Drive All Night

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When Ally opened her eyes in the morning, Sebastian was staring at her. They had untangled in the night but they were both lying on their sides facing each other. She couldn't help but notice how handsome he was. His dark eyes had flecks of gold in them and his lips curled up a little on the sides even when he wasn't smiling. When she looked back up, he was looking at her lips and they both moved closer together on the bed. The air in the room seemed to change, the tension making it harder to breathe. Their lips were almost touching when Sebastian pulled back abruptly and put his hand up over his mouth.

"I think something died in here," he said through his fingers, chuckling nervously.

Ally laughed. "Yeah, I'm not quite as fresh as a daisy this morning either."

The strain was broken as they both shared the bathroom, taking turns at the sink as they brushed their teeth. Sebastian insisted that Ally used the shower first but she couldn't help but rush through it, part of her worried that the moment they shared might make him bolt. Her worries were unfounded and Sebastian was sitting on the bed when she emerged from the bathroom dressed. His dark hair fell over his eyes as he stared down at his phone.

"Everything okay?" Ally asked.

Sebastian looked up at her and smiled, making Ally feel giddy. "Yup, I'll shower quick and then we can be on the road." He stuffed the phone in between his clothes pile and picked them up, carrying them to the bathroom.

Ally packed her things away, her movements quiet as she unintentionally strained to hear Sebastian in the shower. She tried to put her mind on other things, folding each item back into her suitcase with great care.

"Stop it," she scolded herself. "He's had a shitty time, you don't need to be having mental sex with him." She looked up and caught her reflection in the mirror. He's your friend, she reminded herself.

She almost had herself convinced she could behave, but then a noise came from the shower. It sounded like he'd knocked a shampoo bottle over, but it was enough to draw her attention back to her thoughts of the naked body on the other side of the door. Chastising herself internally, she grabbed her purse and left the room. She couldn't be trusted and she needed some space.

By the time Sebastian was finished in the shower, Ally was back in the room with a bag full of food for the road.

"I grabbed some breakfast," Ally said, hoping the sudden nervousness she felt wasn't coming through her voice.

"Thanks, you'll have to let me get lunch then."

Ally smiled, relieved to know he was planning on at least making it to lunch with her. She knew he'd split off eventually, but until then, she was going to enjoy this time and become even better friends.

"So you never really said why you were going on this trip," Sebastian said as they were leaving town.

"That's a loaded question," Ally replied, although she wasn't curt about it.

"You don't have to answer."

"It's okay, it's just that I'm not sure there is one answer. When I first planned the trip, before my mom died," the word stuck in her throat but she was happy she could continue without crying, "it was just for some adventure. I wanted to just take some time and live a little before I settled down in life. Everything was moving so quickly and I thought if I could just take a couple months and be completely free..."

"Well now I feel like an ass for tagging along," Sebastian said, but when she looked at him, he was smiling. She smacked his leg.

"It was also a way to say goodbye to my mom. I mean I don't have anything planned, I'm not going to dump her ashes somewhere that she loved or anything. She was buried, but it just feels like the only real time I am going to get to process everything."