we ended up driving for about 23 hours straight before i suggested finding a hotel. i had no idea what state we were in, but i guessed maybe alabama. i decided not to ask alex if he knew because i could not handle another incest joke.
i wasn't a big fan of the southern part of america. there were way too many confederate flags and way too many old white men that looked at me and alex like we were murders.
we were in a decently racist area, but i was too tired to deal with anyone's shit. it was probably only about six at night, but i was seconds from passing out. somehow, i got the room key and alex dragged me to the correct room.
there were two beds, and i threw myself on the first one i saw.
alex watched reyna plop herself on the bed, not even bothering to go under the blankets. he had taken her things up with his, and searched for his blanket in his suitcase. after he found it, alex placed it over her, surprised that she fell asleep so fast.
alex wasn't too tired since he had slept in the car, but he couldn't remember reyna drifting off even a little bit.
he took a quick picture of her sleeping figure, ready to post it before he remembered that no one was supposed to know where they were. instead, he saved it to his phone before checking how much longer they had to drive. surprisingly, they had a little under eight hours to go.
alex worked on a video for his youtube channel for an hour or so before ordering a pizza. he went downstairs to the lobby to get it, trying to be as quite as possible. reyna stayed asleep, snuggling closer to the blanket since she liked the scent.
without having reyna to tell him to take a break, alex ended up working until early morning. he was still, hunched over on his bed, staring at his laptop. he was brought back into reality when reyna jumped up out of her sleeping position, breathing heavily. he couldn't see her face, but he assumed she was crying from her choked sobs.
"hey, hey, you're okay." alex immediately reassured her, going over to her side of the room. the lamp was on, so reyna could recognize him right away.
she snapped her head to make eye contact with him, holding his face as if she didn't belive it was real.
"holy shit." her voice cracked. "bad dream."
"it's okay, you don't have to worry about telling me right now. i'm not going anywhere." he put his hand over hers gently, which was still cupping his face.
"i'm sorry you have to deal with this." reyna mumbles, looking at the wall behind alex.
"hey, i don't think of your negative emotions as baggage. i care about every part of you. i'll be there for every part of you, not just the good days, okay?" he hugs the smaller girl.
reyna hated how emotional she had been lately, but she was genuinely shaking from the nightmare she had. she wanted to say something, but she wasn't sure she could trust her voice to stay steady.
instead of speaking, she hugged alex tightly, moving closer to him and laying her head on his chest. alex went to lay her down so she could rest, but she tugged on his arm, signaling that she wanted him to stay.
flustered, he laid down next to her, being very stiff at first since he didn't know what to do. reyna wasn't crying anymore, but she was still trembling slightly. alex took her hand, holding it gently. she looked at him with a small smile before shuffling closer to him.
alex held reyna closely, making sure that she knew that he was there to keep her safe. she placed her head under his chin, tickling alex's neck with her lashes. he kissed the top of her head before closing his eyes.
he told himself that he knew this wasn't going to be a common occurrence, but god could he get used to it.
reyna woke up early, around seven in the morning. she didn't expect to be wrapped in alex's arms, but she couldn't say she minded it. reluctantly, she slowly moved out of his grasp and went to the bathroom. she showered and got ready for the day.
"alex. get up, bitch." she pokes his face a few times. he grunts, but sits up. "i'll drive for the first part so you can sleep then, but get ready, i don't want to be in this shithole any more than we need to be."
alex was not a morning person, but after being told he could sleep, he moved a little quicker. was finished half an hour later, and reyna had started up the car by the time alex checked out.
"and, goodnight." alex pulls the beanie over his eyes as he slouches down in the seat, making reyna roll her eyes.
"you're like george." she says before taking a quick picture, then pulling out of the lot.
reyna double checked the battery on her vlog camera. she wanted to make sure she got karl's reaction to seeing alex for the first time. she knew how important their friendship was, and she wanted both of them to be able to relive it.
she smiled softly as she checked the gps. they would be arriving soon. reyna had gotten off the phone with jimmy moments earlier, making sure everything was going according to plan.
they were making another challenge video, hide and seek. karl was going to hide and only alex would go looking for him. everyone was really excited for it, but no one matched alex's energy. even though he was driving, he was practically bursting.
he tapped the steering wheel while giggling, and i zoomed in on his face.
"someone's happy." i tease, even though you could hear the smile in my words.
"OH MY GOD WERE HERE!" alex almost crashes the car, but is able to pull into the parking spot without causing any damage to the car.
we had to wait for jimmy to text me before we went in the warehouse where the video was taking place. alex was bouncing up and down and i couldn't help but smile at his antics. his dimples were prominent on his face, his freckles were as gorgeous as ever and he was giving me a wide smile.
jimmy texted me to follow chandler through the back, and i watched him walk out of the warehouse right after reading his text. chandler waved us over and i jogged over, making an effort to be quiet. we thanked him while i heard jimmy explaining what was going on, probably to the camera.
i filmed a little bit of the three of us waiting, until we were told we could go inside. alex bolted in, and i made sure he didn't yell anything. i thanked jimmy multiple times as i gave him a short hug, which was pretty awkward with the whole ten inch difference.
since it was a warehouse, the crew had put a bunch of random shit to fill up the place. there was a trampoline, a ball pit, an inflatable swimming pool, and a bunch of other crap. but there was mostly a ton of children's toys. there were towers of them everywhere, it looked like a maze. all of it was going to be donated to charity.
we only knew the general area where karl ran off too, so i had to sprint to keep up with alex. he was looking for him as fast as he could, and it was hard to keep up with him and get a good camera angle.
alex stopped in front of an old closet. he looked at me, silently asking if i had seen the door move as well. i nodded, getting a good shot of the door and alex. he looked at the door and then back at me. i waved at him to open it.
he took a deep breath and opened the wooden door.
