Before We Go; Tim Wright X Reader

Ch: 09

She nods twice, "Okay, just don't...kidnap or murder me," Her tone is half-joking.

Tim gives her a ghost of a smile and despite the dark crescent rings under his eyes, they somewhat brighten. "I'll try not to."

—————

His car smelt of the familiar stench of cigarettes and burnt ashes. The smell was enough to make her blink hard to rid of the sting in her eyes. She hated the smell; it always made her queasy.

With the aroma, a rush of sentimentality came in like a great rush of water. Purposely forgotten memories come back to her violently. She recalls them not longingly, but instead, she becomes ruminative. The memories she wants to forget have become tattoed to her brain.

The only thing normal about her childhood was her best friend and cousin, Daniel. He allowed her to forget about her disconnected and sad family. She missed him and the pep talks he gave her. She missed the euphoria that those years brought, the smiles that they would share day and night. As much as she wanted to talk to him now, she couldn't. She wouldn't endanger him anymore. If something happened to him, she would never be able to forgive herself. She knew that the guilt would be too heavy, that the dread would be too great.

The sound of the car engine blaring to life startles her out of her thoughts, soft murmurs of music wash out the numbing silence.

Much to her dismay, she is reminded of the cruelty of the situation all too soon. She has to stop revisiting what her life once was and focus on the present. Even if it was dreary and terrifying. Even if she desperately wanted to return home to her dysfunctional family, she had to deal with this first.

Y/n fastens her seatbelt feeling sluggish, her eyes glance over to Tim only to meet his own.

Feeling self-conscious and awkward, she looks away and out the window. The half-moon greets her from behind dark gray clouds. The light that shone between them wasn't nearly enough to bring her that peace she craved.

"You know...when I first saw you at that gas station a few days ago, I felt bad for you," Tim tells her, his voice is drained.

Y/n peers at him, interested in what he had to say. His attention remains on the unbusy road ahead.

"You reminded me a lot of myself a while back. After..." He pauses, his jaw tensing, "after everything went to hell." The shielded look to his eyes crumbles, revealing raw vulnerability beneath.

It didn't look like he wished to pursue further in the conversation, she concludes based on his profound frown. He always seemed so closed off, in the time she has known him. What events have his eyes witnessed to make him like this?

Y/n continues to stare at him, engrossed in her thoughts. Then it suddenly hits her. She remembers him. The person she thought she would forget has become somebody unforgettable. She's met him several times, the gas station too.

She looks back out the window, an unknown uncertainty squeezing her chest. Everything has started to fall into place like an indecipherable puzzle.

"That day at the hotel—that was your room that I woke up by?" Her hands clench at her dark green coat, desperately wanting to feel anything but this suffocating unease.

A stoplight overhead illuminates an eerie light. His face and the inside of the car become a luminous red. It was almost enough to make her feel content in the ethereal ambiance.

"Yeah. It put you there on purpose." Tim explains, "Everything it does is for a reason."

He finally looks at her, his expression unchanging, "It wanted us to meet."