Escort

Bret grins and peeks into a mirror by the hall. He hadn't seen the small streak of grease on the side of his face, nor the rest of the grime. "Okay," he relents. "I'll wash my face. But you'll have to blame Noah. We sorta had a brawl... Well... I guess maybe it was Landon's fault. But that was after..."

His voice trails off and he gives Charlotte a sheepish look. "What can I say... boys will be boys."

Shaking his head, he aims for the bathroom. "Ten minutes. But my stomach won't last any longer than that."

Once in the bathroom though, he pokes his head out again to holler back to the kitchen. "You, on the other hand, look perfect. Don't change a thing."



Austin just stands awkwardly for a moment. He shouldn't be surprised that Angel had dropped by, but for some reason it had caught him off guard. Besides that, he couldn't help but be just a little bit suspicious. No on from the ranch had talked to him lately... did they know everything that had been happening, and if they did, what were they saying about him?

At Angel's last comment, he tried to bring himself back to attention. "No. No, for pete's sake. I was dosing, but it's not too late. Not like I got an exciting night life or something."

He closes the door and gestures for Angel to come into the living room and sit down as he turns on an extra light. Switching off the television, he eases down in another chair, just studying her for a moment. "Surprised Luke let you come to Nevada without him," he muses with a slight teasing tone. It doesn't go over as well as intended though, and he drops his gaze, suddenly feeling awkward.

Looking back up at Angel, he purses his lips in thought. "There's more to this than just a social call isn't there..." He sighs deeply. "You a scout for the others, or come of your own accord?"


Rocky searches Jess' eyes for a moment, making sure that she was telling the truth when she said she was okay. Pursing his lips, he gives her a little reassuring nod, his body visibly relaxing after knowing the chaos was over. Few would notice that he starts to reach out to give Jess' arm a pat, but then withdraws instead.

"Talk about an evening... You're never gonna want to hang out with this bunch again," he teases.

Axel's knowledge that Jess is alright puts him a bit more at ease, and he gives her a crooked grin. "Good. Thought for a minute there you might wind up with some broken bones."

Rocky smirks at him. "I was just reacting. You wouldn't have done differently if you'd been the one standing there."

"I might have at least shoved her away from the glass." Though keeping a straight face, Axel's eyes prove that he's only kidding around.

Rocky rolls his eyes and sighs, turning to Jess. "My apologies if I was too rough. I'm just glad you're alright."

"And yes," Axel interrupts to finally answer Jess' question. "Everyone else is too. Jen's pretty shook up, but she'll be alright. Phil's going to take her home and make sure she gets settled okay."

"Hey, guys..." Carson joins the threesome as the police cars start away from the scene, leaving them in peace. For now, he had pasted on a pleasant expression, not letting Axel's earlier words get to him just yet. He slings an arm around Jess to give her a little squeeze, knowing he's the only one in the room who could get away with that at the moment. "Bet you wish you woulda stayed home."

"Well, she would have missed an awfully good concert," Rocky muses.

Carson chuckles and lets Jess go. "Yeah well... now I get to spend a long night here."

"You want help?" Axel offers. "Be glad to."

Carson shakes his head. "Naw, that's alright. Not much you can do. I just have to sweep up all this glass and put some plastic up or something. Herb's not gonna be happy, but at least this time it wasn't my fault."

The four are interrupted for just a moment as Phil calls to them, letting them know that he and Jen are leaving. Once they're gone, Rocky gives a deep sigh. "Well... Axel, you ready for a ride home?"

Axel shakes his head. "Thought I'd walk tonight."

Rocky shakes his head in wry annoyance. "You and your walking. Alright, fine." He turns to Jess. "I can follow you home if you like," he offers. "Just to make sure no other bizarre storms roll through."

"She is the bizarre storm," Axel quips.

"What?"

Axel almost chuckles and tosses Jess a wink. "Nothing."

Rocky lets it drop and simply looks to Jess with question, not knowing if she was the type to want an escort or not.

Carson moves to pick up his broom again, starting to calculate just how he was going to patch this up for the night and make it livable for the next day.