The Off Track
By Aoi Umi
Author's Notes: Yippee, it's Chapter 3. :B This one is a bit longer than the first two. But if I said the last chapter contained fluff, this one is probably worse. Don't worry; I promise there will be more of a plot...eventually. n.n;;
Disclaimer: I didn't write the song used in this chapter. It is "Doin' Fine" from Jewel (Kilcher)'s CD 0304.
Chapter 3: "The Open Road"
Wow, the sky is so blue! And it's so open! I can't see a single building!" These were words that would come to nearly anyone upon first seeing the plains of Midwestern America. And then that would be it. For anyone but Shuichi.
Shuichi craned his neck back and forth to take in as much as he could of – well, what most people would call a whole lot of nothing. Somehow, Shuichi had managed to be impressed for an entire hour already. "There really is a lot of corn and stuff here! Ne, Yuki, do you think we'll see a cow?"
"Probably," grunted Yuki in response. It was actually rather amazing that they had gone a whole hour without seeing one. But Yuki was paying attention to the road, and Shuichi had probably been unable to settle his gaze anywhere long enough to spot one.
"I think I like America, don't you?"
Yuki shrugged. This area of America was so different from the area in which he had lived several years ago. Midwestern America and New York City may as well have been different countries. One smelled of smog and the other of farm animals. Well, not in that respective order. Farm implements were widespread and didn't collectively produce enough pollution to create smog, and while people in NYC generally lived like sardines, they showered often enough to dispel any odor as rancorous as a pig's. Still...this area was admittedly more aesthetically pleasing. But once you've seen a glimpse of it, you've seen all of it, really.
Neither of them spoke for a moment. Out of the corner of his eye, Yuki noticed a genuinely excited grin plastered across his young lover's face. He didn't understand…the reason for Shuichi's natural penchant for happiness always completely eluded the jaded novelist. While such an unrealistically resilient positive attitude should have been aggravating to anyone as cynical as himself, for some reason…it wasn't. Not right now, at least. Although he continued to stare expressionlessly at the road in front of him, inside he felt a sweet, irrational contentment – much to his displeasure.
Damn that Shuichi. It must be him, because I sure as hell am not happy about this fucking ugly car I'm driving...
He remembered how Shuichi had fallen in love with the sparkly lavender convertible at the car rental place. WHY, dear lord, had he given in so easily? It must have been that goddamn happy smile. Lately, for some reason, Yuki had been unable to take away anything that made his boyfriend smile like that.
"Ne, Yuki, where are we going?"
"Hm?" Yuki was brought back to reality. "I don't know. North."
"Well, you're the one driving."
"This is your stupid vacation, remember? You tell me where we're going."
"Uh…how about there?" he pointed to a sign for one of those roadside oddity stops. This one claimed to house a live four-headed rat (whose lovely photograph adorned the sign) as well as a functional footbridge composed entirely of rubber bands and paper clips.
Yuki squinted his eyes in disgust. This was something for which he most definitely had no qualms about saying "no." And so he did, vehemently.
"Aww, Yuki, you're no fun."
"If that is how you define 'fun,' good luck finding anyone who is fun, kid."
Shuichi thought for a moment. "I bet Sakuma-san would think it's fun."
"Then you should have dragged his ass halfway around the world to pay good money to look at deformed vermin, instead of mine."
Shuichi pouted. "Yukiii...You know that yours is the only one I love enough for that." He winked.
Yuki lowered his eyes and curled his lip in repulse. "Oh, pardon me; I guess I should be flattered."
"Yup!"
Shuichi rolled down the window and felt the clean, enticing wind on his face. It smelled wonderful compared to the air in Tokyo. He couldn't resist – he had to stick his head out there.
As he was met with the unexpected force, he stiffened his neck and clamped his eyes shut tightly. This was something he had never experienced in all of his nineteen years. And it felt great!
When he finally returned to his seat and sat back grinning, the first thing he was greeted with was…laughter? Okay, it was more like sniggering, but was Shuichi hearing what he thought he was hearing? Yuki was laughing! Shuichi's smile was replaced by a gape of awe as he stared. He leaned over to examine this man who couldn't be his Yuki. As he did so, he caught sight of himself in the rearview mirror.
"Eep!" Was that himself? On his head was a veritable tornado of pink that bore little resemblance to his normally shiny, pretty hair. He pouted in embarrassment as he scrambled to flatten it with his hands. He reached down to dig for a comb in the bag at his feet. In the process, he accidentally bumped the button to fold down the car's top.
Immediately, his hair was again subjected to the swirling 60-mph wind, but Shuichi grinned as he decided that resistance was going to be futile. Surrendering would be fun. Now Yuki would get a new hairdo, too, whether he liked it or not. "Hee hee."
A song came on the radio and Shuichi broke out into laughter. He laughed at himself, at his lover, at the wind and at the car, at the cows he was now glimpsing, and at everything. Nothing could bring him down right now.
We are what everyone wants to be
We are young
And carefree
Life's a breeze for people like you and me
Now the top of the convertible was all the way down. The wind was not as welcome in Yuki's face as it was in Shuichi's. Keeping his eyes open to see the road proved difficult, and he fumbled for the convertible top button. He had nearly located it, but before he could push it, a smaller hand clasped his wrist and held it back. The hand's owner stared imploringly up at him…then grinned and reached up to teasingly run his hands through the sandy yellow hair that was already whipping furiously in the wind.
If you look
Life lays out just like a road
Shuichi fell back into his seat and then leaned forward, supported by his hands, which were gripping the edge of the seat between his knees. He couldn't see a thing, but just absorbing the warm sunshine and inhaling the sweet, fresh air was enough. It didn't matter that the wild wind was in actuality an illusion created because he was sitting in a moving vehicle. Leaning into it like this, he felt dangerous, like he was defying the will of the very elements by opposing it.
It's for us to grab ahold
There's no one that can tell us no
In fact, now he was feeling downright mischievous. He put on a fake shy face and tapped Yuki on the shoulder. Yuki turned and looked, but Shuichi's "cute" face failed to get a smile out of him. All he got was a "What?"
Damn, thought Shuichi. Well, desperate times call for the most fun of all measures. He snickered to himself. Like a spring, he bounced up in the blink of an eye, threw his arms about Yuki's neck, and implemented a well-placed nip in the ear.
Yuki's eyes grew wide as a chill shot through his arms and nearly caused him to swerve off the highway. "Holy freaking SHIT, Shuichi!! I'm DRIVING! What the hell do you think you're doing??"
Shuichi, hanging on his lover's shoulder, refused to let go. "Kiss me," he demanded.
"I said, 'I'm DRIVING.'"
"I said, 'Kiss me.'"
"I. Am. Driving. As in, looking at the ROAD and not your FACE, so that I might steer this goddamn ugly car in such a way that it will not go off the road and lead to both of our deaths!"
"You're really funny, you know that? Yep, you're my Yuki alright."
"I'm serious."
"Me, too."
"Oh, that was bad, Shuichi. I hope you never write a song lyric that corny."
"I won't write any songs until you kiss me."
"See if I care. The world'll be better off that way."
"And I won't get off, either."
Yuki sighed. "Fine. If I kiss you, will you quietly sit back down and get off of me so I can drive?"
Shuichi considered this. "Hmm…I can't promise the 'quietly' part. But—" His sentence was cut off as Yuki's sweet lips met his. "—Mmmn."
Stars glittered in the young man's eyes as he released his arms from Yuki's neck in slow motion and fell back into his seat. "Eeeyaaaa!" he screamed to the wind. "I am such a lucky guy," he sighed as he sunk down into the seat and closed his eyes in contentment.
So come on baby
Let's just have fun
Let's breathe stardust into our lungs
Let's drive too fast
Let's go too far
When our hearts bleed it lets us know we are—alive
And that we are—doin' fine
Shuichi slowly opened his eyes and gazed on his lover's face. Yuki looked so wild and beautiful and in control, driving in the golden sunlight. He could have watched the wind's interplay on that shiny flaxen hair for hours – flat then swirled, wild yet oh-so-sexily delicate – but his stomach reminded him that he was hungry. He dug around in his pile of stuff until he located a bag of American potato chips. Tearing it open, he shoved one into his mouth and then offered the bag to Yuki.
Yuki obliged, realizing that he was a little hungry. Crunching down on a thin, delectably salty chip, he had to admit that the warm sunshine was pleasant and the air felt good. He even smiled a little at Shuichi in spite of himself. What was it that was so bad about road trips, after all?
"Yuki…" Shuichi looked up at him bashfully. "Um, I have to pee."
Yuki shook his head at the irony. "Well…let me know if you see some place to stop."
Shuichi nodded and focused anxiously on the road. It didn't help that he wasn't exactly able to read the road signs. Well, he wouldn't have been able to read the signs, had there been any to read. It seemed that he and Yuki were utterly in the middle of nowhere. He whimpered.
Yuki rolled his eyes. "Why didn't you say something earlier?"
"I didn't…notice. I was too busy looking at you and…um…" his face flushed and he looked away.
An appalled yet amused little smile appeared on Yuki's face. "That was only a tiny little kiss."
"A-ah, well, um…" Shuichi twiddled his fingers in front of his chin, which was resting on his knees. "You know, I can't remember the last time we even made out…it must have been like a week ago…"
"Poor baby." Yuki offered little to no outward sympathy. Had it really been that long, though? He was going to have to do something about that. When he really got into it, that kid could be one surprisingly damn good kisser.
And...that must mean that they had gone even longer without sex. He couldn't remember the last time he had gone so long without sex. He supposed it was because they had each been so busy with work lately. Not because Shuichi had been mad at him for being a jerk or anything. And not that he really missed the sex with Shuichi all that much anyway. But still, it would be nice.
Yuki exited the highway, but unfortunately there was absolutely nothing there. He drove for a few minutes on a smaller road into a lightly forested area, then pulled over and stopped the car.
"Thanks, Yuki." Shuichi hurriedly opened the door and ran into the bushes to relieve himself.
Yuki seized the bag of chips and opened his own door. He stepped out, slammed it shut again, and leaned casually against the side of the shiny purple abomination, facing the road. Another potato chip found its way to his mouth. Damn, those things tasted good.
He reached back into the car to grab his glasses and placed them pensively on his face. While following the moving patches of light and shadow on the road with his eyes, he tried to focus his thoughts on that novel he was working on. That accursed piece of absolute bullshit. He'd never felt such enmity toward his own work before. Maybe I should just scrap it and start over...
WHUMP. Yuki staggered forward and nearly gagged on a potato chip. Glomping onto his back, legs wrapped around his middle, was that fantastically clingy baby animal, Shuichi. He recovered from the affectionate blow and leaned back against the car in such a way that Shuichi was now sitting upon the windowless door, but still stubbornly attached to his back.
Shuichi, his arms wrapped tightly about his lover's neck and shoulders, reached down into the bag of potato chips.
"I hope you washed your hands," said Yuki.
"That's not very funny," Shuichi mumbled, and then loudly crunched the potato chip right next to Yuki's ear.
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch. Crunch. How irritating. Yuki closed his eyes and gritted his teeth a little. "Shut up."
"Make me."
Yuki raised an eyebrow. "Okay." He turned halfway around and made like he was going to kiss Shuichi – but at the last minute, he pushed the poor, expectant boy off of him and down into the back seat of the car.
Shuichi's arms were now folded in front of him like a puppy's. He didn't move a muscle, save for the ones he used for swallowing the chip. "You're so mean to me."
Yuki didn't reply for a moment. Suddenly he leaned over into the car and roughly shoved his hands onto the seat on either side of Shuichi. His face was now inches above Shuichi's. "When have I ever been mean to you...?" he asked quietly...and rather a little dangerously. He closed his cool eyes and brought his lips to Shuichi's for real.
"Mmmnn...Yuki." Shuichi's face heated and his heart throbbed as he welcomed the familiar feeling of deep pleasure. He thought he felt Yuki's hand brushing some strands of pink hair out of his eyes, but because he was so dizzy, it was difficult to tell for sure. And the potato chip salt he was tasting could have been from either mouth. This was truly a kiss worth getting excited about.
Yuki turned his head a little and leaned in deeper at another angle. Shuichi responded passionately. Oh, what a blissful heaven enveloped the young man.
A sound met his ear. He stopped.
Yuki was annoyed. He withdrew his lips about two inches and asked, "What?"
"I think a car is coming."
"I don't care." He proceeded to lean back in again, but Shuichi stopped him.
"But...It's gonna run over your glasses."
"What??" Yuki turned around and noticed that his glasses were, indeed, lying on the pavement. "Oh, shit!" He quickly reached into the road and seized them before the car arrived.
He breathed a sigh of relief. The car sped off into the distance. Wait a minute, he thought. He couldn't even recall having put on his glasses. He shrugged and supposed it was an unconscious habit of his to wear them whenever he was thinking, particularly about work.
Shuichi sat up and gripped the door. "They fell off when I jumped on you," he offered in explanation.
"Well why the fuck didn't you tell me sooner??" Yuki snapped.
"I'm sorry," he conceded. "I...I..." His delicate hand hovered near the glasses, which were in Yuki's grip at his side. Shuichi playfully snatched them and leapt out of the vehicle. He ran into the leafy area at the side of the road.
"Hmph," said Yuki. "Don't think I'm going to chase you or something, if that's what you want." He knew that Shuichi would give up this childishness and return the glasses soon enough anyway.
"Fine, then. Just drive away, and leave me here," Shuichi pouted melodramatically. "But don't forget to kiss me goodbye first."
Yuki rolled his eyes. Why must that impudent pop-singer be so difficult? He humored him and walked over to the spot where Shuichi was standing. He crossed his arms and appeared disinterested. "So, can we get this over with, then? Where would you like to receive this goodbye kiss?"
Shuichi about-faced and pointed to his bottom. "Ri-ight-he-re!" he sang as he winked and stuck out his tongue. He ran.
Yuki sternly stalked after him with the full intention of grabbing him by the shirt collar and dragging him back into the car. His pace gradually gained speed, his walk turned to a run, and, without meaning to, he found himself in a full-blown chase.
Shuichi laughed. He continued to run for a minute and left the trees behind him as he entered a grassy area. His bare ankles brushed the dandelions as he climbed a small hill, still at a run. Yuki was gaining on him. He had an idea.
When he reached the top, he suddenly froze. The pursuer had no time to react, and his momentum carried him into his quarry. The two bodies fell to the ground and rolled over a few times down the slope on the far side of the hill.
They blinked and were dizzily greeted by fluffy clouds in a bright blue sky. This was all too much for Shuichi. He giggled as he flopped over and elbowed his way through the grass until he reached Yuki's side. Yuki turned his head in acknowledgement and said, "You are such a loser, you know that?"
He made no move to get up, however.
Shuichi just grinned and nodded happily.
We lay down
Look at the sky
From upside down
There's nobody we have to be
Let's live fast and see where it leads
--------------------
The summer sun shone on for hours and Shuichi's blue eyes continued to sparkle. Boredom was not an issue for him; as it was, there was quite a lot of fun to be had in riding shotgun in a cute purple convertible bound for nowhere.
He frequently found entertainment in annoying Yuki, or eating salty snacks, which led to his drinking soda, which led to a lot of bathroom breaks at gas stations, which led to the purchasing of more snacks and to Yuki's general annoyance anyway.
He was sure that Yuki was only outwardly annoyed, though. He knew him well enough to sense that the guy really was enjoying himself on some level.
Yuki turned his head expressionlessly and caught a glimpse of Shuichi's face. "Have you stopped smiling at all today?," he criticized. "You are seriously creeping me out."
"Why should I stop smiling?" said Shuichi. "I'm happy." He grinned more widely just to be irritating.
So come on baby
Let's just have fun
Let's breathe stardust into our lungs
Let's drive too fast
Let's go too far
When our hearts bleed it lets us know we are – alive
And that we are – doin' fine
----------------
"So, really, where are we going?" asked Yuki when the green and gold hills turned to orange and crimson in the waning sunlight. "I can't keep driving all night, you know."
No response.
Shuichi was curled up in the seat beside him, slumbering peacefully. Yuki wanted to be pissed off, since he had been driving all day and should be the one to deserve sleep, but he really couldn't blame Shuichi. Their sleep had been irregular in the past day and a half or so, taken mostly on flights. Last night had been spent in uncomfortable chairs in the airport, since the night was already halfway over by the time they'd finished eating.
Yuki was used to pulling days without sleep to meet deadlines, but for Shuichi, it was a different story. Without sleep, Shuichi would either lose control of his hypersensitive psycho streak, or totally O.D. on caffeine, or both.
Yes, it was sometimes best to let a sleeping Shuichi lie. Except, of course, when it was decided that he looked like he could really use some special midnight lovin'. Heh.
At any rate, Yuki supposed this meant that he had authorization to choose a place to spend the night. Damn. Not that he wanted it. He had no idea what to do.
A motel would seemingly have been easiest...but as fate would have it, the first option presented to him was a forest campground. Good, this will save a couple of bucks, and the extra effort, he thought. And I suppose Shuichi will like it anyway, he added, although this thought was secondary.
He chose and paid for a very secluded camp site in a section far removed from the highly populated RV area. He pulled in and rolled up the windows most of the way. As he was about to fold up the top, Shuichi stirred in the seat next to him.
The young man yawned. It was now dark outside and he couldn't take in his surroundings no matter how much he strained his eyes. "Yuki?"
"What?"
"Where...where are we?"
"America, remember?"
Shuichi scowled. "I'm not...that stupid."
"How about, 'All alone in the dark in a purple car parked deep in the woods overlooking a lake'?," he tried. "Would you like that?"
Shuichi liked – in fact, loved – where this was going, but he tried not to act too excited, lest Yuki should change his mind. Yuki was always at his best when he thought he was in control. "Um...maybe." Shuichi blushed, but it went unnoticed in the darkness. "I mean, yeah. I think so. Yeah. I mean..."
"Shut up." The taller man, who had been meanwhile untying his shoes, gently brushed his fingers under his boyfriend's delicate chin and brought his face up to meet him halfway.
Oh, kami-sama. Shuichi rolled his eyes back and closed them softly. He felt like dying then and there. With this kiss, veiled in darkness, everything he had felt burning in him earlier was returning a hundredfold. This kiss held a promise; he could feel that this was only a precursor to fabulous things yet to come.
He broke away for a breath. The two lovers breathed heavily as they stared at one another for a few seconds.
Shuichi broke the gaze and scurried into the backseat.
Yuki was off-put a little. "What...are you still mad at me?"
"Mad...?"
"...You haven't come into my room for...several nights."
"Oh. Well, you were being a jerk," he stated bluntly.
"I'm always a jerk."
"Yeah. But you came, didn't you? Even though you're still being a jerk about it. But you're my 'ultra-special, super-sexy, lovely-delicious' jerk, so I forgive you." Here, his affluent adjectives were spoken in English.
"Oh, so the only English words in your vocabulary are words that describe my ungodly sexiness, hm?" Yuki worked his way through the gap in the front seats and advanced on Shuichi. "Perhaps I can live with that." He silkily wrapped his arms around his lover and nuzzled the side of his face and neck.
Shuichi shuddered. God, this guy knew how to turn him on. "I'm not mad," he murmured. "I came back here because...there's more...roo-m—mmmmmmn..."
Let's get lost
In love like wine
Let kisses quench
This thirst of mine
"Yuki." Shuichi moaned. His toes curled in his sandaled feet. He passionately reciprocated the kiss and he felt dizzy as his body fell with a 'thwump' into the corner where the seat met the door. Again and again the two lovers locked mouths, each time more deeply than the last.
Between kisses, Shuichi glimpsed a few wispy clouds in the azure-black sky beyond the dark blur of Yuki's face. His view was obstructed, however, when the convertible top folded overhead. Yuki, without missing a beat, had reached a socked foot into the front seat and lightly kicked the button.
Shuichi took this as an encouraging sign and extended his heretofore limp arms to grapple with the top button on Yuki's shirt. As he worked his way down the row of buttons, Yuki responded by placing a large hand on the skin beneath Shuichi's T-shirt. He pushed the cloth up to Shuichi's armpits, then waited for Shuichi to finish with the buttons before proceeding to pull it over his head.
He noticed that Shuichi had not combed his hair all day long. Now there was something very sexy in that wild and primeval windblown look, which before had looked ridiculous. He fell in a little more until he was basically lying on top of his cute little partner. He ran his hand down Shuichi's bare side and didn't stop when he reached those little denim shorts.
"Yu—kiiiiiiii..."
Let me feel the weight of your skin
Pressing in...
A/N: Oohh, I'm so awful. I made them do it in a rental car, eww. . This kind of turned a bit more limey than I meant for it to. ...Aw, hell, who am I kidding; of course I was planning that. Tee-hee.
Another note: I don't really know much about convertibles, but I suspect it's not a good idea to let down the top in 60-mph wind. But please do pretend this isn't an issue for the sake of this fic. This is fiction, so of course it won't rip and blow off or something, right? Ha ha, I should have made that happen. LOL j/k.
I hope you are enjoying the fic! Whether you are or not, please review and let me know what you think. :3