Chapter 4.

Returning to the train and both taking a seat, Lionel noticed the train slowly getting packed. Minutes passed before the two women in front of both Lionel and Carter took their seats in the carriage.

With the doors closing, a moment passed before the train began moving. They were off.

Lionel found himself gazing at the vast view of lights that were on display. The town of Libeaux. 'Carter's grandmother's hometown' Lionel recalled from earlier. 

However, the lights on the other side of the glass pane reduced to a mere line of lumination within a few seconds. A country road that led way out of town.

Since the day further reached into the night and the sky only got darker, the lights within the train carriages went through a similar change. Slowly, they toned down to a fraction of their original luminosity.

With Lionel glancing at the light above the aisle, his attention was quickly drawn to another source of light. Carter's laptop.

"Please don't tell me you're about to do work..." Lionel spoke out, a smile lingering on his lips as his eyes were now on the businessman beside him.

"Yes... I am just that crazy to do work at...". Carter paused before leaning into his device to look at the taskbar. More specifically, the time that was displayed to the very right of the bar. "At 9:30...". His words were drenched with sarcasm and a second later, he couldn't help himself but let out a mere laugh. "I may be a workaholic, but I know when it's my limit to stop with work and... relax for the rest of the day.". Clicking into his browser, he logged onto a movie streaming service. "I am about to watch a movie. Would you like to join me?".

"What are the options for tonight?" Lionel asked after a second of silence and a thumb on his bottom lip.

"A... whole website filled with movies are the options for tonight," Carter responded, scrolling through all the titles.

"In which about 20 of them would be watchable," Lionel added, in turn making Carter chuckle ever so slightly.

"Oh, you'd be surprised, Lionel.".

"Alright then... surprise me.".

Turning at his words, Carter's eyes managed to find Lionel's. "Dare I remind you, we're still acquaintances... I'm unsure how that might be possible.".

"Ah come on, I'm easy... and I love romances. Shouldn't be too hard of a task.".

Carter widened his eyes in exaggeration. "Wow... you've really helped me there...". A pause. "There's a lot of romance films here. And don't get me to count them all, otherwise, we won't start a film till dawn...".

"Choose anyone you find appealing, I'm not fussy.".

Carter laughed. "Well, I'm afraid to say, but I don't find romance movies appealing, we'd have to skip over to action for me to find something I'd like.".

"Sounds fine by me," Lionel responded, his eyes glued to the screen of Carter's laptop.

"Are you sure?..." Carter couldn't hide the slight confusion in his voice. "You just said you love romance movies.".

"I do... but, I mean... first of all, it's your laptop. And secondly, I'll give it a chance. If I don't like it, I'll just go to sleep.". The smile on his lips returned as he gazed back at Carter. "See, I told you, I'm easy.".

Hearing his words, Carter turned his head back to Lionel. He looked at him, expecting Lionel to change his mind. But when he was greeted with silence, even a few seconds later, he knew his last words were his final decision.

"I'll make sure to find a good one then," Carter began before scrolling through some action films.

It didn't take long for a film to catch his eye. "I think I found something...".

Carter placed his earphones back into his laptop, offering one earbud to Lionel. "You mind if it's mine?".

Lionel shook his head. He knew that Carter didn't mind sharing, otherwise, he wouldn't have made the offer to Lionel. However, Lionel still proceeded to ask, "Do you mind if I use it?".

"I wouldn't have offered you it had I minded," Carter responded, mimicking Lionel's thoughts. Though his words came as a smart answer, his soft tone diluted such a fact. Carter's words lacked sarcasm where Lionel expected them to be. 'A pleasant change compared to a few minutes ago', he admitted to himself.

With him placing the bud into his head, Carter started the movie. The opening music began to play after the black screen that displayed nothing for a second or two.

And fairly soon, the two got engrossed in the movie. Immediately, the first scene began off with shooting, the protagonist had to escape the trouble he found himself in.

The movie only progressed as the train rode further into the night. And outside the metal vehicle, the bright moon only climbed higher in the dark, Summer sky.

At some point in his viewing, Lionel felt his tiredness weigh on his head and eyelids. With the mere shakes of the train, as it moved on the tracks, they acted as a lul for him. 

Before he could get a hold of himself, he allowed for his head to rest on Carter's shoulder. A second passed before Lionel made a gasp. Sitting back up, he rushed an apology. "I'm so sorry...".

However, to Lionel's surprise, Carter broke into mere chuckles. "Why are you apologising? For falling asleep? Don't be ridiculous. If anything, I insist.". Carter eyes his shoulder. "And I want no excuses. You're tired.".

With Carter's offer and the fact that anywhere else would feel too uncomfortable for a good night's sleep, Lionel decided to accept his offer.

"You have a better view of the film now," Carter cracked a joke, knowing well that Lionel would do anything but watch the film. Within a minute, Carter felt a tad bit more pressure on his shoulder, Lionel had relaxed and fallen asleep.

It wasn't long before the movie finished and with the rolling of the credits, Carter backed into the film selection menu. With a quick, internal debate, he decided it was enough for tonight and turned off his laptop.

With Lionel out cold, Carter tried his best to not wake up his sleeping companion. He minimised his movements to a mere stretch to reach what he needed. When he finally relaxed, he allowed himself to lay back in his seat. And within a minute, he fell asleep just like Lionel beside him.

Hours passed when Lionel was woken up by the honk of the horn of the train, along with the glare of the morning sun against his closed eyelids.

Opening his eyes, he was forced to shut them back as he covered the path of the intense morning sun with his hand.

Finding it hard to make a minor movement, it wasn't long before he realised that someone had their head on his. And a second more passed for him to realise who it was. Carter.

Finding consolation in such, he allowed himself to rest back against his shoulder and before he knew it, he drifted back to sleep, with the train running on the tracks serving as a soothing white noise.

It didn't feel long before Lionel woke up again. It took him a second to realise where he was. He rested his head against the window, but wasn't it some time ago that he was resting against Carter?

There was something else between his head and the glass. He came to realise it was a coat. A suit coat.

Taking the coat into his hands, he turned his head right, only to find Carter's seat empty. And his laptop was nowhere to be found on the table.

Ahead of him, Lionel realised that the two women were still asleep. 

And just as confusion further washed up his mind, just like sand on a beach, a voice from behind frightened him. "Good morning, you're awake.".

Jumping and turning, that was when Lionel realised it was Carter. Taking a deep breath, he began, "Yeah, just now...".

It took Lionel another moment to realise that something about Carter was different. It was only when he further approached his seat that he realised that Carter's suit was gone. Instead, a thin, Summer outfit switched its presence on his physique.

He placed a smaller bag into his larger one which rested on the overhead racks. With that, he sat back down and all it took was seconds for a scent to hit Lionel in the face. It was a masculine smell, the smell of aftershave. Once again, it was Carter.

"You didn't enjoy the movie last night, it seemed," Carter commented, breaking the silence between them both.

"Why do you say that? Because I fell asleep?".

"Yeah, pity you missed the ending," Carter responded and Lionel almost instantly sensed the sarcasm in his words.

"It was an action movie, Carter. How good could it really be?" Lionel teased him as a result. He, himself, could name some great action movies off the top of his head, but he was eager to see Carter's reaction to his words.

"It was really good, Lionel. We're gonna watch it again tonight and I want you to stay awake.". The ridicule in his words remained in his tone. In fact, he was fighting the small smile that wanted to form on his lips.

"Don't you worry, I'll sleep so soundly on your shoulder again, you'd even hear my mere snortles. That's how awake you'd see me," Lionel responded."I mean, if you insist..." Carter responded. His words caught Lionel off guard.

"I- I didn't mean it... I didn't mean it that way!".

Further amusement displayed across Carter's face as he looked at the way Lionel's face reddened. "Sure you didn't," he teased Lionel that bit more.

"Twisting the meaning of my words around to your liking..." Lionel let gently through his lips before shaking his head. 

However, he fancied such an idea and he couldn't lie to himself about that. The small smile on his lips proved just that. So, to not let Carter see - he mustn't let him see, he turned and faced the window.

And with the honk, the train continued cruising along its journey toward the sun that ascended the horizon not too long ago.