a work of art

chapter 42: welcome home (i miss you)

A/N: Happy day of our Lord, here's an extra chapter with two sex scenes. ✨

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Somewhere along the highway between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, Lee and I stopped to pee, get gas, and fill up on junk food.

The gas station was playing country music, and the guy behind the counter kept looking at Lee. It was pissing me off. I eyed him, and he gave me a very suggestive once over. I gave him my most withering stare, and he finally backed down.

"How much do you think this will rot my stomach?" Lee asked, holding up a cup of "fresh" coffee.

"I predict we have an hour before you need to stop again," I said dismissively, rolling my eyes. I went back to the task at hand, checking my messages yet again.

"She didn't text, she won't text, take a break," Lee muttered, irritated. "Lucy, my love, take a break."

I bit my lip, fighting back tears, and put my phone in my back pocket. We gathered our snacks, paid the disgusting creep at the register, and headed back to the truck.

Billie had insisted that we hire movers to pack up my apartment and ship my stuff to LA. But I disagreed. I wanted to go over each item with my own two hands, pack everything myself, and say goodbye to my old life. I did so with Lee at my side, who'd flown from LA where she'd already moved, to be with me in the Twin Cities while I packed up.

Initially, I had decided to let her hire a moving company that would just drive my stuff there. But even that seemed like too much. I had my little car, which I decided to keep, so I booked a truck myself, hooked my car up to the back, and Lee and I began the three day drive.

It was fun, mostly. We listened to music and talked about anything and everything, ate too much crap, and stayed the night at shitty motels. We watched old movies and ordered pizza and goofed around like we were teens again.

"I can't wait to see you..." Billie would murmur on her nightly calls. "You sure you're okay?"

"Baby, I'm fine," I'd say softly back. "I'll be home soon. I miss you."

"I miss you, so much."

Neither of us talked about Claire.

And we hadn't at all, really, since we'd gotten home from Europe. That first night we cried ourselves to sleep, and after that... it was too painful.

I hung up the phone, and checked my messages. Nothing.

Now it was our last day of driving, and we were only about 6 hours away from Los Angeles.

"You wanna drive?" Lee asked, stretching.

I nodded. It meant I couldn't check my phone, and I could focus my hands and brain on something other than women.

Lee talked a bit while we drove, but saw I wasn't in the mood, and left me be. She put in ear plugs and took a nap, and I blared a playlist I'd made months ago and just rediscovered.

Billie came on now and then, bringing a smile to my face as I sang every word, staring out the window at the desert. Dominic Fike made me sing, Leith Ross made me feel things, Between Friends made me dance. And then...

A poppy beat, a little bass, and Claire's adorable voice introducing the song with a, "do do do do do..."

It hit me like a solid punch in the gut. My hands gripped the thick steering wheel of the moving van, and it was all I could do not to pull over and puke in the ditch.