Chapter 100: The Call Of The Road

Layla's Bedroom, The Quinn Residence, The Backwoods, Temperance, South Dakota...

 Dawn had brought with it a series of aches and pains but none had been substantial aside from overexertion, Brick's gray eyes burst open as he found himself once more naked as the day he was born and surprisingly alone in Layla's bed. The groggy werewolf sighed as he slowly sat up in bed and eased his way out from beneath the tangled sheets. His sore muscles rippled and he seemed to have little regard for the fact that he'd been naked as the minor breeze lashed against his bare skin once he'd been out of the sheet and bed. He took long slow strides out of the bedroom his unruly nostrils flaring as the all-too-familiar scent of Layla Quinn filled them. He found her standing alone out on the porch dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, his t-shirt, with a cup of coffee in her hands as she seemed to stare out into the open wilderness. 

She didn't seem to take notice of him as he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist momentarily taking her out of her thoughts as she leaned back against him feeling safe in his arms and the warmth of his still naked body as she sighed while still gripping her coffee mug. 

The coffee had gone cold in the wake of her standing and holding it out in the elements but she didn't seem bothered by it. Brick could tell that the coffee had been about two hours old, meaning she'd been out in the cold for quite a while contemplating what lay ahead regarding her future and the trail left behind by her so-called father. 

"What you doin' out here in the cold?" asked Brick with an arched brow despite already knowing the answer. 

"Thinking," replied Layla with a sigh. 

"What about?" asked Brick still with a brow arched despite Layla not being able to see his face as he buried his nose in the tangles of her hair taking in her scent once more. 

"The past...the future..." replied Layla with her eyes fixated upon the horizon. "Take your pick."

Brick seemed to get it as he silently agreed that she would have indeed had some thinking to do if only to process the past few days. 

"And with all this thinkin' what did you come up with?" he asked turning her to face him so that he could see her eyes. 

"I'm more determined than ever to find Daddy...Jarrett Quinn but I am also looking forward to finding out about my real parents and what they were like before..." began Layla only to trail off. 

"Before you lost 'em," said Brick finishing her thought. 

Layla nodded sadly. 

"I can't seem to remember anything about them or my life before him," she admitted as shame filed across her lovely face. 

Brick noticed and wasn't in the least about to let her beat herself up over it. 

"Well you know I'll be there for whichever direction you wanna go in, Past, Present, Future...makes no difference to me as long as you need me," he said catching her chin with his lengthy index finger. 

Layla couldn't help the single tear that cascaded down her cheek that she'd been holding back since before Brick had awoken. He gently wiped it away and leaned down to softly kiss her lips. She closed her eyes embracing the kiss as she gripped her coffee mug. 

Brick smirked as she noticed it had gone cold for the first time since she'd been lost in thought. Her blue eyes also noted that Brick had still been naked as he stood on the front porch out in the elements. She had not seen very many scars on his chest, and those that were there had been old. It was as if he hadn't been shot all those nights ago at all. Only sparse hair and tattoos had been what caught her attention. 

While it was a curious thing to make note of, Layla couldn't seem to let herself forget how Brick had come to her bloodied and weak in the wake of being shot, she had never been more afraid of anything in her life than she had been of losing him there and then. 

"Brick...." she began recalling that he'd been adamant about going after her false father and just how dangerous Jarrett could be when cornered. 

"It'll be alright, I can handle myself a lot better than you think little girl," he said.

Layla narrowed her eyes at that absurd nickname that even Jarrett used for her. She was far from being a little girl and Brick of all people had known that more than anyone. 

"I hate when you call me that," she replied through pouted lips. 

"Well hell, my bad little woman," replied Brick with a sly smirk. "And if that ain't good enough Cherry pie will do."

"Jerk..." muttered Layla in annoyance as she rolled her eyes and opted to venture back into the house leaving Brick to chuckle as he followed her inside. It was good to see her spunk back for a change as he'd been possibly a little afraid that all she endured in the recent few days might have put a damper on her spirit. 

Layla made her way toward the kitchen and poured out the cold coffee before washing out the mug. Brick followed behind her and made his way to the fridge before popping the top on an ice-cold beer and drinking some down before turning his attention to the view of the road from the kitchen window over the sink. 

He knew all too well that they'd be hitting the road soon, and given his nature and adept nose it wouldn't take long for him and the boys to find Jarrett Quinn and either put the elusive killer-turned-kidnapper in the ground or haul him off to prison. 

Brick had not been sure which even as he continued to stare out the window and sip the beer that he'd known firsthand had been one of Jarrett's before his hasty departure. The old bastard had outrun the law but he wasn't gonna get away from werewolves on wheels.