Road trip

23- stranded

Once we were all packed up we turned in the room key as the same attendant from before eyeballed us suspiciously. I could see the flirtatious look in her eye as she smiled at Austin and scowled as he kissed the side of my head snd thanked her for her help.

Once we were in the truck I sank back in the seat. Manhattan was six hours away and it was already four in the afternoon meaning that when we finally arrived it would be late.

Austin took my hand over the console of the truck and rubbed his thumb over my knuckles as he turned the station to pop music. I smiled as we set off, knowing that together we had almost conquered the whole country.

"So how have you liked the trip so far?" He asked as we passed through Chester.

"It's been fun. I'm glad you came with me. I don't think dad would have let me do this alone and I just, well, I felt like I owed it to Mols to do this before college and adulthood." I explained as he squeezed my hand and let it go, placing it on the steering wheel.

"Yeah." He said without so much as a sideways glance.

The whole atmosphere shifted briefly for a few minutes until he let out a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair before taking mine again.

"I'm sorry Anna, it's just, I loved Molly I did, but it's just hard to miss her and love you at the same time." He sighed as his words sank in.

Of course I loved him too. He was my best friend and now his words had confused me even more about what we were or weren't.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said ..."

"Don't apologize. It took me a long time to realize that No one would ever replace Molly, but that maybe, someone could still be just as perfect and make me just as happy." He said as I traced the lines on his palm.

"Do you ever wonder what we would be like if she was still here?" I asked hesitantly surprised when he shot the most straightforward answer.

"No. It wouldn't do any good to think of what could have happened, it only matters what did happen. Besides, as much as I miss Molly I wouldn't have traded any of the time I have spent with you over the years for anything."

"I guess:" I sighed as my mind turned in circles.

Would I trade the last few years with Austin to have her back? Our first time together? This trip and being with him? Summer vacations with our families? My head wanted to say yes I would, having her back would mean more than any of it, but my heart knew that if she were here, Austin and I would never have become what we are today.

We sat in silence for a while as I played with his fingers on the console and listened to the radio which he had conveniently switched back to country.

"Shit!" He cursed as smoke started blowing out of the front of the truck.

He pulled off into the recreation park in Doodletown off of bear mountain. He cut the truck off and instructed me to stay out as he opened the hood and assessed the damage.

I could hear him cussing outside the truck, which was unusual for him and I knew that he was frustrated. I climbed out of the truck and saw the large crack in the top of the radiator.

"Anna I told you to stay in the damn truck." He snapped causing me to flinch at the harshness in his voice.

"Austin, it's okay."

"No it's not, we are stuck and there isn't even a damn town here to get any fucking help."

I moved to hug him but thought better of it when he continued yelling at the truck, instead I wrapped my arms around myself and looked at our surroundings.

We were practically in the middle of nowhere and there was no telling how far away the closest town was that we could get repairs done on the truck.

I walked to the back of the truck, unwilling to let the frustrated tears fall that were building behind my eyes.

"Anna I'm sorry." He walked around to me and pulled me into his arms. "I shouldn't have yelled like that."

"It's okay." I hugged him back.

"It's not. But come on, I think I have some blankets incase we are stuck for a while, but I'm going to call for a tow truck."

We climbed back in the truck and after finding out it would be a few hours we got comfortable and talked about our favorite vacation memories with our families.

"You remember when your mom and dad forgot we were sleeping on the couch at the beach house?" He laughed.

"Oh god don't remind me." I laughed hysterically "my dad still apologizes for the fact I had to witness him groping my mother on the way to their room."

We were still laughing and sharing memories when the truck arrived and took us to the nearby town of Peekskill. Thankfully the auto garage was able to help us locate somewhere to stay and told us that they should be able to look at it tomorrow.

"So we are temporarily stranded?" I asked.

"Looks that way." The owner grinned as Austin put a protective hand on my waist.

We walked down the street to the small hotel named the inn on the Hudson. It wasn't as elaborate as the other places we had stayed, but we didn't really have the option to be picky since we were walking and needed to stay close to the repair shop.

We settled Into the room as he pulled me into his arms on the bed. His hand tucked my hair behind me ear as his thumb was brushing against my check.

"I wouldn't trade a single thing for the time we spent together on this trip. There's no one I'd rather be stranded with Anna." His voice was so tender, his eyes genuine as I felt all my emotions bubbling to the surface.

He kissed me once before he whispered the three little words I had heard many times before. "I love you.". Only this time I knew he meant it in a indifferent way.

It was enough that a tear spilled from my eyes and I kissed him back. I couldn't fight it anymore. It was going to hurt like hell if this ended but here in his arms, with him looking at me like this, I didn't care.

"I love you too." I sniffled before I pressed my lips against his and we twisted into the sheets, letting our bodies and our hearts do all the talking.