Wanderers (1st Draft)

Not Running Anymore

Rixton

Rixton stays in the office and drinks. He drinks enough that he ends up passing out in one of the chairs. Someone banging on the door wakes him up the next morning. Sore and with a killer headache, he gets up and walks to the office door. When he opens it no one is on the other side. He looks around the foyer, but no one is in sight. Just as he's about to close the door, the knocking comes again. This time it sounds like it's coming from the front door and is accompanied by someone yelling.

"Rixton! I know you're in there." A female voice yells.

Rixton walks to the front door, unlocks it, and then opens it. To his surprise Taya stands outside. She looks angry and ready for a fight. As soon as she sees Rixton she punches him in the exact same spot James had hit him the night before. Taken off guard and hung over, he is sent stumbling backwards. He trips over the carpet and falls to the floor. It takes him a moment to fully grasp what just happened.

"What is going on?" Amelia asks from somewhere behind Rixton.

"Taya?" James says, sounding surprised.

Rixton tilts his head back to see Amelia, James, Jackson, and Alice all standing on the staircase. Both Alice and Amelia have looks of confusions on their face. Jackson and James look more surprised than confused. James even seems to be smiling slightly.

"What are you doing here?" James asks.

"I'm here to figure out why my debt hasn't been paid off." Taya snaps. She glares down at Rixton.

"We have an explanation for that." James says.

"Yeah? I wanna hear it from you." Taya says kicking Rixton's foot. She steps over him and walks into the living room.

Rixton pushes himself to his feet. When he turns around James and Jackson are already in the living room with Taya. Amelia steps in front of Rixton before he can follow them.

"Am I going to get an explanation as for what's going on?" Amelia asks quietly.

"Yes." Rixton says.

Amelia nods her head and walks into the living room. As soon as she's out of sight Rixton looks at Alice.

"You okay?" He asks.

"I should be asking you that." Alice says as she gently touches the bruise on his jaw.

"I'm fine." Rixton says brushing off her concern. He's not fine at all, but if he says that out loud he'll have to deal with it. Not saying another word, he walks into the living room. Alice follows close behind him. Once he sits down Taya turns to him with an expectant look.

"I just want to start off by saying that we...I had full intentions of fulfilling my promise of paying off your debt. We just met with some complications and are trying to figure them out." Rixton explains.

"What kind of complications?" Taya demands.

Rixton takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "Well it started when..." He goes on to explain all the events that had happened in the last few days. Well everything except all the personal stuff with him, Alice, and James. Jackson and Alice pipe in with any details he forgets. The whole time Taya just stares at him, listening intently.

James

James stares at the coffee table in the center of the room while Rixton talks. He can't look at either him or Alice without being flooded with hurt and anger. When he had gotten back from his trip he knew there was no way he could do what Lena had asked, but now... Now he has the push he needed.

"So the gold that Irene had asked you to steal for her, to pay off my debt, is now in a crime boss's, named Snake, possession?" Taya asks as soon as Rixton finishes talking.

Rixton nods his head. "Yes."

There is a short pause of silence, then Taya says. "You're and idiot."

"Yep. Pretty much." Rixton agrees.

Caught off guard by his answer, Taya gives him a surprised look.

He shrugs. "Been a rough week."

"You have a plan to get the gold back?" Taya asks.

"Um...well...not yet." Rixton mumbles.

"Why not? What have you been doing these last few days?" Taya snaps.

"Rixton's been busy with some other things." James says coldly as he shoots Rixton a glare.

Rixton flicks his eyes away, avoiding eye contact. James can instantly tell he's hungover. He's not surprised, but the fact makes him want to punch Rixton again.

"And what was that?" Taya asks.

"Rixton's dad died and left him the company. He's been busy with figuring all that out." Alice answers.

Her voice both makes James's heart skip a beat and sends a rush of anger through him.

Taya looks at Alice then back to Rixton. "Oh...Well, you still need to get the gold back. Irene's got her men posted in front of our farm. She says that if she doesn't get her gold back in three days, she'll burn our house down. That was a day ago. You have two days left to get the gold back." She explains.

"Great." Rixton mumbles under his breath. After a second of silence he adds. "I guess we're going to Las Vegas."

"Good. I'm coming with you. I need to make sure you get the job done this time." Taya says standing up.

"Fine." Rixton says as he pushes himself to his feet. "We'll leave in an hour." He walks to the living room door, Taya right on his heels.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight." Taya says when Rixton gives her a look.

With a sigh Rixton leads the way out the door. Jackson and Amelia follow them a few minutes later, leaving James and Alice alone.

They sit in silence for a while, neither one willing to look at the other. James stares at the pictures hanging on the wall. He focuses on one directly across the room from him. A painting of a seascape, blue waves crashing on a sandy beach while seagulls fly in the air. Eventually he risks a glance at Alice. She sits completely still, staring down at her hands.

"Why?" James asks.

Alice's head snaps up to look at him. She bites her lip before saying. "When I first met you, and every day after, I was slowly headed towards a cliff. I know that sounds confusing and bad, but it's not. That evening in the library I came to the edge of that cliff. I was teetering on the edge. When we...we kissed, I decided to let myself fall. I was hoping you'd be there at the bottom to catch me, but you weren't. Rixton was. He was the one to catch me. Now I know you won't believe me and won't believe someone can change in a few days, but I did. While you were gone those few days, I changed. I'm not who I was when we met. I've been running from my past for so long, but I'm not anymore."

The room goes silent as James lets her words sink in. After a minute he stands up and says. "Okay." Before Alice can say anything he leaves the room.