It is 11:30 PM, @distant-rose and I just spent a few crazed moments yelling at one another about some kind of Bonnie & Clyde™ Jeresa AU because Hozier had to go and release 4 new songs yesterday and what a soundtrack that would be:
Zooming towards the Canadian border in a fleet of stolen cars. All the way from Arizona, through Utah, up, up, and up. The temperature dropping; resorting to cash-only purchases in Walmart after Walmart.
James giving Teresa his sweatshirt when she falls asleep in the passenger seat and starts shivering.
Driving for hours and crashing in shitty motels—less extravagant than what they’re used to but just grateful to be safe and alone in a quiet, dark room. A room with a TV and a bathtub.
Squeezing into the tub together, listening to the water lapping over the side; dripping from the faucet. Staring at the separate pieces of one another, avoiding eye contact so they don’t have to read the worry in each other’s eyes. Only headed to bed once the water has cooled, having hardly enough energy to dry themselves off before burrowing beneath the covers.
No access to their phones so their only option is bad, conservative talk radio that they get equal parts annoyed and amused by.
Revealing guilty pleasure songs to each other.
Buying a six-pack of garbage beer and drinking it in the middle of the desert, staring up at the stars. No motel that night, it’s warm enough—spreading a blanket out beneath the stars, drunkenly removing one another’s clothing, ignoring the fact that they’re wanted.
Finding a legitimately good diner after weeks of shit fast food. Seeing tres leches on the menu, telling James that she just can’t enjoy it the same way she used to. Trying almost every other item on the dessert menu until they’re so stuffed they have no other choice but to take a nap in the back of their car, Teresa’s feet in James’ lap.
Finally, finally, after a few close calls, making it to the border, admiring one another in heavy, winter-weather layers. Driving through the cold, isolated emptiness towards the cabin Pote’s had setup for the both of them; driving in silence, taking alternate sighs of relief, relishing in the warmth of the other person’s hand.