two: keep walking and hope they didn't see me look over my shoulder. I opted for option two and continued walking down the burning pavement.

The Subaru-driving asshole pulled up beside me and I heard the sound of a power window rolling down. Clearly not letting me turn down their unspoken offer that easily. "Why do you always have to be so difficult? Get in the bloody car, I'm trying to do a good thing."

Austin I thought in relief, and then realized how unrelieved I was to see him. Did he not understand how much he pissed me off?

I almost scoffed and kept walking but my feet reminded me that I couldn't walk much longer. They were sore and putting my high heels on wouldn't help a lick.

I swiveled my head to look at him. He had one un-tattooed arm resting out the window, and an annoyed look on his face. "Just get in!" He said exasperated, gesturing with his hand to my side of the car.

I puffed out a frustrated breath and padded over to the side door, opening it, and climbing inside.

I settled into the leather interior, and made a point of looking everywhere except at him.
I gave him a set of lousy directions to the hotel. The only problem being I was going off memory from the route I had taken to get there yesterday.

Whether or not they were factual and would lead us to the Best Western, was beyond me. But he obeyed them anyway.

We sat in silence, until he quietly cleared his throat and said, "So, um," softy chuckling. "Are you at least going to ask why I came back for you?"

"No."

He paused a second. "Okay.. Uh, well, I came back because I didn't think you would make it to the other side of this straight stretch alive."

"Glad my safety concerns you." I said to him cooly.

He just nodded, and stopped talking. I knew I was being unfair since he did just save my ass, but my ego was hurt and I wasn't a fair person to begin with.

I reached down and untied the four, black laces on my heels. Pushing roughly to cram my feet in, before tying them back up again.

Austin glanced over twice that I saw, maybe more when I wasn't paying attention. I didn't know why, but I smirked at the thought of him looking at me without murder on his mind. He was just simply watching me tie my shoes. I mean, we wanted to kill each other most of the time, so it was nice.

Unless he was thinking of murdering me. In that case, I was in his car, and I was fucked."

-

We pulled into the guest parking lot of the hotel Remmy and I were staying in. For some, unexplainable reason, we found it. "I'll walk you up." He said, cutting the engine and jumping out.

"..Um.."I opened my door too and slid out. "Okay... I guess."

I took three steps opposed to his one long stride. So by the time we reached the automatic doors into the lobby, I was out if breath.

"You need a water break kiddo?" He glanced down at me. Laughter in his eyes for the first time since we'd met.

I sneered up at him. "Noo, I don't need a water break."

He smiled slightly and shook his head as he walked to the elevator.

As soon as the doors closed shut behind us, I took the opportunity to ask what he was doing.
"What do you mean?" He retorted. Both of us facing forward, not daring to look over at the other.

"I mean, why'd you walk me up? Why are you casually going up 5 floors to deliver me to my room?" It dinged indicating our turn to get off, and he brushed past me into the hall. I fell in step behind him.

"Why not?" He questioned, fixing his gaze ahead of us.

He walked past when the two of us reached my room number.

"Hey!" I called to him, "Where you going?"

He stopped abruptly and put a hand on the back of his neck. "Right." He breathed out a shaky laugh. He was nervous, and I didn't know why.

"Thank you. For the ride." I said.

"Mhm." He nodded farewell as I went inside.

Odd. He looked so panicked, I thought. When the door to the room had completely shut, I glanced through the peep-hole to see if he was still there.

The ends of his shoes were just disappearing in the opposite way we had come. That's strange. There's no way to get to the bottom floor in that direction.

I poked my head back out into the hallway to find out where he was going. I was just in time to see him disappear into room 533, a room two down from my own. A room I knew a slim brunette was currently staying in.

Notes