[First Draft] Unresolved (New Chapters Daily)

Part Eleven

We slid into the car, the air thick with the kind of comfortable silence that only comes after years of knowing someone- or at least a version of them. As soon as he turned the key in the ignition, Robin reached for the volume knob, cranking it up until the bass reverberated through the seats. The music blared in the small space, filling it with a pulse of energy. He glanced at me with that familiar, crooked smile, one that had always made me feel like we were in on a secret together.

"Any requests?" he asked, his voice casual, but there was an underlying eagerness I hadn't heard in a long time.

I thought for a moment, a thousand memories of the songs we used to share flashing through my mind. "Do you still have the same playlists we made?" I asked, hoping to dive back into something nostalgic, something that could bridge the gap between the past and present.

He hesitated, an awkward chuckle escaping his lips. "Uh, no... I lost the login details for that account years ago."

Disappointment flickered through me, but I pushed it aside. Of course, he wouldn't still have them. It had been years, and life had moved on. But a part of me had hoped that those little fragments of us—our shared songs, those nights spent laughing over lyrics—might still exist somewhere. Maybe I was holding onto too much of what we had, clinging to the pieces of a time that we could never quite get back.

"Dance, Dance...Fall Out Boy," I said, the words slipping out before I could stop myself. That song had always made me think of him. It was the soundtrack to our chaotic youth, a reminder of the reckless joy we had once shared. It felt safe, like a connection to the version of him I thought I had lost.

His face lit up, that approving grin making a brief appearance. "Good choice," he said, nodding in satisfaction as he scrolled through his phone to find it. As soon as the opening chords blasted through the speakers, he pulled out of the parking lot, tapping his fingers in rhythm on the steering wheel.

I leaned back, watching the city blur by as the music carried us forward, but I couldn't shake the gnawing unease creeping up on me. Everything was going right—almost too right. A knot tightened in my chest as I wondered if I was overthinking things or if we really had rushed back into this too quickly. The last week had been a whirlwind of emotions, all wrapped up in the exhilarating rush of being with him again. It felt like something out of a dream, but the realist in me couldn't stop waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I turned my gaze out the window, watching the rain mist over the streets, my reflection barely visible against the darkened glass. Could I trust him? Did we even know each other anymore, or were we just pretending, filling the spaces between us with what we wanted to be true?

It was like he could sense the shift in my mood because, without a word, he reached over and placed his hand on my thigh. The warmth of his touch anchored me, his thumb stroking lightly, a small but deliberate gesture that pulled me back into the moment. He squeezed gently, offering reassurance without saying a word, and I couldn't help but relax, just a little.

"So, where to?" he asked, his tone light, but there was a subtle undertone of effort in his voice, like he was trying hard to keep the day moving forward, to make it as perfect as possible.

I forced a smile, appreciating how much he was trying, even if my mind was still tangled in doubt. "Anywhere with a view," I joked, hoping the levity would mask the anxiety I was feeling. I didn't want to ruin today by voicing my fears—not yet.

He laughed, that low, familiar sound that once used to make me feel safe, like everything in the world would be fine. I didn't know where we were heading—not just the literal destination, but us. I could feel the uncertainty gnawing at me, like the closer we got to some undefined goal, the more fragile everything became.