Hopeless Haze Oneshots

I Look at You and Smile 'Cause I'm Fine

Takes place during Volume One, Chapter Four

***

"It's only another hour!"

"Another hour plus however long we stay there," Ronnie didn't look up from where he was packing his suitcase. He heard Brandon groan on his bed.

"It's a road trip, Ron!" Brandon pleaded. The drummer glanced over and saw Brandon laying flat on his bed with a convincing set of puppy-eyes. Ronnie swore that the other man was pouting as well.

"Okay," Ronnie started—Brandon immediately perked up. "Wait!" Brandon fell back against his mattress with a sigh and a thud. "If we went what would you want to do?"

Brandon directed his gaze to their motel room's popcorn ceiling. "Hmm," he wondered. "We could... hang out... see the sights...."

"We would have to get another motel, probably—which we cannot afford," Ronnie said. "And you don't even know what to do there!"

"We can sleep in the truck." Brandon suggested. "Plenty of room in that thing. And I know what I want to do! They have museums and shit there." Ronnie furrowed his brow and looked back to the boy.

"You never struck me as a museum guy." He stated simply.

Brandon gave him a sultry look, "there's a lot you don't know about me." Ronnie didn't know what the implications of that meant but desperately wished he did. "Anyways, there's the Nevada Museum of Art. Some parks I'm sure. Lots of things."

"Ten hours..." Ronnie mused as he finished packing. "And a night spent sleeping in my truck just so you can look at some art."

"Hey!" Brandon shot up. "Just so we can look at some art. And it's a road trip so it'll be fun regardless."

Ronnie sat on his own bed which was across from Brandon's. "I have two concerns. One, it's ten hours and then some." Brandon rolled his eyes. "Two, we're going to be stuck on the road indefinitely in about a month when we go on tour."

"So?" Brandon asked.

"So, it's gonna suck and this is almost the same thing."

Brandon shook his head, "nah. I still wanna go. And you promised me we would go!"

"Brandon, I did not promise to take you," Ronnie argued. Brandon wouldn't hear it.

"Well, you didn't outright say no," the singer crossed his arms. "I'll drive the way there."

Ronnie looked into Brandon's begging eyes and contemplated his answer. He really didn't want to spend any more time than necessary driving—especially before their first real tour. But it was Brandon, who was currently burning a hole into Ronnie's head with his gaze. Ronnie finally decided that he should probably spend as much time with the boy as possible before he was stuck in a van with his other two bandmates all day.

"Call Dave," Ronnie said. "We're going to Reno." Brandon immediately jumped up and went to the phone, bouncing with excitement as he walked. Ronnie hoped that this was worth it.

Brandon looked out of place in the driver's seat of Ronnie's truck. The cab seemed to engulf the small man's frame, making Ronnie chuckle when Brandon attempted to slide the seat forward. The second the boy's aviator sunglasses returned to the picture, though, Ronnie shut his mouth and tried his hardest not to stare. Despite his best efforts, however, Brandon still caught him once or twice but the drummer played it off as him just looking out the window.

Ronnie also felt a bit out of place seeing as whenever the two went somewhere it was usually him driving. It's not that he didn't trust Brandon's driving ability, he was just protective. Whether it was him being protective of his truck or Brandon though, he didn't know (he did. It was Brandon.). Ronnie decided that he should stop worrying—nothing was going to happen.