TSFS: The Return Of Xavier

I Do Love Him

We were now going north of Indianapolis, shortly getting off the highway into a series of bathroom stops, fast food stations, and gas stations.

"We've been driving for a couple of hours. Should we stop for more gas and bathroom?" I ask. Eli nods in agreement, pulling into one of the gas stations in the area.

While Eli pumped gas into the car, I walked in tiredly into the gas station.

I looked around at the place, which was absolutely a mess. Peanut shells covered the floor along with dirt that probably came from five different states. The place entirely smelled like a mixture of a porta potty, and expired black coffee from the 90s.

The shelves were fully stocked, a series of different travel foods and drinks were displayed to me.

Everything and everyone in here looked dull, and by everyone I mean the one person working the cash register.

Glancing at my phone, It was nearly almost 6 am. My stomach fluttered as I pushed myself to hurry because Eli was probably waiting for me.

I grabbed the first thing I saw, which happened to be beef jerky, and two waters.

Walking up to the register, I pushed the four items on the counter for the worker to scan.

He was big, and bulky. He had tattoos covering his entire arm, which was half covered by his black shirt that he wore.

The man didn't seem to talk, instead, just scanned my items and told me my total.

"$7.50"

I reach into my purse, pulling out my wallet, handing the man a 10 for 3 dollars in return.

"Have a good day," he says to me.

"You too."

-

We were back on the road, and eventually Eli and I got back into the swings of conversations.

"So, other then Drew, have you dated anyone?" He asks me randomly.

Here it is: The thing I've been dreading this entire car ride, relationships.

It's not that I didn't like them, but every time I thought about them, I cringed at how naive and careless I was with them.

"Nope. Drew was the only one."

"What about Jackson?"

I wanted to laugh again. "I don't think Jackson counts as a relationship. We only kissed like twice--"

"KISSED?!"

I jump in my seat.

"You didn't tell me you guys kissed! You just told me you were close and shit, but KISSED. Okay, WOW, now this car ride is actually worth a lot more." He laughs.

I was startled by how quickly Eli could regain his energy by the small talk of a kiss.

I let out a small laugh. "Yeah. We did, but the second time he did, he pierced a needle in my arm." I try to joke.

"Please, that's hot."

"ELI-"

"I'm just kidding!"

We both break out into laughter. The two of us were sleep deprived, and ran on a loss of caffeine.

"So. Is he cute?" Eli then asks.

I cringed at the word cute. I wanted to actually jump out the window right now.

"Uh...I don't think cute is the right word."

"Bianca you can just say hot." Eli teases, reading every word from my mind.

"Fine. SURE. A couple aspects of him are--"

"hot.." I force myself to say, immediately regretting it.

"OH MY GOD. Like what?!"

Eli was truly letting his gay man show, which only made me laugh hilariously. "I don't know.. He has cool tattoos. And he smelled like pine, which reminded me of Christmas."

One big smile creeped across Eli's face as he continued to drive. "Ooo, Bianca got a crush."

"We're 21 Eli, not 12." I joke.

"STILL! This is a big thing. Jackson is like your first relationship apart from Drew." He tells me.

I blush just thinking about it. I couldn't help it, and I didn't realize I also had a big smile on my face until Eli pointed it out.

"I'm sensing that this is more than a crush. You're obsessed with everything about him, plus we're literally driving out of state at this point so you guys can get your little dramatic kissing scene like what they do in the movies."

The more I thought about it, the more Eli was right, which was something I never thought I'd think.

Right here, right now, we were driving to him. Driving to Jackson.

"Just admit that you love him Bianca."

"I already told him that," I confess.

"SO you do love him?!

I take a deep breath before saying;

"Yeah, I do love him."