Alive

Seven in the morning: I’m awake again.

I stared up at the ceiling in a daze for five minutes, slowly becoming aware of the pain in the left side of my face.

Did I really get into my first fight yesterday?

I turned over onto my left side and let out a sigh.
It took two minutes to notice the tuff of platinum blonde peeking out from under the sheets.

. . .

I slightly lifted the sheets, revealing a quietly snoring Tyler curled up at my side.

I forgot he stayed the night…!

Another minute to realize that he was only in his underwear.

My eyes widened slightly as the blood rushed to my cheeks.

“And now’s the time to get out of bed…”

I got up and dropped the sheets back over him.
Before I could even take a step from the bed, I felt two arms wrap around me and pull me back in.

“H-Hey! What the heck—?!”
“It’s cold…” – a sleepy mumble as pulls me against his torso.

I sighed again, looking down to see that the Transformers band aids were still on his knuckles.

“We really did get into a fight yesterday, didn’t we…?”

A small laugh.

“I still can’t believe you brought the metal bat to his knee. Wasn’t expecting that from you, Princess.”

I glared at the wall, since I couldn’t face him.

“Alright. I’m moving.”
“No…It’s too cold…”
“I can just turn the AC off…”

His arms tighten around me a little.

“Tyler…?”
“Honestly…I’m glad you were there to help me…even though you got hurt in the process…”

And then he was silent.

Unnervingly silent.

“Tyler?”
“I already paid their brother his fuckin’ money…I was supposed to be over and done with all of this…”

He lets go of me and hides back under the covers.

“I won’t go back to him…”

I frowned, reaching to pet his hair that was peeking out again, hoping that would help somehow.

“…We should get out of this state. Just…Let’s just get up and go.”

He sits up quickly and stares straight at me, shocked.

I was just as shocked as he was – did those words really come out of my mouth?

“You…You mean like a road trip?”
“I-I guess so…? I don’t really know where that came from…I-I just…”

The blood rushed to my cheeks again.

“That’s a really great idea, actually.”

He smiles that rare, genuine smile of his, and I couldn’t help but to smile back.

“This is working out better than I thought it would.” – it was said under his breath, but I could still hear him.

I didn’t say anything about it.

“Alright,” – he doesn’t hesitate to jump out of the bed – “Shall we start packing?”

✩ | ✩ | ✩

“Why…? Why did you let me go through with the idea of planning a road trip when we don’t even have a car? I’m pretty sure that’s the first thing we need for a road trip!”

Tyler didn’t answer me. He only continued to walk down the sidewalk with that smirk on his face, twirling the metal bat in his hand.

I glared at him.

“Come on, Tyler! This is serious! Where are we even going?”

Still no response. Still no change in that smirk.

I sighed, deciding to leave it alone for now.

Knowing him at this point, it’s probably as unpredictable as usual.

“Alright. We’re here.”

I stopped and looked up.

“Benny’s Garage?”
“Yep. Let’s go.”

We entered and Tyler was instantly greeted by an overjoyed scream and two arms wrapped around him by a woman his height.

She then moved away and proceeded to tap him on the head with an open-ended wrench.

“You promised that you’d visit sooner, Ass-hat!” – he rubbed the spot instantly with a hiss.
“You see—”

“Spare me the excuses!” – she turns her attention towards me – “And who’s this cutie you brought with you?”

“That’s Luke. Luke, this is Benny. She owns the garage.”

Her black, curly afro bounces as she walks over to me with a smile.
She holds out her hand for me to shake, and I do.

“Nice to meet you Luke!”
“Nice to meet you too…!”

She gives me another smile before turning back towards Tyler.

“So, what brings you here?”
“Checking on the babies and hoping to take one on the road.”

Her smile widens.

Babies?

“Finally! They’ve been in great condition, thanks to moi.”
“And I can only thank you so much for taking care of them for so long.”

I stared at them, confused, and eventually they noticed.

“Come on, I’ll show you.”

Tyler grabs a hold of my hand and leads me behind Benny.

Benny opens the back door and reveals a giant garage space with cars, trucks, and vans scattered around: some parked in one corner of the garage, some on auto frame machines, others parked against the wall with toolboxes resting near them.

I stared in awe.

“Do you fix all of these by yourself?”
“Mostly. My sister comes and helps me whenever she has time off from work.”

“That’s amazing!”

She bows with a bright smile before walking down the room and stopping in front of three parked cars.

“Alright. Here they are!”

My jaw dropped to the floor.

A Maserati in perfect condition, a slightly worn out Jeep Wrangler, and a Chevron 2013 Impala, all lined up together in front of us.

“You okay there, Luke?”
Tyler pats my shoulder with a small laugh.

As if I didn’t have enough questions about him…

“Earth to Luke?”
“I haven’t left…!”

He lets out another laugh before ruffling my hair a little.

“Well, since this trip is your idea, you should choose what we travel in.”
“…Really?!”

He nods with a small smile.
I return his smile and look back at the cars.

“The Jeep.”