𝘿𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙔𝙤𝙪 || 𝙌𝙪𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙊𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙨

[28] ᴡᴇ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏᴛᴇʟ ᴍᴏᴛᴇʟ ʜᴏʟɪᴅᴀʏ ɪɴɴ

"Shh, shh, it's okay. You don't have to hide it, you're desperately in love with me."

Road Trip to NC - Day 1:

The morning dew clung to the blades of grass that surrounded Y/n's apartment building. The fog hanging over the California landscape hugged the earth like a cool blanket, protecting the peace of the morning from the disturbance of the usual city life in Los Angeles. Alex watched two raindrops race each other to the bottom of his windshield as he awaited for his travel companion's emergence from the looming building.

"Hey, sorry I took so long, my toaster decided today would be the best day to break down on me, so I was focused on that rather than actually coming down here."

"Heh, it's fine," Alex arched his brow once he realized his friend's hands weren't holding the breakfast that was promised to him when he first agreed to the trip, "Where's the food?"

Y/n slouched into the passenger seat, "I couldn't make it without the toaster."

"There's such a thing as a stove."

"I hadn't thought of that."

He squinted his eyes. Staring intensely at the young woman in her seat, she avoided eye contact, but made it obvious she felt uneasy with his gaze piercing through her. She jumped up.

"FINE. I woke up late. But my toaster did break, so it wasn't a total lie." Alex smirked.

"That's fine, we can pick something up. But you're paying." Y/n's face colored in shame as she slowly nodded while Alex pulled the car out of the driveway.

As Alex drove, Y/n gazed out the window, watching each car zoom past them and reading the road signs that marked the distance to each city in their big state. Drowsiness still tugged at Y/n's heavy eyelids, tempting her to fall back asleep, but she fought back in hopes of eating something and talking a bit with Alex before sleeping again.

To fight the exhaustion, she turned the radio up and attempted to sing along to the music Alex had playing in the background. While the pair never usually agreed on music, Y/n was desperate to stay awake until she got a hash brown from McDonalds.

Unfortunately, it didn't work.

~

"Good morning, sleepyhead."

"Aw man, that wasn't supposed to happen," Y/n stretched her back and arms while Alex told her about how she slept through breakfast and the morning of their drive. "Dammit, I missed McDonalds?"

Alex laughed at the bummed woman. "I got you an iced coffee for when you woke up. Hold off the hunger until we stop again. I would've gotten you food too, but I didn't want you to wake up to cold food."

Y/n spotted the clear plastic cup that held the soft brown drink in it. It was clear a few ice cubes had melted, watering down the drink, but nonetheless, the gesture was enough to put Y/n's stomach into a twisted maze of knots and tangles. The feeling in her stomach caused Y/n to quickly snatch and start sipping on the energizing drink, which was exactly what she needed to fully wake up.

Shut up, stomach, it's just hunger and this coffee will help me hold off. Hunger. Food. That's it. It was nice that he got me this coffee, but it was only because he knew I would be hungry. He knew... He knew a basic human function. Yes. That's it. He's good with people. It's nothing special. Just hunger and he's good with people. A people person... Yes.

"You good, Y/n? You're dozing off on me again," Alex spoke, interrupting the intrusive thoughts that disturbed Y/n's enjoyment of her coffee, "If you keep falling asleep, I will crash this fucking car. See if that keeps you awake."