𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎

𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚕

David feels alive, finally. Exer's red convertible is roaring down a street, the sun beating down on them above a thrilling chlorine sky while the leather car seats are hot and sticky under their legs. The wind is loud and thick as it blares through them, pressing against David's ears, forcing his mouth open in a wild grin. Exer is beside him, one hand loose on the steering wheel while the other pulls a Coke to his lips, the liquid sloshes and condensation drips from the bottle onto his chin. Exer licks it off.

David shuts his eyes against the burn of the sun, wishing he had brought glasses, but the day is almost over. He throws his arms up, his head hitting the headrest. He lets out a holler, a whoop, and it tangles with the sound of the wind.

Exer speeds up along the long empty street. Edging on David's joy.

David doesn't know where they are going, and he doesn't think Exer does either, but it doesn't matter.

David has felt suffocated and defined to his house for weeks. It feels good to be out, free. It's not like anyone was keeping him there, he just didn't feel like he deserved anything else. No matter what his mind can't help but to trail back to his father. He desperately wishes it wouldn't.

He knows he should tell his mother what happened, or Brenda at least, but he can't find the courage.

What would they think? He would ask himself.

How would they treat me knowing that something was so wrong with me that my own father practically tried to beat it out of me?

It's an endless loop and David wants to get out.

Fuck I'm a mess, he thinks, but he can't find the energy in him to care anymore.

This is good, he has to remind himself. This feels good.

Exer turns to him, dark eyes and tanned cheeks rising with his smile—a boy of solidarity and earth.

"So where are we going?" David shouts, Exer's fingers slip lower on the wheel, the sun is painting him brilliantly and the deep green of his shirt reflects in the rearview mirror, slanting across his chin.

"Dunno," he says, words sloshing together, "any ideas?"

David scoffs and Exer's shoulder slump sheepishly.

"You invite me on a drive and don't even have a destination? Wow," David drags out the last word. Exer laughs.

"It's a drive! That's what we do, we drive,"

David shakes his head back and forth, jokingly, watching Exer's face beam with an idea. He stops the car right in the center of the street, shifts it into reverse, and revs backward, turning around. David's body jolts forward as he clutches the edge of his seat. He turns to him, wide-eyed.

"It's a mystery to me how you even have a license," he says.

"Fuck off," Exer yells over the sound of the engine, a ghost of a smile coating his lips.

"So you have a plan now?" He asks and Exer hums a response.

He waits.

"Would you like to inform me? Or was it always your plan to kidnap me and take me to an undisclosed location?"

"Definitely the latter,"

David rolls his eyes, running the soft pads of his fingers along the worn stitches beneath him, he fiddles with a bit of fray.

"The lake," Exer says finally. David scrunches his face and begins a retort,

"But we always go to the-"