Affinity (RDJ)

Chapter 49 - Imaginings

Within minutes of the phone call ending and after probably a few broken speed limits, Robert's car swiftly pulls around the corner, drawing to a stop at the curb for you to bundle in quickly without anyone seeing. He jets off before you've even had chance to plug in your seatbelt and his hand is on your leg, eyes looking concerned. 'What's happened, Rem? Has someone done something to you because I swear I'll-'

'No, nothing like that,' you reassure him. Taking a deep breath, you compose yourself, willing the drunkenness to dissipate quicker than it is right now to enable you to put together a coherent sentence. 'It was Jackson. The pictures. Jackson sent them.'

'Wh- how do you-'

'He was there tonight. He was drunk and he tried to... he made it very clear, Robert. It was him.'

He looks shellshocked and you can almost hear the cogs turning as he processes this bomb you just dropped. 'Okay,' he musters after what feels like forever in silence. 'Call me crazy but I don't actually think this is a bad thing.'

You feel your face contort and wonder for a moment if he's been drinking and his judgement is very much impaired, or that you are actually much drunker than you thought and your huge revelation was in fact mistranslated. 'Um... you're gonna have to explain that one because my brain isn't braining here,' you say.

He huffs out a single laugh, eyeing you sideways. 'It coulda been worse, right? Jackson is a stupid kid; he won't have any idea about the trial or anything to do with all that. He's just messing with me 'cos I embarrassed his ass last year,' he explains nonchalantly.

'Okaaay...' you draw out. 'But he could still go to the dean or blackmail us or-'

'Rem, don't think like that. He thinks he has one up on us right now. Let's just let him believe that and cross our fingers that he doesn't do anything stupid, at least until the trial is over. Besides, it's me that would get in trouble so I'm not worried about your future prospects either. Weirdly... I think this might be a good thing. It's a hell of a lot better than some of the scenarios I'd created in my own head, I tell ya.'

Dumbfounded, you can't even process what he's said but you've arrived back at his place so he's hopping out of the car before you get chance to reply. Leaning back down into the car, he grins at you. 'Coming? Or are we camping out in the Audi tonight?'

'You are one crazy man, Robert Downey Jr,' you state, eyebrows raised as you hoist yourself out of the car, joining him as he enters the house.

'I'm only crazy about you, my tipsy little darling,' he jokes, grinning. 'Now come on. Let's get you a big ol' glass of water before bed so you actually have a chance at remembering this conversation in the morning.'

-

'Yeah, Lex, I'm fine. Really.' You were awoken by an early morning phone call since nobody knew where you'd gone last night and they were panicking, although Lexi had guessed that Robert came to the rescue after everything that happened.

'Well I'll tell you who isn't fine - Jackson! Alex got a few punches in before they were kicked out and he definitely came out on top,' she gossips. 'What did he say to you anyway?'

You sigh, rubbing your eyes and sitting up surrounded in Robert's plush sheets, wondering where he is. It's too early for this kind of drama. 'Remember those photos Robert was sent? Well... guess who sent them?'

She inhales a sharp intake of breath dramatically. 'Shut up! Jackson did it? Why the hell-'

'Him and Robert don't see eye to eye... to put it politely. He's trying to get back at him for something that happened back in October. Pathetic really. But there was that and the fact he put his hands on me and it all got a little too much so I left. Sorry I didn't call,' you say sheepishly.