Travel the World with Me?

"Lets go! It's going to be midnight before we get anywhere" I complained.

I already had everything packed and ready to go, I was just waiting for my slowpoke of a friend to get into the camper van.

"Ah ah ah, come now, I'm working on it."

I laughed. "Sheesh, what did you pack, and elephant?"

He gave me a sarcastic eyeroll, jumping out of the large doorway to the camper van, heading to the passenger side.

"About time," I teased as he buckled his seatbelt.

"Shh. Eyes on the road."

I laughed, and pulled out of the driveway. I turned on my music, and rolled down the windows.

We had no particular place in mind, just winging it. I hoped to end up in Washington state maybe. I have never been, but I've always wanted to.

After our throats got tired from screaming our songs, Max fell asleep in the passenger seat, out cold.

I had never had a friend like him before, and it was never anything more than a friendship, we showed no interest for each other in that way, but sometimes I thought that we might be cute together, but I didn't want to ruin anything.

I continued on the highway.

I pulled into a parking lot, and I woke up Max, telling him that I'm pulling over for the night.

My legs felt weak as I stepped out of the car, and the night air bit at my nose.

I opened the big door, and Max immediately flopped down onto the air mattress that was on the ground, and I climbed into the hammock that hung over it.

I woke bright and early in the morning and climbed back into the drivers seat, stopping once to grab coffee.

We were now in California, and it was beautiful.

The cactus matched perfectly with the pink sky of the rising sun.

Max woke up around 10:30.

"Damn," he said in a sleepy voice, "how did you wake up so early?"

I turned back to look at him, and smiled, trying not to laugh, but a giggle escaped my lips.

"What?," he asked, looking over himself, his cheeks turning pink with embarrassment.

"Your hair," I chuckled again.

"Oh," he huffed, rumpling his hair. He climbed up into the passenger seat and turned on music.

"Where are we?," he asked.

"Hmm.. not to far from the Golden Gate Bridge, I think."

His eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yeah, Is there any other places you would like to stop?"

He thought for a second, "Isn't there that Winchester Mansion?"

"I've heard about that! Sure we can stop."

We ended up staying a lot longer in California than we had originally planned, but we saw some cool things. Like the Golden Gate Bridge, and many of the different beaches in the area, then on our way up to Oregon, we stopped at the Redwood State Park. That was amazing.

We finally made it to Oregon, and we were having a blast. We got so many fun memories, and I finally didn't feel like I had to hide anymore, I stepped out of my comfort zone, out of my shell I had been stuck in for so long. He just came in and scooped me out, and I don't know what I would have done without him.

Since Max came into my life, I really noticed a good difference in my behavior. More... open.

We both were now watching the sun rise in Toketee Falls, Oregon.

We continued to drive all day, only stopping for bathroom breaks and road trip snacks.

I handed him a piece of beef jerky and a Twizzler.

"What's this?"

I gave him a sarcastic look. "Food, dummy," we loved to trash talk each other- it was a weird thing of ours.

He gave the same sarcastic look back, "I know, hollow head, but you eat these as road trip snacks?"

I scoffed, "Uh, duh. I was practically raised on these things when we went on road trips with the family. Now eat it," I picked up a Twizzler and put it in his mouth.

"Nice one," he said after he finished chewing, "I'll admit it."

I nodded, "you know I'm right."

We laughed together, a few miles from the Oregon border.

There wasn't many places that we wanted to stop in Oregon, just Silver Falls and Hot Springs.

We were almost to Washington. The sun just sunk behind the horizon for the night and me and Max were laying on top on the van, looking up at the starry sky.

He sighed a heavy sigh.

"What is it?," I asked.

He shot me a glance, then whispered "nothing."

"Not a chance, what is it?"

He said nothing, just another sigh.

"Maxwell..."

"Ew, I don't like my full name, you know that," he gave me a playful smile and punch on the arm, pausing for a second, then speaking again. "I'm not sure how to say it.."

"However you think is best, I won't judge."

"Promise?"

"Promise," I held out my pinky, and we laughed together when he locked his pinky to mine. But to my surprise he didn't let go of it when he spoke again.

"I- I like you, Sammy, a lot, you're a beautiful girl, and I'm lucky to have someone like you."

I was unable to speak. I felt my face get all hot, and I couldn't look him in the eyes, we had pretty much been childhood best friends.

"I... I really like you to, Max," I whispered.

"Really?," he said, his voice colored with happiness.

I was only able to nod.

He wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug and kissed my forehead, he whispered into my hair, "I promise to never hold you back, we can go on a million trips like this one, you can travel the world with me, and me, with you." It was hard not to hear the smile in his voice.

I smiled too, "sounds wonderful.." I paused, "I love you," I tried out the word.

He smiled wide, "I love you too."

To soon, the night was over, and the next morning, we were on our way to Washington.

We had a lot more places to go here, now walking hand and hand.

We stopped-in no particular order-in Seattle, Olympia, Vancouver, Forks, La Push, Snoqualmie Falls, Everett, Port Angeles, The Puget Sound...

When we were finished in Washington, we looped back around to Minnesota, planning to do this all over again.

Not all stories have a happy ending, but I can promise you that this one does. Max and Sammy are happy together, inseparable. They will never grow apart, maybe even grow old together, that's up to you...

It all starts with a chance.