Push to the Limit (the sixth book in the Glee series)

Chapter 80: The Pretty Follies

Julie opened her eyes to blinding sunlight and immediately covered them up, opening them much more slowly then and turning to the driver's seat of her car. Alex was drinking soda from the straw of a McDonald's cup, watching the road in the most relaxing state as he drove them forward. 

"Where are we?" she asked, sitting up straight and looking out at the empty road. "And what time is it?" She looked at the car's clock and exclaimed, "How the hell is it already noon? It was like 2 AM when I fell asleep!"

"Yeah, I said you should just tell me where to go," Alex answered, turning briefly to stick his cup in a holder, "and you never did but for a while I thought you were just being really quiet and looking out the window so I just stayed on route 30 for a while. When I realized you were asleep we were passing Cleveland and I was really tired so I stopped at a Walmart, then took a nap. And then you still didn't wake up so I kept driving on i-90 and you sleep like a fucking bear so... I started getting really hungry but I didn't want to wake you because I didn't know how long it had been since you got an interrupted sleep. So I stopped at a Whataburger when we were like, near Albany, and then when I got hungry again I realized I had passed the nearest McDonald's so I turned around and we headed south a little so that's how we ended up here."

"Where is here?" she asked, looking around. 

"We are in Bloomfield, Connecticut," he announced merrily. "Just about twenty minutes from Hartford."

"Connecticut," Julie repeated, shocked. "I thought we were going for a drive maybe just a couple miles outside of Lima. Not to the coast!"

"This isn't the coast," Alex said. "That which you see outside the window is just the Connecticut River."

"We're in one of the colony states, Alex," she said. "It's the coast. Why did you bring us to Hartford? You realize it's my daughters' birthday tomorrow and I need to get back to Lima for it, right? That means if it took us half a day to get here, we need to use the other half to get back."

"Don't worry," he said. "I talked to Sam and we are all set to do a Skype celebration with them. He'll be in his apartment, we'll be over here. Relax."

"Over here?" she said, confused. "Are you kidnapping me?"

"You said I could take you wherever I want," he shrugged.

"God dammit, Alex," she responded, crossing her arms. Her stomach grumbled so she said, "Can you at least feed me? Please?"

Laughing, Alex said, "Check the backseat. There's a Hot N' Spicy there for you and some probably cold fries. We can stop for more food once we get to Hartford."

"Alrighty then," Julie sighed, content with whatever plans he had as long as it involved her getting to eat. She reached in the back for the McDonald's bag and grabbed his drink, taking a sip from it. "Ugh, Dr. Pepper?" she complained. "Stop at, like, the next Taco Bell you see or something."

"Your wish is my command," he said, proceeding to search his GPS map for the food of her desire. He had high hopes for this getaway and it all depended on them both being able to get what they wanted.

Forty minutes later, Julie had a Taco Bell bag on her lap and was merrily finishing one of the tacos she'd bought while they made their way to their next destination. Her mouth full, she said, "I can drive for a bit if you want a break."

Alex turned to her briefly and said, "I don't want to do that. You're a terrible driver. I don't have a death wish."

"I am not a terrible driver!" she exclaimed. "I just don't have as much experience as the typical person our age."