Perpetually Dreaming

Chapter 5-The Drive

((1515 words))
Chapter 5-The Drive

     Once we hit the road, Liam and I zoned out the other two in the back to talk about the trip. Not that I dislike Zach and Ally, it's just that the canoodling got to be too much for me to handle. What's it been since they first got together, maybe a couple months? Six at max? They're already going back and forth with the "I love you" and "I love you more!" Like it was cute the first time guys, but I think I'm gonna "accidentally" swerve off the road if you don't stop.

      Liam didn't seem too awkward after the kiss in my room; in fact, it was just the opposite. I hadn't heard him talk this much since he tried to sue me when we first met. Then again, that was because he was mad, not because he was embarrassed. Maybe that's his nervous thing, because I know I put up a good fight back then, but, either way, I was enjoying it. He was going on and on about the place we would being staying at, how it was practically a treehouse and that It has "the most killer hiking trail." We made it to the freeway before he finally ran out of things to say about it. Though, I did learn that they have four dogs, which is quite possibly making this entire trip worth it.
  
      In listening to him go on and on and trying my best not to hear Zach and Ally (who had gone silent, but I didn't dare look to see why), I had completely forgot to put on any music. I reached into my pocket to grab my phone, but it wasn't there. Before panic fully set in, I looked over and realized it was on the center console, already being used for a GPS. I let out a huge sigh of relief, forgetting for a moment that I wasn't alone. Liam had noticed me go through the emotions in the hunt for my phone and started to cackle; waking the two in the back who had managed to fall asleep in the 20 minutes since we got in the car. Huh, guess that's the universe's way of saying shut up.. Making you tired.

      They gave H a weird look, causing him to blush. I shook my head and kept driving, completely blanking on putting music on. Eventually, Shelby's car took a turn of into an exit that was not on my GPS, but I figured she knew best, she did orchestrate this afterall. I followed her off the road and into a small town. Well, I mean, it's not necessarily a town, but one of those areas of the road with the trucker stops and gas stations, you know? Anyhow, She pulled into a gas station, and I followed soon after, letting some angry looking dude in a truck go first.
 
      She parked at a pump and got out of her car, and I figured I probably should get gas myself, so I pulled in behind her. My gage was halfway down, but I don't know the prices of gas up there in the mountains, they could be insanely high. My bank account just can't take that hit right now, or ever for that matter. I shut the car off and got out, walking around the car and to the pump. The others got out of the car to stretched their legs and use the bathroom, leaving me with only Shelby to talk to, even if she was ten or so feet away.

    "So.. How's it hanging," I asked, attempting to make small talk. She shrugged her shoulders and didn't say much besides a low "okay" back. I don't know what happened in the car to make her go from bubbly and proud to completely solemn like this, but I needed to get to the bottom of it for my own sanity, and also for her mentality, I swear. I waited until my tank was full, before walking over and talking about my experience with Ally and Zach to break the ice: "Well if it makes you feel better, my buddies in the back couldn't keep their hands off of eachother. I think Liam might be in there buying a spray bottle to keep them seperate. Like their relationship is cute bu-"

     I don't know what I said to cause it, but she broke down into heavy sobs midway through my story. Immediately after opening my arms to her, she crashed into them, clearly no longer trying to be quiet about her tears. Holding her tight, I stroked her hair and cooed that "it will be alright" and other sweet sounding words. She hadn't shown any signs of stopping crying when Liam and the rest walked out of the store.
  
    Emily ran over and took Shelby into her arms, seeming to know what was going on far better than I did. The boys formed a semi-circle around the pump, blocking nosy views from other gas station patrons. Feeling awkward, I stepped back to join their bracade. Soon, Shelby's tears subsided into small, sharp breaths, and so she shakily pushed Emily away and begun to explain herself. "I was just on the phone with Pa-" she choked on whoever's name it was. Recomposing herself, she continued: "We're done. It's for the best, or at least that's what he said. but I just, I Ju-"

     She began to sob again, quickly being embraced by Emily. While all of this was sweet, and I relished how great their friendship is, other people needed gas too. I explained this, and the others agreed, so we decided to move it to the cars. Now, even though--according to the pre decided driving order--Shelby was supposed to keep driving, Ally offered to take over for her. This lead to Zach following, and rather than be smart and ride with us, Will decided to stay with Em. This left Liam and I alone in my Jeep which was, at the very least, rad.

    Everyone piled in to their cars and, once again, we drove off. Liam had offered to drive, but I refused, insisting that I have to drive my own car, at least for the drive up. He didn't put up that much of a fight, already knowing I would win like always. Once we were on the road, Liam asked me a question I would not soon forget... Mostly for how painful (and also cute) it was to hear him ask.

   "So, uh, okay. Like-- and it's totally fine if you say no, I won't harbor any bad feelings or like NOT be your friend-- but do you, once again, totally fine if you say no, wanna like maybe be my... er wait hold on I mean like do you wanna go out sometime?" He finally managed to say. "Like there's that art village up by the campsite? Maybe we c-"

     "Liam I know this is gonna be hard to hear, so prepare yourself physically and mentally, but I genuinely do love every small second I get to be with you, and would love to 'maybe go out sometime.'"

     "Wait really?"

     "When have I lied to you?"

     "That's literally how we met-"

      I shushed him for bringing up that, ever so small, detail. He laughed and said something about being "so, so lucky" but I could hardly hear over the thoughts racing through my mind. Did that just happen? Maybe I shouldn't be driving right now, I mean I'm clearly off my rocker. This isn't like "oh my gosh I've been in love with you for four whole years, finally my dreams are coming true" more just like "hey, I wanna spend the rest of my life with you, platonically, romantically, or otherwise." Still though, it's not like there wasn't those days where I had no one but him to talk to and trust, and he would always came through to me. "I'm only a phone call away," he would constantly remind me.

        "Earth to Nat?" He asked. I must've been lost in thought for longer than I thought.

        "What? Oh hey look cows!"

         He furrowed his brows at my sudden need to change the topic, but went along with it. It hadn't taken as long as I thought it would have to get into the mountain range, but the roads grew to be rough and the buildings sparsely scattered between small divots in the terrain. The sun was nearly at the horizon, but not quite at golden hour level yet. We drove into the Sierra Nevada mountain range, until we reached an area that seemed to level out for a moment.

     Ally turned into a long winding driveway, and parked in front of an open garage. I slowly pulled in behind her, looking out for the chickens running about. When I got out, I immediately recognized the place from Liam's descriptions, but it came to mind that maybe the best thing about this place might not be the dogs, maybe it's H.