✓ 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄 || 𝐫.𝐧.

002 | 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫

𝐋𝐄𝐖𝐈𝐒, 𝐘/𝐍, and Fuller had to stop by a truck stop real quick—to get the taillight situated. If anything, the stop seemed like a massive oasis in the middle of Wyoming nowhere. There were dozens of 18-wheelers and handfuls of cars. Knowing that Lewis was most likely going to call Venna to catch her up on things, Y/n loitered in the open whilst Fuller watched over her precious vehicle.

Her e/c eyes scanned past aisles of maps, reflective decals, triple-thick overalls on sale— which she just found hilarious since it was so random— which were placed directly at a few exhausted truckers re-filling spill-proof coffee containers. One in particular caught her special attention.

He was so rugged, almost beat-up looking. Though Y/n couldn't make out much of his features because of two things: the cap that he wore and the cloud of smoke that swarmed around him, she was able to make out a few things. Like that, he had a bit of stubble in the works and soft-looking brunette hair, with strands of grey delicately intertwined, that came down to the nape of his neck.

Soon, however, Y/n practically froze when she realized that she had been staring at him for too long. Too long to be considered a brief acknowledgment anyway. She only knew this because he was talking to who she assumed to be another trucker, their voices inaudible from where she stood, but eventually... they stopped. Instead, the trucker that she was eyeing took the cigarette out from between his lips, letting it sit between his index and middle finger as he allowed the smoke to dribble out of his mouth, exhaling slowly.

Y/n could see his attention was periodically moving from pointing at the man beside him before snapping back to her. By the way, the trucker was moving his hands, and the person beside him full-on pointing toward her, it was out of the question: they were talking about her. "Shit..." Y/n looked away, bashful, walking away to go find the payphone, so she could wait beside Lewis since she really didn't feel like talking to Fuller.

All Y/n can hope is that she'll warm up to the guy before they get to Colorado or else she'll have to spend the rest of their trip silently judging Fuller from the back of her car.

"No, I swear, I'm barely slowing the car in Denver. I'll give him a seven-mile-an-hour to jump and roll." Lewis says, half-joking as he holds the map from the car with his spare hand before stuffing the crumbled piece of parchment into his back pocket.

"You did your mom a big favor and that's great because I bet she's happy now," Venna replies. "And this time tomorrow, you and Y/n will be here with me, and it'll be a whole new level of stress to deal with," the two of them laugh. "Well... I'm gonna get goin'. I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"All right."

"Bye..." Venna mumbles. After that, Lewis hung up, officially ending the call just as Y/n met up with him. She crossed her arms and leaned against the payphone's box.

"So, how are things with Venna?" She smiled. Truth be told it's been a while since she got to hang out with her in person let alone talk to her, even on the phone. They've just been so busy that the thought of calling one another completely flew over their heads.

"Under the circumstances, fine. They're fine," Lewis answered. "And before you ask, Venna sounds like she's doing fine too." He was quick to reassure her.

This amused Y/n. "What? You didn't ask her?"

"She was, uh, more concerned on when we'd get there and stuff."

"Okay... yeah, I can understand that..." Y/n rested her hands on her hips. "Well, lover boy, we should get back to Fuller. No offense to him, but I would feel better if we don't leave him alone with my car." She added.