New Kid on the Block *h.s [completed]

Chapter 71

I sit at the dining room table with Harry and Carter on either side of me. In front of us lays an open map of the US, and a pile of sharpie markers.

Carter holds my laptop carefully in his lap, his fingers poised to type whatever city Harry or I request into the search bar.

I grab the red sharpie, twirling it in between my fingers. "Okay, so we're here.", I draw a messy circle around Philadelphia on the map, "That means our first stop should be somewhere in Illinois."

"You want to drive through two states in one day?" Harry asks, his expression doubtful.

"Yes." I retort. "I'll take the first shift, you can sleep." I roll my eyes.

"Fine, but we'll need to stop along the way for gas and food." Harry reaches for a blue sharpie, drawing a neat, round circle around Winchester, Indiana.

"Cart, search up gas stations in Winchester, Indiana." I request, and my little brother's fingertips fly across the keyboard.

He chews his bottom lip, thoughtfully. "Okay, it looks like there's some just as you drive off the highway." He leans forward to point on the map with his finger, "Right around here." He tells Harry.

I uncap my red pen again, drawing a second circle around Saint Anne, Illinois. It's right beside the state border, so it can be our stopping point for day one. "Google hotels and restaurants in Saint Anne, Illinois. We can stop there for the night."

Carter begins to type, but then stops, poking his head above the laptop screen. "How do you spell-"

"I-l-l-i-n-o-i-s." Harry spells out for him, a warm smile on his face. "I got you, bud."

Carter returns the expression with a toothy grin, and ducks his head back down to continue his search. Harry reaches under the table to give my hand a reassuring squeeze, and I smile.

"There's a small hotel in some mini mall type thing and lots of fast food places. It almost looks like a small trucking town." Carter answers as Harry places a blue dot on the map for hotels.

"When we leave Saint Anne, I'll drive. We can stop for gas and snacks before driving through Missouri." I announce.

"Jefferson City would be a good place to stop for food and bathroom breaks. It's a major city so it'll have lots of options, and we can switch drivers too." Harry says, giving me a look. He knows I want to get to California as soon as possible, but it won't help if I fall asleep behind the wheel from driving too much.

I circle Jefferson City on the map as Carter searches for restaurants. There's lots throughout the entire city, so it doesn't really matter at what point we stop while we're there.

"Let's stop again in Lansing, Kansas for gas." I say, reaching for the blue sharpie by Harry's hand. "Search hotels in Goodland, Kansas." I tell Carter.

He scrolls up and down the keypad a few times, nodding his head. "Here's the only 4 star hotel in the city. It's entire population is under 5,000." He answers us, pointing to the general area on the map for Harry to put another dot.

"Then we can drive from Goodland straight through Colorado, with a full tank of gas. Let's stop in Salt Lake City, Utah for the night." Harry decides, gesturing for Carter to search for hotels.

I circle Salt Lake City as a stopping point in red pen, bumping Harry's hand as he draws a green star on the map for hotels. His skin lightly touches mine, sending goose bumps up my spine and causing me to suppress a shiver. I see him smirk out of the corner of my eye, and subtly elbow him in the ribs before Carter notices. He grimaces, and looks at me with quirked eyebrows, as if to say 'What the hell was that for?'