I don't own Night at the Museum

A/N: Apologies for such a late update to this story but I want to thank you for the reviews thus far!

The rest of the car ride had gone in complete silence between Larry and Tess. The only thing that surrounded the car was the light jazz music that the radio played, much to Tess's liking. Larry didn't mind such serene music, even though he enjoyed 60's and 70's music. It was interesting how some teachers preferred their music. Larry didn't want to make any false assumptions, but he wasn't surprised that a teacher who taught 20th century literature had a liking for 20th century jazz.

Are you sure she's not related to Amelia Earhart? Larry found himself thinking once more about the fiery redhead whose love didn't only extend to flying but also to him. Larry peeked over to the women sleeping in the passenger seat and saw how serene she was with the sunlight falling upon her face and shining those angelic features. He found it amazing how after a whole year he was able to keep a relationship to the point where Tess wanted to move with him. After his divorce and the failed attempt with Rebecca, Larry thought that he was not caliber enough to have a third try…but fate had proven him wrong.

Larry felt that he had Amelia to thank for all of this. She had been the one who had pushed him to continue to do what he enjoyed. Then again, Teddy's words had also had an impact on him when arrived back to the museum that night a year ago. Perhaps being with Amelia during that one night had helped him find that 'moxie' that he was looking for within himself and ever since returning to the museum, he couldn't have been anymore happier. As for Tess, even though she wasn't Amelia, she had that upbeat, positive attitude. Then again, she needed to have it If she was teaching a total of sixty students in high school, of all places. Larry had to give her credit for the patience that she had. High school could be tough not only for students but also for the teachers.

Coming upon the streetlights, Larry gently stepped on the breaks and took his hands off the wheel. Keeping his grip on the steering wheel for so long numbed his hands so he messaged them with one another. He turned his eyes back over to Tess and noticed that bruise that was still on her wrist. The bruise was beginning to fade, but it was serving as a reminder on whom Tess was with before she met Larry. The only time that Larry remembered getting jealous was with Don, Erica's second husband, but he never knew that he would feel angrier than he ever did. He wasn't jealous of this 'Tony' character, but he hated the fact that he had hurt Tess.

He reached over and took her hand in his, gently rubbing her knuckles with his thumb.

At his touch, Tess stirred awake as she looked over to him and smiled. "Are we there yet?" she asked him.

"Well, we are in D.C.," Larry said to her. "You just missed a couple of landmarks, but we'll be sure to see them again during the week."

A small yawn escaped Tess's lips as she stretched in the seat. "I can't wait to get out of this car and start walking. I feel like we've been in here forever."

"Tell that to my hands," Larry said as he gripped the steering wheel when the light changed to green.

"Next time," Tess said as she held her index finger in the air and put on that 'teacher tone,' as Larry liked to call it. "I'll be driving us back to New York."

"Don't worry about that," Larry said to her with a slight shake of his head, "I'm sure that after this week, we won't be driving at all."

A smile formed upon Tess's lips. "Well, well, well Mr. Daley," she said as she rose an eyebrow, "I didn't know you had such a lovely schedule planned."

Larry felt a slight heat rise at the back of his neck and a boyish smile formed upon his lips. It was funny how his words could be misinterpreted into something that he didn't mean. "No Tess," he said as he pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to keep from laughing, "I meant from our visit to the museums."

"But of course," she said to him, "what else did you think I meant?"

"I thought you…well…yeah forget it," Larry quickly said and changed the subject before their conversation turned into a tiff.

Surprisingly, Larry was met with Tess's chuckle as she leaned forward and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for doing this, Larry. I think it was a getaway that we both needed."

A smile formed on Larry's lips as he looked over at Tess. She was right. A change of scenery was needed. Since they had been busy with their schedules, and before Tess had decided to move in with him, they had barely gotten the chance to see one another. However, wasn't this trip going to be the same thing? Taking Tess to a place where it was kind of like his job, but he didn't work there? "I hope you don't think that I'm taking you to my job. You know, kind of like 'bring your girlfriend to work' day."

Tess stifled a laugh as she took a sip of the iced coffee that they had gotten after they left New York. "Well, you won't be wearing that night guard outfit, that's for sure," she said. "I like museums Larry. Before I didn't know how much I liked them after I saw those animatronics in the Hall of Miniatures that night we met."

Only they weren't animatronics Larry thought as he took a turn into the parking lot of the Hilton hotel.

"That little cowboy with the Roman legionnaire," a chuckle escaped her lips, "who knew that they would make the animatronics act so real and yet so gallant," she commented as she thought of that night where Jedediah Smith titled his hat to her and Octavius gave a small kiss on her finger in a gentleman-like gesture. "I hope that didn't make you jealous," she then couldn't help but tease Larry.

Larry shut the engine of the car and gave Tess a look. "Oh please. I'm basically 'Gigantor' to them. I'm not at all intimidated."

Tess shook her head at his comment as she got out of the car. He was speaking again like they were real people. They may have been real in the past but Larry acting like these historical figures were living in the present was quite concerning to her. Yet, Tess hadn't said anything to him about her concerns. Why make him worry?

"So when will we go to the Smithsonian?" Tess asked him, "I hope it's not tonight. I was thinking that we can just spend the night together and you must be very exhausted from this long car ride."

Larry had to admit that he was feeling a little tired. The traffic hadn't been as dense as he had thought but there was still a lot of it. "Yeah," Larry said to her. "Why don't we head up to the room and rest a little bit? Then we can go out to dinner."

"I love that idea," Tess agreed with a nod of her head. "Let's go." She took a hold of the luggage with Larry's help as they went ahead and checked into the hotel for the week.