Lonely Night

Shutting the door behind them, Dublin was happy he was he was facing away from the girl as he locked his apartment up. His face flushed slightly with guilt, and he hid it as he turned the key in the lock. "Sorry about that. I had put your number in my phone right away, but never really knew when a good time to call was." He paused, reconsidering his answer. "Not that tonight was a good time to call." He shrugged, making his way down the stairs. Maybe he just had to get high before he could do it.

Charlotte made her way down the stairs. At least, halfway down before she slid down the rail. It seemed to go off impressively; she landed on her feet at the bottom. "I practiced doing that at my old apartment in Phoenix," she said with a grin. "Almost broke my arm, but Eth--...my friend grabbed me before I went over." In her hesitance, there was the slightest evidence of sadness in the way her mouth curved briefly in an 'o.' It corrected itself, however, as she did. "Don't let me do that again without being there to catch me."

Dublin let out a laugh when Charlotte slid past him. He caught up to her at the bottom of the steps when she began speaking, and he couldn't help noticing her slight slip up. He frowned, and wanted to speak on it, but knew better than to bring it up while they were having a good time. Instead, he let it slide. "Don't worry, I'll always be there to catch you." He responded with a soft smile, not realizing how that sounded until the words left his mouth.

Charlotte froze at his words, and her smile fell into a genuineness, a longer and simpler smile. "I'm glad," the girl said, facing him as she walked to the doorway. She burst into the night, where the buzzes of streetlights only slightly polluted the purple helm of stars overhead. The stars, they were abundant, they were all she could see. She looked up and up and up, into the vast empyrean that seemed to jump more than it ever had before. She looked until she brought a camera to her eye, snapping a few pictures and letting out a few 'oooh's in between. Most people would feel small there, but not Lotte. She'd been faced with the massive eye of the galaxy, the moon's pearl gaze through the window. Compared to that, the stars looked like nothing. They were dazzling little fireflies, small enough to hold in her palm, and she never felt taller. She never felt more significant.

She lowered her camera with a big, childish grin.

Dublin took a moment to enjoy the gentle moment between them while they walked. Little moments like that were rare to him, and he didn't know how to handle something with such innocence and life. So he just soaked it in while it transpired, and let it go once they made their way outside. He wasn't surprised by the quiet, empty streets, but it wasn't something he was used to either. It was as if the entire city belonged to him in that moment, and he basked in the godly feeling it gave him.

Dublin looked over at Charlotte. While he felt like he had conquered the town, she looked like she was conquering the sky, and in the moment he believed that she could. He didn't realized he'd been staring until she lowered her camera. She looked so young and carefree, and it reminded him of a girl he once knew. That thought was like ice cold water washing over him. Shoving his hands into his pocket while trying to shove the thought out of his head, he nodded his head in the direction of the store. "Let's get going, yeah?" He tried to appear less shaken up than he felt.

There was something to his tone, to the look he gave when he said 'Let's get going.' Her smile wiped off to an interrogative agape of her mouth. "Yeah, sure," she said in a curious tone, but did not address his own tone. Perhaps he was cold or something, or just tired.

The town was dark, save for the occasional buzzing streetlight that made dome-shaped safehavens of light on the streets. These were streets they could walk in the middle of, the Charlotte did just that, casting out her arms to balance along the yellow line that divided the road. "Here, here, Dublin," she hissed, scared of waking the people whose windows lay dark just meters away. "Dublin, take a picture of me by the streetlight like this, it'll look cool." She shoved her camera to him and hurried beside the orange blast of light, where she balanced on the yellow line once more, perfectly centered in the street and silhouetted by the night. She looked down, hoping he'd be able to work the camera fine and hoping she wouldn't trip mid-shot.

Dublin felt better once they started walking again, and a smile found its way back on his face when Charlotte began tightroping across the middle line in the street. Smirking at her attempt at a quiet yell, he was caught off guard as she shoved her camera in his hands. He stood there a moment with wide eyes as she ran back in place and posed for the photo. Having no choice but to take it for her, he brought the camera up to his face and peered through it. Dub didn't know much about taking pictures, so he pressed the button he hoped took the picture and prayed it would suffice for the photographer. He looked down at the picture and smiled. "Yeah, it looks cool." He called out to her, forgetting to be quiet for a moment.

Charlotte caught his forgetfulness. She gave a sharp ssh, then heard the sharp sounds of a dog barking. Light came into the upstairs window of a nearby house, and Lotte ran over to Dublin, practically pushing him while laughing, "Come on. Run, run." She ended up taking back her camera and taking off down the street, her footfalls echoing in slaps across the asphalt of the otherwise silent road. Every now and again she'd look back to usher him along. "Come on, let's go." Even when they were far off from the house she was running, until they reached the playground adjacent to the dark daycare. She collapsed on one of the swings to catch her breath.

Dublin hadn't realized his mistake until after, when he heard Charlotte shush him and the bark of dogs. He winced, feeling a bit bad for ruining the tranquility of the night. Still, when Charlotte pushed him forward while laughing, he couldn't help laugh along out how ridiculous this all was. Here he was, technically an adult, running around as if he was in high school again. He'd been in his fair share of trouble, and this was nothing like that, but still, he felt his adrenaline rush as he raced just behind this girl. Once she crashed on a park swing, he fell into the one beside her, catching his breath. His eyes were bright and his cheeks were red from the run, and for a moment he had a look of innocence that hadn't been present since the accident. He looked over at Charlotte, swinging gently. "Sorry about that." He didn't look sorry. "But to be fair, I think the picture I took was worth it."

"Pictures are always worth it," she responded, eyes once again glued on the stars. She kicked herself in a slow swing as she spoke, scuffing the dirt as she moved back and forth. "You know those journalists who get in between two frontlines to take pictures of the men fighting? Or those nature photographers who will climb a huge tree in the middle of the Amazon to take a picture of a rare bird?" She smiled, and though she was not looking at him, she felt like she was facing him through the stars. "Those are my heroes. That's going to be me someday. The picture is always worth it."

She swung for a few moments, taking it all in, but when she looked back down, she seemed to have broken the trance, and skidded to a halt, and in that skid stood up.. "Sorry, that was pretty deep," she admitted with a laugh. "We still have a destination, don't we?" The cornerstore still was ahead as a possible beacon of hope. It had to be open. She knew it did!

But it wasn't.

When they arrived at the cornerstore, Charlotte squinted at the sign. 10 am to 12 am. They actually had a chance.

"Oh well," she said with a sigh. "We'll make out with what you have at your house." It was a far shot anyway; she was still pretty hungry.

Dublin watched her as she spoke, listening intently as she spoke of her dreams. He couldn't exactly relate. She obviously seemed like she knew where she was going in life, while Dublin was just impressed he'd made it this far. He had no dreams, no plans for the future, and lived every day the same he had the day before. She knew who she wanted to be someday, while Dublin just hoped that he could be someone.

When she stood, he looked up at her and nodded, getting up to make it to their original destination. When they arrive, he wasn't too upset by the store being closed. He had been thinking about a slushie, but he had simply enjoyed the journey getting there. "It's alright, I have a bag of chips calling my name, and I'm sure you're an expert chef no matter what you're working with."

"Expert chef," Charlotte repeated, pursing her lips dryly. Is that what he'd call it? She gave one last longful stroke of the window and turned, running a hand through her short black hair. "All right," she said finally. "Let's go back."
The path they had taken previously was still marred with the soft echoes of barking dogs, of owners yelling to shut up, so Charlotte decided without asking to go down a different road. She'd known the town like the back of her hand. Each road would lead them to his apartment somehow. The raven-haired girl fell in line with Dublin's steps, and casually put her hand in his, looking up at him with a catlike smile. "So when did you start smoking?" she asked innocently.

Dublin looked down in surprise as Charlotte took his hand into her's casually. It wasn't like he hadn't held hands with girls before, but it had been a long time since the last time. The girls he associated with didn't care about things like that. They didn't walk down streets past midnight with him for the sole purpose of his company. Sure, they'd keep his company past midnight, but in different ways.

As they walked a new path home, he enjoyed the silence and the warmth of her hand until she spoke up. "Weed or cigarettes?" He asked, a smile on his face that did not reach his eyes. "Either way, I started smoking after- uh, after my junior year. I needed something to keep my mind off of things and I didn't want to drink anymore." He explained a bit awkwardly, narrowly avoiding mentioning the accident. He didn't know if he could and control his emotions, and he wasn't about to break down in front of anyone.

Charlotte nodded. It was a bit of a rehearsed nod, one that was overly comfortable, like the 'aww' in response to someone's pet dying. It didn't mean she stopped the conversation, however. No matter how uncomfortable Dublin was, Charlotte didn't seem to notice. She was pretty oblivious to discomfort, especially in the benevolent mood the night brought her. "My dad smoked," she said. "He believes second-hand smoke lost my sister her voice, though. She would always complain about coughing and he wouldn't listen, and one day she couldn't talk." Her hand swung his lightly as the other, the robotic hand, brushed her bangs. "She's mute because of her power, of course, but my dad will go through gymnastics to deny that stuff."

Dublin looked down as Charlotte spoke, nodding along to her story. Once she finished, he looked away and didn't speak for a moment, letting the sounds of the night fill the silence for a moment. "I shouldn't smoke. It's selfish and hurts people, and everyone who does it knows that. But I guess you just get used to it." Besides, Dublin never claimed to be an angel. As his discomfort with the conversation grew, he did his best to change the conversation, latching on to the last thing Charlotte said. "Powers can be a blessing and a curse. Sometimes they feel like more of a curse than anything, actually." He mused. To be fair, he hadn't had to suffer as much as others, but he was no stranger to life being affected by the gift you possessed.