She walked over and sat down next to him, brushing a few stray pieces of hair out of his face. He stretched a little before snuggling up to her lap. She smiled and kissed his cheek.
Claire wet her lips and began to sing, "If I don't have you, to hold on to ... I can't go on, in this world alone, baby it's true. If you said goodbye ... boy, I would die. I'm a star with no light, a day with no night ... if I don't have you."
As Claire sang Nick's eyes fluttered open and he looked up at as she sang. She ran her hand along the side of his face as he smiled at her and woke up. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and stretching.
"What are you doing here?" he asked with a yawn.
"I came to apologize for how I was acting earlier." she said, "Nick, I'm sorry."
He smiled and laid down, pulling her down with him. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him as she nuzzled her head under his head. They both fell asleep happily.
Over at Aj's, Angie had spent the night to make the morning easier. At 8am, when the alarm went off, Aj flew up out of shock, knocking Angie off the bed. When he heard the thump he shut off the alarm clock and looked down at Angie who looked a little flustered.
"What a nice way to start the day..." she growled.
Aj backed away and apologized. She waved it off and went into the bathroom. A few minutes later, he heard the shower turn on and Angie humming. One of Aj's puppies climbed up on the bed and Aj laid back and put the puppy on his chest.
"Is Mama in a bad mood this morning?" Aj said to the dog in a baby voice.
The puppy yipped at Aj before jumping down and heading downstairs. Aj got up and did the same. He put on a pot of coffee, hoping that would lift Angie's spirits. After burning himself twice and spilling one cup of coffee, he brought a cup upstairs for Angie. She was standing in front of the mirror brushing her hair. Aj put the mug down and walked up behind her. He kissed her cheek softly and she turned around with a smile.
"Good morning baby." she said as he leaned in to kiss her.
As his lips hit hers, she pulled back and twisted her face in disgust.
"Morning breath babe..." she said handing him his toothbrush, "It's a killer."
She smiled cutely at him and he just let out a short laugh. She grabbed the mug of coffee, saying a quick 'thank you' before he closed the bathroom door to get in the shower.
Over at Nick's, Claire got in the shower after Nick did. When she was in the shower he came into the bathroom and she peeked her head out from behind the curtain.
"Mr. Carter! What are you doing in here?" she asked. "Ugh ... brushing my teeth." he said grabbing his tooth brush.
A smirk slowly spread across his face as she splashed water off her fingertips at him. He wiped them away off his face and laughed.
"Well, hurry up and finish whatever you are doing." she smiled.
"What? It's not like I'm trying to look or anything!" he said defensively, but with the same smirk.
"Oh, of course not! Your lucky this shower curtain isn't see through." she said before pulling her head back inside.
"Lucky isn't the word I would use..." Nick mumbled to himself.
He brushed his teeth then chewed on his lip before another smirk spread across his face. He walked casually over to the toilet and flushed it.
The minute the ice cold water hit Claire's body, she shrieked Nick's name and he left the bathroom with a satisfying smile.
Over at Brian's he hung up with the RV rental place and drove over to pick up Nick. Aj and Angie were going to meet them there. Brian threw his bag in the back of the car and drove over to Nick's house. When he got there, Claire answered the door and Brian looked puzzled.
"I apologized to Nick, and I am coming to ... wherever we are going." she explained.
"Montana." Brian said simply.
"What?!" Claire said laughing.
"I don't know either. Nick loses me sometimes. He said that since no one vacations in Montana, we are going to." Brian said laughing lightly.
Claire just shrugged and invited Brian inside. Claire jogged up the stairs and grabbed her bag.
"Nick?" she called out.
"Yeah?" he said emerging from the bathroom.
"Brian's here, so we should get going." she said.
He nodded and grabbed his bags before jogging down the steps and nodding his head at Brian.
"Hey B-rok." Nick said.
"Hey Nicky boy!" Brian said with a cheerful smile.
Claire smiled at Brian and linked arms with him and Nick.
"Shall we be going?" she asked.
They nodded and the three headed out the door. They piled their bags into the trunk before heading over to the RV rental place. When they got there, Aj and Angie were waiting in the car.
"Okay, I booked us the biggest RV they had." Brian announced.
Nick nodded and went inside the office with Aj and Brian. Claire walked over to Angie and they began discussing what on earth they could do in Montana. Brian and Nick walked out a minute later with a look of dread on their faces.
"What? What's wrong?" Claire asked.
"Aj won rock-paper-scissors and he gets to drive for the first three hours." Nick said.
Angie put her face in her hand and mumbled, "Oh no."
A minute later, Aj came screeching up to the group of friends. He stuck his head out the window and let out some sort of loud animal call.
Angie laughed, "That's my man."
Nick, Brian and Claire grabbed their bags and piled on to the RV. Inside was the two driving seats, both that fully reclined. There was a small bathroom, a kitchen area, a bed area, a small table to eat at and a room at the back where there was a square sized couch and a Tv. It was big, but it was cozy.
There was two bunks on the left side of the RV and the table pushed down to become a bed. So in all there was three beds, and the two seats up front that folded down.
"So here's the plan ... whoever is driving obviously gets the driver's seat. Then Angie and Aj or Claire and me will share the table bed, because it's bigger. Then the rest of you can either get the bunks, or the passenger seat." Nick said.
They nodded and Claire asked everyone to pass back their bags. They did so and she piled them all away into a closet next to the bathroom. Claire peeked her head inside the bathroom and there was a toilet, sink and a small shower.
Angie asked anyone if they had brought a map and everyone answered no.
"Okay, so we're off to a good start." she said sarcastically.
Angie instructed Aj to go to the nearest mini-mart to get a map. When they got there, Angie got out and went inside. A minute later, Nick shot up and looked worried.
"Oh my god, food!" he cried out.
Brian and Claire gave him a weird look and he widened his eyes, "No one brought food! I will run inside and buy some junk."
He started to get off the RV and Claire called his name. He stuck his head back inside and she threw him a bucket hat.
He winked at her, "Thanks."
She laughed as she put everyone's blankets on the beds. She set up the pillows and everything else. When Nick and Angie got back in the car, Nick handed her the food. She put it all away in the cupboards and Angie opened the map and began to instruct Aj. Brian relaxed at the table looking out the window, Nick settled with his game boy in one of the bunks and Claire laid down with a book on the little couch.
So far, the trip was good. But then again, it had only been a twenty minutes. Things couldn't go this calmly for two and a half days. Especially being cooped up in an RV.
