Lost Stars

xi. kuiper

By the time they got in the car, they were both completely soaked from head to toe. Elle's hair was starting to come out in horrendous bundles as they clump together because of the rain. But there was one thing that the rain left her as a sort of act of apology, and that was the fact that it also drenched Jack's shirt. You could see his ripped body as it oozed out in tempting waves. Elle believed that she has already mastered the art of sneaking glances without him noticing as well as the control of her inner self shrieking.

"What now?" Elle snapped her head to look at him as he panted from their unsuspected and unplanned jog through the rain. As soon as the drizzle evolved into a full blown rain storm, everyone evacuated back to their vehicles to seek refuge from the unforgiving bite of the freezing temperatures. Elle soon averted her head and stared at the window outside, but she could hardly see a thing because of how hard the rain was falling that it masked the entire outside behind a white and blurry veil.

Silence soon consumed them once more as their tired pants came to an end. Elle knew that Jack was trying to think of the most strategic and executable plan right now that they were stranded as he kept opening and closing his eyes rapidly, whilst looking around every once in a while. "We have no choice but to look for an open motel or something and spend the night there. I'm pretty sure that there's one fifteen minutes away from here."

Her thoughts stopped for a moment as her emotions took the wheel to her mind. She didn't know whether or not she could bear it. It was already a war trying to keep herself under control with only spending a few hours with him, but she wasn't so sure how she would do if it would be the whole night. Both emotion and reason fought in the battlefield that was her mind as she concealed it by continuing to stare blankly outside the window.

Elle knew that he had made up his mind as he revved up the car and started driving. But even with the windshield wipers and the headlights on, Jack was still having a difficult time maneuvering the car through the slippery road. It took a few curse words that slipped out, a few agitated groans here and there, as well as a few stops at the side of the road for time to calm himself, but Jack finally got them there.

What stood before them was definitely not a five star hotel, not that anyone was expecting it to be. It was the typical motel you saw in television shows with the tall sign that would do a better job at luring in people if only it were able to stay lit long enough for anyone to actually notice it. It looked like it only had around three floors, and there was also the typical Open 24 Hours logo as it flashed red and blue. But that wasn't what Elle was worrying about.

"Come on." Jack said as he reached his arm behind the driver's seat to reach for his road trip bag and his jacket, while also unknowingly giving Elle a massive heart attack now that his practically exposed chest was now taunting Elle. She felt a lump on her throat start to grow and forced herself to swallow it before it made her choke. She soon whipped her gaze away from his tempting gorgeousness and reached for the door handle and opening it with all intentions of going out of the car as she felt it suddenly get warmer despite the rain, but an arm grabbed her by the crook of her elbow when she was halfway.

She composed her inner thoughts before she slowly turned her head and looked at the hand holding her there before trailing up the arm and into his beautiful eyes. "What?" She said below a whisper with caution written all over her face. He retracted his hand and grabbed his leather jacket by the collar before he gently draped it over her shoulders. "You must be freezing right now."

Elle clutched the leather jacket closer to her body as she savored the warmth it gave her as well as the scent of him that engulfed her. She looked up to his face once more and muttered a small thank you before jumping out of the car and feeling her sandals hit the cold ground with a splash.