Blood Moon

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰᴏᴜʀ: ᴅɪɴɴᴇʀ ᴘᴀʀᴛʏ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ʜᴇʟʟ

The ride over to Harlan's house is quiet. You don't know what to say and you can see that Ransom is nervous, anxious even. He hasn't seen his family in over a year and though he has moved on and moved up, he knows that tonight is going to affect him. They always know what insults to use against him to really make it hurt and he fears that tonight is only going to be worse because you are there.

''Are you sure you want to go?'' You ask him after 20 minutes of him fidgeting. ''We don't have to.''

He glances at you, then back at the road. ''Why do you say that?''

''Because you're getting more anxious with every mile that gets us closer to them. The steering wheel's gonna be shaped like your fist if you grip it any tighter and you keep wiggling in your seat like you can't find a comfortable position to sit in, probably because you're so tense.''

He stops at a red light and turns his head. ''Remind me never to play poker with you.''

You laugh. ''Why's that?''

''You're the first person who's noticed that I get anxious and that could tell from just watching me.''

You feel sad when you hear this. It's when he says things like this that it's clear for you that he has been going through life all alone, even as a kid.

You reach over to his arm resting on the middle console to take his hand in yours and give it a gentle squeeze.

He looks down at your hands and smiles at the sweet gesture.

''You say the word and we get the hell out of there, ok? I'm great at faking family emergencies.''

Ransom laughs and starts driving again once the light turns back to green.

You smile, happy that you managed to make him laugh and let go of his hand, bringing it back to rest on your lap.

Instead of being quiet, you decide that it's probably better to keep Ransom's mind occupied. You talk to him and ask him millions of questions to keep him out of his own head. You notice his body relaxing and you mentally high five yourself; job well done.

You look at him as you talk and you can see him slowly tensing up again, no matter what you say. You don't need to look around to know you've arrived.

Ransom drives up the trail that leads to the driveway and parks his car close to the front door, in case you need to get out of there quickly. He turns off the car and takes the keys out of the ignition, he reaches to the door to open it but you stop him by putting your hand on his arm closest to you.

He stops and turns to look at you.

''Are you going to be ok?''

You worry about him, even if you try not to believe every gossip you hear you know that what was said about the Thrombey family wasn't far from the truth. Tonight isn't going to be fun for Ransom, quite the opposite. It'll be hell on earth for the next couple of hours.

''I'll be fine.'' He smiles.

His smile isn't really convincing. You can tell that he's trying to keep up appearances, but you won't call him out on it. You'd like it more if he felt comfortable enough with you to tell you how he truly feels but if he's not ready, you aren't going to push him.

You squeeze his arm as a way to show him that you got his back and pull your hand away to finally let him out of the car, following shortly after him.

He waits for you on his side of the car and when you meet him, he puts his arm around your shoulders and brings you close to him.

''Thank you for coming with me. I know this was a big favor to ask.''