Don't Stand By Me (COMPLETE)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Elvis

August 2nd: 18:10

I had always preferred my own company. That didn't mean that I didn't cherish every moment I spent with my friends but, sometimes I just needed time to decompress, spend some time alone and simply be. As I lay in the queen bed, gaze fixed on the wall, I realised this was the first time I had been completely alone on this entire trip. It was a nice moment, complete silence and peace. I could almost pretend that everything was just a dream, none of this was truly happening and we weren't dragging a corpse across the country.

The RV was at a standstill with everyone flooding into the small village we had parked by to stock up on things before we finally made it to the Canyon. After taking tonight off, we would only be a day away from finally ending this. For ditching Charles once and for all and finally getting back to reality. To the future.

The future was a grainy thought for me, something I couldn't fully look forward to until I told Violet I'd be leaving - and deal with her subsequent wrath. There was also the Dixon of it all, a boy I had known for a few days at most yet it had felt like a lifetime. I didn't relish the thought of leaving him behind but at the same time I couldn't ask him to join me halfway across the world...right?

"Hey...you need some company?"

I smiled at the sound of Kiara's voice and waved her over. Part of me felt resentful of Violet, wishing she made an effort with me like Kiara had done throughout this entire trip. She was so glued to her phone it was like talking to a brick wall when I even attempted to get through to her. It was something about that FBI agent that didn't sit right with me. Not that I didn't trust Violet but...maybe I didn't trust her.

Kiara slid into the bed next to me, remaining on top of the covers and closing her eyes. She didn't speak, simply lying there. It was times like these when I realised just how much she got me. Sometimes you just need the silence, even in the company of someone you love.

We lay awake but in complete silence until the RV began to flood with noise, everyone returning from their respective shopping trips and dropping their bags on the ground. Only then did we stretch, get up, and move back to the main area in silence.

For the first time in days, I felt genuinely and truly refreshed.

—-

"You didn't have to do all this." Dixon smiled, mouth close to my ear as we curled around each other in the booth, barely audible above the thrum of the music.

"Of course I did. It's your birthday." I said like it was obvious, which it should have been, "Are you having a good time?"

It surprised me how much the answer to that question meant to me. I had never been the type of person that longed for reassurance from others, unlike Violet who admitted it and Kiara who denied to the ends of the earth that she was. But through and through they needed reassurance from the person they loved, which was of course normal. But not for me. Not that I loved Dixon, that was obviously way too soon -

"The best birthday I've had in a long time." His words cut through my thoughts, "Which is insane, right? Considering..."

"Considering the felonies and the corpse, yeah."

He barked out a laugh, "Stop it."

"I mean if we can't joke about it...who can?"

"Definitely not Charles anyway."

"See!" I beamed, nudging his shoulder, "That's how you do it."

He smiled at me, that smile again that I didn't want to read too much into, but God I hoped it meant something. His smile was crooked, his head tilted back in his drunken state as he giggled away to himself. I wasn't much better, at least six drinks in and a random assortment of shots Violet had procured. My mind was buzzed in a pleasant way where I was drunk but not blackout - yet.