Maddox
Maddox's first year in Carroll had come to an end surrounded by friends and family in the community center. He'd kissed his boyfriend as the clock struck twelve and in that moment Ducky could see many more years in Carroll ahead of him. As much as he missed mom and dad and the town he grew up in he was determined to make his own place in the world. Would Carroll be it? He closed the trunk to his Nissan Rogue after fitting in the last bag of leftover food inside, Aggie crossing the empty parking lot to join him. He smiled at her thinking of how well it had all gone. "I love you." He told her sincerely, waiting until she was closer to reach forward and pull her into a tight hug. "This was so great--this was everything." Everything he wanted, everything he hoped it could be.
Aggie This was the most perfect end of the year Aggie could have expected, if she didn't count the embarrassing kiss she'd given Ashton, and his gentle letting of her down. It'd hurt, but his assurances that their friendship wouldn't be impacted had been enough to soothe the burn. At least she'd stopped drinking after that, and by the time they'd finished cleaning she was about as close to sober as she could get. The back door closed on the bags of decorations at the same moment he closed the trunk on the food, her head popping around the back with a grin, before the rest of her followed. "Awwwwwwww," It was long and drawn out in the way Aggie was best at doing with 'Aw's, matching the time it took her to come around to where he could pull her into a hug almost as good as ones Ashton gave, and which she returned with enthusiasm. "I love you, too! You honestly have made Carroll so much better since you moved here. And I'm so thankful for you." They were both aglow and she basked in it, lifting onto her toes to gave him a kiss the cheek. "Happy New Year, Maddox."
Maddox "Happy New Years," He returned the sentiment with warmth as he set her back on the ground. Ducky went around her to open the passenger door and waited until she was securely inside to close it before jogging around to the driver's side. The car had been the first big purchase he'd made when he started making money as a paid-date, the profession that had put him through college. In the passenger seat Duck checked that they were both buckled in before putting the car in reverse and leaving the dark parking lot. "The shelter was really happy about our idea to bring the food." So happy, that they didn't have a problem with Maddox using his volunteer access to let themselves in after-hours and fill their fridge with whatever would fit. He wanted to be there in the morning when the dogs actually got to eat it all but he really needed to spend the time getting ready for Emily's birthday lunch. Maddox wanted to take a longer route through the outer roads, giving them time to talk about what had happened between Aggie and Ashton tonight. He took his eyes off the road for a long moment to glance at her in the low light. "Are you okay? Really?"
Aggie Ever the gentleman, Aggie offered him a thank you as he held open the door for her, wrapping herself in the blanket that had resided in his passengers side seat since he'd realized she lived with a chill in her bones, she crawled in and let him close the door behind her with a soft 'Thank you'. Both clipped in and snuggled up, the vents already pointed at her seat, Aggie nodded enthusiastically. "I'll make I take a video tomorrow when they get to have it. I'll even get up a little early to make sure I'm there." At least she had a few more days off and could actually do that for him. Not that it would be a hard favour to fulfill. Fiddling with the radio, Aggie made sure it was tuned to TheTea, unremorsefully addicted to it, and wondering if the silliness of what happened was going to make it on the air, praying it wouldn't. Her sigh was soft and a little sad when he pressed, eyes turning to him as she gave a little shrug of little shoulders. "I guess so. It was super embarrassing. I don't know what I was thinking, to be honest. At least I didn't tell him I was in love with him… that probably would have ruined everything. Silver linings, I suppose."
Maddox Duck flicked his eyes back to the road as his speed increased, knowing that they wouldn't have to stop at any lights for the next few miles. This stretch of road was his favorite in town and he'd spent many sleepless nights driving its loop through the outskirts of town. He'd been holding his breath as she spoke, giving her all the space he could within the confines of his car. "I'm sorry Ags.." Sorry she'd experienced this, sorry it hadn't gone as she hoped. His left hand leaves the wheel to rest on his best approximation of her leg, though its hard to be sure with her burrito'd in the blanket. He looks at her with big brown eyes that hold nothing but love and compassion. "You had feelings and they were too big to keep inside. I don't think that's a bad thing."
Aggie "Too big is right." And she wished she could have shrunk them down until she could forget they'd existed like that, but it was too late. "I just hope he was right when he said it would change anything betw…" As she spoke, she'd turned to stare out her window, eyes flittering with the passing trees as they drove along easily the prettiest strip of Corrall's sideroads, and she'd seen the light strobing between the trunks for a moment, words fading off a little as she realized it was a single headlight, heading toward them on the road that met theirs at a t a little further down the road. "Ducky!" But there wasn't much time to warn him with little more than grabbing his arm as she realize they weren't going to stop.
Maddox The roads were empty and he knew them well, those facts combined to give Maddox a terrible false sense of confidence in his ability to have this talk with Aggie while driving. Her warning caused his head to whip back to the road ahead of them but by then their momentum couldn't be stopped. It was happening--they were going to hit the motorcycle that was closing in moment by moment head on and he could only imagine none of them would survive. Doing the only thing he could think of Duck whipped the wheel to the left and moved them out of the path of the oncoming bike, trying and failing to keep control of the vehicle as he felt it begin to lift off the ground. He wants to tell her how sorry he is how this is all his fault but there is no time for words only for his heart to thud heavily against his chest as the car enters a spiral.
Aggie They'd had the right of way, the bike should be stopping, but it wasnt and- It all happened so quickly, but also in the most torturously slow motion. Unsure if was the sound of squealing tires or her own screaming ringing in her ears, there was little to do but cling to each other and brace for impact. But no impact came, the listing of the car tires into a spin dropped her stomach deep into the pits of her abdomen with the sudden realization. The tires on one side were lifting. The car was going over. And over it went. Littering the interior with decorations and containers of left overs. A pale imitation of the nights fireworks was the shower of sparks from metal on cement as the car slid across the pavement, Aggie's screams cut short with the cracking of her head against the side window, cutting everything to black even before the vehicle came to violent stop against a light pole, which folded over like a skeletal fist closing around it. The continued steady blasting of the horn suddenly the only sound filling the night.
Maddox He remained conscious through every horrible second of the crash, feeling Aggie’s limbs smack against his own as they were thrown around like rag dolls before the harsh impact of the light post stopped their roll.
It was hard to make out anything in this darkness, only worsened by the spinning of his head that had yet to realize the car had stopped—probably due to hanging sideways as the car had come to land on the passenger side. Duck stayed still listening to the sounds of broken metal cracking and settling under its own weight, afraid to move, afraid to breathe.
There was pain through his body but it was a far away sensation as his focus and adrenaline prevented him from taking notice.
It was Aggies choked breathing that finally caused him to move, slowly, turning towards her and reaching in the darkness. “Aggie?” He whispered urgently. “Aggie please say something.” Please, please, Aggie he was so scared and so alone.
Aggie Head at an awkward angle as the seatbelt held her in place as she hung sideways with arms dangling, the broken and skittled pieces of glass on the curb that were once her side window we're now tinted red with the slow pooling of blood from the deep gash in her forehead, which flowed much faster than the trickle to the corner of her mouth. It had been the her body coming to rest on the seatbelt that had pushed the sound from her lungs because Aggie Robshaw wasn't breathing. Maddox's movements in the car rocked it just enough that with a creek of of pained protest the battered vehicle dropped back onto its tires, finally settling there beneath the weight of the pole, flopping poor Aggie's limp form hovering over the center console. Revealed now , were the flickering of flames in the passenger wheel well as the engine caught fire, pumping acrid smoke through the vents and into the cab.
Maddox His chest was heavy with pain or anxiety, he wasn’t sure, but the appearance of flames was what finally forced him into action. He dint know what had happened to the biker. All he knew was that it was him and Aggie in this car and he was the only one of them in any position to do anything about it. “I’m here Aggie… I’m going to—I’m gonna get us out.” The promise was as much to her as it was himself because ducky wasn’t feeling confident.
His hands shook as he fought with the release of his seatbelt, panic growing each second that passed until finally finally it clicked and he was free. He could sense the flames growing inside of the car because their air had started growing warm and there was a tickle building in his throat.
Aggies seatbelt was much easier to open but beyond that Duck was unsure what to do next. He could feed blood pooling in her seat, his hands running over her body before deciding that he just had to do something and pulled her into his lap, opening his door and landing on the ground with Aggie on top of him.
He whined at the impact but wasted no time in adjusting his hold, putting his face close to hers to check for breathing and finding no signs of life.
Duck knew CPR, and knew that was all he could do in this moment. So despite the protests from his own beaten body and the blood staining his shirt he set to work with compressions an rescue breaths, speaking assurances to Aggie in between. “I’ve got you Aggie. I’ve got you and help will come.”
It had to. it had to
Aggie In the distance, by some miracle, the sound of sirens had already started and people in the houses that lined Iris Road had started to open their doors and pop their heads out to see what was going on. Muttering their concern at the sight of the battered young man working so valiantly to save the prone woman on the ground who looked more like a redhead than a blond at that point. The pair tableaued in the middle of the only shadowed patch, left by the now absent Street light Carroll was mercifully small, help approaching quickly, but to them in the bubble if their trauma it must have felt unendingly long. For what was a minute or two, stretched into eternity, before a small gasp and an unconscious mewling of a sound left her throat with a flutter of eye lids still unlifted. Just as the white-orange of devouring flames engulfing the front half of the car, and then red and blue lights lit up the area as the ambulance arrived at the same time as the fire trucks. All slamming doors and concerned shouting. Cacophony had returned to the scene once again.
Maddox Something didn’t feel right inside of him and that feeling had only grown in the minutes he desperately pumped Aggie’s chest in attempts to keep her heart beating.
Eventually the paramedics arrived and Ducky could hear their voices but their words meant nothing. He was so afraid to stop, so afraid to let Aggie’s life slip between his fingers.
It took them pulling him away for Duck to finally remove his hands from her and move back, faltering in his step as he do so. “Aggie..” He cried under his breath as the others moved in to take over.
A woman appeared at his side and flashed a light into his eyes, Maddox still unresponsive to their directions. The only acknowledgement he gave to the woman’s presence was his statement of concern, “Something’s… not right”
Maddox clutched at his chest as the growing pain suddenly became sharp and unbearable and he fell into her, loosing consciousness.
