WMMAP - [S2] Shelter You

39: Snow Afterglow

On the heavily snowed road, two vehicles ran at an incessant velocity. The black one led the calvary, and the crimson one followed behind.

With his hands clutching the steering wheel tightly, annoyed, Lucas kept switching his gaze between the flashing warning signal and the road.

For hours, they kept driving, and Lucas had already used up the remaining extra fuel that Ezekiel brought.

There was no such thing as free stuff. Not without a handful of lectures pouring into Lucas' ears as he filled up the car's tank.

Which explained why he was extra grumpy and taking the anger on the frost that fell on the car window. He showed no mercy, as he almost broke the car wiper into pieces for the sake of keeping the screen visible.

Every time he made rough breathing or other loud commotions, if he heard any noise that came from the shotgun of the car, he would stop completely, remain completely still, and let her fall back to sleep.

But once in a while, he would forget about it and start to grumble and complain by himself again.

And the circle continued.

There were hardly any houses, communities, or even any reasonable place to make a pitstop. The further they drove, the more anxious Lucas became.

Lucas took another sharp breath as if he had said his farewell to his car because if there was anything to go wrong, there was no way these traveling companions of his would let him sleep in the car so he could keep it safe.

After all, this was his first ride that he bought with his earnings. He had the right to be proud and attached.

It was for flexing and competition against Ezekiel at first, but he grew on it more than he could say. Or maybe it was just the memories he created with the sleeping woman beside him as he took her out on dates and travels, even though they were mostly unofficial ones in the past.

To be fair, this was the official date for them. None of the grocery trips or clothes shopping crap counted because it was more of an errand than a date.

For his sportbike, it was another story. Athanasia mostly preferred the bike to the car. She told him she loved the breeze and the surroundings, whether it was the city lights or the people.

But the truth was, she loved to hold on to his waist and press her head against his back, even with her helmet on, as they rode on the street.

She loved how he would frequently check on her with his hand topped on the arms that were securing his body, and their helmets would clang against each other sometimes.

There was one thing that she would never admit out loud, but she loved how he could get worked up every time she received stares and looks from the guys. He would lock his hand and accelerate the speed of his bike at the same time, creating both smoke and roars to fence those people off.

Sometimes it would get a little bit out of hand with his intimidation, and Athanasia had to step up to stop him. They would cross words and bicker, but yet to reach a heated kind of fight.

Sometimes Athanasia got so mad that she locked him out of the room, and he had to sleep on the sofa that night. But he would wake up to blue-jeweled eyes gawking at him in the middle of the night, with her pouty lips, asking why he would not turn the handle of the door and come in.

Lucas would just stare deadpan at her, because how in the world would he know that it was unlocked? Ultimately, he would allow her to drag him back to the bedroom, and she went back to sleep as if nothing had happened.

But when he muttered a single 'Woman' under his breath, this added fuel to the fire, and she was burning bright. She sucker punched him in the stomach. That's when he knew she was still awake, and he had to be mindful of what he was saying next.