"We must be getting close," I say to him, sighing, my feet up on the dashboard. It's his turn to drive for a while, thank god. I really need a rest.
He's quiet for a moment, staring out at the highway ahead of him. The road is straight, unbending. Trees rush by, unnoticed, blurring together in the darkness. It is well past midnight. There aren't even any street lights to brighten things up.
"I think we're still a few hours out," he eventually says. He yawns and scratches his eyelid. We're both exhausted. We're driving to a wedding in the next state and we have to make it there before morning.
We sit in silence for a few more minutes, too tired to even bother finding a new radio station. We're so far from home that my car's presets don't even register to any channels anymore. The soft hiss of static plays quietly in the background. The speakers are down low, and my eyes start to close...
I wake up suddenly as the car jerks in the lane, swerving, as Tim overcorrects to avoid driving off the road. I hear myself yell. Thankfully no one else is on the road with us. That could have been deadly.
Now we're stopped still, my heart beating wildly. I'm wide awake now, my whole body feels electric.
"I think we should take a break, Tim." I say, trying to keep the fear out of my voice. He sighs, the muscles in his arm tensing, and pulls the car slowly over to the shoulder of the highway.
Tim and I used to date a long time ago. It didn't go anywhere, really, which I think was for the best. He and I have stayed close friends and there's rarely any weirdness between us. For the most part we've been clearly and decidedly friends.
I would be lying if I said I don't think about him like that every now and then, though. Earlier today, on the drive, I couldn't stop looking at the beautiful muscles on side of his arm...
"Liz?" He asks. "What do you think?"
Shit. I was too busy looking at his arms to hear him.
"Sorry, what?" I shake my head and look at him. He looks exhausted; there are small bags under his eyes and he's blinking slowly.
"I think we should take a nap," he's saying now, rubbing face.
"Oh. Yes, sure."
Outside, it's starting to snow. A few flakes land on the windshield and melt. There are no other cars on the road. Without the heater on, the windows are starting to fog. I shiver a little.
"Are you cold?" he asks me.
"A little," I say, and pull my sweater around me.
"Same," he says. "I think it's only going to get colder, too. Do you know where the nearest motel is?"
I pull out my phone and do a quick internet search. "It looks like it's at least an hour out."
He sighs. "Liz, can I ask you something?"
I nod. I'm not even sure if he's looking at me. He's acting really strange...
"Can we go into the backseat? I think it's the only way for us to stay warm..."
"Oh. Yeah. Okay."
"I don't want it to be weird, though." He says.
I shrug. "It's not weird unless we make it weird, dude."
Without waiting for him, I crawl into the back seat.
My car has a very roomy bench, and the seats recline back just a little. I fish under the seat and find an extra sweater, and then pat the seat beside me, gesturing for him to join.
He lumbers over the console to join me, smacking his head on the ceiling in the process. He's too tall to move around comfortably.