Quiet Little Monsters

It was the sixth day of the trip when it happened. Not only was it the sixth day, it was also an inferno. The sun was loud and overbearing and when Finn would roll down the windows in the car, the air blowing in was hot, cooking us like a convection oven.

"My fucking goodness, I'm hot!" I whined loudly and gave Finn(aeus) a pout.

"I know," Finn replied with a suggestive tugging of his brow.

"Pervert," I replied.

"You're the one who said it!" he said back.

"Said what?"

"What are we talking about again? The heat is frying my brain," he said. He was again shirtless and I found myself blushing as he held my hand. Let's have a conversation, he said aloud in my head, I'm too tired to talk. Let's think.

I'm too tired to think, I grumbled and tried to pull my sweaty hand away. He held on more tightly. Come on, he persisted.

"Fine," I said.

What? I didn't catch that, he teased in my head. I said fine, I said back, trying to hold back a smile.

Ask me a question, he said.

Why do you have a tattoo of an elk?

I already told you, he replied, Drunken night.

I don't believe you, I said back.

Her name was Elfie. But her nickname was Elk. I don't know exactly why anymore. We grew up together. She was my everything for a long time and then she broke up with me and moved to London.

I stared at him for another moment. "I'm sorry," I said aloud.

"I'm not," he said and grinned, "She was not it. Elk wasn't it."

I smiled and we broke our tie of hands. "And who is?" I pressed.

"We'll see," he gave me another silly grin and a quick peck on the lips before turning back to the road.

We drove for another hour through some barren parts of Kansas and then my celphone rang. I answered it without looking at Caller ID and felt my heart plunge when I heard who it was.

"Yello?" I answered.

"Dolly?" Gavin asked tentatively.

"Gav?" I asked, "Hey what's up?"

Finn turned his head sharply in my direction and I mentally cursed myself when I realized I had said Gavin's name aloud.

"I just wanted to check in on you," he said cheerfully.

"Yeah. Well... I'm fine!" I said back. Finn's hands tightened on the steering wheel and I finally turned my head to the window in order to find another view.

"That's great," Gavin replied sincerely, "Anyway. Just wanted to know. Where are you right now?"

"Kansas, actually!" I said, my voice rising in pitch, "How's the shop? How's my Luella doing?"

It continued like this for a few more minutes before we said a quick goodbye. Well... quick on my end. Gavin said he couldn't wait to see me and to call him as soon as I got back. I resisted the urge to jump out of the speeding car.

"What the fuck was that?" Finn said as soon as I hung up the phone.

"Nothing," I said.

"You acted... chummy," Finn said with a dry smile on his face.

"I did not act chummy!" I cried.

"Yes, you did! You're with him," Finn said stiffly.

"No. I am not," I said, "It's just... that I really like him," Finn rolled his eyes and I corrected myself, "As a person! And he really likes me. I don't want to tell him something like this over the phone."

"Fine," Finn said arduously.

"Fine?" I repeated.

"Yeah. That's what I said."

"Well then, fine."

"You know what, Dolly?"

"What Finnaeus?" I said, both of our voices were rising in volume.

"I think you're being a... floozy right now!"

"A floozy?" I laughed derisively, "A floozy?"

His ears turned scarlet. "Okay so maybe that was not one of my best insults, but..."
"But what?"

"But that's what you're being," he harrumphed with a shrug of his shoulders, giving me a matter of fact look.

"Oh, shut up!" I said.

"You shut up!"

"No you!"

"No you!"

"No y-"

And, this –this was the very moment that the hunter green sedan died. Our cries of fury expired along with the engine and our looks of horror were mirrored on both of our faces.