My Best Friend was a Werewolf

Chapter 22: Tired of Driving

"How was your family?" Carver croaked out.

We were barely outside of Memphis. The darkness of the night seemed to be consuming us. The highway traffic was thinning out and the city lights had faded away. Carver was laying back in my passenger seat. He looked deadly tried after his brother had helped him to the vehicle. It stung to see him that weak.

"They're good," I answered. My fingers were wrapped tightly around the steering wheel. Deep down, I was sick of driving. I was uncomfortable in the driver's seat and what my body truly desired was the comfort of my bed. All that had to wait though. There were much more important things.

"Good."

"Carver, you can relax," I said. "You don't have to talk if you're tired or it hurts."

"You're too...too good to me..."

I hated the way his voice cracked and how he was struggling to even get words out. I couldn't let myself dwell on it though. I had to stay focused.

"I...want to hear...your voice," Carver said. It was as if he had to take a breath every so many syllables.

"Alright..." I said carefully. What did he want me to talk about? I didn't trust my mind to just wander off on its own. There had been some crazy thoughts going around that place lately...

"Tell me...anything."

I blinked and tried to come up with something. I wished it didn't have to be like this. I wished things were simpler. I locked my thoughts on the idea.

A deep breath went in and out of my lips before I started. "Imagine a world where all our problems were gone."

I glanced over to my right. Carver had his head laid against the seat and his droopy eyes were on me. He looked like a void of his normal self.

"We would graduate next week together," I said. "My family would come to town and...I think yours would too. Maybe they would all get along."

A small smile tugged at my own lips as I imagined the possibilities.

"Maybe...maybe we decide to travel the globe over the summer," I said. "Before we came back to our senses and the real world."

I heard a soft noise from Carver. I shot him a look and saw the smallest upturn of his lips. That was enough encouragement for me to keep up with my wild daydreaming.

"I've always wanted to go to Alaska," I said. "Maybe we go there and have some sort of adventure. We do all the cool sightseeing and nature things. And we stay at this really nice hotel room with everything we could ever dream of."

Maybe my outpour of words was helping distract myself as much as it was helping Carver.

"Then maybe we go to Panama. We spend a week on the beaches and soak up the sun. Maybe we stay in some luxurious resort that serves our every wish. Maybe staying in is even as nice as going out."

My headlights lit up a sign that informed us we had 154 miles to go to Nashville.

"And maybe we could go somewhere that you would pick too," I said softly.

There was a silence that fell upon us for a moment. I racked my brain with more things to say. I hoped that my words were helping and not hurting. I was practically dreaming about a future we couldn't have.

"Maine."

I looked over at Carver, surprised by his words.

"My grandparents lived there," he explained quickly before he sucked air in.