The sun had set quite a while ago, now only the luminescent moon, the occasional streetlight and the headlights on Ryan's car lit up their surroundings. Ryan had continued to drive along the almost desolate road as the fiery reds and oranges of the sunset slowly graduated into darkening purples and, finally, the blackened navy of the night sky.
Gavin had admittedly found himself rather distracted as he stared out the window at the sunset for the half an hour it took to set. When he returned his attentions to the inside of the car, the first thing he did was check the LED clock which read '22:37' in red letters.
"Ryan," Gavin raked a hand through his mussed up hair as he turned to glance over at Ryan.
The gentle purr of the engine did nothing to mask Ryan's exasperated sigh. "If you ask me if we're nearly there yet then I'm gonna kick you out and make you walk."
Gavin shifted ashamedly in his seat – sure he'd asked Ryan a couple of times if they were almost there, but now he'd forgotten what time they got in the car and he had no idea where they were. They were in the middle of nowhere with no landmarks or road signs nearby and Gavin had been distracted for the past half an hour.
After a few seconds of silence, Ryan relented. "We're about two hours from New Orleans."
"Good," Gavin hummed his approval, watching Ryan's fingers as he absently tapped them against the steering wheel. "I just wanna be there. None of this faffing around in the car business."
"Hey, it wasn't my idea to drive to the convention instead of getting a flight." Ryan explained almost defensively; he'd been driving for about six hours and they had only taken two breaks during that. One short bathroom break (as requested by Gavin) an hour after they'd started their road trip and another longer break for lunch. Overall, it had actually been a rather entertaining trip... But the two of them were gradually getting more and more lethargic as time wore on.
"Yeah, yeah, it was Geoff's idea, I know." Gavin responded in a dry tone which prompted Ryan to smirk when he saw straight through Gavin's fake annoyance.
"Not entirely a bad one, though." Ryan added, taking his eyes off the road for a few seconds to smile at Gavin before relapsing back into silence. They didn't even have the radio on: Gavin had turned that off almost the instant he jumped into the passenger seat. He didn't like background noise when on a long car journey. He always found it relaxing to listen to nothing but the faint purr of the engine and the other natural, calming sounds of the car. It was almost like a gift when it rained on these types of car journey but he hadn't been blessed with it just yet on this one.
Gavin wasn't entirely sure why he loved car journeys so much. Maybe it was how hours could pass and he wouldn't have even noticed, or maybe it plus the rain reminded him of England and how he'd enjoy watching the droplets of water trickle down the window, the shining green of the wet trees shimmering slightly in the dim light passing through the grey clouds in the sky.
Either way, he didn't care. Instead of justifying his choices of what little pleasures he found enjoyable, Gavin decided to stare out the window and watch as the blanket of thin clouds slowly began to drift away, revealing the tiny pinpricks of stars in the darkness of the night sky.
Only when Gavin heard Ryan chuckle softly did he tear his gaze away from the window to see what his driver was so entertained by. He was almost surprised to see that Ryan had been staring at him; Gavin raised an eyebrow curiously and awaited Ryan's explanation.
Ryan simply smiled and shook his head, forcing himself to look away from Gavin and actually focus on driving. However, he only managed a few seconds of silence and biting his lip to keep himself from grinning before he caved.
"You like the scenery, huh?" He asked, a certain hint of fondness in his voice. It was a tone Ryan used often; mostly around Gavin. It was a soft tone that made Gavin feel at home, no matter where he was. Long ago had Gavin fallen in love with that voice, along with its owner.
Gavin returned the smile with one of his own, and he admired how the light from the dashboard illuminated Ryan's face with a gentle blue glow, bringing out the sharpness of the blue in his eyes.
"Yeah," Gavin almost sniggered at how wistful his answer had sounded, but Ryan seemed to like it; he had that enamoured smirk back on his face even though he was trying his hardest to keep his attentions on the otherwise deserted road ahead of him instead of staring adoringly at Gavin. It was certainly a look Gavin liked on Ryan - it always reminded him how goddamn lucky he was.
Actually, now that he thought about it, Gavin felt like he genuinely was the luckiest person on the planet. Well, by his standards anyway. He worked at RoosterTeeth, he was literally on his way to a gaming convention right now, he'd made some of the best friends he could even wish for, he was currently on one of the best road trips ever… of all time. And, to top it all off, he got to spend it all with Ryan; the man who meant so much to Gavin that he couldn't even express it with words, just like a lot of things Gavin loved unconditionally.
As he found himself staring out the front window again, Gavin couldn't help but smile to himself whilst admiring both the enthralling view of the scenery whizzing past them, and the equally mesmerising sight that was Ryan Haywood.