MIXTAPE. [STAN MARSH X MALE READER]

DRIVE FAR AWAY.

CHAPTER 9

It was around 11 at night now, you and Stan had began to reach Nevada. The original plan was to stop and stay at a hotel once out of Colorado, but neither of you were really tired. After taking a stop at a gas station halfway through Utah, Stan offered to switch over to driving. He had driven you guys to Dry Lake, all across the rest of Utah and entering Nevada. Back at your first stop in a gas station still in Colorado, Stan had called Kyle once he was back in the car. Ever since then you and Stan have been calling him back and forth, a few times Cartman and Kenny were added to the call.

   "Alright Ky, give me a few minutes, we're gonna stop again," you told Kyle as you and Stan pulled into a gas station. "Call you back in a few." You saw him look up towards the screen on his phone, which seemed placed on his desk. "Okay dude, bye," he replied. You hung up the face time, looking over at Stan. "We're half an hour away from Los Vegas. You wanna see the city lit up?" you smiled his way. He leaned back into the drivers seat. "That'd be cool," he replied. You both then exited the car. "We can stop at a place nearby there." Stan and you both walked into the gas station, making your way towards the bathroom. "I can pay for the gas this time," Stan told you as you reached the back of the store. You looked up at him. "You sure dude?" you asked him. "Yeah, don't worry about it," he responded giving you a smile.

    After you both had used the bathroom, you walked around the store, grabbing [your snack and drink]. You watched Stan grab some cheesey poofs and a water. "I can pay for the snacks," you suggested to him. "Nah dude it's fine, I have enough," he told you. You watched as he paid, then the both of you started heading out back towards your car. "I'll drive us to Vegas so you can get a few minutes of rest," you said to Stan. "It's alright, i'm not that tired yet," he insisted.

    Stan had been more quite than usual for the past ten hours you guys had been driving. Not strangely quite, like you'd suspect something is wrong, but he seemed concentrated. Like he was always thinking about something. You realized he hadn't gotten in the driver's seat, instead standing next to you as you pumped the gas into your car. You could feel his eyes on you, and you felt like he wanted to say something with the way he stood still. "Hey [n.n]," he said. You weren't quite paying attention to him, so you weren't too sure you actually heard him say anything. In response though, you mumbled out a quite 'yeah'. You hadn't turn to make eye contact with him, watching the dispenser in front of you. Stan remained quite for a few seconds, which made you think maybe he hadn't really said anything. You turned to look at him after disconnecting the pump from your car. "Uh, nothing, never mind," he looked down, opening the driver's seat and getting in before you could even say anything in response. You decided to shrug it off, and not pry on letting him take a break from driving, so you got back into the passenger seat.

    Stan pulled you guys out of the gas station, and you set his phone up with the GPS. You decided not to call Kyle back, as he hadn't answered your text message. You assumed he either fell asleep or got busy. You turned on your radio, and it picked up on the CD you guys had left in before stopping. "Hey Stan, I can get us a room at a Motel 6 near Vegas right now," You said as you looked up a place for you and Stan to spend the night. "It's like $10 dollars cheaper if we get just one queen bed instead of two, but it's up to you," you informed. "Yeah, that's fine," he answered. You could tell something was a little off with him. His words sounded airy and he seemed to not focus in too much on what you were saying. You assumed he was getting exhausted. "Hey, you sure you're not getting tired Stan?" you questioned, wanting to make sure he was awake enough to drive. Although it was only 30 minutes, you guys still had traffic to drive through, and you wanted to make sure he was awake enough to get you guys to your room for the night. "I'm fine, don't worry," he reassured you. You sat back, grabbing his phone and updating the address to the motel you had booked.

"What are you thinking about?" you asked him. You knew something was on his mind. He stayed quite for a bit, not even throwing you a glance. "Just everything," he gave as a short answer. He didn't want to be honest with you, so he tried to be as vague as he could. Being honest meant he'd have to be serious about the thoughts going through his head. Then they wouldn't even be 'just thoughts' anymore, but actual feelings. He knew he had these thoughts before, but he never gave them too much attention, always pushing them back. Recently however, that seemed to be proving harder to do. Since last week at Bebe's party, you had been on his mind, more than a friend should be. Some of the night was still blurry to him, but that feeling he felt during the spin the bottle game was still very clear to him. At first he figured it was because he wanted you to put his friendship above anything else, the way he tried to do for you. But when he thinks back to it, it wasn't just with Wendy that he had gotten upset about. When you kissed that vamp girl, even if it was a quick pec that meant nothing, he felt strange. The more thought he gave it, he came to the realization it was jealously, which freaked him out. You were his best friend yes, but nothing else, so why should he feel jealous if you had a girlfriend? He didn't want to think of the answer to that question.

"Stan," you interrupted his thoughts (thankfully to him). "You remember when you ran away from your family to go to Cartman's grandma's house with us," you said, while lightly laughing at the memory. "Oh my god dude," he let out a light laugh as he spoke. You smiled more at seeing the fact you had succeeded in making him smile as well. "Was it worth it Stan?" you asked, before beginning to laugh yourself. You still remember how none of you guys saw him for a week after that. You guys had even hunted down Shelly to ask her if she knew whether Stan was still alive. "Shut up," he said, but you couldn't take him seriously as he continued laughing with you. "At least I can say I was never insanely obsessed with facebook," he said next you. "Oh okay, I see how it is, but at least I didn't follow the rubbing my ass up and down the street trend," you replied, playfully glaring at him. "I think I left [name] back in Colorado and brought Cartman with me." You pretended to be offended, letting out a dramatic gasp. "Okay, fuck you dude," you said to Stan.

   After your banter had died down, you guys continued driving until you started seeing the bright lights of Vegas. "Woah dude," Stan said, merging into the traffic of the city. "Looks fucking cool, right?" you asked him. "Yeah."

   Soon you heard the google maps voice tell you guys to make a few turns, finally pulling into the Motel you had booked. "We just gotta talk to whoever's at the front, you have anything you need for the night in the trunk?" Stan had parked the car now, and took a second to turn it off, "No I think i'm good with the stuff in my backpack, I got it ready for when we eventually would stop," he answered you. "Okay, same," you told him, as you reached into the backseat pulling out your bag. "Let's go."

You both made your way in, heading over to the front desk. There was no one in front of you, but there was one man sitting off in a corner of the lobby, who seemed to stare you guys down as you entered. You just decided to pretend to not see him. There was a lady at the front, she seemed to be in her early 40's. "Hi, we're checking in under [last name]," you told her. She proceeded to look the name up and ask for your card and ID, so you handed over your license and card. She then handed them back once registering them, along with two room keys. "Thank you, have a goodnight," you told her as you and Stan headed out again to find your room. "We're on the second floor," you said to him, heading towards the stairs.

Once you guys finally reached your room for the night, you opened the bathroom door, heading in with your bag. "I'm gonna take a shower real quick." Stan looked at you before nodding, "Okay, i'll go after your done." Once you closed the bathroom door, he put his bag on a nearby desk, plopping down against the bed. The minute he did his thoughts from earlier entered his brain, almost like they were summoned. Stan got up again, while still thinking about you, and opened the curtains of your room, looking out he could see the city lit up, and he stood there watching while waiting for you to come back.