Wishing stars

As she had predicted, Lucia was slightly disoriented when she woke. She made sense of what Tucker said and shook her head. She slid back to the passenger and then rested her head against the glass, the cool feeling good.

Tucker slid out of the truck, streaching with a groan, his bones cracking. He reached in and grabbed his can of chew putting a dip in his mouth as he walked around to get the blood flowing right again. He wasn't exactly keen on long car trips.

Lucia pulled her legs up onto the seat, bringing them close to her body and shifting before opening her eyes. She took a deep breath and looked around, then stretched. At first, she didn't know where she was, but them memories flooded back into her and the relaxed again.

Tucker kicked a rock around and shook his head as he thought of the events of the past few days. It was like a whirl wind in his mind. One minute he's getting his arm patched up for cutting it on the bailer, the next he's on the road to sell cattle with a girl in his truck that had just lost her fiance`. He ran a hand through his hair, spitting on the ground, greatful for the chew to calm his nervs some.

Lucia looked at her hands and noticed something that her eyes had passed over ealier. Her ring. She pulled the ring off her finger and looked at it carefully, tears building. She felt confident that she could keep them back. She rolled it around, examining from every angle and then closed her fingers around it.

After a good while, Tucker spit out the dip and went back to the truck, climbing in and starting it back up and looking over at her. "You ok?" He asked carefully.

Lucia's eyes snapped up from her ring and she quickly slid it back into its place on her finger. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine," she said, wiping her suprised eyes, which had let a few tears slip.

Tucker caught a tear with his finger, the drop sitting perfectly on his finger. He raised a brow at it and flicked it away, looking at her. "You don't seem ok. You want to talk about it?" He pulled out of the rest stop and back onto the highway.

"No," Lucia said, taking a deep breath. "I'm okay, really." Despite her words, she moved to his side, hoping he'd put his arm around her again. Something about his touch was like an instant sedative, calming her.

Tucker watched her and sighed, "alright." He draped his arm around her like always and looked at the road, watching the scenery(sp?) go by, being sure to keep an eye on the trailor as well.

Lucia looked down, feeling an unexplained pang of guilt deep in her stomach. She looked at Tucker's face with slightly wide eyes and then looked back at the road, letting out a held breath.

"So, what's your favorite kind of music?" Tucker asked after a moment, breaking the silence that had consumed the truck. He needed something to keep him occupied, to keep him awake.

Lucia shrugged. "I listen to a bit of everything, except opera and hip-hop," she said with a slight smile. Her guilt was slowly fading. "What about you?" She asked, though she already had a preconcived idea.

"Old rock and country. I'm not so much a fan of this new fangled rock though." Tucker chuckled and glanced at her for a moment, his eyes returning to the road. "Tell me something else that I don't know about you."

Lucia thought for a minute. "I passed up a full scholarship to Julliard to stay close to home," she said. She was secure in her decision, but she had been wishy-washy when she was first offered. Her mother had beendeeply upset by her decision, wondering why she did it.

Tucker raised his brow as he listened. "Why did you do that?"

"I was too afraid of moving away. I didn't want to be away from people that I knew," Lucia said and then paused. "I'm terrified of being alone," she added in a whisper. She knew that if she stayed around here, she could stay with her friends, she could stay in her comfort zone.

Tucker glanced at her and gave a small smile. "This'll be a good experiance for you then." He said as he held her comfortingly.

Lucia let a small smile creep across her lips. She rested her arm across him, acutely aware that she could feel hard muscle under the thin fabric of his shirt and the feeling of her fingers on his side. She pushed the thoughts out of her head.

Tucker glanced at her. "So, what are some of your hobbies?" he asked, very much aware of her fingers brushing his side.

"I write and sing and dance," Lucia said. "I also like photography," she said with a small smile. "How much longer do we have left?" She asked, pressing her fingers onto his side a little.

"We'll have to stay over night, then we only have to go half the distance we did today." Tucker said with a small smile as he glanced at her, then back at the road. "Really now? Can I hear you sing?"

Lucia's stomach dropped for a minute and she nodded, humming the first part of the song and then starting into the lyrics.

Headed down south to the land of the pines
And I'm thumbin' my way into North Caroline
Starin' up the road
Pray to God I see headlights

I made it down the coast in seventeen hours
Pickin' me a bouquet of dogwood flowers
And I'm a hopin' for Raleigh
I can see my baby tonight

So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me

She stopped after that, reluctant to look up at him, but she did, a nervous look on her face. Rarely, did she ever sing in front of people. She had only ever sang in front of her mother twice.

Tucker had a large smile on his face as he listened, then did a double take when she stopped. "Why did you stop? You're good!"

Lucia's cheeks flooded a light pink. Should she finished the rest of the song? Really? She paused and then continued on. She finished the song, looking down at her hands and sighed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gX1EP6mG-E&feature=fvwrel