Welcome to my advent gift for my precious readers. I've been thinking long and hard how to say thank you to all of you for your reviews and kudos and overall interest in my creations, so I came up with this little fic. As stated already, I'll update each day sometime in the evening (CET) so if you live in Asia or Australia I apologise for uploading too late. #timedifferences suck
One more thing: I wrote this story in one go and went back over to break it down into chapters. Therefore, you'll find them to be of various lengths. Some are short, some are very short and some are longer. None is as long as my usual chapters. ;-)

This story will be co-published on AO3 and has been proofread and improved by my talented and gorgeous fiancé. Kudos to her for making me not sound stupid. ;-) Love you babe.

Lexa loved her truck. It was a Volvo VNX 630 in midnight blue, her pride and joy. She was an independent contract driver, who worked for all sorts of businesses, ranging from courier and transportation companies to moving firms and production plants. Whatever she could get, she delivered.

Her customer circle grew daily due to satisfied clients and recommendations and Lexa enjoyed her gypsy lifestyle to the fullest. She was happy, free like a bird, just the road and her baby, humming reassuringly and droning reliably.

She used to be a creature of habit, someone who'd needed a plan for the next months, better yet years, but she'd cancelled all her contracts and had purchased the truck in a snap; a snap of her heart which had been broken one too many times. She'd needed to leave, to get far away from her painful, confining and suffocating life as quickly as possible.

She had no one left to return to.

They had all left one way or the other.

She had no static home, her truck was her base.

She breathed in deeply, expanded her lungs to the fullest and slowly released the air back into nature's circle. She was better off without anyone to worry about, to fear for or to miss. A weakness she'd decided to never let be part of her mentality and personality ever again. Who needs love with a beast of a truck and the freedom of just being? She'd travelled from north to south and east to west. She'd seen each state, every state capital and had visited almost every big city in the past two years, since she'd quit her old life, since she'd stopped caring for others, since she'd deleted the old Lexa. It was the definition of freedom in her dictionary.

It was the beginning of December, and her current commission took her back to the South of the country. She'd been excited to visit it again as it had been a while. Plus, Lexa was happy for not having to scrape ice and snow off her truck as temperatures were usually quite mild this time a year.

She used to come here more often in the previous year, but business had kept her up north recently. She loved this region though. Not so much for the religious, narrow-minded older generation, but for the easy-going and hard-working youth; it reflected her. The landscape wasn't hard on the eye either. It had rivers and lakes, mountains and hills, parks and meadows. It was rich in colour and warm in heart. Lexa's soul felt connected in a way she had never experienced anywhere else in the country, but it wasn't enough for her to stay and get back into place-bound labour.

It was early evening and Lexa had stopped at one of the many 'truck dives' along the highway, when her radio crackled and a soft, husky voice filled her cabin.

"Hey drivers out there, stay safe and sound."

Thank you for reading and let me know what you think... right now... or not. Up to you, but I LOVE to hear from you guys.