"It's just one night."
☆

..."Hey, Milo..."

Milo lifts his head up from his resting position on the passenger seat. The sky outside now looking significantly darker than when they left. "What time is it? He asks, looking over at Jude. 

"Just gone 5...sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, but I think we should stay over somewhere." Jude says, adding, "it's going to be late when we do get there, too late to disturb people." 

Milo adjusts himself in his seat a little. "Sure." He replies, not really being able to take his mind from the dream...or was it a memory? The tent. It was where it had all started. Where something between him and Hester had changed. Milo subconsciously brushes the tips of his fingers over his lips. He can remember that first kiss like it was yesterday. 

Milo suddenly drops his hands, glancing over to Jude, feeling guilty for even thinking about Hester in that way again. That was the past and that's where it should stay. 

Jude now turns off the main road, heading to what looked like a small town in the distance. "There should be somewhere to stay here, according to the map." Jude gestures towards the in-car directions. Milo just nods in response, his mind elsewhere.

Jude picks up on Milo's silence since his nap, momentarily taking his eyes from the road and glancing across at Milo staring a little vacantly out his window. "Hey...you okay? You were asleep for almost two hours." 

Milo now turns to look at Jude driving, his hands correctly placed at the 10 and 2 o clock positions on the steering wheel, making Milo for some reason paint a small grin on his face.

"I'm fine...I just had this vivid dream...well it was a dream but it felt more like a past memory...you know." Milo tries to explain. 

Jude nods, taking Milo's words in. "Well, I guess that's good...is that good?" Jude again looks at Milo with wonder, any recollection of past events would be valuable at this point. 

Milo stares out to the open road in front of him. He didn't know if he should share the exact details. He didn't want Jude getting jealous. "I guess...we were, Hessy and I, we were more complex than I thought we were." He glances back at Jude, hoping he doesn't push for more. Thankfully he doesn't, being distracted by the building ahead. 

"Ah here we are." Jude turns right into a car park. A neon sign saying "Halfway Hotel" Flashes in red and green, well in reality it says 'Halfway otel" But Jude got the idea. 

There were quite a few cars in the spaces already. Making Jude worry that the place may already be full. Milo looks at the two story rows of doors and windows before him. It looked like the place people would go to indulge in their dirty little secrets. All he wanted to do was to try and get some rest before having to face Hester's mother at some point tomorrow. Tomorrow! He was meant to be at work tomorrow! "Jude we can't stay here, we have to be at work in the morning." 

Jude just carries on parking up, not taking his eyes off of what he is doing. "Relax, I've called Professor Knight. I said it was a family emergency." 

"Family emergency?" Milo repeats.

"Well...yes. We are seeing Hester's mother because he is missing. I'd class that as an emergency." Jude glances at Milo, using the word 'missing' didn't feel right to him, but he couldn't think of how else to put it across without provocation.

"It seems you've thought of everything." Milo half smiles as he lets out a weary sigh.

"Almost everything." Jude smiles back. "We have no change of clothes." 

"It's just one night." Milo reassures. 

"Yeah. Just one night.' Jude agrees as he applies the car's handbrake and switches off the ignition.

There is a moment of silence as both Milo and Jude look out of the front of the car's windscreen at the building in front of them. "Have you ever spent the night in a place like this with someone before?" Jude says out loud, not taking his eyes from the view. 

"No." He replies, suddenly feeling the awkwardness of what getting a room for the night at a place like this would look like. 

"Me neither." Jude says half chuckling. He notices a couple, an older man leading a younger, provocatively dressed female to one of the rooms..."Well it's time to broaden our horizons."