Stifling another nervous breath, Henry gave his attire and hair another once over, nibbling his bottom lip uncertainly.  He was still getting used to the blonde color and it made him look paler than he was used to, but the suit didn’t exactly help either.  Black tuxedos were not his personal favorite choice but he was performing for a distinguished audience this afternoon and so had to play the part.  “Aish,” he sighed, glancing at his gold watch with a twist of his mouth.

                It went with the suit though he was much more comfortable with the sports watch he usually favored.  Couldn’t have that with a tuxedo though, could he now?  But it was almost time for his performance and where was she…?

                “Amber,” he exhaled, glancing around before he brushed at the tip of his hair again, wrinkling his nose when it refused to do what he wanted.  “Fine then,” he grumbled, focusing on his violin in the meantime.  The case was open and his lady was waiting for him, beautiful mahogany finish gleaming in the overhead lighting with the bow lying on the table in front of it.  Callused fingertips ran over the surface tenderly, a warm smile tugging at his lips.

                Focused on his instrument, he missed the door quietly opening behind him, nor did he see the figure in the mirror.  “If I didn’t know better, I might think I should be jealous,” a rich feminine voice teased, making him jump in surprise.

                “Amber,” Henry beamed, whirling around to greet his visitor before he paused upon seeing the surprised expression on her face in turn.  “Eh?” he chirped, turning to look in the mirror to see what had her so taken aback.

                “You’re blonde!” she blurted, closing the distance between them to start playing with the spiky strands with her fingertips, grinning all the while.

                “Yeah.  Just this afternoon actually,” Henry laughed and bent his head for her convenience, placing his hands gently upon her waist as he gave her a quick look in turn.  Unlike him, her hair was still dark and short with the obvious blonde highlights streaked throughout and she was sorely… underdressed for the occasion.  In fact, she looked like she had just come from…  “I don’t suppose you were out racing again today?” he inquired with a knowing smile, brows raised while he tilted his head to get a better look at her face.

                Amber blushed prettily, a faint pink color dusting her cheeks, highlighting the soft brown of her eyes under the very light stripe of gold eye shadow.  “Um… yes?” she responded uncertainly, giving him a winning smile that revealed her teeth beautifully.

                “Bah,” he laughed, kissing her forehead before he sought her hands with his, threading their fingers together.  “You’re here now and that’s all that matters to me,” he promised, winking as he looked at the sleeveless t-shirt paired with a denim jacket and black cargo pants.  At least she wasn’t wearing a hat.

                “Well, it was a good race if that’s any consolation,” she offered, shifting nervously in place.  “And you know I never really fit in with these things anyway,” she shrugged with a self-conscious gesture.

                “Amber,” he sighed, freeing his right hand to pick her chin up when she glanced down.  She met his eyes uncertainly, searching his face and he smiled, cupping her cheek with his palm.  “Whether you’re wearing a suit, a dress, or something you’re just plain comfortable in, you’re still my girl.  Nothing’s going to change that,” he smiled sweetly, leaning down to kiss her chastely upon the lips.

                She was still blushing faintly when she stepped back, fingers pressed to her lips in a cute gesture while she smiled at him.  “Speaking of suits,” she laughed lightly.  “You look good in one.”

                “You think so?” he asked, turning around in a partial circle as he tried to inspect himself once more.  “I still think it’s too stuffy,” he shrugged, adjusting the tie yet again.

                “Here,” she urged, grabbing his shoulders to turn him around so she could take care of it for him.  “Just like so and brush the wrinkle out and you’re good!” she chirped, giving him two thumbs up while she looked for the missing piece.  “Your jacket?”

                “Ah.  Over here,” he responded, snagging the heavy black coat from the back of the chair before he slid into it.  “Now all I need is my instrument and I’m good to go.”

                “Almost,” Amber grinned, stepping close and rising on her tip toes to plant a quick kiss on his cheek.  “For luck,” she giggled, biting her bottom lip playfully.

                “Like I need luck,” he scoffed with a roll of his eyes, gracing her with a grateful smile anyway.

                “Henry?” the door opened behind the pair to admit a petite young woman with perfectly touched up brunette hair and a flawless complexion.  Her expression was warm though as she noticed his visitor and saw him mostly ready.  “It’s time,” she smiled, waving at the pair.  “Hi Amber.  Good to see you made it.”

                “Hey Luna,” Amber grinned with a quick wave in response.  “Yeah.  I’ll be crashing the balcony seats today,” she explained, gesturing at her attire.

                “Aw.  That’s no fun,” she responded, wrinkling her nose at the comment.  “It’d almost be better if you were down in the main seats just to liven the place up,” she added seriously.

                “Luna,” Henry chided with a laugh.

                “Well, it’s true,” she giggled as she pointed her finger at him.  “But seriously.  Two minutes, ne?”

                Henry nodded in understanding.  “I’ll be right there, Luna.”

                “Great!” she beamed, ducking her head out and closing the door behind her quietly.

                “So the balcony, aye?” he confirmed, throwing an arm over Amber’s shoulders as he stepped beside her with his violin carefully nestled in his other hand.

                “Yep.”

                “Oh yeah!  Did you win today?” he asked, giving her a sidelong look.

                “Psh!  Is that a serious question?” she teased, nudging him in the ribs with her elbow.  “Of course I won, though they weren’t exactly happy about it today,” she mumbled, her voice low and the words somewhat distorted.  “I think… no I’m pretty sure I lost em on the way,” she explained with a confident nod.

                “Eh?” Henry grunted, confused by the admission.  “What sort of stakes were these?”

                “The usual, but we can talk about it later,” she urged, pressing him towards the door with a hand to his back.  “You know, the whole two minute thing and all.  It’s almost out,” she laughed, opening the door to guide him through.

                “Alright, but I’ll hold you to it,” he reminded her, a finger pointed at her nose.  She playfully bit at it and snorted when he looked affronted.  “Woman!” he laughed, poking her in the side instead.

                “Yah!” she yelped, swatting his hand away before she stepped back and waved at him.  “Alright violin boy.  Go do your thing,” she winked, making a heart symbol with her hands before she turned and hurried to find the stairs to the balcony.

                “Yes ma’am,” he chuckled, cradling his violin close while he turned to head for the stage.

                It was a large venue this time, almost completely filled with people, all of whom were wearing fine suits and rather ostentatious dresses.  He was actually rather glad Amber was up in the balcony wearing her driving gear since it was infinitely more comfortable.  This way, he also had a much better view of her.  Not that he wouldn’t have been able to see her in the crowd, since she would have stuck out like a cutely sore thumb, but in the balcony, there was no one to obstruct his view of her.

                As he put the bow to the strings and took a breath, he let his gaze rest on Amber, his lips curling up to see the way she propped her chin in her hands, elbows resting on the railing, her attention completely focused on him.  Giving her a slight nod, he closed his eyes and started his routine, easing into the performance with a slow warm-up song, following closely with something a bit livelier.

                Another reason he wasn’t particularly keen on this crowd was because he was supposed to stay still.  That was a damnably difficult feat when the music spoke to him as clearly as it did, beckoning him to join in the song with his feet and the rest of his body.  In lieu of that, he allowed his attention to fixate on his girlfriend, using her as the focal point, imagining a duet they could perform together in his mind.  It was almost enough to completely distract him from the slight disturbance at the back of the hall as the doors opened rather unexpectedly.

                His eyes drifted from the young woman in the balcony to the equally underdressed men who were trying to be dissuaded by the attendants and frowned slightly, the music never faltering despite the interruption.  He knew those men, if only in passing.  Still playing seamlessly, he managed a cautious glance up at the balcony and noticed Amber leaning over to get a better view before she jumped back and remained out of sight.  Damn.  He knew that expression.  Okay…

                With his heart hammering in his chest, Henry wrenched his attention back to finishing the show, eyes trained on the last spot he’d seen Amber.  He knew she’d either be fleeing to some safe spot now and there were really only so many of them in the performance hall.

                The hell with it.  Henry wrapped the current song up as deftly as possible and bowed as if he’d reached the end of his performance.  While the program said otherwise, he had in fact finished and he politely bowed, accepting the somewhat confused applause while the director seemed scandalized and Luna was doing her very best to keep him calm.  He’d deal with the consequences later, but right now he had a rather suspicious feeling Amber was in trouble.

                Rushing back to the dressing room, he locked the door behind him and could have breathed several sighs of relief when he found Amber hiding in the tiny closet.  “What are you doing in there?” he asked her, setting his violin down to help her out.

                “Hiding,” she grumbled, an unhappy frown on her face.

                “I see that,” he sighed with a shake of his head, grabbing her hand in his.  “Why is the question.”

                Amber’s frown deepened and she muttered, “From the competition.  They think I cheated.”

                Henry groaned and rubbed his face with his fingertips.  “How much did they lose?”

                “Five grand,” she exhaled gustily, shoulders slumping at the admission.

                Henry almost choked on the response and nodded to himself, mutely trying to gain a measure of control.  “Well then,” he commented flatly, no sure what to do about that.  “I don’t suppose you have much chance of talking it out with them do you?” he asked, though he knew it was pretty much a lost cause.

                “Not likely.”

                “Aish,” he frowned, patting his pocket for his phone.  He pulled it out and was about to call the police before she snatched it from his hand.

                “What the hell are you doing?” Amber asked incredulously.

                “Calling the police?” Henry responded, mystified by her response.

                “Yah!  That’s as good as saying I did cheat,” she growled, smacking the phone back into his palm with a glare.

                “So what are we going to do then?” he asked with an agitated gesture.

                “You are going to get me to my car and I’ll take care of it from there,” she told him simply, as if that explained everything.

                “You’ve got to be crazy if you think I’m going to let you just drive off and try to handle this on your own,” he reminded her firmly, catching her shoulders in both hands so she would look at him directly.

                “It’s my problem and I’ll deal with it myself,” Amber told him, catching his wrists in her hands.  “I can’t just drag you into this more than I already have.”

                “Amber,” Henry called sharply, tightening his grip on her arms.  “If you’re in trouble, I’m already in this with you.  And I’m not just going to leave you alone,” he told her with a stern look.  “So stop trying to argue.”

                “But-”

                “No,” he snorted, placing his finger to her lips.  “We’ll go to the cars together and we’ll figure something out from there, alright?”

                Amber glared at him for a moment longer before she groaned and rolled her eyes.  “Fine.”

                “Good,” he nodded, catching her hand again to pull her along.  “We’ll take the back way out and we should be able to avoid them.  You’re parked on the same level I am right?”

                “Of course,” she agreed quickly.  With as much time as she spent dropping by the place, she ought to know where he parked by now.

                Sneaking out was the easy part and Henry felt his pulse racing just at managing that bit.  When they reached the second level of the parking deck, he grinned to see they were still in the clear.  He figured the guys were going to be downstairs still which gave them a moment or two to sort things out.  Only he already knew what he was going to do.

                “Alright!  There my car is!” she pointed animatedly, already taking a step to go towards it.

                “Amber!” Henry called, grabbing her hand and yanking her back.

                “Huh…?!” she gasped, dragged back into his arms with her hands braced against his chest.

                “Now would be a good time to wish me luck,” he explained quickly, dropping his head to capture her lips in a breathtaking kiss, his right arm holding her close while his left hand fished the car keys out of her jacket pocket deftly.  “Stay safe, Amber!” he urged, breaking the kiss as he carefully knocked her feet out from under her, sending her to the ground with a controlled fall, seeing shock in her eyes as he let her down easy.

                “Henry!” Amber shrieked, already scrambling to get to her feet as he turned and bolted for her car, unlocking it as he ran.  He had just enough time to get in and lock the door behind him before she was there, banging on the window and yelling all manner of threats at him.  “Henry!  Open the door, dammit!” she growled, yanking on the handle while he put the key in the ignition, dark tinted windows not allowing her to see inside very effectively.

                Taking a deep breath, Henry turned the car on and revved the engine, listening to it purr for a brief second before he got ready to drive as he yanked the seatbelt into place.  “Step back, Amber!” he called, wincing when she yelled at him some more.  When she stood where she was, he laid on the horn and had the satisfaction of seeing her jump in surprise, giving him just enough room to get by without risking running over her feet.

                “Henry!” she scowled, running after him for a few steps, as confirmed in the rearview mirror.

                “Here we go,” Henry breathed, shifting into second gear easily enough, making his way down to the first level.  “Where are you guys… oh there you are,” he grumbled with a niggling trail of nervousness and some fear making its way down his spine.

                He noticed them pointing at him almost immediately, the deep red hue of her Porsche Cayman S type vehicle highly recognizable.  Clenching his jaw, Henry gunned it, rear tires screeching in complaint before traction caught and he was launched forward, swerving slightly in the process.

                “!” he yelped, clinging to the steering wheel with one hand while the other anchored to the gear shift.  It was a lot lighter than his car and had a softer clutch, as he found out when the engine revved unnecessarily as he tried to shift to third.  “Easy,” he breathed, eyeing the opening to the parking garage with a quick glance in his mirror, letting him know he was being pursued quickly.  Good.  Just as he planned.

                Horns blared at him loudly as soon as he made the streets, narrowly missing the first car that streaked by.  Tires squealed as other drivers swerved to avoid him and he cursed under his breath fluidly, righting the car as the tail end swung out, tires spinning all the while, leaving thick black stripes of rubber in their wake.  Almost immediately, three more cars zoomed out after him, using the delay in traffic to make up lost ground.

                “Alright, Amber.  Let’s see what this baby can do,” Henry breathed, downshifting to make up for the decrease in speed.  With the pedal to the metal, he rocketed forward, creeping towards sixty miles an hour in just over five seconds with the rest of the cars in hot pursuit, swerving behind him madly.

                Grimacing with the traffic he had to contend with, Henry braked and swerved, narrowly avoiding accidents by the barest of margins, tires sliding over the asphalt as he fought to maintain control.  A startled yelp escaped when he was bumped from behind, letting him know he had company still.

                “Come on you,” he growled, jumping forward with a downshift to give him higher rpms, transitioning back to fifth gear when he had enough torque behind him.  It bought him space and launched him through the intersection ahead, almost letting him get clear before an oncoming vehicle clipped the back end of his car, spinning him about frantically.  “Holy !” he screamed, trying to figure out which direction was which as he braked in an attempt to keep from getting into more of an accident.

                He groaned painfully when another car rammed into the passenger side, the driver side pressed against the body of his vehicle as they spun together, bumping him into another car as they finally slowed down.  The civilian beside him was dazed but conscious and the person in the vehicle on his passenger side was another racer if the equally tinted windows were any indication.

                “Oh boy,” he grumbled, becoming aware of sirens in the distance.  “That’s not good,” he told himself, getting the car back into gear as metal screeched when he accelerated forward, getting away from the other driver so that he could follow along.  He needed to get to the raceway so they wouldn’t endanger anybody else.  Focused and determined, Henry settled in to do just that, dodging and swerving like a madman, trying desperately to figure out the nuances of Amber’s car.

                His most recent hobby was paying off at least a little bit and while he couldn’t do any of the tricks Amber could, Henry knew how to handle himself in a car, to a degree.  Granted, he had Amber to thank for that since he had gotten tired of her showing him up completely, though why he thought he was any match for actual racers, he had no idea.

                “Not your best idea, buddy,” Henry told himself through his teeth, breathing a small sigh of relief when he saw the edge of the city approaching, the harsh desert soil extending beyond it.  While not the ideal place for much of anything, it was the perfect area for racing, demanding a high level of skill to utilize, but also granting a considerable level of privacy from prying eyes.

                There was just one teensy problem with his plan.  Henry didn’t really know how to drive on sand.  Almost immediately, he started losing traction as soon as he left the paved road, back tires spinning while the front fought desperately to maintain their direction.

                “Okay!  Straight line!” he told himself, wrestling with the steering wheel, veering sharply as he tried to avoid a cactus.  “Bad idea!  Bad idea!” he screeched, drifting horrendously as clouds of dust billowed behind him with sand spraying in every direction.  His eyes widened when he glanced to his left and noticed additional plumes of dust rising nearby, signaling his pursuit.  “Turn!” he yelled at the car, yanking the wheel to one side, only to feel the car doing the opposite.  “Yah!” Henry cried in alarm, watching helplessly as the nearest deep blue car closed with him and rammed the front of his car, sending him into a hectic spin.

                “No, no, no!” he screamed, trying to downshift again in order to gain traction.  The car argued with him vehemently, frame vibrating when he accidently shifted into a higher gear than intended, getting nowhere fast.  Another car honed in on him, clipping the tail end of his car and sending him into another nauseating spin.  “Come on!” he complained, finally opting to put the damn thing in reverse just to get him some sort of direction.

                Henry cheered when it actually worked, getting him out of the path of the third car which very nearly sidelined him.  Of course, turning around was a bit of a problem and he whined as he tried to drive in reverse, swerving all over the place with no idea where he was going.  Every look back at the front showed at least two of the three cars that had been chasing him though he lost sight of the third one, which did not make him feel good.

                “Where are you?” he breathed, steering wheel jerking violently as the wheels caught at every patch of resistance they could, smoothing out over sandy spots and grabbing when they hit debris.  “Ah !” he gulped, yanking the wheel to avoid the car sneaking up on him from the side.  It was enough to turn him so that the other car altered course, ramming him with the tail end of their car and sending him into an uncontrolled spin.  The body of the vehicle bucked like a living thing and Henry tried desperately to level himself out, his body slung to the side with the centrifugal force.

                He was given no more time to self-correct when another shock connected with the front of the car, stopping the spin to send him lurching the opposite direction, turning his back completely to the third oncoming car.  Henry had just enough time to brace himself before a panicked look in the rearview mirror showed the dark blue vehicle about to hit him from behind.  With a cry of tortured metal, his car hopped forward, sliding over the sand so that the front wheel dug in, catching resistance enough to prompt the body of the vehicle to start rolling.

                Screaming frantically, Henry was jostled about like a ragdoll as the car rolled one full time, inverting his world completely, before it started to level out, only to manage one more half tumble, ending with him hanging upside down in the cab.  “,” Henry groaned, dangling in place with his hands resting on the roof of the car, head ringing, and his vision slightly blurred.

                The windows were cracked with the driver side actually broken, revealing the bright light of the sun reflecting painfully off the sparkling surface.  He heard the cars still shifting about outside and scrambled for his seatbelt, still very disoriented and aching all over.  It unclicked reluctantly and dropped him with a heavy thud, leaving him groaning on the roof of the upside down car.

                “Well that’s not good,” he gasped, crawling carefully out the shattered window, cringing at the three waiting cars.  They were banged up and clearly suffering from their impromptu chase but they were all functional.  The deep blue one looked the worst off but the canary yellow and neon green ones were dusty and misshapen too.

                The driver side of the canary yellow car opened and a tall, lean young man stepped out, spiky black hair crowning the angry glower as he rested muscled arms over the top of the door.  “What the is this?” he demanded, obviously confused about seeing Henry getting out as opposed to Amber, presumably.

                “Eh…” Henry groaned, getting to his feet awkwardly, suddenly very aware of being completely stranded with at least three hostile people nearby and no immediate sign of the cops, though he thought he could still hear their sirens in the distance.  “Sur… prise?” he winced, knowing how stupid that sounded.  Of course when he’d planned this little mad dash of his, it had all worked out in his head, but that was obviously not the case now.

                “Where’s Amber?” he snorted angrily, slamming the door before he started to make his way towards Henry.

                “Uh…” Henry groaned, holding his ribs with his hands while he tried to figure a way out of his predicament.  He didn’t get very far before he realized he heard another vehicle approaching.  “What…?” he started to say, eyes widening when he saw a sleek, black Nissan GTR zooming their direction.  He blinked in surprise when he saw the driver side window was missing and if he didn’t know better, that was Amber driving it.

                “Yah!” he heard from the car, the black vehicle drifting close enough to clip the front of the yellow car, crumpling the corner of the frame as it knocked it around, sending the attacker into an angled slide, sand streaming out behind the vehicle.  She managed to swing by the other two cars before the wheels caught and she launched forward, taunting the deep blue car by passing within mere feet of it.

                Frozen in place, Henry watched as the two cars threw out great gouts of sand in trying to follow after her, chasing the black car swiftly as the other driver made his way back to the yellow car, assessing the damage briefly.  Henry was ersely relieved when he got back in the car and tried to drive, leaving him alone so he could step away from the ruined vehicle beside him and focus on Amber.  His jaw fell open in surprise as he watched her lead the green and blue car, finding a relatively clear patch of ground before she really blew his mind.

                He felt his eyes widen further when she let them close on her, almost bumping her from behind, before she tapped the brakes and turned, sending her into a swift spin to her left.  The action had the effect of slowing her down just enough to let the green car catch up to her only to get caught in the front left side by the front of her car, knocking her attacker to the right.  Slightly out of control, the green car veered into the blue car, sending the former into a haphazard roll.  Immediately after, while trying to correct, the blue car started drifting in the opposite direction, suffering a similar fate as the green car when the tires found purchase at the wrong time, ending in a bouncy roll.

                “Yes!” Henry cheered, wincing when the action showed him how many bruises he was going to have later.  The high pitched hum of another engine straining against the sand made him look to the side and realized the yellow car Amber had hit earlier was fishtailing his direction, one of the front wheels badly misaligned.  “Move!” he told himself, eyes wide in his face while he lurched to get out of the way.

                The yellow car passed close enough that he could feel the drag of wind as it zipped by, sand from the tires spraying him harshly as it did so.  It narrowly avoided the remains of the red car and evened out slightly as it tried to limp after Henry’s black car.  Apparently, Amber was having none of that either and she spun out, drifting around to get back on track as she circled to meet the yellow car.

                Henry looked up when the sound of sirens became more pronounced, alerting him to the fact that they were closing and he could actually see the flashing lights as they drew nearer.  “Oh crap,” he cringed, looking between the black and yellow cars worriedly.  This was going to be rather difficult to explain…

                He jerked in surprise though when Amber actually missed the yellow car, drifting in a wide arc around it as the other driver tried to turn to match her, failing miserably when his car continued on, leaving her free to come around and slide to a dusty stop in front of Henry.  “Get in!” she yelled, leaning over to shove the passenger side door open, eyes locked onto the cops still closing.

                For just a second, Henry blinked in shock and then shook himself free of his paralysis, limping into his car and shutting the door behind him.  He didn’t even have a chance to put his seatbelt on before they were off again, rear end drifting erratically as it sought traction on the sandy ground.  “Ergh!” he yelped, clinging to the ‘oh my god’ handle with both hands as she wrestled with the steering wheel and clutch, determined to make it work.

                “God this thing handles like a tank,” she scowled, shifting between gears easily, searching for the best level for easy driving.  Henry knew better than to say anything so he just kept his mouth shut and held on, glancing over his shoulder since the side mirror was gone.  They were being chased but the pursuit was falling back, lost largely in the dust cloud she was creating at her passing.

                “Amber?” Henry asked, biting his bottom lip as he watched her drive, expression tense and angry.

                “Not a word!” she snapped at him, clearly furious.

                Henry winced and made sure his seatbelt was secure as they continued to make their getaway.  Hopefully, she hadn’t saved him only to kill him later herself.

                “What were you thinking?!” Amber shouted at him when they finally came to a stop as it got dark, holing up in one of the haunts she was decently familiar with from her practice sessions in the desert.  It was little more than a ring of rocks that provided cover enough from a distance, granting them a modicum of privacy in the middle of nowhere.

                “I was thinking about you!” Henry responded without any hesitation.

                Amber just glared at him and then smacked the steering wheel with her hands, growling under her breath.  “Of all the stupid, wannabe, heroic things you could try, you decide to race my car?!” she railed, aghast at the reality.

                While the answer was invariably yes, it didn’t seem the right thing to say.  Or even remotely adequate for that matter.  “It worked out better… in my head,” he finally admitted quietly, filled with embarrassment and disappointment in himself.

                “Gyah!” Amber flailed, throwing her hands up so that they hit the roof of the car.  Still angry, she looked at him and punched him in the arm.

                “Ow!” he yelped, jerking to the side as he hand moved to cover the bruised spot defensively, looking at her with wide eyes.

                “That’s for ruining my car!” she pointed before smacking him in the shoulder with an open hand the second time.  “And that’s for that lousy trick in the parking lot!” she hissed, folding her arms across her chest as she stared straight ahead, sniffing quietly.

                It didn’t take Henry long to realize she was fighting tears.  He quietly rubbed his arm and took stock of the situation.  The driver side window was gone and the wires at his ignition had been pulled out so obviously she’d broken in and hotwired it.  He’d caused her car to be totaled and his own was a right mess as well.  Likely, the three goons had been caught and detained but she was down a car and they were both potentially in a fair bit of trouble.  Oh yeah.  That had gone infinitely better in his head.

                “Sorry,” he finally mumbled, feeling worse with each passing second.  He flinched when she exhaled gustily again, turning another glare his direction.

                She placed both hands over her face and forced herself to take another deep breath.  “Do you have any idea how worried I was about you?” she asked without looking his direction.

                “Probably about as worried as I was about you,” he answered after a brief moment of thought, tentatively reaching out to rest his hand against her upper arm, squeezing gently.

                “,” she choked out, fighting the sob for all she was worth.

                Mutely, Henry reached across the distance between them and pulled her into his arms, meeting her halfway.  The gear shift was in the way and there was too much space separating them but she shifted to cling to him burrowing her face against his shoulder.  “I really am sorry,” he apologized in a whisper.

                “You should be,” she mumbled, tightening her arms around him anyway.

                The additional pressure hurt but it was preferable to her being mad at him.  “Come here,” he urged, tugging her his direction but not forcing it as he let her decide if she was going to in the first place, and how.

                Amber sniffed once and tensed up as she debated it, but eventually, the desire to be closer won out and she shifted awkwardly, clambering over the gear shift to crawl into his lap with Henry’s assistance.

                “Much better,” he smiled, embracing her properly with his lips pressed against the side of her head.  “What?” he asked when she laughed lightly against his chest.

                “It’s nothing,” she assured him, pulling back to look him in the eyes.

                “Tell me,” he urged, his left hand resting against her waist.

                Amber chuckled and shook her head.  “You’re just so good at everything else, I find it ironic that you’re so bad at trying to be a hero.”

                “Ouch,” Henry cringed, smiling despite the comment.

                “But,” she added with a small smile, “it means a lot that you tried.”  Gently, she grabbed his face with both hands and gave him a long and satisfying kiss.

                Giddy from her affection, Henry grinned happily and ran his right hand through her short hair.  “I guess I’ll just have to do better next time,” he promised with amusement dancing in his eyes.

                “Next time?!” Amber gasped, giving him an incredulous look.  “What do you mean-”

                Her outburst was silenced when Henry caught her behind the back of her head and pulled her in for another kiss, feeling her relax against him.  When he pulled away, he kept his forehead pressed against hers and smiled, “Well, they say practice makes perfect.”

                She snorted at the statement but nodded in agreement, looking at him from under her lashes.  “True, but I think we should probably work on your driving skills first.”

                For just a moment, Henry debated whether he should take that as a burn or a genuine suggestion.  He opted for the latter.  “You know.  I agree.  I don’t suppose you know any good instructors around here by chance?” he inquired teasingly, grunting when an elbow found its way into his ribs again.

                “Maybe,” she replied with a hint of coyness.  “But her lessons aren’t cheap,” she added, looking everywhere except at him.

                “And I’m going to bet that they’re worth more than her weight in gold,” he explained wistfully, waiting for her to look at him again with a smile tugging at his lips.

                Amber turned and eyed him with a sidelong look.  “Charmer,” she stated dryly.

                “Lovesick fool is more like it,” he admitted with a cute shrug.

                She laughed at that and closed her eyes to lean in against him, hugging him around his ribs firmly.  “What am I going to do with you?”

                “Hopefully teach me to drive,” he responded seriously.

                “We’ll see,” she snorted, picking her head up to kiss him quickly on the cheek before ducking it back against the side of his neck.

                Henry shifted to slide his fingers through hers, holding gently as he let a soft smile light his face.  There was a lot they were going to need to get sorted out tomorrow, but for now, he was content to have his Amber in his lap and curled up against him.  He might not have been the hero he wanted to be, but he figured this still counted as some sort of a prince charming, right?

                “Henry?” Amber asked quietly, her voice soft in the silence.

                “Ne?” he responded in a peaceful tone.

                “You still owe me a new car.”

                Oh yeah…  Damn.