Winter Chaos

Callbacks

"Maybe we should've taken him with us," Astrid winced unsurely, "He shouldn't be alone, right now, Nova."

She couldn't help but glance back at the club they'd left Xavier in as Nova drove on.

"He's a grown man, Astrid, he'll be alright," Nova dismissed, though her fingers twitched on the steering wheel as doubt for her own words teased the edges of her mind.

"You're not sure about that though, are you, Nova?" Anthem spoke up from the backseat, staring pointedly at Nova's hands.

Nova narrowed her eyes at her through the rearview mirror. "I'm never sure about anything when it comes to Xavier," she muttered, "All I know is, if we'd taken him with us, there'd have been a bigger chance of me throttling his slick mouthed ass. His tongue is far too bold for my liking when he's drunk."

"He's heartbroken, Nova," Anthem reminded, "He has an excuse, this time. We could've-"

"Well, we didn't," Nova interrupted, "Doesn't matter, now, we're almost to the hospital."

Anthem held her hands up in surrender, sitting back against the seat and going silent again.

"You gotta stop being so mean, Nova," Astrid mumbled, "You never know when your last moment on Earth will be... tonight was proof of that."

Nova scoffed at that. "Mean, huh?" she echoed, "Yeah, well, I'll stop being 'mean' when you stop getting high."

To anyone else, this may have seemed like a heartless jab. But, to the occupants in the car...

"So, in other words, you're gonna be an asshole for the rest of your life?" Nova supplemented, "Because you already know I'm never quitting weed."

"Damn right," Nova confirmed proudly,

Not a second passed before everyone in the car was laughing uncontrollably.

And, for a moment, they forgot about how tragic the night had been. They forgot that they'd been shot at. They forgot that they had friends in the hospital without a single real idea of what their condition was like.

They just laughed the pain away.

But then, the hospital came into view, bringing its tumultuous implications along with it.

All traces of the carefree energy that had been in the car dissipated.

Sobered, Nova quickly spotted Xavier's car on the side of the building and parked next to it.

"He walked all the way to the club?" Astrid questioned, "We're horrible friends!"

"He could've Ubered," Nova reasoned, getting out of the car.

"We all know he didn't," Astrid dismissed, following suit and stepping out of the car, "He was sad enough to walk all the way to The Vision, Nova, who knows what else he'll do."

Nova walked around to the side of the car where Astrid was and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "He's fine, girl," she promised, "Cortez was only ten minutes away when we left. Hell, he's probably already there. How much trouble could Xavier have gotten into between then and now?"

Astrid nodded her agreement.

Too soon.

"You should've knocked on wood," Anthem spoke up, looking at her phone as she got out of the car. Nova and Astrid looked at her confusedly, prompting her to read just what was on her screen. "Billionaire Heir and Playboy Xavier Redd Arrested After Brawl At Star Club: The Vision."

Astrid buried her face in her hands, awaiting the explosion.

And, boy, did it come.

"Godamn it!" Nova yelled, "Stupid motherfucking UGH! I could kick his stupid Spanish speaking ass! Stay out of trouble, I said." She laughed hysterically; eyes wild with a mad sort of rage. "'I got it Nova'," she mocked Xavier angrily, "Stupid macho fuck-ass dumb mother-"

"Nova!" Astrid interrupted, face shooting up from her hands. Enough was enough. "What's done is done, okay? Calling the boy out of his name won't fix anything. What we need to do is decide, what do we do? Do we go to the police station or-"

"Hell, no!" Nova dismissed immediately, "Fuck him. He got his dumb ass into this mess; he can get himself out. His babysitter will bail him out if his rich boy privilege doesn't. And if either of those things fail, his ass needs a night in jail any damn way. Ignorant, prideful mother-"

"Alright, alright!" Anthem sighed, taking Nova's hand and dragging her towards the hospital, "Let's get you to Artemis, see if she can pray some of that cussing outta you because golly."

Astrid trailed after them, shaking her head as Nova continued muttering obscenities about Xavier's admittedly bad decision. It seemed as though it would never cease, even when they finally reached the inside of the hospital.

Astrid wouldn't be surprised if they got kicked out of the gloomy establishment.

It was going to be a long night.

Morning?

Heck, all of the above.