Deviant Behavior (Connor x Reader)

Software Instability Detected

November 8th, 2038
AM 02:05:05

Angelic, feathery ice crystals kissed the windshield.  Rubber blades squeegeed them away, two rainbows of melted water streaking along their tips.  The hood of your car glistened from each running, illuminated stripe as you passed under street lights.  They lit the cabin in brief spurts like a distress beacon; pulsing and fading, brief and alert.

Coming down from the events of the night, you found yourself distracted.  Dehydrated, maybe.  Jimmy had tried to fix that.  Settled your stomach, at least...until some asshole decided to get too handsy and Connor almost snapped his neck in half...

This night just kept on going.  So did the headache.

You watched the city scroll by outside, fogging the window with your breath as the rest of it floated away.  A different sort of distress beacon caught your attention in the hazed reflection.

The breathing, golden ring on Connor's temple.  His hair was damp, the frizzled strands out of place.  His face was molded in forlorn countenance.  His left arm was locked straight as he gripped the steering wheel, the other resting on the transmission shifter.  He slouched in the driver's seat, as if he'd been driving all his life.

You shivered, hugging the wet sleeves of your jacket.  It was so...fucking...cold.  Each muscle convulsed in spasms, your stomach clenching as you tried to stabilize your core.  Your self-medication had started to wear off, and things began hurting again.

Not just your body.  Your mind.

Thoughts were painful, somber recollections of your past – distant and recent all the same.  You'd tried to recount the events that led to this specific point in time, but you couldn't slow them down enough to catch one.  Couldn't hold on to something hopeful as each memory overrode the next like a disk fragmentation.

The car slowed to a red light, your brakes squealing as the pads you'd been told to replace several times outed themselves.  You looked at your dash, staring at the knob pointed at a dotted, red line.  Your eyes lifted.

He was watching you.

You snapped your chin back towards the window, teeth pressing together.

What sounded like a wind tunnel fired, and a clicking noise came from behind you.  You returned to the source, squinting at headlights as oncoming traffic drove by.

Connor had turned the heat up; the fans to the highest speed, and was in the middle of aiming the two air vents on his side of the car towards you.

He propped his elbow on the window sill, leaning his head into a curled fist.  His wrist relaxed on the curve of the wheel, fingers silently drumming at the plastic.  His knee bounced.

"Your LED's been yellow ever since we left." You whispered, pulling in an icy breath.

His lips pursed, and his eyes crinkled.  He turned away, almost ashamed.

"Is something wrong?"

"I'm..." He refocused on the road as the light turned green, the transmission shifting from neutral to drive, "It's been a hectic night."

Your gaze fell, shoulders jumping to your ears as a chill assaulted your resolve.

"I'm sorry..." You swallowed hard, "For...what happened, with Kim."

"There's no need to apologize," He flicked the turn signal, rolling the steering wheel with the ball of his palm, "What happened wasn't your fault."

"I know it wasn't.  But you have enough going on without getting involved in myshit..."

"Why wouldn't I?" He shot you a glance, "I care about your well-being."