One For The Road

Chapter Seventeen

So far, the trip back home was taking a lot less time than the trip to Idaho.

We shaved a couple of hours off of the drive because we weren't stopping for food or sleep. We went back to taking shifts. We were all homesick, and we wanted to get home as soon as we could.

It was currently two in the morning. I was exhausted from trying to sleep in a car for a week, but I had to stay focused on the road. I had one earbud in my ear so I could listen to some upbeat music. That and the thought that I would be sleeping in my own bed again soon kept me going.

Heidi was out cold in the backseat, Blitzen blinking sleepily from her lap. He had really grown attached to that girl. I could only hope her brother and her parents would let her keep the dog. I didn't know about Just, but I really wasn't in a good place to adopt a dog, and it would be a shame to have to bring Blitzen to an animal shelter.

I glanced over at Just, testing my voice softly. "Are you still awake?"

His eyes remained closed, but he nodded. "Can't sleep," he replied quietly.

"Do you want to move to the row of seats behind Heidi so you can lay down?" I asked. "That might help. Or maybe you could even ask Heidi to trade spots."

He shook his head. "I don't want to wake her up."

That was considerate of him, but he needed to get some sleep, too. I frowned.

He finally opened his eyes and looked over at me. All three of us adorned a pair of dark semicircles under our eyes now, but his were less distinctive in the dark. He looked more youthful that way.

"Thank you for being so helpful on this trip," I murmured. "I know I've said it a lot, but you and Heidi are really good people to be around. You made this whole experience a lot fun and a lot easier."

He smiled. "I'm glad we were able to help you through it." He looked out at the road. "When we get back, hopefully things will be back to normal. We're gonna have a lot of make-up work, but after that, we can put all of this behind us."

"I hope so," I mumbled, but I had a feeling it wouldn't be that easy. It was quiet for a while. Just and I both stared out the windshield.

"I accidentally... told Jacob that I was gay," I muttered. It was something that had been on my mind for a while. "I didn't mean to do it. It just kinda came out."

"What do you mean?"

I sighed, slowly curling my fingers around the steering wheel. "When we fought, he told me I was too gay to fight like a man, and I said that I was gay. I just hate that he was the first one that knew, and I hate knowing that most of the school probably knows by now because of it."

"That sucks," he muttered. "Try not to let it get to you. We've got your back."

"Thanks." I sighed, biting my bottom lip.

About twenty minutes passed and I could hear his breathing even out. He had fallen asleep. I knew he needed it, but now I felt alone again. I huffed. I'd gotten attached to these two. I'd learned a lot about them.

I glanced over at Just again, tightening my grip on the steering wheel. He looked very calm when he was asleep, his shoulders slouched forward and his lips slightly parted. He was leaning against the window, and he'd fallen asleep with his arms crossed. His delicate fingers curled against his arms, twitching every now and then.

I tore my eyes away from him and looked back at the road, my cheeks heating up. What kind of creep was I?

It didn't take long before the music playing through my earbuds swirled with my thoughts, piling up in my mind one by one until my brain was reeling with the guilt and anger of everything that had happened recently. I cursed under my breath as I realized what I'd done. I had taken Just and Heidi from their homes and worried all of our parents half to death for days only to face something that easily could have been settled over the phone. I had made a huge mistake. I'd traveled for days for a five minute argument and a hole in my soul that hadn't been there before.