Into the Light

70

We had been through so much together, in just a few months, and nothing had broken us. I was being ridiculous and letting my head get to me. Right then, I really wished that she had a phone just so I could send her a stupid little text. Something to make her smile. I closed my eyes and thought about that smile while Sam drove the last few minutes to the meet up spot. When we stopped, I heard Brennen's voice shouting at Sam. "Yo, it's about time! I thought I was going to have to do my Sam impression to try and get the van." "Wouldn't have worked," Sam replied, as I got out of the car. "These are in Colby's name. I'm listed as one of the drivers, but you cant's get the van. You would need to do your Colby impression." There voices were in the background of my brain, dimly lit like an old library about to close. My only conscious movement was getting closer to Anna. "Colby?" Sam asked, pulling my attention back to him. "Yeah," I replied, impatiently. "You giving her the bear now, or you gonna wait?" he asked, nodding towards the bear that I was about to pull out of the car with me. "Shit," I muttered. "I should've gotten it gift wrapped." "Yeah, that would've been the ideal thing to do, but it's too late now. Just leave it there. I'll take care of it when we get to the car lot. Okay?" I nodded and sat the bear up in the seat that I was leaving. "Thanks Sam," I said, then climbed all the way out. My eyes immediately found hers, and the smile on my face spread to match hers. It was almost like she was my air and I needed her to breath. Jake and Tara climbed out and got into the Audi with Sam and Kat, while Brennen placed the keys in my hand, before climbing into the back of the car. When I slid behind the wheel, I instantly reached for her hand and felt comforted when her smaller palm fit perfectly into mine. "Where'd you go?" she asked, quietly. "Just had something that I had to do," I replied, and smiled at her. "I missed you," she sighed, squeezing my hand lightly. "I was only gone for a little while," I laughed, even though I knew exactly what she meant. Her face flushed, but she shrugged. "Still missed you, doofus." I laughed again, and brought her hand to my lips for a second. "Let's go home," I said. We made it to the car rental with 2 minutes to spare. Since I had already taken care of most everything beforehand, I just needed to sign a few papers and get the keys. "I'll have someone pull it around for you," the guy behind the counter said. "Thanks," I replied, and headed out the door. I found my friends on the sidewalk, waiting for me to tell them which car we were going to get. A white Chevy Suburban large sized SUV pulled up to the curb and a dark skinned man stepped out. "Mr. Brock?" he asked. I nodded. "Here ya go. Just drop it at our sister location in Los Angeles and they'll take care of any extra fees that might incur." He dropped the keys in my hand and nodded his head, before walking inside the building. "This isn't a van," Brennen said, looking over the SUV. "So, maybe I just said van," I retorted. "I just asked for a vehicle that was large enough to fit 8 people comfortably. I assumed it would be a van." "Shot gun!" Jake yelled and ran around to the opposite side of the SUV. I hit the lock before he could open the door. "HEY!" I heard him exclaim and laughed. "Anna has front," I yelled back. "That's fucked up," he muttered. I leaned close to Sam and whispered in his ear. "Can you get the bear in there without anyone seeing?" He nodded and walked a few feet away to where our luggage was. His bag seemed a little more packed than it originally had been. "Everybody get your shit!" he yelled, then walked back over to the SUV. I made sure to get my bag and block Sam's off with it, so that no one could set anything on top of it. Didn't want the damn bear getting messed up after only an hour with me, when it had survived 30+ years. Everyone piled into the SUV, filling up the rows, as I opened the passenger side for Anna. "You know that I can open my own door, right?" she asked, with a small smile. "I do," I replied, and offered nothing more. She kind of rolled her eyes and hoisted herself up into the high seat. I closed her door and jogged around to the driver's side. Sam, Kat, and Brennen had filled the seats directly behind us, leaving Jake, Tara, and Corey the back row. "Road Trip!" Corey yelled, throwing his hands up and waving them around. I laughed along with the rest and set up the music for the road, along with the directions. "Let's gooooo," I yelled out the window, as we pulled out onto the road. We had a six hour drive ahead of us, so this would probably get interesting. I glanced over to Anna and caught her eye. She gave me a soft smile and held out her hand. I took it in mine and let her rest it on her thigh. Keeping my eyes on the road was starting to become harder that it should've been. I felt her fingertip start drawing on the top of my hand, over and over again. It was very distracting, but it felt nice. For a while, we just enjoyed singing along with the music and spending time together. The others were occasionally holding their phones up, doing Insta stories or pics, sometimes pointing them at me, sometimes not. I vaguely thought about Anna being in the shots, or if us holding hands had made it into them. Then I decided that I just didn't care. Not today, not right now. "Yo, turn the music down!" Jake exclaimed, from the back. I obliged and looked at him in the rear view mirror. "We should play a game or something, to pass the time," he said, looking at everyone to get their opinion. "What, like I Spy, or something?" Brennen asked, looking at him in confusion. "I mean," Jake replied, shrugging. "If that's what you're into, but I meant something a little more...fun." "Like what?" I asked, intrigued. He shrugged again. "I don't know! Do I have to think of everything?"