Chapter Five - Part Four

For another hour, Addy dutifully sat with me, as we counted down the minutes until nine o’clock approached. And at ten minutes till, I exchanged good-byes with her, and she wished me luck.

I retreated through the bar’s back exit, to the alley, where I could stand in perfect view of both the front and back parking lots of the Blue Moon. Nervous, I pulled up the hood of my jacket, stuffed my hands into my pockets, and willed myself to think of anything – anything at all – besides the fact that Tidus might very well decide to do away with me in the next hour. And strangely, it was thoughts of my father that took up the empty space within my mind, and suddenly I felt a strong, staggering case of despair. Would I die tonight having discovered nothing? Or would I live long enough to still be able to discover the truth?

I jumped, as the bar’s backdoor was opened, and positively fainted with relief when I saw that it was only Lucas, lugging with him two large trash bags.

“Thought you went home.” Lucas said, with a grunt as he hefted the trash to a dumpster several yards away. “Newport’s still inside, she not your ride?”

“No, not tonight.” I said, wistfully.

“Hey, is everything all right? You look like you’ve got more on your plate than you can chew right now, Noble.”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Yeah, and you still haven’t answered my question.”

I couldn’t find the right answer, but the bright head lights of a white dodge charger saved me from having to lie. The car rolled silently through the back parking lot to meet us, illuminating the black wetness of the pavement, as well as the suspicious, mistrusting expression on Lucas’s face. We watched as the car pulled to a stop beside me, as the driver – hidden behind windows of tinted glass – revved the engine in sinister invite.

“Take care, Lucas.” I said, wishing more than anything that I could stay. But instead I gave him a final wave and a smile, before opening the passenger’s side door.

“Yeah, you too.” he replied, unhappy – but resigned – in letting me go.

*  *  *

The soothing, mellow tones of Weezer’s Say It Ain’t So covered the silence that hung between myself and Tidus Romaine. He drove with his hands at ten and two, his posture rigid and his face blank as he nodded, casually to the beat. Looking at him, it was difficult to even guess, what it was that he was feeling, and this was more unsettling than anything.

Finally, I reached a point where I couldn’t it any longer, so I turned down the music and forced myself to speak.

“Where are we going?” I demanded.

But before he answered, he glanced at me from those big blue eyes, and it was almost as if my vertigo had returned. He could have said that she lived at the edge of the world, and it wouldn’t have made any difference to me. I would have followed him anywhere because he was so goddamn wonderful to look at.

In fact, in that one moment of looking at him, I actually forgot that Tidus was almost my killer. Because despite the misgivings that I knew we held for each other, there was no denying that I loved the way his black t-shirt had a picture of Space Ghost splashed across the front. Or the fact that he was wearing the same checkered Vans that I had once complimented. And with intrigue, I wondered if perhaps he hadn’t worn them again on purpose.

“It’s not much further.” Tidus replied, with an idle half smile.  “She lives on the edge of town. But if you’re really feeling impatient, I could just save myself the trouble and the gas and kill you right now…”

“You wouldn’t.” I challenged, and Tidus slammed on the breaks. With a startled oh of surprise, I reached out with both hands to steady myself against the dashboard, as the car came to a screeching halt in the middle of empty road. Breathing rapidly from alarm, I blew a few wisps of stray hair from my face, glowering at Tidus.

“Try me.” he dared, meeting my gaze with no hesitations.

“You know what I think, Tidus? I think that if you were really gonna kill me, you would have done it last night. Otherwise, you and I wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”

“Well that’s not true at all.” he replied, with mock consideration. “As I recall, I did try to kill you last night, Naomi. But for some reason, you seemed a little more interested in making out. And in my defense, when a girl starts begging me to open her knees, it becomes a little more difficult to concentrate on killing her –”

I slapped him, hard, and neither of us was surprised. With shallow breathing, I stared at the corner of his mouth, where a thin line of black ichor was trickling.

“Congratulations, you are officially an asshole.” I said, as he unblinkingly wiped it away.

“So I’ve heard.”

And I would have slapped him again, but this time he caught me, firmly, by the wrist.

“I let you do it the first time because I know I deserved it.” Tidus said, quietly. “But let’s not get carried away.”

“Whatever.” I said icily, yanking my hand away, and hating him for being so cruel. “But you kissed me back, remember?”

Tidus surveyed me, as still as a statue for several seconds, before catching me off guard by suddenly leaning in close. He came near enough for me to either kiss or slap, but at the last second, he merely reached out a hand and pressed down on the lock, clicking it manually into place. He paused again afterwards, allowing the tension to build between a pair of lips that were only centimeters apart. And then, with a final, sobering look, he turned away and put the car in drive again.

“Look,” I said. “I could give a shit if you like me, but can you at least be impartial? Because I really didn’t have to show up tonight just to prove that your friend is a crazy person. And considering the fact that I’m still willing to be here after what you’ve done to me, I think, at the very least, I deserve a fair chance to prove that I’m innocent.”

“I’m not your friend, Naomi. I don’t have to be fair.”

“Well, then just to be clear, if anything happens to me, you’ll have the Leadership to deal with. And the only reason that I haven’t brought the cavalry in, is I because I need to deal with this my way. I may not be a killer Tidus, but I’m not a coward either.”

Apprehensively, we stared at one another for several seconds. But I breathed an inward sigh of relief when I he decided to put the car back into drive again.

There was no sense in hoping that the tension would abate after that, but I certainly hadn’t anticipated the extra surge of fear and anxiety that had suddenly overcome me. With a sharp breath, I closed my eyes, rubbing a hand across my forehead.

“What is it?” Tidus asked, with sharp concern. “What’s wrong with you?”