2.8 | Miles Away

22 | twenty-two

A / N

Guess what I'm working on for nanowrimo? That's right, buckle up for a crapload of Miles x Darcy.

x Noelle

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

2 2

the one with the chocolate fountain. sorta.

NIGHT HAD FALLEN by the time Miles left the police station.

Under the streetlight in the driveway, I could see every inch of the fight he'd been through. A split lip, a cut on one cheek, a dark bruise along his jaw and another on his forehead. After exchanging a brief conversation with the cop who'd walked him out, he turned towards the parking lot.

Then he stopped short. "D-darcy?"

I smiled. "Hi."

"What...what're you doing here?"

"Waiting for you, of course. Someone had to get you out. You're lucky Mr Saito didn't want to press charges. The car his late wife left him got destroyed in that fight, and he was pretty mad about it. He didn't care which one of you guys wrecked his car. It took me awhile to convince him to not press charges against anyone. Cost me a fortune, too."

Miles blinked. "You paid him for the damages? Why didn't you call Nate, or my dad?"

"Are you kidding? Between your dad with the perfect reputation and the co-CEO of Sereinn's rival company, I was far better off settling things on my own. Besides, I've known Mr Saito all my life. His wife used to babysit Ean and me when we were kids. I'm your best bet to convince him, unless...you didn't want me to?"

"No, of course not," he said quickly. "Thank you. I'm really—thank you."

"I'm just glad you're alright." I smiled and wrapped my hand around his arm. "Now come on. Let's get you home."

He didn't budge. "It's fine. You should go home. I'll just grab a cab—"

"Oh, no, you won't." I tightened my grip on him when he made to pull away. "I know you. You'll just go to bed without treating your injuries, and tomorrow at work you'll pretend that you fell down the stairs. Which is a lot stupider than saving some kid from being beaten up, in my opinion."

He didn't say anything, but I did notice his lips twitch as he followed me to my car. Once we were on the main road, he broke the silence. "You've improved."

"What?"

"Your driving."

As we stopped at the traffic light, I briefly took my eyes off the road to look at him. In spite of the dim lighting, I saw how exhausted he looked. He'd tipped his head back against the headrest; and his eyes were closed.

"I had to eventually," I said. "I mean, I couldn't keep depending on you to drive me around after—" I stopped and bit the inside of my cheek. The last thing I wanted was to make things awkward between us again. "Why don't you get some rest? I'll wake you when we get there."

He didn't respond, but I could feel his gaze on me. I shot a glance at him. "You don't trust my driving?"

He quirked a wry grin, then winced because of his split lip. "You did rear-end a bus once."