Slowly Turning in the dirt }}Justin

[rumour]

{{ Think far out but I'm still locked in
I'm still lost, walking circles... }} [/color][/size]

Being hustled into the passenger seat of a car by a complete stranger was nerve wracking enough, regardless of whether or not said person had just saved your life – never mind without any idea of where you were going. With no reference point, each turn the car made was nothing more than meaningless swerves to Rumour. Damn this guy was going to get a shock if he asked her for directions. Pulling her legs up to her chest, Rumour hugged them and shivered through her wet clothes, the air conditioning chilling her damp skin. Why have the air con on, really? They were both soaked through unless mr beside had magically dried, and really, Rumour doubted it.

Moving to at least look like she was staring out the window, Rumour rested her spinning head on the cool pane of glass blocking her from the outside world, and familiarised herself with the functions of the door. She found the handle, the windows controls, the locking mechanism. Right. As long as she didn’t do up her seatbelt, if she had too, she knew she could find the door handle quickly again, and jump out of the car. Please Pease don’t let them be on the highway.

”Rumour” Se replied, turning her head slightly to –look- at him before resting her forehead back against the window pane. The sun filtering through was warm, and she was glad for the coat when it was draped across her skin, even if the motion did make her jump. It was the last thing she was expecting.

The smell of nicotine made her remember her own cigarettes, but reaching into her pocket she found only her lighter. Holding it in her hand, she gripped the jacket from underneath and pulled it tighter around her, thankful for the warmth, but nearly exploded again when he mentioned getting checked out, turning back to face him. ”No! I mean... no doctors, no hospitals. I’m alright... i just swallowed the water. Really. Everyone’s done it at some point. Nothing to worry about. I’d just.. appreciate it if you could take me home or something, so i can get dry....”

{{...There's nowhere to go }}

[justin]

The flinching, the defensive nature, and the obvious agitation at possibly going to the hospital through up a bunch of red flags for Justin. It reminded himof Madison when she was being beaten by her husband on a daily basis. If he'd just taken the time to look a little bit closer, to look beyond the defensive layer he may have seen what wagoing on sooner. If he had, well maybe Justin could have saved Madison from a lot of pain and guilt.

"Relax kid." Justin took another drag off his smoke. "I wouldn't have jumped off the pier and saved your life just to hurt you. Just like I wouldn't take you to the hgetting you away from the paramedics. It would be a little redundant."

Justin watched Rumour out of the corner of his eye. She didn't seem to want to meet his gaze. He'd noticed her slightly erratic eye movements earlier but thought it had been because she was disoriented. Now he wasn't so sure.

"I'll take you where ever you want to go, but you're stuck with me till I know you're okay. Is there someone at home that can keep an eye on you?"

Justin realized he was driving aimlessly. The adrenaline was fading and the last few days were catching up with him. He needed to slow down and focus. "So you gonna tell me where home is or am I supposed to guess?

((OOC: Sorry if it short and for any grammatical errors. No access to my computer so I did it on my phone.))

[rumour]

{{ Think far out but I'm still locked in
I'm still lost, walking circles... }} [/color][/size]

Rumour found at him, making sense and finding reason within his words. He was right – there was little point in him risking his own life to save hers – little point in taking her away from paramedics to get her checked out at the hospital, but in the momentary floods of panic that gripped her chest, Rumour was forgetting these small details. Still, that didn’t mean she was about to trust the man next to her as far as she could throw him, and given the way he’d picked her up easily enough, the muscle of his chest she had felt whilst being carried, she doubted very much if she could trip him up, let alone actually, physically, pick him up and toss him anywhere.

”What time is it? My dad will be home later.” She told him, turning back to lean her forehead on the window pane. Goddamn, now she wanted a cigarette, but she wasn’t about to ask for one. She couldn’t smell anything else in the smoke, but you never knew – hell, he’d been crazy enough to jump off the deep end to save her right? There was every possibility that he was on something to make him do it – Rumour had trouble believing it was done out of the good of his own heart.

”Oh yeah... Twenty two Polton Drive” She told him, still staring out into the blankness in front of her, smiling slightly at the vibrations rumbling through the car’s engine and up into the glass, Buzzing gently against her skin. ”It’s not far from the pier. Like... ten minutes i guess in the car... Where are we now, i can give you directions.”

{{...There's nowhere to go }}

[justin]

Once Justin finished off his smoke he tossed it out the window and leaned back. He was actually glad that the seats were leather. The heat spread through the wet clothes into his back and legs. Reaching forward, he turned the AC off and continued to drive.

"When's later?" He glanced over at the girl curled up in his seat. "You shouldn't be by yourself right now in case there are any bad effects."

When she asked where they were Justin's brows furrowed. "You live around here but you don't know where we are?"

Without stopping the car, he reached over and waved his hand in front of her face. Not close enough that she would feel a breeze, and he did it lightly just to see if she would ask why the seemingly crazy man was just randomly waving a hand in her face.

Justin had a hunch though. His old instincts kicking in as he drove. Something was up with the kid. He didn't know what yet, but his theory had more to do with her sight and less to do with why she was hiding out from cops and hospitals.

[rumour]

{{ Think far out but I'm still locked in
I'm still lost, walking circles... }} [/color][/size]

”Maybe I Haven’t lived here long?” She replied, presumably ignoring the hand she could neither see nor feel waving in front of her face. Rumour did not make a habit of telling people she was blind – in fact, she could count on her hand how many people, other than the doctors and such who had treated her, knew she was, name them al in fact. Sure.. it made meeting new people, some fo her actions, difficult. It wasn’t easy to guess, she didn’t movie like blind people most of the time, and once she familiarised herself with a layout then you’d never know unless you moved something... but Rumour was more than happy with the distance it put between herself and other. More than happy to let it continue.

”I don’t know when he’ll be back. Tonight sometime. Listen...I’m fine. It was just some water. I’ve lived through worse, and I’m still here now right?” She turned her head once more to face him, fixing her eyes where she hoped his was. Things like this – turning to look at people.. they were all tricks she had picked up to throw people of her scent. ”Look... do you know where we are? Or how to get to my house? ‘cause if you just tell me i can give you directions.”

With that, she turned her head back to the window, pulling his jacket closer to her and shifting her feet on the seat, pulling her knees closer to her chest. It hurt her ribs, and to be fair every time she breathed it ached, but it more favourable than the cold.

{{...There's nowhere to go }}

[justin]

The kid curled in on herself under his jacket. Justin had to wonder how much of that was because of the cold and how much of it was a defense mechanism. Rumour was trying to be tough, and hell he had to admit that she probably was. She'd got tossed off a pier thanks to a weak railing, hit the water, survived, and didn't want to go to the hospital.

Tough sure, but also stupid.

There were certain reasons people didn't want to deal with cops. There were certain reasons people didn't want to deal with hospitals. Justin could chalk it up to the fact that she was blind and the girl didn't want anyone feeling sorry for her, but there was something about the way she curled in on herself. Something that reminded him of the many times he'd seen Madison do it.

Maybe he was just reading into things, but he knew one thing for certain. The kid couldn't see. Rumour did a damn good job at hiding too, but Justin had been trained to look for small details that told him the truth about people.

"I might believe that," Justin told her about being new to the area. "Except I don't."

He had a pretty good habit of being open and honest, and since he'd figured out what was going on, at least for right now he figured he'd lay it out there. Then at least maybe the kid could stop being so defensive and relax a little. She was tense and scared, even if she didn't say it out loud. Somehow, Justin didn't think she was the type to ever admit such a thing.

"Why didn't you just tell me you were blind?" He glanced over at her. Reaching over with hand, Justin pulled up the jacket over her shoulder where it had fallen. Then he turned the AC off and the heat on to help warm her.

Then again, Justin probably already knew the answer to that. Rumour didn't want people pitying her. She was obviously a capable woman, having made it to the pier from her home. Justin had no doubt that if her senses had been knocked...well senseless she could have found her way home as well. No one would have known the difference if that kid hadn't hit her upside the head with the football. He figured that was the way she wanted it. If no one knew she was blind, then people would treat her just like a regular person.

Then Justin decided to stop over thinking things. He wasn't a cop anymore. She sure as hell wasn't a suspect. If he called her a victim, Justin was fairly certain the girl would punch him. Instead he put her address into the GPS in his phone and waited for her answer.

[rumour]

{{ Think far out but I'm still locked in
I'm still lost, walking circles... }} [/color][/size]

Rumour rolled her eyes, a habit she had retained from early childhood that apparently refused to leave; Much like many of her other habits in fact, things she now incorporated into her little masquerade of sightedness. They all worked in her favour one way or another, stopped people feigning worry, empathy, sympathy, stopped their questions on how it happened, from digging further into her world, one she kept hidden away from the eyes of those who might think they care. It stopped their pity. After all. What good was pity to anyone? it did nothing for made the pitied felt wretched, an eyesore.... a mark on the world that deserved to be scrubbed out.

So when he brought it up? At first Rumour made to deny it, her head whipping around to stare at him as her mouth opened, the word’s tumbling already from her lips. ”I’m not bli-” She stopped cut off midway by a frown, her own realisation that there was little chance he was going to fall for it. ”Because it’s not the first thing i want people to know about me.” She told him, turning her head away again. She wished not to keep up any semblance of their conversation, of communication – she was thankful for the rescue, even if she did long for the peace that was now but a memory, and one that was slowly slipping through her fingers. But the fact he knew? It was the same weird feeling she had gotten when Ever found out, when he worked it out for himself. It was not one she could describe, but it made the brunette uncomfortable.

Still. Something irked her. Still –staring- out of the window, Rumour cleared her throat and paused a second before asking ”How did you work it out?” And now she turned to him, wishing for all the world that she could make out his face. Pick out something to glare at. ”I was disorientated. I might very well be new to the area. How did you work it out?”

{{...There's nowhere to go }}

[justin]

The streets weren't very crowded as Justin drove Rumour to her destination. The address took him a bit away from the beach, but the scent of the ocean was still there. He pulled his shirt away from his chest. It made a wet plopping sound as he unstuck it from his skin. He was glad he had several changes of clothes in the trunk.

"Your mannerisms are good," He told her honestly. "But back at the beach I noticed the scarring around your eyes." He glanced over to her to see how she'd react to that. "The fact that you knew where you lived, but not where we are, despite the fact that there are clear street signs added to it."

Justin grabbed a fresh smoke and lit it up. He took a deep drag and stopped a red light. They weren't far out from her house and he still wasn't keen on leaving her home by herself after near drowning. He wished Madison was closer. She'd check the kid over and no one else would have to know.

"When you looked at me before your gaze was a bit off." Justin rested his elbow on the open window and flicked the ashes out. The light changed and he continued the drive. "You were looking just in front of me."

He took another drag off his smoke, one hand on the warm steering wheel. It was hot as hell in Florida and he had the heat on in the car so that Rumour didn't get cold. Justin was starting to sweat a bit though.

"So I did a little test. I waved my hand in front of your face. There was no reaction." He shrugged. "So, I figured you were blind."

Justin pulled into the driveway of Ru's house. The place was dark, which meant that her father was still out.

"We're here," He told her, getting out of the car. Justin didn't bother to go around and open the door for her. She had done just fine getting from home to the beach. She was independent enough. The kid just had a bit of bad luck.

"I'm not leaving you till I know you're okay," He said leaning against the hood of the car. He took another drag off his smoke. "I won't come in if you don't want me too, but I'll stay right here till your dad gets home."

[rumour]

{{ Think far out but I'm still locked in
I'm still lost, walking circles... }} [/color][/size]

Rumour listened to him in Silence, taking in what he said and storing it away for future reference, so that the next time she came across someone who noticed the little details she didn’t make the same mistakes twice. Asking where they were for example had probably not been one of her better idea’s when it came to keeping her ailment a secret, but it had been a necessary evil as far as the blind girl was concerned. It was bad enough being with an unknown man, in an unknown car, going in an unknown direction without the added stress inducing of burden of not knowing her exact location.

Accepting that he now knew, knowing where she had gone wrong this time and deciding just how to fix it in the future, she remained quiet as they pulled up into the drive of her house. Slipping the Jacket from around her, Rumour once more found the door handle with her fingers and stepped out, shutting the door quietly behind her. She’d lost her bag when she fell, the keys to her house, but she knew where a spare was kept at least, and she could replace it without her dad ever knowing.

Except it seemed that her rescuer deemed his job, as of yet, undone. Slipping around the side of the car, Rumour found the front door, and knelt at the side, running her hands over the smooth stones that run along the side the path to the family house, painted white and so very much like the ones surrounding it. When her fingertips brushed the stone she was looking for she picked it up, turning it upside down and taking the key from the hollow inside. It was an old trick, and you could buy the stones these days from any old shop, but her father had hollowed out this one himself, insisting that the shop bought ones were fake, and easy to spot.

”You can’t stay here.”She told him, straightening and find the keyhole with her fingertips, slipping the metal in and twisting the lock. ”My Dad is a reserved man who does not generally appreciate unannounced guests. And you can’t leave your car in the drive – he parks there.” Part of what she said was a lie of course – her father was used to unannounced guests, but often these people he knew, were members of his parish.

Opening the door, Rumour paused in the doorframe.”Listen.... he won’t be back until the early house. He never is. Move your car... and you might as well come in if you’re not going to go. But he won’t appreciate you taking his car spot.”

{{...There's nowhere to go }}

[justin]

"I'm not leaving you alone kid," Justin said firmly. Whether her father expected people or not, the girl had nearly drowned. There could be complications for that. There was a reason people didn't just get up and walk away after having CPR done. Residual water in the lungs, whatever. If the kid collapsed, Justin didn't want her to be alone for hours on end.

Apparently his adamant tone finally got to Rumour. Justin got back into his Gran Torino and pulled it up to the curb instead. He could move the car, but he was still going inside as he was invited.

Justin wasn't usually pushy. That was generally Madison's area of expertise. She wasn't rude about it, but if she had been here, she'd be checking the kid over from head to toe to make sure she was okay. When Madison was in doctor mode there was no stopping her.

Making sure the car was locked up tight, Justin headed back up the walk and followed Rumour inside. He wasn't trying to be pushy, but leaving the kid alone was a dumb idea at the moment. Once her father came home he'd head out. Until then, the kid was stuck with him.

"Nice place," He said walking in behind her. Moving in without being invited, Justin plopped on the couch. He was impressed by Rumour actually. That she was so self sufficient even though she was blind.

The scars around her eyes that he'd seen made him wonder. "You weren't always blind were you?" It was a casual tone, as if they were making small talk. "Something happened?"