Fanfic: In The Fast Lane

22: The Night

Chapter 22: The Night

The next day went by quickly which was unusual for the slow town. Harley stuck to Flo's side to most of the day, making her wonder if she was alright. Worried asking her might upset her even more, Flo didn't say anything about it. Harley was quiet most of the day and John took notice. As the dusk was settling in, Sheriff found Harley and softly tap her side with a tire.

"Come on, time to hit the hay." he said as he turned to the road. Harley looked up at him then down to the road and began to slowly follow.

"Alright, I've had enough." John said as he made his way towards her. "Something's gotten under your paint. What's the matter?"

"Nothing." Harley said and continued to follow Sheriff, but John wasn't satisfied.

"Nothing my bumper. What's wrong, Harley?" He persisted.

"Nothing…" She said more annoyed. "Goodnight." After that, no matter what John said, she left and just like the night before after hearing Sheriff talking, she couldn't sleep. She closed her eyes, shifted around, but never fell asleep. She looked at the clock. It read 10:59

"This is dumb..." she muttered. She couldn't stop thinking about what Sheriff had said. Doc hiding something? He would never do that, not to Harley at least. She wanted to talk to someone about it, but didn't know who. She then thought of John. "He said no sneaking out…" Harley sighed, knowing she had confronted the same issue. "You know what, I don't care." Harley then proceeded to quietly leave her room. She headed to the front door where Sheriff was sleeping. At least, she hoped he was.

She left without being caught and headed straight to the Cozy Cone. She tried to remember what Cone he was in. It took a few tries, but she finally knocked on the right one. She heard rustling then the door opened.

"Harley? What are you doing?" the sleepy John asked.

"I couldn't sleep." She said then gestured to the road. "I thought… um. M-maybe a drive could help?"

"Harley…" He sighed. "The moon isn't bright enough to go out and race. I don't have headlights."

"I don't want to race." Harley quickly said. "I just… want to drive." John sighed again.

"Okay, fine. But you're leading the way." Harley smiled a small smile then drove onto the road. "So, where are we headed?" he asked.

"You'll see."

As they drove out into the darkness, John looked around at the trees that soon filled the sides of the curvy road. They kept going until they found a huge archway. John looked at it astonished. He wondered to himself how much dynamite it took to make it, then they soon drove by the waterfall. John smiled at it and chuckled.

"Ha! This is so cool! Why didn't you tell me this stuff existed?" Harley giggled as she kept driving.

"Guess I forgot." she joked and John sarcastically laughed.

"Ha ha. Very funny." he said and continued to follow her. They soon came up to Wheel Well. "Whoa. This is… neat." he said as he looked at the retired motel.

"Yeah. It used to be busy, and now it's not." Harley explained.

"Well that's obvious enough." John said and chuckled at her. "What isn't obvious, is why."

"Well, this road got built and everyone forgot about our road. Route 66." Harley drove through the rustic motel with John. "The new road, Interstate 40, it replaced Route 66."

"Oh yeah, I know that road." Harley stopped while John kept driving forward without noticing her. "We used to drive down it, Mat and I." Harley looked up at him confused.