The Long Way Home

Just Drive

                    March 17th, 2016
   The sun slowly crept over the ocean residing Santa Monica and the tide was in. Adam and Claire were in the front as Ryan was laying in the back, half asleep.  The 1975's track, "lostmyhead" played through the speakers in the car as they began to go down the interstate with the windows down. The cool chill of the morning air flowed through the car and surprisingly Ryan was happy and peaceful for the first time in a while.
   Ryan slowly drifted off to sleep as Matty sung "The Ballad Of Me And My Brain". Adam and Claire stayed silent because they knew that Ryan was asleep due to the snoring. After an hour on the road the sun was high up in the sky so Adam decided to stop at a rest area to eat breakfast that they had packed in the trunk and to use the bathroom. Ryan was wearing a 'The Wonder Years' t-shirt but it wore a drool stain from the snoring.
   "Hey man, wake up." Adam reached into the back seat and shook on Ryan's knee. Ryan shot up scared and hit his head on the roof of the car.
   "Yeah, yeah, i'm awake!" Ryan yelled in pain as he climbed out of the car. Standing in front of him was Claire Whitman, she had bright blonde hair and looked very odd.she stood at 5'4" and had a bright smile.
   "So you're the Ryan that Adam hasn't shut up about lately?" Claire asked smiling as Adam looked for a bag of chips in the trunk.
   "Well, I would say that's me, but i'm not sure how many Ryan's Adam speaks to." Ryan laughed and looked down at his hand, to keep his eyes off Claire, who was really attractive to him.
   "Hey Ryan, can you come help me?" Adam asked from the trunk, as he struggled to pull out Claire's suitcase.
   "Yeah, no problem." Ryan rushed over to help and pulled the suitcase out in no time. The food was under Claire's suitcase, they only had three packs of double stuffed Oreo's and twenty-so bags of chips.
    "Do you want anything out of here to eat?" Adam looked up to Ryan and Claire, who both shook their heads no.
   "Fine, that's okay." Adam smiled and closed the trunk, "Does anyone need to use the bathroom?" He asked while climbing back into the driver's seat. 
   "No, but i need to smoke." Ryan smiled softly and leaned against the car, pulling the cigarette box out of his left pocket. He pulled out one from the box and stuck it between his lips and that's when Adam climbed back out of the car.
   "You ever wonder why the fuck we are even here, why we are even breathing?" Ryan asked, lighting the cigarette.
   "I don't know, but you're here because you've helped me get by. You're my friend. We either live our lives one day a time, regretting it, or we can live our life, as if every second could be our last and we give it all we have until-"
   "Until we give out." Claire interrupted from the other side of the car, "Come On boys, let's get out of here." Claire smiled and climbed back in.
   "Yeah, Adam. Just drive." Ryan smiled as Adam cranked up the car.
   Adam was driving and in the cd player was Blink-182's self titled album. Claire was watching the world pass by at seventy five miles an hour and Ryan was just, well, Ryan. He sat there and he was content with the silence between the three until Claire bursted out, "So Ryan, where are you from?"
    "Well, i was born in uh-Denver, but i moved out to Santa Monica when i was like, seven months. My father passed away and mom needed a change."
   "And your mom..? Is she doing okay?" Claire looked worried, as if she struck a nerve.
   "My mom..passed away. The pills took her from me." Ryan still choked on those very words.
    "and you were there but you couldn't help..?" Claire asked as she climbed in the back with him.
    "I left her there, alone. That i left her alone, for not even two hours and i came back. She was...gone." Ryan began to tear up so he wrapped his arms around Claire.
   "It's okay, everything is okay. I'm right here." Claire rubbed Ryan's back as he wept on her shoulder and after so long, the sun went down and Adam drove through the desert with the sky full of many stars. Ryan fell asleep on Claire as she held him close, not letting go, ever.