Dying and Everything in between

15| Let's be nothing together

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"Please focus more on the road," Lucas said, gaze fixated on Joy who paid more attention to the radio than the road ahead of them. Somehow they made it to the freeway and yet her attention was mostly on the radio. 

"Shut up," Joy grumbled. "We need a good song for this drive."

Lucas rolled his eyes, "I really don't wanna end up as roadkill. As a passenger, I am just providing helpful criticism." 

"What made you qualified for criticism?" 

"You are the one who made me sneak out at three in the morning." He argued back. "I think I am pretty qualified for criticism."

"No you're not," She let out a small chuckle. "Don't argue with me." 

"I'm arguing with you. Insert arguing." 

Lucas reached over and swatted Joy's hand away to adjust the radio. But the song that came up on shuffle suddenly made him anxious. Music was something too close to him so sharing his taste with someone else was much more challenging than normal.

He eyed her warily, nor sure whether she liked it since she was sitting still, gaze ahead as she watched the city lights blur into a hazy golden strip. 

He glanced briefly over at her, chest taut and heart hammering when Joy caught his eye. It was a fleeting glance, but she managed to give him that oh-so-familiar, witty smirk that always made his own mouth twitch.

In the darkness of the car interior, all he could make out was a glimpse of Joy's grainy smirk and dark, narrowed eyes. Occasionally light would spill across her features, turning her irises into a hue of a cloudy night, and for a moment, she seemed unreal. 

But before he could dwell on that idea, he forced the thoughts out when he heard Joy say, "Take a picture, it will last longer." 

Face burning, he whipped his attention forward to the red light that now shined a vivid green. "Shut up," He mumbled. He could feel Joy's eyes on him, watching him. He shifted under her gaze.

"Y'know this song-," Joy started when the silence dragged on way longer than it should have. Although Lucas wished it stayed quiet as his shoulders tensed, the knot in his chest squeezing into a tighter ball. 

 "-Okay but before you make fun of me," He cut her off, painfully aware of how hot his face was but part of him didn't want to hear what she was going to say just yet. "This song is fucking amazing. You don't even have a place to judge," 

 "Hey, I wasn't even going to shit on the song," Joy defended. "It's really good. I like the chorus. The part that goes-," she added as she sang along .

"-That's the pre-chorus." Lucas said as Joy made a face, to which his lips fluttered into a tiny smile. Part of his worry was alleviated when she complimented it. He didn't know why he was stressing over something so stupid- it was just a song after all. There was no use dwelling on it. 

 "You have a love for music, huh?" Joy murmured. 

"I do." Lucas declared shortly, the words leaving his tongue feeling strangely good. 

 "Oh? Tell me more," She hummed. 

 "Well," Lucas scratched his neck, "I listened to a lot of music when I was hospitalized, and I always found comfort in it. Good songs are calming, you know?"