Falling Slowly

Pt.1|Ch.10

"I prefer the term 'using my power to my advantage by annoying you'."

I rolled my eyes. "Right, there's one way to put it."

"Well, if you really did trust me, maybe you'd believe me when I say that you're going to love this place."

"That all depends on what 'this place' is." I countered, crossing my arms.

He laughed again. "You're so stubborn."

I raised an eyebrow. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No," He shook his head. "No, I don't. I know there's nothing I can do about it anyway."

"Smart man." I ended the conversation with a satisfied hum.

He drove down streets that were all familiar, until he made a left turn, and we left everything behind. The streets' names were foreign to me, and the buildings were strangers.

"Almost there." He said quietly, as if he was speaking half to himself.

I sat back against the seat, letting my eyes lazily pass over the shop fronts and apartments.

We drove by a plaza and a park as well, with a couple people still out and enjoying themselves as the sun slowly slipped below the horizon.

The sidewalk formed a continuous line in front of every building that slid by my view, until it abruptly stopped.

"Wait," I muttered as I sat upright again. I rolled the window down and leaned out to study our surroundings.

I had absolutely no idea where we were.

Ben laughed at my reaction. "Lost?"

"Completely!" I rolled the window back up and turned to him. "Where on earth are you taking me?"

"You'll see, you'll see."

The road turned from pavement to dirt, and a cloud of dust rose up beside the car.

"Maybe don't open any more windows." He suggested, taking a right turn, and taking me farther and farther away from the city lights.

Somehow, though, it was still bright enough to see the fields and occasional farmhouses that were scattered throughout the area.

I crossed my legs and slipped my hands into my jacket pockets, my mind buzzing with anticipation.

I probably would've tried to fish information concerning our whereabouts out of him again, but I was distracted by a familiar piano melody coming from the radio.

I reached my hand out to take hold of the volume knob, in hopes of turning it up, but my hand ran into his.

His bright blue eyes briefly met mine, before he turned his palm upwards and gave me a small nod as if to say 'go ahead'.

I smiled and turned the volume up a couple notches as he returned his hand to the steering wheel.

The music was loud enough for me to hear the singer's voice, but quiet enough for me to hear mine.

"I don't need you to sell me on reasons to want you.
I don't need you to search for the proof that I should.
You don't have to convince me,
You don't have to be scared you're not enough.
'Cause what we've got going is good."

My smile deepened as my lips formed the words to the song that I had come to love so much, my voice casually riding on the melody as it traveled up and down and up and down; like a boat on the gentle waves of the ocean.