Work Text:
Car horn. Snoring. A/C unit.
Roll over.
Footsteps. Muffled talking. Breathing.
Open your eyes.
He shifts. Bed springs. More snoring.
This isn’t working.
You sit up with a sigh and look over at your sleeping companion. How is he able to sleep so soundly no matter where he is? You swear he snores louder every minute he’s asleep, and he barely moves throughout the night. You take a glimpse at the healed burn on the side of his face, feeling remorse. You ghost the tips of your fingers over his burn tenderly, mostly for your own comfort. You stare at him, almost in awe, as he lays on his back, his left arm stretched out behind you, sleeping so contently. Jealousy briefly flashes in your mind before tiredness takes over again.
Stomach rumbling.
How long has it been since you’ve eaten? You glance at Billy one last time before carefully standing up, hoping that the cheap mattress doesn’t give you away. You recoil when he shifts again, turning to lay on his side before his snoring starts back up. Breathing a sigh of relief, you walk over to the desk on the other side of the cramped motel room. Navigating through a mostly dark room, minimal moonlight shining through the sheer curtains, you try not to make too much noise. You shuffle through your snack bin before landing on a bag of chips.
You look back at him, so peaceful, tranquil. He’d been driving all day, there’s no way you could wake him up right now. Softly, the padding of your feet can be heard on the scratchy, poor-quality carpet as you head toward the adjacent room; tiny as it was, the bathroom, the best option for you right now. You gently close the door before turning on the flickering light, illuminating the compact space. You sigh and rub your eyes before sitting on the cold tile floor, squeezing in between the sink and the shoddy shower. Rubbing your eyes again, you pray that filling up on carbs will lull you into a short slumber before you both have to pack up and ditch town in the morning.
You sit there, uncomfortably, for a few minutes. Taking your time, snacking on your bag of chips before your return to bed where you will inevitably toss and turn until the sun rises once again. This road trip was starting to take a toll on your body.
Crunch.
You’d swear that these were the loudest chips on the planet. It’s like they were trying to sabotage you. As if on cue, you could hear the heavy footsteps of your partner heading towards the bathroom door now. You flinch and brace for the knock on the door.
Knocking.
“Hey, darlin’, you alright in there?” He asks, voice raspy.
“Yeah,” you start to whisper, not really sure why at this point. “I didn’t wanna wake you.”
He laughs.
“Well, the lack of your presence woke me up anyway.” He remarks playfully. “Come back to bed, love.”
You crumble up your bag of chips and toss them before standing up. A few of your joints crack from unraveling the awkward position. You open the door to see your heavily disheveled boyfriend standing in front of you, the ghost of a smirk on his face. You feel as though you look a lot worse for wear than he does. Disheveled always looked good on him anyway.
“I can’t sleep.” You admit, shoulders slumped, feeling defeated and a bit childish.
“Yeah?” He cocks his head to the side.
“Yeah. Sleep is for the weak anyway, right?”
“Right.” Billy’s smirk grows wider.
“Right.” You agree, your shoulders straightening briefly before slumping again.
“But I… I am so very, very weak.” You look down as you say this, the exhaustion catching up to you.
Billy hums and rests his hands on your shoulders. You both stand in silence for a few moments, contemplating and reveling in the scene's serenity. You could feel the true fatigue weighing down your entire being, not having slept for the past few weeks. It felt as though it were affecting you in all aspects of your life: physically, emotionally, spiritually. Billy’s always been able to read you well, and he can sense the unease in you. He starts to rub the sides of your arms lightly, head still cocked to the side and ducking down, trying to make eye contact with you. He’s smiling softly now, no longer feeling as playful, just wanting to help you feel better.
You sigh and wrap your arms around his waist, nuzzling your face into his neck, basking in the warmth radiating from his body. You didn’t want to look him in the eyes right now. He quickly wraps his arms around your shoulders, pulling you into him further and taking in your scent. Both of you stay like this for a couple of minutes, content with the sickly sweet feeling of the instance, yet still feeling the restlessness of the lack of sleep.
He starts to sway gently with you in his arms, murmuring sweet nothings into your ear to ease your growing anxiety. Both enjoying the comfort of the moment and the tenderness. After a few moments, Billy pulls away slightly and raises a hand to your chin, lifting your head to finally look at him. He rubs his thumb along your skin lightly.
“Wanna go for a drive?”
The nighttime air was warm, Summer making itself known. There was no need for either of you to wear a jacket as you climbed into Billy’s car, parked right in front of your motel room door. Not many other cars were in the run-down motel parking lot.
Cicadas buzzing.
Your lover rolls down the windows of the car before pulling out onto the road. With no destination in mind: you set out. Deep down, Billy knows you both don’t have much to spare for gas money, but he figures he can scrounge for change this time around. You tiredly gaze out the window at the passing trees, the quaint houses, and the small businesses. You truly loved driving through these small towns, especially when the residents were kind. Stopping by the local bars was always yours and Billy’s favorite thing to do. Billy glances at you in your relaxed state and turns on the radio, quietly. He grabs your hand and smiles at you before looking back at the road. You return the smile, wearily, before looking out the open window once again.
After a while, you can finally feel your eyes drooping, not sure whether or not to fight it off this time. You end up losing the battle and knock out cold. Billy can only vaguely hear your light snores over the music playing and the air flowing through the windows. He smiles fondly and slows the car down a bit, attempting to make the whipping of the wind throughout the car more gentle as well as the ride itself.
Thunk.
He cringes and looks over at you, still sleeping but turned over to face him now. These damn country roads. He figured you must be in a really deep sleep if that didn’t wake you up. He turns on the brights to illuminate the road; he’d do anything to avoid the goddamn potholes right now. Of all the times you drive together, they have to make an appearance now.
Thunk.
Son of a bitch. He glances over at you once again, still passed out cold in the passenger's seat. He begins to feel a twinge of guilt, you haven’t slept properly in days. He squeezes your hand and looks back at the road, driving more carefully this time. He lightly presses his foot on the brakes, going even slower than before. It’s not like there was anyone else on the road at this hour anyway.
Billy reluctantly lets go of your hand and reaches into his pocket, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Pulling out a single stick, he places it in between his lips before lighting it. He pockets the rest of the pack and his lighter before he peeks at you again. You finally look as peaceful as he did earlier that night. He takes a puff of the cigarette as he lightly swerves to avoid another pothole. What was the point in paying taxes if the government wasn’t even gonna use it for the important stuff?
He could see the motel in the distance now, as he had already made his way around the tiny town in a short amount of time. Billy glimpses at you for the nth time that night. He really doesn’t want to wake you up. He doesn’t think he has the heart to anyway. He sighs before making an abrupt turn, circling his way around the town again. Maybe he’ll just drive for a little bit longer.