You Should've Listened

Happy Place

I barely got any sleep that night. The next morning I practically raced to get Dahlia. When I see her walking down the street I let out the biggest sigh of relief. I turn to her as soon as she climbs into my car.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine. Let's go." Her voice comes out a bit sharp, like she's angry but doesn't want to be. I don't drive and study her for a second. She keeps her head turned away from me but either way I wouldn't be able to see her eyes.

"Why do you have shades on?" It's cloudy today, like it's going to storm.

"Because the future between us is so bright." She says dryly and if there wasn't a pit in my stomach I would have laughed at how corny that was.

She pulls out her notebook. "Today's questions are on our bucket list."

"Take your shades off, Doll."

"I don't have my bucket list written down or anything but shit like skydiving would be cool."

"Dahlia."

"Bungee jumping seems cool too."

"I'm not driving until you take them off." She doesn't seem to care as she keeps ignoring me.

"Just things that get my blood pumping, makes me feel alive- no makes me feel like I'm living you know?" She just keeps rambling but she sounds off. "Because right now I'm not, right now I'm fucking exhausted."

"Dahlia, let me-" She turns to me and snatches her shades off, revealing a swollen eye. I feel my breath caught in my throat.

"Drive."

"Dahlia."

"Fine, I can walk." She reaches for the door.

"No." I start the car before she gets a chance to jump out. "I'm driving." She doesn't put her shades back on and I try not to keep looking at her eye. I'm assuming she iced it or tried to because it isn't swollen shut but it still looks bad.

We drive in silence for a few seconds but the air starts to grow thick between us. "Traveling to all of the states is on my bucket list." She doesn't say anything but I notice her write something down.   

"Do you know when you want to do this or how long you plan on staying in each state?" I hate this. I hate that we're acting like this isn't an issue. I hate that she doesn't sound as enthusiastic, she sounds bored of the questions like our first drive.

"I was just thinking of passing by each state." I kind of shrug and from the corner of my eye I can see her stop writing and turn to me. I try to bite back a smile but I knew that answer would get her talking.

"That's boring." I bite my cheek a bit harder. She hates boring things. Whenever I give a basic answer like that she goes on a tangent on how it's boring or I need to elaborate. I find it amusing since she was so closed off when it came to her answers at first.

"If you're going to travel to fifty states and simply take a picture in front of the welcome sign of all of them, that doesn't count. You should at least try the food each state is known for or visit the touristy places in each state."

"I thought you'd think that." I pull up to a red light and turn to her. "I want to live in each state for a few months then maybe open my restaurant in my favorite state then branch off to each one."

She looks like she's thinking then she writes something down. "You should start off with a food truck." She starts. "You can travel the fifty states in a RV or something with your food truck hooked to it. That way they'll know you and your food so when you open your restaurant you'll already have customers."