One For The Road

Chapter Eighteen

The rest of the trip back home went without a hitch for the most part. We were dangerously close to running out of gas money, but our final fill-up luckily lasted us for the ride home. I dropped Heidi off at her house first. She grabbed her belongings and we thanked each other before she hopped out, bringing the dog with her and breaking into a sprint toward her house. "Let us know how it goes with Blitzen!" Just called, and Heidi flashed us a smile before heading inside.

I pulled out of her driveway and smiled fondly as I drove off. For all she'd been through, she sure was high-spirited. I could only hope she'd be able to keep the dog, too.

The ride to Just's place was spent in comfortable silence. It wasn't a very long drive, but as we neared his house and I pulled into the driveway, I realized I'd miss spending all day every day with this nugget. Spending so many days shoulder to shoulder and brushing your teeth in a tiny gas station bathroom in the middle of the day really helps you get to know a person. I hadn't really thought about that until that moment, but it was a little upsetting that I wouldn't be spending all my time with him.

I parked in his driveway and watched as he reached back to grab his belongings.

"Hey," I mumbled, and he looked at me as he brought his bag into his lap. "Thanks for coming with me. I appreciated the moral support, and this was really fun."

He gave me the biggest grin I'd ever seen. "Thanks for letting me come with you. I'm really glad I got to know you better." He paused and averted his eyes. "You're a really good guy. I'll see you tomorrow at school."

He hopped out with his overnight bag and closed the car door before I could respond. I could feel my cheeks heating up as I watched him walk up to his door. When I saw that he was inside without any problems, I pulled out of the driveway and finally began the drive to my own home.

My mom's car was in the driveway, I noticed as I pulled in. It was fairly early for her to be home, around 5:30 in the evening. My heart ached as I suddenly realized how homesick I'd become, another wave of guilt washing over me for leaving my mom and brother alone.

I didn't bother to bring my bags inside as I stepped out of the car and made it to my house as quickly as I could. The front door swung open before I could reach it, and there was my mother, her lips curving into a wide smile when she saw me, her arms flying out to her sides as she rushed to me, meeting me in the middle as we locked our arms around each other. She smelled like mint and citrus and home. I buried my face in her shoulder and began mumbling apologies, trying and failing to keep myself from blubbering like an idiot.

"I'm sorry for dumping Kaleb on you like that," I sniffled, "and I'm sorry for leaving on such short notice, and I'm sorry I didn't respond to my messages or tell you where I—"

She hushed me gently, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. "It's okay. I forgive you. You just can't leave on such short notice like that. I was so worried about you." She pulled back and cupped my face, her wavy hair framing her face. The dark bags under her eyes were still there, hinting at her exhaustion and overexertion. "I didn't know where you were, and you wouldn't respond to me, so I didn't know if you were hurt, or..."

And then we were both ugly crying on our front lawn, my mother letting out tears of relief and pent-up fear as I let out the exhaustion, guilt, anger, and sadness I'd accumulated during this trip.

She used her thumbs to gently wipe the tears from my face, her golden-brown eyes searching my face for a moment. "Go inside and say hi to your brother," she told me. "He's missed you a lot this week. Let him know you're back, that you aren't going to be leaving again." She gave me a look that said, Because you're not leaving like that again. Not over my dead body. "Then," she continued, "I want you to sit down with me and tell me all about this trip you had. Everything. Why you went, who you went with, how it went. Every little detail. You worried me half to death."

That seemed like a reasonable deal. "Okay." She pulled away from me and led me into the house. I closed the door behind us, deciding I would grab my bags later.

Kaleb was sitting at the dining room table and eating dinner. It took him a moment to realize I was there, but when he did, his eyes lit up like fireworks, and he jumped out of his chair to greet me. I bent down to his height so I could hug him. He had a tight grip on me, and my face melted into a smile.

"Hey, little dude," I mumbled, pulling back and ruffling his hair. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too!" he exclaimed. "Where did you go? You were gone for a long time."

"I felt the need to see someone, but I'm back now," I reassured him. "I won't be leaving like that again anytime soon." I kisses his forehead, and he smiles widely.

"Okay," he said simply, shrugging and turning so he could go back to eating his dinner. I stood up straight and turned to my mother, my smile melting away.

"For this," I mumbled, "we may want to make sure he's out of earshot."

•••

this one's a little bit short but hey whatever it's fine I had a pretty decent chapter typed out but then i went back to refer to a previous chapter and when i came back to this one, a lot of it had been deleted so I had to rewrite like half of this chapter :///// I lost motivation qijdnannxwjiqlx