Just in Case

Destiny's desire to stick around made Zan's eyebrows rise. He knew she hadn't wanted to be alone, but perhaps he'd underestimated her. "Well, if-"

"Chili fries!" 

Zan blinked and turned to look at Jett. "Seriously? At this time of night?" 

Jett grinned. "You know I got an iron stomach. We so need to go to the Hangout." He leaned forward so he could see Destiny. "Best chili fries ever." 

"Whoa, just..." Zan held up his hand, then stopped as his nose halted his thoughts. "Wait, are you wasted already?" 

"Huh?"

"Why do you smell like a keg of beer?" 

"Oh." Jett brushed the front of his t-shirt which was dry by now. "Same reason my tailbone hurts."

"What?"

"Nothing. All I had was like two sips." Jett slowed the pickup as they approached the crowd again. "So we going to the Hangout?" 

Zan sighed. "I dunno... just... it's gonna take a while to sort all this out." He pointed to the right. "Tony's truck is over there."

"Yeah but Myra is over here." 

"My head is fine."

"I ain't getting a call in the middle of the night that you're in the ER 'cause you were stubborn." Jett drove just a short distance away where one of the small groups was hanging out, and parked. "Come on." 

The three got out and were met by a tall, slender woman whose long black hair was pulled back in a braid, her hoop earrings flashing by the light of a nearby fire barrel. "Zan - saw what happened. You alright?"

"I'm fine."

Jett shook his head. "He hit his head."

She frowned and motioned him over. "Come here." Making him sit on an old crate, she retrieved a pen light and checked his eyes. 

Jett glanced over at Destiny. "Myra's a nurse. She kinda takes care of our bumps and bruises out here or tells us when we need something more." He turned just a little so Zan couldn't hear his voice. "Soon as he can get his car towed, leaving is a good idea. I know that look in his eye - he wants to go after Thunder, but that's a really bad idea." Something nearby caught his eye, and he straightened. "Stay here. I'll be right back." Without giving her time to respond, he walked away quickly, heading to another group nearby. 

Myra continued to check over Zan. "Any headache? Blurred vision? Nausea?"

"Just a slight headache." Zan blinked as she finally finished shining the light in his eyes. "I told you I'm fine." 

"Mm." She ignored him and knelt by a backpack to pull out some antiseptic and a bandage. As she worked on Zan, she glanced over at Destiny and gave her a smile. "I see you brought a friend."

"Oh yeah." Zan motioned Destiny closer. "Destiny, Myra. Myra, Destiny. She thought she'd come check out the excitement."

Myra chuckled. "Well if you like watching big egos walk around, you came to the right place."

Zan smirked. "It's not that bad. You're here."

"I'm here so y'all don't kill yourselves." She tossed Destiny a wink. "Make sure this guy doesn't drive again tonight, alright? Just in case."


Jason sighed and came close, wrapping his arms around Katie in a tight hug. "I love you too." Pulling back, he cradled her face in his hands before giving her lips a tender kiss. "Let's do this." 

Once outside, and down the lane into the ranch yard, they were joined by Rick, Jeff, Cindy and Wes, Rosetta and Mick. Jason stopped and rolled his eyes. "You all act like we're going off to war or something. Quit it." 

Cindy frowned and shook her head. "And you act like this is nothing."

"Stop worrying... we're gonna be fine." He glanced to Rick. "Are we really gonna have an audience? I mean seriously... I feel like we're performing or something."

Rick smirked. "I'll turn my back. How's that?" 

Jason rolled his eyes. "That might be nice, actually." His sarcasm morphed into a string of thoughts for Katie.
Hey, why don't you all join us? Come on out and watch us exchange our most intimate emotions, while possibly blowing things up and killing ourselves.
He took her hand and started walking. 

"You guys wanna-"

Jason lifted a hand to stop Mick from talking. "No. East pasture. Got it. Thanks." This whole thing was getting ridiculous. He was exhausted, Katie was exhausted, and the more time they spent talking would just prolong the inevitable and make it harder. 

Jeff started after them, but felt his feet stop. He had to let her go and he knew it. Rick was the only one who actually followed them so he'd at least be in the near vicinity if anything went wrong. Left behind with the others, Cindy leaned into Wes as she wiped a tear away. Jeff glanced at Rosetta and wandered off towards the barn instead. Mick slipped an arm around Rosetta's shoulders and gave her a squeeze.

Walking slowly out into the empty pasture, Jason's hand remained interlocked with Katie's. He didn't look back - he didn't care anymore if anyone had followed or not. Once having walked a ways away, he finally stopped. It felt like they were out in the middle of nowhere...which was probably good. Sitting down cross-legged on the ground, he tugged Katie down to sit facing him, and took both her hands, sliding his palms into hers. His eyes searched hers for a moment, and he could feel his own tension starting to build. "You sure you wanna try this?"