Jade drove for the next ten minutes, neither of us speaking to one another.

The hum of the radio and the crinkle of candy packets opening and closing while I made my way through the chocolates and tequila was all the sound we had.

Sure, I was supposed to be sobering up but we still had eight hours left of this fucking trip. If I didn't remember most of it, that would be great.

The car started to sputter and Jade mumbled, "what the hell?"

Realisation hit me like a swift kick in the stomach as the engine died and Jade carefully steered us over and onto the shoulder, flicking on the hazard lights.

"Oh no," my breathing quickened. He was going to be so pissed. He looked over at me.

"What, Dahlia?"

"I think I forgot to mention," I said, keeping my tone light as if this were just an amusing little whoops and not a total fucking disaster. "My gas gauge doesn't work. I actually can never tell when I need to fill up so I just fill it once a week and hope for the best."

He inhaled a deep breath. "We were just at a gas station."

"I knooooow."

He leaned back in his seat and rubbed his hands down his face. I really loved the look of his lap when he sat like that.

"Dahlia," he groaned. Damn, I kind of liked that too. "You should've told me we might need gas."

"I was. . . distracted."

"You were drunk," he snatched the bottle of tequila out of my hand, opened his door and tipped the rest of it out.

I wanted to be mad but I had enough self awareness to know he should've done that a long time ago.

He lightly threw the bottle into the back seat and looked around at the highway. It wasn't bumper to bumper but it wasn't exactly empty either. It'd be dangerous and cold to walk.

"I checked the gauge," he pointed at the dash. "It said it had half a tank."

"It always does."

"You're unreal."

"Aww," I grinned. "Thanks."

He turned away but I caught the little lift in his lips before he could face his window entirely.

For a while, we sat in silence and I did my best to think of a solution that didn't involve waiting hours for road side assistance. They weren't exactly the fastest service out there. It was entirely possible it'd be faster to walk back to the gas station and buy a container. We were ten minutes out, but it'd be a miserable walk.

"I don't think road side would get here in the next hour," Jade thought aloud and drummed his fingers on his thighs. "I'll go back."

"Well, I'm coming too."

"Nope," Jade unbuckled his belt. "It's cold and the road is dangerous."

"What if someone tries to kill me while I'm sitting here alone."

"Lock the doors."

"Jade," I pouted, aware that I was pathetic and could barely see straight. "Please. I don't want to be here alone."

He watched me for a minute, his deep sigh letting me know I'd won. I quickly unbuckled my belt too and stepped out after getting my coat from the back seat. We both put our hoods up, locked the doors and stepped over the barrier on the road so we weren't in direct danger of a car swerving towards us. The ground was uneven, littered with trash and broken glass from people throwing their shit out of the windows. Gross.

"I'm sorry," I said, speaking up enough that he could hear me over the traffic.

"It's forgiven, doll."

I gave him a lot of shit and a bad attitude but he never made me feel bad for long. I hugged myself against the cold and watched our feet, not wanting to look up and directly into the ice cold wind coming off the passing cars.

The walk felt hours long and I tripped over my own feet a few times. Jade walked in front of me, his broad back taking up most of my line of sight though I could see the gas station sign glowing through the low cloud ahead of us.

Again, I stumbled over seemingly nothing. Jade reached back and took my hand, slipping it into his jacket pocket. My felt throat thick and my heart was the next thing to trip. He did it like it was nothing, forcing me to walk close to him while our hands were tangled in his pocket.

When we finally arrived at the gas station, Jade let my hand out of its warm little cocoon and I resisted the urge to pout.

The cashier was surprised to see us back as she rung up our can of gas, which I paid for of course, because my jeep and my fuck up.

The thought of having to trek all the way back to the car made me want to sob as Jade held the door open for me, the can of gas hanging from his other hand. When we were walking beside the road, Jade once again took my hand and slipped it into his pocket, mumbling about not wanting me to fall face first in the snow. The walk back seemed faster, potentially because I was basically skipping to keep up with Jade.

As soon as we got back to the car, Jade tipped the gas in and then found a spot to turn around and go back to the station. We'd need to fill the jeep up if we wanted to avoid running out again before the next stop.

Jade stood outside, leaning his palm on the roof of the car as he filled up. I saw him yawn and quickly opened the door, leaning out.

"Are you tired?"

He shrugged. "I'm alright."

"I can't drive."

He huffed a light laugh. "I know, doll."

"Should we find somewhere to sleep?"

A car pulled up at the next pump over. A woman got out and shot us one of those tight mouthed polite smiles you give in passing. She was gorgeous in a tight, thick dress with long sleeves and a long coat.

"It's ten in the morning," Jade mumbled.

The gas clip flicked off and Jade hung the pump back up before he twisted the lid of the tank back on.

The fact that it was only ten in the morning horrified me for a moment but I wouldn't tell him that.

"What's with the tone?" I asked.

"What tone?"

"It's ten in the morning," I mocked his little grumble and stuck my tongue out at him. "It's also Christmas so if I want to be half cut at ten in the morning, I will be."

He leaned on the open window. "You better sober the fuck up as soon as possible because you're hard enough work when you're sober. I'm going to lose my fucking mind if this attitude doesn't end."

I screwed my nose up. I think maybe I just liked arguing with him. It made him get all up close and his jaw clenched and his brows pulled tight and I don't know, there was just something about him showing raw and real emotion that made my blood heat. I'd die before I admitted that though.

"There will be no problem sobering up considering you tipped my alcohol out onto the road."

His jaw fluttered as he stared at me. "I only regret not doing it sooner. By the way, doll, there was no damn tone. It's ten in the morning. I'm not finding a hotel to sleep in at ten in the morning. I'm just tired because you are fucking tiring. It had nothing to do with the fact that you're drunk, I expected nothing less from you."

Well, that hurt a little. I flinched and swallowed down the embarrassment when I saw the girl at the other pump peering over at where Jade was leaning down at the window, glaring at me like he was at his final straw.

I knew Jade had a perception of me based on what he saw at events. I liked to cut loose a little but that was only on occasion. I didn't even drink wine in my day to day life but when it came to events, it was a bit of fun. And that was the only time Jade saw me. At events. I wanted to defend myself, but instead I turned and faced forward.

Jade sighed and I felt his presence retreat as he went around to the other side of the jeep, slid in and started it up.

"That girl is staring at me," he said as we pulled off.

"Oh you would like to think so," I scoffed and shrugged out of my jacket. "It's a girls world, Jade. She probably thinks you're a giant asshole for shouting at me."

"Yeah, I didn't think—"

"Not everyone is obsessed with your face."

Jade switched the radio on and turned the volume dial up, ending the conversation. That was fine with me. I liked arguing until he said something that really hurt my feelings. I was going to be so humiliated at my tantrums when I finally sobered up.

We weren't far past the spot we broke down when Jade tipped his head back against the seat. "Fuck, what now?"

"Hmm?" I looked over to see him staring in the rear view mirror. When I peered out through the back window, I saw red and blue lights.

"This jeep better be legal."

"It is," I snapped as Jade pulled over.

"Can't one fucking thing on this trip go well?"

"It turned to shit the moment you decided to come."

"Do me a favor doll," Jade wound the window down and I shrunk back from the cold. "Keep your mouth shut for five minutes."

A man with a bald head and a thick beard appeared beside the window. His name badge read Tunst.

"Officer," Jade looked relaxed as he kept his focus on the road, not at all bothered at his presence.

The cop was older, in his fifties perhaps. He looked relaxed too, tipping his head at me with a smile and doing a subtle sweep of the car. "We had a call about you two arguing down at the gas station a few miles back."

"Well," I gave Jade a triumphant smile. "Didn't I tell you. Didn't I say it's a girls world. Hmm. I knew that girl wasn't staring because you're hot. She was worried about me. Ha."

Jade pursed his lips and huffed a little laugh through his nose.

"Ma'am, are you drunk?" The officer eyed the tequila bottle in the backseat.

"What, like it's a crime?"

"Look, man," Jade said. "We're going home for Christmas and she doesn't get along with her parents. She's had a bit to drink. You know, wanting to cope with it, but she really doesn't know how to conduct herself once she's a few deep."

I glared at the back of his head and snatched my phone up. "Oh, well don't forget the worst part," I snapped. "The part where I just found out that you're cheating on me."

Jade whipped his head toward me and I wish I could've basked in his shock a little longer.

"Mhmm," I said, looking through my phone. "I just found out that my boyfriend is cheating on me, right before Christmas but I had to take him home because my parents love him more than they love me and if I didn't take him home I'd never hear the end of it and I'm just— I'm going through it, officer."

I finished my rant, which was some of my best acting, and held up my phone to the officer with the photo of Jade and the beautiful girl from New Zealand on my screen. The cop winced, giving Jade, who was pinching the bridge of his nose, a disappointed little tut.

"You trust a man to go on vacation with his friends," I started to sob. "And you find out he's just as much of a pig as any other man. No offence."

"Uh which part, the pig or the man?"

I snorted and quickly slapped my hand over my mouth.

I was doing my best to avoid looking at Jade because I was sure if I did look, I'd lose composure and start to laugh. As it was, from my peripheral, I could see him with his head buried in his hands.

"Ma'am, this seems like a relatively standard dispute but do you want to step out and talk to me for a minute?" The cop asked.

"Oh," I sucked in a quick breath and shook my head. "I'm sure you're going to ask if I'm safe. I am. This asshole broke my heart but he'd never raise his hands to me."

The officer gave a slow nod, looking between us.

"Trust me," I assured him. "I'd win in hand to hand combat anyway."

Jade burst out with a sudden laugh and quickly pressed a fist against his mouth.

"What's funny?" The officer leaned a hand against the door, staring at Jade.

"No, nothing," he raised his hands. "Nothing."

Now I was fighting laughter so I sniffled, disguising it as tears. "I'm just picturing him with that girl, officer. I'll be fine. I just want to get home so we can get out of this car."

The officer let us go, a withering glare in Jade's direction before he left. I ended up in a fit of giggles as soon as Jade pulled back onto the highway, sinking down into the seat with literal tears streaming down my face because I couldn't stop laughing. It felt good.

"You had that picture handy," Jade said, sounding pleased with himself. "Didn't even think you followed me on Instagram."

My laughter died off and I wiped my face. "Well, no, here's the truth—"

"Mhmm, the truth—"

"Ivan sent me a reel from your vacation and I was super fascinated by how beautiful the country looked. The beaches were my favourite part. So I had a little stalk. Big deal. That's the truth."

Jade flicked the lights on as the snow started to thicken in front of us. "You gonna ask me about the girl?"

"No," I snatched a bag of chips from the floor in front of me and popped them open. "I don't care."

"If you didn't care, you'd ask."

The cheating story was hilarious at the time but if I knew it was going to result in this conversation I wouldn't have said a damn word. I couldn't seem to win. Pretend I didn't care and it made it seem like I did. On the other hand if I'd asked him who she was, he'd have taken that as caring too. Lose lose. And the truth was, for some fucking reason, I didn't want to hear about his vacation fling with another woman.

"Okay fine, Jade," I twisted in my seat, facing him with my legs pulled up under me. "Do tell me all about her. You're obviously dying to share."

"She was just my tattoo artist."

"You have a tattoo?" My eyes involuntarily started to scan him over and I couldn't even find it in me to care that he noticed.

"Mhmm. On my rib."

"What is it?"

He went quiet and I watched his throat roll on a swallow. The silence stretched on so long that I wondered if he was going to answer me.

Eventually, he said, "I didn't mean what I said at the gas station. You're not tiring. I'm sorry for being such a dick."

I reared back a little, surprised at the change in conversation. "I can be," I admitted, dying to know what the tattoo on his rib was. I might've pushed harder if it weren't for the hard set of his jaw and pinch in his brows. "I'm sorry too."

His lips lifted in a half smile. "Don't be. Like I said, I like it when you're mean to me."

Oh man, that made me feel things I had no business feeling.