adomania // the queen's gambit

Chapter Four

"Can you not put your feet on my dashboard?" 

Nate looked over his book and at Benny. "No, I think I'm good."

Benny sighed before pushing Nate's legs down. "You got dirt on it."

"Good," Nate replied, giving Benny a cheeky smile. Benny rolled his eyes and focused back on the road.

Beth and Benny started talking about smart people chess stuff he didn't understand, so he went back to his book. Now he was reading Anne of Green Gables.

Nate had always been one to love road trips; when he wasn't reading, he'd been staring out at the Pennsylvanian mountains. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. 

"Nate," Benny said his name, and he snapped out of whatever little daydream he was in. 

"Yeah?"

"Are you going to Paris with Beth?" Nate shook his head.

"No, we'd save more from me staying behind," he replied. Benny gave him a wide smile.

"You should stay at my place for a bit longer, then."

Nate's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Sure, if you'd like to."

Nate smiled before going back to his book.

"Pawn to king four," came Benny's voice.

"Pawn to queen bishop four," Beth replied from the backseat.

"Knight K-B3."

"How the fuck," Nate muttered under his breath, but Benny had heard him, and chuckled lightly.

Their vocal chess game had ended in a victory from Beth, which he would have had no clue about if she hadn't been rubbing it in Benny's face. A familiar intro sounded from the radio, and Nate quickly sat up to raise the volume.

"Everybody loves somebody sometime,

 everybody falls in love somehow."

"Really?" Benny laughed, looking at Nate. Nate sat up instantly.

"This is a good fucking song, Benny Watts. I don't want to hear anything out of you. You don't have any goddamn taste," Nate half-yelled. Then, in spite, Nate's feet were once again on the dashboard. Benny rolled his eyes. Beth looked up from her chess book.

"Benny, you really shouldn't say anything about Nate's music taste. It's a sensitive topic that he will defend on his deathbed."

Benny laughed before the car was plunged into a comfortable silence, only broken by Dean Martin's voice over the speaker.

Suddenly, Dean Martin's voice wasn't the only one singing the lyrics.

"BENNY!" Nate yelled, throwing his feet off of the dashboard to better allow himself to stare indignantly at the man. Benny shrugged.

"It's a good song," Benny replied, a smirk on his face. Nate rolled his eyes before sticking his nose in his book again.

"Welcome to my humble abode," Benny said as he walked into his apartment. Nate slowly took in his surroundings. It was actually slightly terrifying.

Nate walked in, stacking his stuff by a wall somewhere. Instead of your average living room, it was dimly lit with pillows for seating. 

"I thought I was going to get a sofa," Beth commented, taking in the room around her.