So Be It // o. maatta

Chapter Forty-Seven

Chapter Forty-Seven: Olli's POV

"Olli," She looked over at me. To be honest, she looked worse for wear. It was pushing 1:00 in the morning, and we were still driving. And we had no clue where we were. "I have no fucking idea where we are." Her bloodshot eyes longed for sleep.

To be honest, I didn't have the slightest idea, either. Hell, I didn't even know if we were still in Pennsylvania.

I pulled out my phone from my pocket, and turned on my maps app.

"According to GPS on my phone, we're approaching Buffalo, New York."

"Fuck." Alex sounded taken back. "We're making really good time. We'll hit up the Tim's there, then we'll find a hotel, or something."

"I doubt a hotel with take us at 1:30 in the morning."

"Fine. We'll sleep in the car."

We both knew that wasn't the wisest idea, but we also knew we had no other option.

By this time, the music was becoming really, really crappy, so Alex turned it down, lower, and began to speak, words coming out thoughtfully.

"Olli, do you know how much I love you? You've opened up a new world to me. A world where I feel appreciated, and loved, and accepted. You're my first love. And I know we're young, and I know they say first love never lasts, but I really want our love to last, forever, because I'm in love with every last thing you do. You're all I have, but all I need. I just want you to know how much I love you."

Her little speech was rambling, and you could hear the exhaustion in her voice, but it still managed to almost make me teary-eyed. I was so damn in love with her, and for her to say all that, it was, it was an unbeatable feeling.

"Alex, when I met you, you were just some girl in the bookstore that had read the same book I was interested in. Until I got to know you more. Then I realized what an absolutely beautiful girl you are, inside, and out. Alex baby, you're my everything."

I watched her smile a watery smile, and we sat there contently, in silence. We kept driving, the soft hum of the radio between us until Alex squealed with delight, and turned into a parking lot.

"Most Americans really don't do coffee shops right." She stated, lurking toward the drive up. "I mean Starbucks and that Dunkin place? That's shit."

I laughed at her. "You don't even like coffee."

She shrugged. "I'm still Canadian, though. The love for Tim Hortons is in our blood." She was right at the entrance of the drive thru. "What do you want?"

"Hot tea, please."

"That's it?" She asked.

I nodded.

She shrugged, and pulled completely into the drive thru.

"Hi, can I get one medium hot tea, a medium hot chocolate, a cinnamon maple crunch bagel, and a 20 count of Timbits, please?"

"That'll be $13.30, please pull around to the first window." The Tim Hortons employee told Alex.

"I'm pretty damn lucky we don't live very close to a Tim's." Alex muttered. "First off, I'd be broke. Secondly, I'd weigh 400 pounds." She dug around in her pocket for cash, and handed the teenaged girl $15 once we got to the window. The girl gave her change, and Alex smiled politely, and pulled up to the second window.

A different teenaged girl popped her head out the window, and said sweetly, "It'll be a minute, or two."

Alex smiled polietly, again, and turned to me. "We can probably figure out how to fold the back seats down. That'll give us some more room."

The idea of laying next to Alex, cradling her in my arms was so inviting. I just wanted to sleep with her. Not sleep with her, like fuck her sleep, but just innocently sleep with her. Feeling her warm presence next to mine made me feel as though I had finally found I place where I was wanted. Where I belonged.

"Alright." I smiled at her. "After tonight, we'll drive around a bit, see what we can see, and then head home, ok?"

She grinned. "Sounds perfect. Well, it's not that perfect, but being around you, being with you, sounds perfect."

You could say I blushed, quite a bit.

Suddenly, the teenaged girl, who was apparently watching this conversation unfold, cooed, "Awh, you two are like Romeo and Juliet!"

Alex furrowed her brow. "They both die." I couldn't help agree. I never understood the Romeo/Juliet comparison with anyone. Why would you want to be compared with a couple that died young?

"Then you guys are Bella and Edward."

"I'm not a vampire." I said, rather softly.

Alex looked over at me, seeming surprised of my Twilight knowledge, which was not something I was proud of.

"You are kinda pasty." Alex whispered.

"Hazel and Augustus."

"We don't have cancer."

"Sam and Cha-"

"Please, please stop." Alex cut her off. She wasn't trying to be bitchy, it was just this conversation was painfully awkward.

The girl blushed, looking embarrassed, before handing out two cups, a box of Timbits, and a paper bag.

"Have a good night, Ron and Hermione." The girl managed to sneak in one last book couple reference.

Both Alex and I smiled as we pulled out of the parking lot.

"Figure we could maybe find a parking garage, park there, spend the night." Alex mumbled thru pieces of bagel in her mouth.

I nodded, nursing my scalding tea. "Sounds good."

We drove around for a bit, before finally coming across a towering garage.

"Here looks good." I murmured.

Alex sighed, shakily, and nodded.

That's when I recalled her fear of parking garages.

I reached across, and reassuringly laid my hand on her forearm.

I watched a small smile tug at the corners of her lips, as she drove deep into the cement structure.

We rode up the spiral ramp, until we made it to the second to last level. She parked at the very end of a row, and unbuckled her seatbelt. "Let's go conquer the backseat." She started to open her door. I did the same.

We opened up the back doors, and she tossed the shit that had been on the backseat -blankets, pillows, and her stuffed polar bear- up to the front seat, so we'd be able to press down the back seats. After a few minutes of struggling, we were able to get the seats folded down. It made almost a sort of mattress out of the back seats, with the front seats acting like a headboard on a bed.

Alex leaned up towards the front seat, grabbed a blanket, and laid it out so it cover the 'mattress.' Then, she crawled in. There wasn't much headroom, but there was a bit of room, width wise. I crawled in, next to her.

The mock bed wasn't very comfortable, but pretty cozy. I took two pillows from the front seat, the stuffed polar bear, and a couple blankets, and set up what made it seem like an actual bed, at which point we both laid down.

Alex tucked her legs up, and snuggled into my body. She fit so perfectly into me, and I couldn't help but notice it every time we slept together.

"I hate parking garages." She whispered.

"It's ok, babe." I pressed a kiss into her forehead. "I'll protect you."

"Be my Augustus. My Edward. My Ron. My Romeo." She grinned into my chest.

"As long as you'll be my Hazel Grace. My Bella. My Hermione. My Juliet." I murmured into her hair.

"Deal."

I sighed, but it wasn't an upset, or an angry sigh. It was a content sigh. It was a 'I-fucking-love-where-my-life-is-at sigh.'

"I love you, Alexandra."