Truck Stops and Statelines

The wonderful thing about rediscovering your passion for something is that you slowly begin to pay attention to the details all over again. If it’s an instrument you stopped playing, you start to remember the way it felt between your fingers as you move in such a rhythm. If it’s a food you had given up, the taste becomes extraordinary like it’s the best thing to ever cross your taste buds. And if it’s a person, well, you remember everything about them from their tiniest of flaws to their biggest perfections and absolutely everything in between.

For Kellin, it was like that instrument or food all combined into one as he began to rediscover Vic.

They were in the car on the way to Mississippi. It was rainy, the first rainy day since their trip had started, and it was carefree. Both Kellin and Vic were in a happy place, zoned off in their own little world, which was probably very similar.

Last night had definitely changed things, and for the better at that. It wasn’t just the sex, although incredible on both ends, but it was the sheer intimacy of it all – emotionally and physically. There was a connection, the strongest they’ve had in months and it only seemed to be getting better.

This time Vic was driving. His free hand rested in the middle with Kellin’s fingers laced with his and the faint murmur of the radio provided just enough background music so the ride wasn’t insanely quiet.

As they drove, Kellin found it hard to focus on anything else besides the man next to him. It was like the first time they met all over again, with that butterfly feeling exploding in his stomach and a small tug on his heart telling him this was all real. Vic was still his. Kellin studied his face first, noticing the smoothness of his tan skin that he always loved to run his fingers across just before a deep kiss. Vic’s eyes, always sparkling with joy like a child, were always Kellin’s favorite things about him. Those eyes he could get lost in, call home, and never return from. His nose, so cute and small, touched up with his adorable nose ring that really added something special. All of those things were just surface features that Kellin adored.

But that smile, that smile was something brilliant. Kellin had never seen a smile like it in all his years of living. The first time he ever saw that smile was the day they first met at a party for a mutual friend. Kellin was standing outside by the pool, chatting with a friend when he turned his attention away for just one second. His eyes landed on Vic immediately, watching as he walked out of the house with a lanky male covered in tattoos by his side. The tattooed gentleman must have said something hilarious because the other boy had his hands covering his stomach and a smile as wide as the ocean plastered across his face as a heavy laughter escaped through his perfect lips.

Kellin fell in love with that smile instantly.

As he snapped back into present time, Kellin grinned, his eyes still circling Vic’s beautiful face, admiring the way it looked with the faint light from outside. He was truly remarkable.

“Kellin?” Vic chuckled lightly, slightly cocking his head to the side when they reached a stoplight. They had just gotten off at an exit, their destination being the Museum of Natural Science. Kellin was still fixated on Vic, blown away by the presence of him.

“What?” Kellin finally broke out of his thoughts and his eyes met Vic’s, noticing the way they crinkled in amusement. The soft skin bunched at the corners, giving him an inviting look and Kellin couldn’t stop it. He leaned forward, kissing Vic sweetly; sighing in satisfaction when he felt those soft lips push back on his. His eyes fluttered shut getting lost in the action until a car horn brought them out of it.

Vic jolted up immediately, stepping on the gas with a light blush dusting his cheeks. “I, uh,” He stumbled a bit on his words as he tried to calm himself down. It was amazing how after everything, Kellin still managed to make his head spin. “I was just saying we’re almost there.”

“Oh.” Kellin dragged out, slowly nodding his head. “How far away?”

“About twenty more minutes.” Vic answered, his attention now on the road again so he didn’t cause another disruption.

“Good, good.” Kellin mumbled out more to himself. Twenty minutes was plenty of time to retrace Vic once again.

The younger boy shifted in his seat, pulling his sunglasses down even though the sun was tucked away behind rain clouds. He thought it would seem less creepy when he went admire Vic if the other boy couldn’t see exactly what he was doing.

After raking his eyes over Vic’s perfect face one more time, he began to focus on other things, like the way Vic was tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. It wasn’t an uncommon thing for people to do, but with Vic it was different.

He always had a steady beat. Maybe it was the musician in him, or maybe it was just habit, but no matter what song was on, or what noise was provided outside, Vic would be in tune with it the entire time.

Another quirk Kellin had rediscovered was the way Vic would lick and bite at his lips every time the car stopped or he made a left turn. For some reason it had only been those two actions that caused him to do such a thing. Kellin knew Vic had this thing about stopping the car at just the right place or else he’d freak out and he knew that left turns were never Vic’s strongest point. However his little bites were adorable and Kellin just wanted to kiss them off his face.

“Are you even listening to me?” Vic chuckled once again as they pulled into the parking lot of the museum. Had it already been twenty minutes? Kellin just shrugged it off. He could get lost in Vic for hours, twenty minutes was nothing.

“No.” Kellin admitted grabbing Vic’s hands once he shut off the car. “I was too busy looking at you.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re amazing.” Kellin said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Sure, maybe over the past few months he had stopped acting like Vic was perfect, but he never once stopped feeling it.

Vic could feel heat rise to his cheeks as Kellin spoke so softly. Things were progressing and he couldn’t be happier. “Oh, you’re ridiculous.” Vic shot him a playful glare before stepping out of the car and encouraging Kellin to do the same. They walked around the vehicle, meeting in front and joining their hands as they walked into the building.

The rain had slowed down but it was still relatively hot and sticky out. The humidity went straight to Vic’s hair, breaking it out into frizzy strands enveloping his curls. Kellin found it cute the way his hair always did that, but Vic hated it, trying to pat it down to keep it from sticking out in odd ends.

“Stop.” Kellin murmured bringing Vic’s other hand down. “You’re adorable.” He gave his hands a gentle squeeze as they continued in through the building.

Vic just shrugged, giving in to Kellin and following him down the long hallway. The air in the building was fierce, nipping at Vic’s nose and making it just all around uncomfortable. The slight wetness of his clothes mixed with the cool air made him cringe in discomfort.

“You okay?” Kellin wrapped a comforting arm around Vic’s waist, holding him close as they continued to walk.

“I’m fine.” Vic smiled, reaching up to kiss Kellin gently on the lips. “Thank you for asking.” He melted into Kellin’s warmth, feeling ten times better with the other man’s arm around him.

Kellin was like a drug in and of himself, holding the ability to either make you feel really good or really, really bad.

Luckily for Vic, the happy, joyous, boy he first fell in love with was coming back to him slowly.

Deep down, Vic always knew this side of Kellin would return; it was just hidden and locked away in Kellin’s dark spaces. Everything was falling back into place and Vic smiled at the thought, hoping that it would stay that way and only continue to get better.

As of right now, he had his Kellin back. And that’s all he really wanted.