Karlie rubbed her eyes with her hoodie sleeve covered palms. There she was, extremely tired and standing outside a gas station at 1:27 am, her girlfriend curled up in the passenger seat of her jeep with the heat on, and a full tank of gas. Her girlfriend had her legs up to her chest, avoiding all the empty bottles the pair had thrown onto the floor of the passenger seat. It was just a regular Wednesday night-Thursday morning, more like- when Taylor called and asked to take a drive, wanting to get away from life's problems. Karlie shoved her hands in her pockets, walking in to the gas station and quickly finding the drinks. She bought an orange juice, murmuring something along the lines of 'thanks' to the cashier.
The overhead light in the jeep lit up, taking Taylor out of her awake-but-sleeping state. She was greeted by Karlie's hand clutching the bottle of orange juice and her sweet smile. Taylor took the bottle and leaned over to kiss the younger girl's cheek. Karlie took Taylor's face in her hands in return, and softly pressed her lips to her forehead. "Where to, love?" Karlie questioned sarcastically. Taylor giggled and pushed the brunettes face away. They knew where they were going.
The clock on the dashboard read 1:58 as they drove through the suburbs of their small town. Down the road, the couple saw their friend Ella's house with her window blinds open, letting the light from her room shine onto the street. They both knew Ella was most likely writing a song or something musical. Karlie and Taylor chuckled, knowing that the freshman had no intentions on going to bed anytime soon. The older girl pulled out her phone, sending Ella a quick text, telling her to go to bed. They met her on their first day of junior year, Ella's first day in America and first day of high school, in the theatre room before school officially started. Taylor and Ella immediately bonded over songwriting and dry humor, while Karlie bonded with the New Zealander over the tech side of theatre and dogs.
Ella responded a simple yet effective 'Fuck You', making the couple laugh. That freshman sure has a mouth on her.
Karlie circled the cul de sac, leaving Ella's neighborhood and continuing on their journey around their small northern town. Taylor had abandoned the passenger seat and had moved to the extra seat in the middle so she could be closer to the brunette. Karlie had her hand tangled in Taylor's short block locks. The older girl decided to cut it the day before school started, just to change everything up a bit. When Karlie picked her up from her house that morning, she almost cried over how much she missed the long waved hair and bangs. Taylor still makes fun of her for that from time to time.
Next on their list of places-to-go-at-an-ungodly-time-of-night was downtown. Their downtown was sad, really. A couple old shops full of antiques, the old 'haunted' abandoned hotel that Taylor and Ella believe is full of ghosts while Karlie knows it's just rats and homeless, an expensive restaurant that Taylor sometimes played gigs at, an old bookstore that Karlie worked at, and a park where more homeless people occasionally sleep in the slides. The couple loved going down town to make fun of it, but mostly because at night, the sidewalks were strung with small, bright lights. Karlie and Taylor danced in the light of the small lights and moon after everyone of Taylor's gigs. It was their thing.
The couple drove maybe 20 minutes outside of town with Taylor in full control of the AUX cord. She started off playing a couple songs from their friend, Ed's EP. Both of them couldn't believe that he'd been able to find a studio that would let him record, especially since he had little, little money. Somehow, he managed to get the time and create an amazing 8 song EP, called Loose Change. Taylor moved on to other songs that both Karlie and Taylor loved before they started dating, like 'Bette Davis Eyes' by Kim Carnes and 'Getaway Car' by Lea Michele. The blondd moved on to her 'indie music', as Karlie liked to call it. Taylor had a passion for searching the depths of Spotify to find artists with 1000 less listeners. Artists like 'Human Kitten' (which was 100% indie) and 'Cyberbully Mom Club' (which was, also, 100% indie). Even though Karlie acted annoyed by some of the songs Taylor choose, the blonde has yet to choose a song Karlie hated.
The final destination for the night was the hill that over looked the small town. Kids from their high school had deemed it 'Hickey Hill' because of the vast amount of couples coming up there to do sexual things. Karlie and Taylor however, did not use the hill for the intended purpose. The couple always went up there, either together or alone, to stare at all the stars late at night, have a good old cry, or just for the fun of it. Taylor showed the hill to Karlie on their 3rd date. Karlie had moved to Taylor's town only 4 months ago, and had never been there.
Karlie took the keys out of the ignition, putting the keys in the cup holder by her seat. By the time Karlie had done this, Taylor was already laying on the hood of the jeep, staring at the stars. The taller girl abandoned her seat and stood by the side of the vehicle. "Mind if i join you?" Karlie chuckled, getting ready to climb onto the jeep. Taylor simply laughed in response, and scooted over for her girlfriend. Karlie moves her lanky body onto the jeep, part of her leg dangling over the side. It didn't take long for Taylor to snake her way over to Karlie, laying her head on the younger girls chest and holding on to her waist. Karlie threw her arm around the girl's shoulder and just laid there, staring at the stars, listening to Taylor's soft breathing.
The couple sat in silence, other than the sounds of nature and each other's breathing, until Taylor suddenly shot up, startling Karlie in the process. "You know, this... this town is just, so the same, and.. and almost boring, it makes it perfect. We do the same old, same old routine and that's just how it is," Taylor began, running her hand through her short hair, "We drive these same old roads where these houses don't change, and I just, love it. We're never done with killing time, we're never done with the same thing, and.. and somehow, I'm so okay with it." Karlie listens to Taylor intently, focusing on every word she says.
"I'm so okay with killing all my time with you. Picking me up, taking me home, again and again. Talking like there is something to say. There's.. there's nothing as incredible as killing my time with you." Taylor states , looking into Karlie's eyes. The older girl had subconsciously taken the younger girls hands during her speech, creating an even more romantic vibe. Karlie's eyes had become glassy through the older girls speech. Taylor had always been good with words, but nothing could ever compare to this.
"Karlie, I love you." Taylor finishes. Karlie stares in amazement, this being the first time the couple had shared those 3 words.
"I love you too."
