| Chapter 4
It only took Gabriella a few painstaking minutes to lead Nick out of the club and outside onto the street corner. As they emerged from the stuffiness of the indoors, they were hit by a crisp wind that howled through the streets. Leaving Nick to lean against the wall, Gabriella turned her head left and right, trying to gain a bearing on where she was. A sharp snap of thunder shook her from her concentration. Looking up to the sky, she blinked as several droplets of water splashed across her face. “Great,” she mumbled, “I’m in a foreign city in the middle of the night and it‘s about to freaking storm. Could this night get any better?” Hearing heavy breathing behind her, she turned to gaze at Nick. He held his hands over the top of his head, attempting to shield himself from the impending rain. Gabriella watched him for a moment, debating whether she should talk to him or not. Finally biting the bullet, she posed a question, “How are you getting home Nick? Your friend left you.” Nick squinted at her through the rain that was now falling freely from the sky, “I can walk.” Shrugging, Gabriella nodded and turned around a couple of times before determining the general direction of her hotel. Glancing over her shoulder at Nick, she noticed he hadn’t moved from his spot on the wall. “Okay, I’m not going to just walk off and leave you here. Are you sure you can even walk?” Nick grumbled and stood up off the wall, nodding. He took two steps forward and stumbled slightly, his right foot twisting slightly. Wincing in what appeared to be pain, he stopped himself and looked at Gabriella as if his fumble was an indication he could walk fine. Gabriella rolled her eyes and walked back to him, eyeing him curiously. His face was stiff was his body hung loosely on its frame as if it could collapse at any given moment. “Yeah...if you can walk, I can fly… here, I’ll walk you to where you‘re going. Where are you staying?” Nick motioned at the sky frivolously, mumbling something incoherent. Judging from the sudden slurring of his words, the night’s partying was beginning to catch up to him. Pulling her clinging shirt away from her body slightly, Gabriella searched for an overhang and spied what she was looking for. Approaching Nick slowly, she twisted her body so that his arm was resting over her shoulder. Taking slow, calculated steps, she shifted herself and Nick underneath the overhang and out of the rain. Again she asked, “Where are you staying Nick?” Like before, Nick made a weak gesture into the open air. Slapping her hand to her forehead, Gabriella sighed, “Looks like my night just got better.” She gently pushed Nick against the wall so that he wouldn’t try anything stupid and eyed his face. His hair was clumped on his forehead, hanging down into his eyes and his upper lip looked swollen, possibly from the scuffle she had heard in the club. Perhaps the most alarming thing about his expression were his eyes. No longer bright and endearing, they were blank and clouded over with confusion. Realizing she was going to get no answers any time soon in this fashion, Gabriella sighed. Surveying him quickly, she found a chain dangling from the corner of his left front pocket. Without thinking, she ran her fingers over it lightly before pulling on it. Meeting resistance, Gabriella sunk her hand down into the pocket and fished around for a few seconds before resting her fingertips on the distinct feel of leather. His wallet. With a slight feeling of apprehension, she tugged his wallet free of his jeans and held it in her hands. Opening it, she rifled through its contents quickly, searching for anything that resembled an ID. Finding his license, she realized he did not live in New York. “He must be staying at a hotel with the rest of them, “ she mused. Again searching his wallet, she found no sign of anything resembling a hotel key of any type. With a last ditch effort, she scanned the remaining contents for any type of contact information. Coming up empty handed, she rearranged everything back into place and slide his wallet back into his pocket. Now what was she going to do? She couldn’t very well leave him out here like this. Especially not with it raining…and with the club owner on his case… and with him being drunk…an a celebrity. Slapping her hand to her forehead, she groaned, “When will I learn to keep my big mouth shut and not get involved in shit that ain’t my business?” Weighing her options, Gabriella cursed loudly, “Damn you conscience! Why do you have to rear your ugly little head NOW? Why not last year at that party? Or when I decided I really needed a pack of gum without paying for it? Why you gotta fucking do it to me now?!?” Rubbing her hands over her face feverishly, she smoothed her now-soaked hair back and off of her face. She shook her fist into the air at no one in particular and nudged Nick. He grunted softly and raised his head to look at her blankly. In a way, she almost felt bad for him and truthfully, she knew he was at her mercy at the moment. Though she could have easily walked away from him, something about him drew her to him…made her feel sorry for him. Again propping his arm over her shoulder, she attempted to lift him away from the wall, but found that his weight had become even more dead weight than before. Grunting, she heaved as much of his weight onto her shoulder as she could bear, supporting him solely by the arm looped over her shoulders. Taking a few steps, Gabriella felt herself stumble backwards slightly. Glaring up at him, she quipped, “Come on…you may be drunk but you can still move. You weigh 220 pounds Carter…I weigh 145... This ain’t gonna work unless you pick up your feet and move them.” Nick grunted something incoherent in retort, but slowly he began to pick his feet up off of the ground instead of dragging them along the wet streets. Gabriella kept an eye out as they slowly progressed, thankful that the rain had cleared the streets of any potential rubberneckers. The last thing she needed was to end up as front page tabloid fare. Panting and slightly out of breath, Gabriella trudged the three blocks to the front steps of the Avalon Hotel. Loosening Nick’s death grip from her shirt, she gently sat him down on the front steps underneath the overhang and out of the rain. Not that it really mattered - both of them were soaked to the bone. She plopped on the steps beside him and fumbled around in her backpack until her fingers closed around the crushed, neglected cigarette pack that was crumpled into one corner. Pulling it out, she worked a mostly-dry cigarette from inside the wrapper and placed it between her lips. Scowling, she searched her pants for her lighter and found it moments later. Flicking the wheel, the flame leapt to life as she brought it up to the cigarette. With a deep inhale, she leaned back on the steps and cast a sideways glance at Nick. He looked content enough sitting on the steps, but she knew he was eyeing her out of the corner of his eye. Tossing the cigarette pack in his direction, she muttered, “Help yourself… and to think, I had just about kicked this damn habit. That’s what I get for coming to New York. Wonder-fucking-ful…” Chapter 5 |