Aster and The Leopards

Love song

Watching the yellow stripes slowly being revealed by the headlights was Aster's only distraction after Maxine turned off the radio. She left a wet mark on the led screen from the ice-cold beer bottle she was holding tightly between tense fingers. Just from the few hazy glances she caught sliding over her profile while she pretended to find the road signs way too interesting, Aster knew her friend would not be driving for the rest of the night.

They did not talk about the day before. After Aster returned to the bedroom, dragged a blanket over Maxine's limp body sprawled on the double bed, claiming the cramped sofa for the night, they just pretended nothing happened. Maxine was annoyingly nice during breakfast, thanking her for being comprehensive and apologizing multiple times for getting so drunk they could not enjoy the day together. Aster plastered a smile on her face, too, and said that she would not be able to enjoy the day, anyway. What a coincidence, that Wendy called, and she was forced to leave the party! Pleasantries exchanged, silence fell over them, and the day started chipping on Maxine's already fragile high spirits.

Agitated from being in the same city for almost 24 hours, they hit the road as soon as they completed the check-out, and only paused to pull over a small diner when Aster's stomach started complaining about neglect. Maxine returned to the car with two packs of almost frozen beer, clearly not meaning to share with the designated driver.

"Did you go to the bathroom?" Aster asked absentmindedly after a few minutes of hearing only the car engine and the beer swishing down Maxine's throat.

"Nope, but I think there's a bar not too far from here. We can stop in another 40 minutes."

"Yeah, if you drink all that beer we'll definitely be making bathroom pauses."

"Got a problem with that?"

Maxine was not looking at her. Instead, hard blue eyes were staring intently at the glove compartment.

"No, I'm just..." Aster looked at the girl for a few seconds, trying to decide if pursuing the subject was a wise move. Often, people don't like to have their drinking habits criticized. Hell, it wasn't above Aster to find a sweet escape in a bottle of wine from time to time, either. "...worried, that's all. Not about the drinking. It's just that you seem like you're going through a rough patch."

And Aster was worried. Even though jealousy was needling her heart, it was even worse to think about how Maxine might've been so heartbroken that she could not deal with it sober.

"Don't make me say things you don't wanna hear," Maxine said under her breath before taking another long sip. Aster found herself watching as the musician wrapped pink lips around the seam of the bottle.

"What do you mean?"

"Yesterday. I showed my cards, you left the room."

"That's not what happened at all."

"What happened, then?"

Aster turned to stare incredulously at Maxine. A bright red road sign reflected the headlights and brought her focus back to the wheel. Barely.

"Don't make me say things you don't wanna hear either," she muttered, suddenly feeling like it was just too unfair that she was always the sober one. The one who always had to keep the train from going off the rails. She slowed down the car, with a brief sign to the black vehicle following them closely, and pulled over. Maxine stared at her with evident confusion.

"Your security guards can drive us tonight, right? That's why they're here, after all, so let's even the playing field," Aster answered the unasked question as she stretched her torso between the car seats to grab a bottle of beer. They spent a few minutes in silence, neither knowing how to restart the uncomfortable conversation, Aster trying to buy herself some time to numb the edges. It startled her when the other girl opened the door and slid out of the car, quickly slipping into the darkness and reappearing with her back to the windshield, beer bottle leaning against the glass.