Southbound

It's been a week, Tegan and Sara are ready to go to Seattle

Tegan sat in the back of the RV, Sara curled up next to her, as they watched TV. Tegan had no clue what they were watching; her head was still reeling from the news. They were going to record for Chris Walla. She looked around the interior of the RV. It was a nice black and tan combination. A lot of state of the art electronics that Tegan didn't fully understand were seemingly around every corner. A remote that controlled the climate was, confusingly, right next to the TV remote. Earlier she had accidently turned the temperature way down in an attempt to change channels. Sara had laughed at her for not realizing what she was doing. She had blushed and pointed out the fact that the remotes did indeed look similar. Sara said it was an honest mistake but she laughed anyway. Tegan was currently sitting on the most luxurious leather couch she had ever seen. Even though it was only a four hour drive, the extra comfort was definitely appreciated.

Alright, let me explain something real quick. Three days ago:

Tegan's phone rang and she quickly searched through the pockets of last night's jeans.

"Hey Ted, what's up?" She said when she finally found her phone after it fell to the floor.

"Hey Tegan, can you and Sara come over to The Hap?" It was an odd request seeing as the bar wasn't opening for another four hours.

"Um…sure," She agreed and asked, "Do you need help or something?"

"No, I just need to talk to the two of you."

"No problem, I'll go pick up Sara and we'll be there soon."

"Cool, I'll see you in a bit." He hung up and Tegan turned to the lump on her bed.

"Get up Sara." She gently shook her shoulder.

"Hmph…" Sara mumbled into her pillow.

"Ted wants to talk to us down at The Hap." She shook Sara a little harder.

"Fine…" Sara rolled over and gave Tegan a sleepy smile, "Hey there bella." She grinned wider as she said the last word, knowing that Tegan love when she used it.

"Good morning angel." Tegan gave her a quick kiss, "Actually it's just afternoon, so good afternoon angel." She smiled and kissed Sara again, "Now take a quick shower and grab some clothes."

"I don't want to take a shower, I want to sleep." Sara pouted.

"You can't sleep any longer." Tegan pulled her up by her shoulders so she was sitting, "Come on, we need to see what Ted wanted."

"Fine." Sara slowly got out of bed.

Tegan watched her walk toward the bathroom. Taking particular notice of her boy short clad bum and just how hot she looked in a wife beater. She smiled to herself when she realized that it was her girlfriend. Not just some girl to ease the night's pain, but the girl to ease all nights' pains. She sat on her bed and thought about just how lucky she was to find Sara. Sara was perfect for her. They were able to use their own experience in pain to help the other. It was exactly what Tegan needed. It was also the first time anyone she knew could relate to what she had been through. Before long Sara came back out of the bathroom in just a towel. Tegan hadn't even realized she had been staring until Sara chuckled at her.

"Sorry." Tegan apologized out of habit.

"Stop apologizing." Sara laughed again, "It's okay to stare at your girlfriend for Christ's sake!"

"Yeah, you're right." Tegan smiled and continued looking as Sara put on a pair of boxers and her bra.

"Should I wear a t shirt or go with a button up?" Sara asked as she pulled on a pair of dark blue jeans.

"I like button ups." Tegan gave her a slight nod as Sara started looking through all of Tegan's shirts.

"I like this one." Sara held out a dark burgundy shirt, the same one that Tegan had worn for their date.

"I know you do." Tegan smirked as Sara put the shirt on.

Sara smiled at the way she looked in the reflection, "This shirt smells like you."

"It's mine, it should smell like me."

"I know. I'm just saying," Sara shrugged and then smiled, "It smells really good, I might not be able to concentrate while I'm wearing this."

Tegan laughed and grabbed her leather jacket, "Ready?"

"Yeah, let's go."

They drove the short way over to The Hap and saw Ted's car out front. Tegan led Sara to the door, holding her hand the whole way there.

"Hey guys." Ted greeted as Tegan opened the door.

"Hey Ted." They both responded.

"What did you want to talk about?" Tegan asked after sitting down in the booth closest to the door.

"I can come and record this weekend." Ted had a huge smile on his face.

"That's awesome!" Both Tegan and Sara smiled in return.

"And I wanted to make you guys an offer." Tegan knew what he'd be saying. He'd offer to get them something expensive, or put them in a nicer hotel than the one that Chris was willing to pay for.

"What?" She surprised herself when she asked, she hadn't expected to sound irritated.

"Well," He began slowly, "Since you guys don't really have good vehicles for driving to Seattle…"

"It's not a far drive Ted." Tegan was getting a little more irritated at him for insulting her car.

"It's just…I have this car…truck…thing that I never get to use, and I really want to drive it. I'm willing to drive you guys there and back." Tegan had to admit that it didn't really sound like a bad idea.

"What kind of truck is it?" Tegan definitely didn't want to be sitting in the back seat of a pick up truck.

"It's an RV."

"Seriously?" Sara's eyes lit up, "I love RVs! I always wished I could go on long trips in one. But I've never actually gotten to be in one."

Tegan looked over at how excited Sara was and she decided to go with it, "Sounds good Ted."

"Okay, so if you guys can just drive here Thursday night we can pile in the RV and get to Seattle at like three am Friday."

"Sounds great." Tegan smiled at him, "We'll see you Thursday then."

Tegan looked down at Sara sitting next to her on the couch and smiled, "Are you enjoying our RV trip?"

"Yes!" Sara smiled up at her, "It's so incredible. This thing is nicer than my apartment!"

Tegan laughed nervously, "Yeah. Maybe one day we can have something like this for touring."

"If Ted wants to go on tour with us, we can have this." Sara smiled at the thought and looked around the RV.

"Knowing him he's probably give it to us even if he never tours with us."

"Should we ask him about it?"

Tegan couldn't help it, she was sick of it, "No! I don't need handouts, okay? We can get our own bus or RV for tour! We don't need Ted's! Got it?"

She saw the tears form in Sara's eyes, "I'm sorry." Sara stammered out an apology for suggesting they as for it.

"No Sara," Tegan wiped the tear away from her cheek, "I'm sorry. It's not your fault. I just get so sick of this shit sometimes. People always give me things. They give me discounts, free dinners, new guitars, and now this; a trip in an RV that costs twenty times what I've paid for my apartment. Now that I have a chance to get a good income, I don't want any more things for free. I want to pay for the stuff that I want. I don't want people just giving it to me because they think I'm attractive or they feel sorry for me."

"I understand, Tegan." Sara gave her a kiss on the cheek, "I shouldn't have suggested it."

"I'm sorry I raised my voice at you." Tegan looked into Sara's eyes, "Can you forgive me for that?"

"Of course I forgive you." Sara smiled at her and pulled her in by her tie and kissed her. They sat there in that kiss for what felt like hours. Tegan letting her anger and frustration dissolve in the feeling of Sara's lips and tongue.

"Te amo."

Sara smiled and responded, "I love you too."

"Do you want to try and get some sleep?"

"Sure."

Tegan leaned back into the corner of the couch and motioned for Sara to sit between her legs and lean back on her. Sara did and pulled a blanket over both of them. Tegan smiled as she felt Sara's breathing slow to a steady pace, she had fallen asleep after only a few minutes. Tegan couldn't sleep though. She had too many thoughts running around in her head. She tried her hardest to block out the bad ones, but it was too hard.

-"Get out of bed Tegan." She heard her dad shouting from the hallway, "You're so goddamn lazy!" He was pounding on her door. She didn't want him to come in so she hastily got up and responded to him.

"I'm up. I'm up!" She shouted so the pounding would stop.

"About goddamn time you lazy cow." He growled through her door before turning and walking loudly downstairs. Tegan needed to get out of the house. She hastily got dressed and walked as quietly as possible down the stairs.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" She heard him ask from his favorite arm chair.

"I have a school project that I have to work on with a friend. I might be out late." She lied as she opened the front door.

"Fine. But don't expect there to be food for you if you get back too late." She inwardly thanked whoever it was that was looking out for her. She was finally free, at least for the day she was.

She wandered around, finally deciding to go to Jenn's house. Jenn was someone who had no clue what Tegan's home life was. And Tegan liked it that way. She didn't have to worry about any judgement from Jenn. She knocked on the door.

"Hey Tegan." Jenn smiled and hugged her.

"Hi Jenn." Tegan smiled back, "Do you want to do something?"

"I'm home alone." She grinned at Tegan, "So come on in."

Tegan obliged and followed her into the entry way. She immediately attached her lips to Jenn's. She loved Jenn, she was gay and proud of it. She wasn't worried about what her parents thought. Her parents were nice people. But Tegan couldn't tell anyone she was gay because her father would kill her. But when she was alone with Jenn, it didn't matter. –

It had been a few months since her mom died and Tegan needed to see her girlfriend, Jenn had been ignoring her.

She knocked on the door and Jenn opened it, "Hey Jenn." She went to hug her but Jenn just stuck her arm out to block the hug.

"We need to talk." Tegan couldn't fight the emotion and she let her tears out.

"Why Jenn? Why? I've been nothing but good to you." She couldn't understand why Jenn was acting like this.

"Why? Are you kidding me Tegan?" She scoffed at Tegan's ignorant question, "I know what your family was like. Okay? I know what your dad did. And there is no way in hell I am going to continue dating someone who could turn out like that." Tegan pushed her way inside.

"I'm not like him Jenn!" She shouted at her and pushed her into a wall.

"What the hell Tegan?" She screamed back, "Why can't you see it?"

Tegan looked down and realized what she had done, "I'm sorry Jenn. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to."

"Fuck you Tegan. You definitely meant to. You're just like him!" She spat out the last word with as much hatred as she could.

"I'm not him, Jenn!" She was trying to fight for her relationship, she couldn't lose more people, "I would neve-" She stopped as a girl from her high school walked around the corner to where they were arguing.

"Jenn are you okay?" She asked before looking up at Tegan, "Why are you here?"

"What the hell do you mean? This is my girlfriend's house." Tegan wanted to punch the girl.

"Your girlfriend? Jenn's my girlfriend." Tegan glared at Jenn in disbelief.

"You cheated on me?"

"No." Jenn stood up, "I broke up with you a month ago, but apparently you were to drunk or high at the time to remember it."

"Fuck you Jenn!" Tegan spat at her and shoved Jenn's new girlfriend against the wall. She hit her once, she slapped her right across her face, and then she realized what she was turning into.

She immediately ran out of the house and drove off. She needed to get out of there, she needed somewhere new. She didn't stop driving till she got to Vancouver. Tegan decided that this was the place to stop. –

She finally started to doze off, a few tears in her eyes, and a few on her cheeks. She looked down at Sara and smiled, she would never loose Sara, not like what happened with Jenn.

When she woke up next it was because Ted was shaking her.

"Tegan." He whispered to her, "We're at the hotel, you can sleep in here, or we can wake up Sara and get up to our rooms."

"I don't want to wake her." Tegan looked down at Sara, sound asleep.

"Okay, you only have about four hours of sleep left, use it well." Tegan kissed her on the forehead and left the RV.

Tegan fell asleep quickly, and she dreamed of nice things. She dreamt of Sara, recording her songs, and she dreamt of her grandparents smiling at her success. When she woke up she felt rested. Sara was already up, making some coffee in the fancy coffee pot in the small kitchen at the back of the RV.

"Good morning bella!" Sara smiled at her and handed her a cup.

"Morning angel." Tegan smiled back and took a sip.

"You ready to record in an hour?" Sara couldn't hide her excitement.

Tegan nodded in response, "Yes!"