Road trip

4 - How should we do this?

Sundays. The day my parents insist on a formal family dinner every single week. Austin had skipped out on the last few claiming that his family needed him at home, but I knew it was just so he didn't have to sit through another awkward dinner with my parents asking him about girls.

It's almost as if they didn't understand that he didn't want to have that talk with his parents, let alone mine. Well that, and he hadn't so much mentioned liking any other girl since Molly.

Thinking about it, that's actually when this formal dinner started. Right after my best friend left us.

The only perk of this dinner was that Austin would be here. The plan was to eat, get the awkward pleasantries out of the way and then escape to my room to plan our adventure.

Of course my overbearing parents were having none of it.

"Austin honey, how are your parents?" My mother asked him.

"They're good Mama Phillips, getting ready to ship me off to college." Austin smiled.

"I'm sure that isn't the case. I bet you're excited though. Anna said you guys found an apartment." My mom finished up setting the table as my dad joined.

"Yeah it's really cool mom." I smiled glancing at Austin as he grinned. "He's even letting me have the master bedroom."

"We both know you couldn't survive with a small closet." Austin teased.

"You're going to take care of my baby girl right Austin, keep the creepers and idiots away?" Dads voice entered the dining room as he walked over to hug me and Austin.

"Of course. There's not much that gets passed me when it comes to A." He replied.

"That's why I have no chance of a dating life ever!" I mumbled to myself, apparently loud enough for Austin to hear as he let out a chuckle.

"You know.." mom started as she put down the plates and everyone started eating. "I always thought that you guys would make a cute couple."

I choked.

Dad choked.

Austin laughed and patted my back.

What?

"I'm serious. I mean you two are practically inseparable." She continued.

"Mama P, as Awsome as Anna is, I think we need to just be friends for now." Austin added.

For now? What does that mean?

"Austin, you know my warning against boys includes you too." My dad looked at him calmly, almost as if he were joking.

"Understood."

What is actually happening?

I focused on eating my food and was relieved when my plate and Austin's was empty. I wanted to forget that whole conversation. It left too many open ended questions and I didn't need to be worried about it when we had a trip to plan.

"So how should we do this?" I asked as I pulled him into my room and closed the door.

He grabbed the map and laid it out on the floor as we both sat beside it. We stuck a pin over his house since that's where we would ultimately leave from.

"Let's stick pins in all the places she wanted to go, add a few of our own and then we can plan a route and make the necessary arrangements." He suggested.

I rested my head sideways against his shoulder. "Good plan." I sighed.

"Hey what's wrong?" He asked noticing my slightly deflated demeanor.

"I just, I really miss her." I sighed as his arm came around me and squeezed me to him.

"Me too, she would be so happy that you're doing this for her A"

"You too." I shot back.

"Come on, let's at least get it marked out." He kissed the side of my head and grabbed a marker.

We sat and marked each of the towns she wanted to visit. We would start here in our little town in South Carolina, then travel south to the coast and hit Savannah, Destin, New Orleans, Austin- which she said reminded her of him, must have been the name. Then we would travel north and hit LA, the Grand Canyon, make a few pit stops along the way as we drove to Niagara Falls before heading to New York. Then we would drive down to Tennessee where we would hit the blue ridge mountain trail back home before we packed up for college in North Carolina.

It was going to take all summer and we had a LOT of planning to get hotels at each destination, but I was still excited.

Molly had a dream to travel the states and I knew that if she were here she would be ecstatic about the trip. She never told us the reason for picking the places other than simple 'the water is blue', or 'it's the best waterfall in the world'.

"Well at least we know where to go, now we can start planning all the stops." Austin smiled as I yawned and he pulled me down so that my head rested in his lap.

He ran his fingers absentmindedly through my hair as I closed my eyes and just let him have whatever thoughts were going through his head.

'Take care of him'

Every time we did something in her memory he would zone out. I knew it was his coping mechanism, so rather than asking I always let him just go through whatever he needed too.

Today was one of those times.

As he continued to play with my hair I let myself doze off. My parents didn't seem to care if he spent the night when we would watch movies downstairs, so I doubted they would care now.

Plus, Austin felt like home to me. Whenever he was around I felt safe, cared for. It has been just us for so long and I knew I would defend him with my last breath, the same way he would for me.

A short time later I vaguely remember a flash followed by what I assumed was a blanket being put over me. I assumed it was just Austin leaving for the night so I settled into the warmth and let myself sleep.

When I rolled over and felt a warm body beside me my eyes opened on instinct. My room was dark, I was on the floor in my clothes from yesterday, and Austin was asleep beside me, his chest rising and falling steadily.

His hand was on my waist and as much as I knew I should get up and get into bed, all I wanted was to feel safe, loved.

I scooted closer and put my face on his chest over his shirt. Then I closed my eyes again as I felt his grip on me tighten.

It was us against the world, and as I let myself drift off for the second time, I sent up a silent 'thank you' to Molly for bringing Austin into our lives.