A/N: We do not own Twilight…unfortunately. Or anything from Flo Rida.
Thank you for all the people who put this on alert! We love you!
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BPOV
"God Alice, do you really need this much luggage? I thought you shipped all your shit to New York already." My boyfriend complained and he shoved the last of Alice's luggage into the trunk. I have no idea how he fit everything in and we still hadn't picked up Quil.
Alice stood on the sidewalk with her hands on her tiny hips, foot tapping impatiently. "I have to be prepared for any type of weather and we are crossing about 10 states, fashion is different in each state, Jake."
Jake rolled his eyes. I smiled sadly, as I watched them from my porch, realizing this would be one of the last times that I would hear these two bickering over nothing.
A set of arms wrapped themselves around my shoulders. "You okay, sweetie?" my dad asked quietly.
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. I could feel the tears starting to well up and I promised myself that I wasn't going to cry. Damn tears. My mother picked that moment to come barreling out of the house.
"Do you have everything? Directions? Clothes? Food? Gas? Jake, did you get your car checked out? Bella,--are you crying?" she stopped in front of me, her eyes frantically searching mine.
I shook my head, biting my lower lip. "No, the suns just bright. Hurts my eyes."
She stared at me for a minute longer then shrugged, turning away to go question Jake some more. I felt my dad kiss the top of my head.
"Bells!" Jake yelled impatiently, walking quickly towards me to escape my mother. "Let's go! I told Quil we would be there an hour ago. Alice, get in the car!"
Alice gave me a questioning look and climbed into the back. Jake was not a morning person, add my mother to the mix and he was Mr. Sunshine. It had been his idea to leave at 6 am. I turned slowly towards my dad as he pulled me into a giant hug.
"Please be safe. I'm going to worry this whole time, you know that, right?" he asked softly.
"I know. I promise to call every night when we stop."
"You better." I heard as my mother walked up behind me. "And don't think I won't be listening to see if you're really sharing a room with Jake instead of Alice. I was young once, too, you know."
My mouth dropped open, "Mom! That's---how---I---" I had no idea what to say. Luckily she didn't press further; instead she grabbed me and pulled me to her in death grip. "Remember, stick to the main highways, don't stop at those motels that don't have all the letters lit up, and please don't pick up hitchhikers."
I laughed, "As if they would want to share the backseat with Alice and Quil."
"I heard that!" Alice shouted from the car.
As we broke from the hug my mom didn't pull completely away from me, instead she held me at an arms distance and stared intently into my eyes. So many emotions fluttered through her eyes that I couldn't grasp just one. I wanted to say something, anything, but I didn't know what. As I opened my mouth to hopefully say something clever, she removed one hand from me and pulled something out of her pocket. She stared at the small box that she now held handing it to me. I slowly took it from her, giving her a questioning look. She just smiled. With shaking hands I opened the top of the box and gasped.
"It's been in the family for centuries, my mother gave it to me, her mother gave it to her…" She took a deep breath. "And now I'm passing it down to you."
Very carefully I removed the necklace from the box laying it across my palm. It would be just like me to drop it. I stared down at the glass crystal; it was a beautiful shade of topaz and when the light hit it just right you could make out what looked like some sort of crest that was melded into the back. The crystal itself was encased in a bronze-like finish that matched the chain.
"Mom, it's beautiful." She beamed as she carefully lifted the chain off my hand and clasped it around my neck. I felt a slight tingle when the crystal touched my bare skin but then nothing. I chalked it up to nerves.
Jake put a hand on my shoulder, "We really need to go."
I nodded. The goodbyes to my parents were relatively quick since I'm pretty sure they had said all they needed to say the week leading up to today. As I was hugging my mother I couldn't help but feel like something changed, like there was a weight that hadn't been there before and no, it wasn't the necklace. When Jake pulled away from the curb I allowed myself one more glance back at my home capturing the picture of my parents standing with their arms around one another. I leaned back against the seat and closed my eyes.
"Hey, if I can't sleep, neither can you." Jake nudged me.
The corner of my mouth turned up slightly. "You're driving." I said without opening my eyes. I swear I could hear when he rolled his eyes. Something brushed against my throat causing me to jump. My eyes shot open and a set of brown eyes were staring back at me.
"God Alice, give me a heart attack."
She grinned. "What's this?" she asked, fingering the crystal.
I shrugged. "My mom just gave it to me. Apparently it's been in the family for awhile and she decided it was my turn. And before you say anything, I know this necklace doesn't go with my outfit-"
"Necklace?" she cut me off. "Bella, sweetie, you obviously know nothing about jewelry." I shot her a questioning look. "Nothing that old is an ordinary necklace and look at the design. Someone handcrafted that thing, it's like an amulet or something."
"An amulet?" Jake scoffed. "Lay off the Charmed reruns, Alice."
"Shut up, Jake" Alice retorted, throwing herself against the backseat and crossing her arms over her chest.
We pulled up to Quil's house 5 minutes later. He was waiting on the curb with his backpack on his lap. He jumped up quickly when he saw us approach.
"What's up, bitches?" he asked, opening the back door and tossing his backpack at Alice before climbing in.
Alice's nose turned up in disgust as she pushed the backpack away, "Is this all you're bringing?"
"Yeah. It's got everything I need. My iPod, a couple comics, a couple shirts, some socks and my under things. A box of condoms."
I giggled. "Under things?"
Quil leaned forward, "Yes, my dear Bella, under things. See, you and your boy toy Jake here don't need to know what I prefer to enclose my manhood in." he sat back and leaned in closer to Alice. "However, you, my Shawty, can find out anytime you like."
"Eeewww…Bella!" Alice screeched.
"Quil!" Jake and I shouted.
Quil threw his hands up in surrender, "Behave. I know." He winked at Alice before sliding back to his side. "So, who's picking the tunes?"
We all looked at each other. Uh-oh.
****
"Right there! There's a Motel 6! Pull over now!" Alice shouted practically banging on Jake's headrest.
Jake swatted her hand away. "I see it, shit, fucking calm down, Alice."
You knew it was bad when Alice was excited about a Motel 6.
We had been on the road for about 18 hours now. Jake was on mission to set some record for fastest time getting across the country because the only time we stopped was for gas and to grab lunch outside of Reno. 18 hours. 18 hours of fighting over who picked the music. 18 hours of Alice threatening to remove multiple body parts from Quil. 18 hours of Jake yelling at other motorists. I needed out of this car. I loved my friends, but I was ready to kill each one of them.
"Where we at?" Quil asked stretching once we scrambled out of the car.
"Some place called Rock Springs." I answered following Jake into the office.
"Where the fuck is that?" I heard Quil ask.
"Hell if I know." Alice shot back.
We reserved two rooms then spent the next 20 minutes arguing who was staying in what room. Alice refused to share with any of the guys. Quil was at the point where he just wanted a shower and of course Jake was adamant that he stay with me. Truthfully I didn't want to share with Jake. The two of us alone in a motel room, I didn't even want to deal with that. After much grumbling from Jake we finally decided that the rooms would be same sex only. Jake was so pissed at my choice of Alice over him that he didn't even kiss my goodnight.
"Damn, bro, your own boo don't got love for you, that's cold." I heard Quil mutter as they walked into their room. I sighed and followed Alice into ours.
"I thought this was a non-smoking room." Alice said, holding up the corner of her bed sheet to show me an obvious cigarette burn. Ah, the charms of a Motel 6.
I quickly called my parents and after assuring my mom that all the doors and windows were locked, I crawled into bed and was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Knock, knock.
"Ladies, let's go. We're burning daylight here." Jake shouted through the door.
"We are seriously having a talk with them today." Alice grumbled.
An hour later, we were all showered, dressed, and sitting in a corner booth at Denny's.
Alice cleared her throat. "So, we need to lay some ground rules here because I am not getting back in that poor excuse of a car until we do."
Jake set down his fork, "And what exactly do you mean?" he asked annoyed.
"Well, first, slow the fuck down! This isn't NASCAR. I was pretty sure you left half your transmission back in Salt Lake."
Quil laughed choking on his pancake.
"Second, this is the last time that I will be spending a significant amount of time with Bella and I WANT it to be memorable. No more 20 hours of just driving. Meaning we will stop more so that we can enjoy the sights."
"You mean the shops." Jake mumbled as I elbowed him.
Alice pretended not to hear him, "We need to breathe and stretch, Jake. I will NOT be turned into a pretzel in the backseat of your car." She took a deep breath. "And now onto the music."
"Amen, girl. We need to get this under control." Quil agreed. I nodded.
"I propose that we have music shifts. Obviously we all don't have the same musical tastes and this way everyone gets to hear what they want. I say, an hour or two a person? Who's with me?" Alice was practically bouncing in her seat. Man, this girl loved to be in control.
"Fine with me, I can get my flow on easy." Quil responded laying his arm over the back of Alice's chair. She scrunched up her nose but didn't complain. See, progress.
"Sounds good" I answered. We all looked at Jake.
"Fine, but Alice can I request that you rein in the pop songs a little. There are only so many boy bands I can listen to in a row before I want to kill myself."
Alice bit the inside of her cheek, narrowing her eyes. After a moment she smiled, "Agreed."
We spent the rest of breakfast mapping out how much ground we wanted to cover. Thanks to Jakes need for speed we already covered 4 states. Quil was slightly down when he discovered that we wouldn't be eating at Tony Packo's yet, but perked up at the thought of driving through corn fields in Iowa. Who knew?
An hour later we piled back into the car. In an act of kindness, Alice let Jake start the music picks. This seemed to lift his mood as he flitted through his iPod.
"Aha!" He grinned finally picking one. "I think we will all enjoy this one."
He put the car in reverse as the music started. The guitar riffs for "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi played through the speakers. I smiled remembering the hours Alice and I watched the boys play this on Rock Band determined to both get 100%. We all started signing at the top of our lungs as soon as we heard Jon.
I had to hand it to Alice, dividing up the music was genius. The boys still complained when Alice or I played something they considered 'too poppy', but unlike yesterday where it was mean, today it was teasing. Alice and I even caught them singing along to "I Want It That Way". I am pretty sure that we had the most random mix that ever existed. We had Flo Rida, Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, 2Pac, The Shins and many more I can't even begin to remember.
Jake didn't drive 90 and I was able to enjoy the country a little more, it was then that I realized there wasn't much to enjoy. When we crossed into Iowa Quil begged Jake to stop so he could run through a corn field. The crazy part was, Jake did stop and Quil did run through a corn field and he came back slightly cut up from the stalks. Alice taped the whole thing on her camera. The best part of it all was that we laughed.
That night we stayed at a Holiday Inn for Alice. According to her, the Holiday Inn was like the Hilton compared to Motel 6. I shared with Alice again and while I could tell that Jake was disappointed, he didn't say anything this time.
The next morning Quil was practically bounding around the parking lot.
"What is with you?" Alice asked.
"Shawty, today is the day that I finally get to feast on the world's best coney dog."
Alice looked over at me and we both rolled our eyes as we got in the car. Before we left Iowa we made sure to stop at a local Farmer's Market so Quil could buy some corn. When I asked him what his obsession with corn was, all I got was a smile and a, "Bella, Bella, Bella…what person doesn't enjoy the fulfillment of a deliciously prepared ear of corn?"
I was so taken back by his reply that I just stared while Alice and Jake burst out laughing. We stopped for lunch somewhere in Illinois; Quil barely ate anything stating that he was saving room. The most amazing part was that Quil and Alice were starting to actually coexist without too much flirting/hitting. The highlight came when Quil's music pick started.
Shawty had them Apple Bottom Jeans
Boots with the fur
The whole club lookin at her
She hit the floor [She hit the floor]
Next thing you know
Shawty got low low low low low low low low
Alice and I started bouncing in our seats, shouting the chorus at the top of our lungs because it was the only part that we knew. We were even attempting to get 'low' in our seats when the song called for it. The look that Quil gave Alice was pure adoration.
At about 5pm we crossed into Toledo. Quil had his printed map out and was shouting directions to Jake.
"This better be the best damn hot dog ever." Jake whispered to me. I grinned at him.
When we finally saw the sign Quil could barely contain his excitement. He was out of car before Jake fully put it in park.
"We're here!" he shouted into the air. He ran around the car and pulled Alice up into a hug, completely lifting her off the ground. She squealed as he spun her around and then SMACK!
"God damn it, Quil! That was not an invitation to grab my ass!" Alice yelled chasing after him.
Jake rolled his eyes and grabbed my hand as we followed them into the restaurant. I had to admit, the place smelled amazing. We found a booth towards the back while we perused the menu. This place loved hot dogs and cabbage…okay, a slightly weird mix. Alice and I each ordered the Hot Dog Combo #1 which came with a loaded hot dog and salad. Jake ordered the Sausage Platter and Quil ordered the Hot Dog Combo #2 which was pretty much the same as mine except he got a salad and mashed potatoes with his and he ordered an extra hot dog. It was a ton of food and I'm pretty sure that someone was going to have to roll the boys out but it was worth it to see Quil's face when he took that first bite.
"Mm-hmm…better than sex." He moaned. Alice giggled. I shook my head.
"I wouldn't know." Jake mumbled. My head shot up. He wasn't looking at me but down at his food. I don't think that Quil heard him through all his moaning but I saw Alice shoot me a worried look.
Once we were sure that Quil had his fill and got a picture with the cook, we piled back into the car. I was so full from the food that after awhile the soothing feel of the road lulled me into sleep. The last thing I remember seeing was a state sign.
Welcome to Pennsylvania.
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A/N:
There's a link to a picture of Bella's amulet on my profile page.
Tony Packo's is a chain of restaurants in Ohio that was made famous after it was mentioned in M*A*S*H.
Rock Springs is in Wyoming in case you wanted to know.
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