Smoke And Steel

• Forty-Three - I Hate •

Ebony

I pulled up to the house to see Ave standing there holding a large bag and playing on his phone. I couldn't help but smile, we were finally going to get the last of his questions answered!

"Get in sweet cheeks!"

He looked up from his phone, a little startled. "You're early."

"Which means you're doubly early," I replied. "How long have you been waiting?"

He hopped in beside me. "Maybe half an hour? I couldn't sleep."

"You excited?" I asked.

"More worried than anything. I just don't know what we'll find."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," I said, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. "Eveerything will work out."

I could tell he was nervous as we pulled out of the drive and I gave a toot to the Rouxs' - his leg wouldn't stop jigging up and down and his hands were balled up so tight that his knuckles had turned white.

After about fifteen minutes of intense silence I leaned over and turned on the radio, which instantly blasted some crazy rock cd from the last time Ave had been in my car and decided that I needed a better music selection. This seemed to relax him somewhat - at least the leg stopped jigging.

"So, do you want to tell me what you promised to tell me two weeks ago?" I asked, trying to gauge what he was feeling. "You know, why you ignored me?"

"Later. I never said I would tell you right away."

"Well what do you want to talk about, if anything at all?" I asked as we travelled down the lonely road.

"I don't want to talk, Princess. I'm just too nervous... I'm so fucking nervous it's crazy."

I was glad he'd at least admitted that. "Do you have any idea what we'll find?"

"Nada. I looked up the address on Google maps and it's just a normal looking house in a normal looking neighbourhood. I have no idea what to expect."

"And what's the address?" I asked.

"22 Ocean Avenue," he recited, not even having to check.

We drove in silence for about fifty miles, the roads emptier than usual and by the time we'd reached the half way mark not another soul was to be seen. I checked the GPS to make sure that I was on the right road, but I think the trees around us were messing with the signal because according to the gps we were driving through the ocean.

"Ave I think the gps is mucking up. Can you take a look at it?"

He reached over and pressed a couple buttons, which righted the picture and once again had us driving on the road. No defying the laws of physics here.

"I'm sorry if I'm being too quiet today," he said, taking a long drink from the bottle of water in the console between us.

"It's understandable. You're nervous."

"I am."

"Worried?"

"Yes."

"Madly in love with the idea of covering yourself in chocolate and rolling in rose petals?"

"If that is your Valentine's Day wish then yes, Princess, but only if I get to be naked while I do it."

"But you'll get chocolate in places that you didn't even know you could chocolate in if you're naked," I said, struggling to keep my mind on the road, and the image of Avery naked out of my head.