"Go left," Ellie directs, watching as the trees on the backroads pass by them in a blur. Cooper follows her instructions, taking a smooth left turn down yet another empty road. "You're getting a lot better at this driving thing."

He snorts. "I better be. I've had my license for nearly a month now. Let's take the third right we see. If it's a dead end, then we'll take the first left after that."

She nods in confirmation, though his eyes are trained on the road and he doesn't see her nod. Leaning her head back against the headrest, she turns to Cooper and studies his profile. "I still can't believe someone gave you a license."

"I would be offended," he says, turning so his eyes can meet hers briefly, "but you're the one who taught me how to drive. So really, that's just a dig on your own driving abilities."

"Shut up and look at the road," she says, shoving at his shoulder as a smile tugs at her lips.

They continue driving down the road in silence, apart from the hums of some acoustic song Ellie's never heard playing lightly through the speakers. The sun shines through the window, landing directly on her face. Her eyes flutter shut at the unfamiliar warmth and for once, she feels at peace. Just an empty road, the sunshine, and a calming acoustic—

"Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped-turned upside down," Cooper belts just as the song comes to an end and the new, much louder song, takes over the car.

The sudden shift in mood nearly gives Ellie a heart attack and the serenity she'd previously felt fades in an instant as she turns to Cooper with wide eyes. He looks back at her, a childish grin spread across his lips as he continues rapping the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song.

"I got in one little fight," at this moment, he reaches over to deliver a fake punch to her shoulder, "and my mom got scared. Sing it, El!"

"She said, 'You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Bel-Air," she says in the most monotonous tone she can muster up.

Cooper accepts her poor delivery of the line, happy he even got her to say it, and continues dancing and singing to the tune, only pausing briefly to take the third right turn. He reaches for the volume of the stereo as the song comes to an end. "So. It's Saturday."

Ellie nods slowly, glancing down at her lap. "Yeah."

"And we've missed the last few Saturdays—which is fine. But I thought maybe we could start our Saturdays back up again," he says, a nervous edge to his voice. "Only if you're ready of course."

She takes a moment to consider his offer. Of course life has to go on, even after the loss of a loved one. She's been putting off her life, exactly what her grandma advised against. Maybe it is time she gets back in the swing of things, she thinks. She looks over at Cooper and he turns back to her, eagerness dancing across his eyes.

"Okay, sure."

"Great!" He exclaims, any nerves he'd previously felt fading away from his features instantly. "I've actually already chose our task. I was hoping you'd say yes."

"You chose our task?"

He nods, adjusting the rear-view mirror slightly before his hand returns to the steering wheel. "I know we're supposed to pick from the jar at random, but I couldn't resist. I've planned this whole thing out."

Ellie's eyebrows shoot up in surprise at the news. "You've planned this?"

He pulls his bottom lip between his teeth as he tries to suppress a smile. "Yeah. We're in for one hell of a time, El."

"Cooper—"

"Remember the rules," he says sharply. "No objections."

"Cooper," Ellie whines, earning a laugh from him and another groan from her. "Where are we going? We've been driving for two hours."

He rolls his eyes though she can see that he's clearly amused at her discomfort. "Stop being so fussy. You're like a little kid, Ellie. If you throw a tantrum I will not hesitate to pull this car over."

"But I'm hungry."

His smile fades as he glances over at her in concern. "You're hungry? Why didn't you say so? I'll get off at the next exit and we can get something to eat."

"Will you tell me where we're going then?" She tries.

"Maybe," he says before a mischievous smile takes over his lips. "Or maybe not."

"You know that this is technically, like, kidnapping or something. Driving with me for hours without telling me the destination."

"I'm pretty sure this isn't kidnapping. I'm pretty sure you're just being overdramatic," he says with a blank face.

Deciding that he's right, she chooses to be quiet. Instead of wasting her time with a witty comeback that he'll annihilate with his own witty comeback, she takes to her phone. She doesn't know what she even really does on her phone, but it always seems to have her attention one way or another.

Cooper hums along to his music and continues on down the freeway before taking the first exit, as promised. They luck out and pull into a diner that conveniently happens to be right off the freeway. Ellie follows Cooper out of the car, taking a moment to stretch out her limbs before making her way into the nearly-empty restaurant.

They follow the instructions of the sign that reads 'Please Seat Yourself,' cozying themselves up in a small booth near the door. Cooper's eyes rake over the menu but Ellie finds herself distracted by the prospect of where they might be heading. They're nearly to Oregon, and unless he plans to take advantage of the lack of sales tax and go shopping, she's not sure what reason they would have for going to Oregon.

"Where are we going?" She asks again, peering over her menu in hopes of gaining his attention.

His eyes stay trained on his own menu but she can see his lips quirk up just the slightest bit. "Ellie. If you don't mind, I'm trying to figure out what I want to eat."

"Well I'm trying to figure out where you're taking me without my knowledge."

He glances up at her, reaching across the table and pulling her menu up so it blocks her face. "Figure out what you want to eat and then we'll talk."

She does as he says, figuring she's unlikely to get anywhere if she doesn't at least try and cooperate with him. The waitress makes her way over to them and takes their orders before scurrying off and leaving Cooper to face Ellie and her questions.

"So," she challenges, raising an eyebrow at him. He shifts in his seat before draping an arm across the back of the booth. "Where are you taking me?"

Reaching for his water, he brings the cup up to his lips and takes a sip. "You're not very good with surprises."

"I know," she admits. "I don't handle the unknown very well."

"I've noticed," he says with a smirk. "How about I give you three clues? If you guess correctly, I'll tell you."

"Okay, fine."

"Clue one," he says, looking up at the ceiling as he wracks his brain for a good clue. He finally looks back at her and smiles. "It's a bit of a drive."

"Is it in Washington?"

He doesn't answer right away; his attention being stolen by a screaming baby on the other side of the restaurant. When he does turn back to her, he says, "Do you want that to be the second clue?"

She nods, awaiting his response. He finally shakes his head, reaching to take another sip of his water. "Nope."

"Cooper, my mom is going to flip when she finds out you've taken me out of the state."

A low laugh passes his lips. "Relax, El. I told you I've planned it all. I spoke with your mom and she okayed it."

Ellie's eyebrows furrow and she slumps back in her seat. "My mom okayed you taking me, her only child, out of the state?"

He nods. "And before you ask, I've packed you a bag as well."

"You packed me a bag?" She asks, shock evident in her tone.

"Yes. Don't worry, I had your mom pack your undergarments. Though I would've been happy to do it myself, I knew you'd be mad." Ellie can tell he wants to laugh at the expression on her face, but he masks it well.

Ignoring the blush on her cheeks, she asks, "What about you? Are you okay to be leaving the state? What if something happens?"

"I've okayed it with my doctor too. Everything is taken care of if something were to happen to me. Besides, she says my treatment is going well."

"Really?" She asks, happy to hear the news but quickly remembering that the doctors said the same thing about her grandmother's treatment.

A sad smile replaces his excited one as he looks down at the table in front of him. "Yeah. That's what they're saying anyway." He looks back up at her. "No more cancer talk on this trip. Ready for the last clue?"

"Ready."

"We're visiting a friend," he says without missing a beat.

"A friend?"

"I want you to guess it, El. That's the most obvious clue I could have given you. If you don't get it, you don't deserve to know where we're going."

"A bit harsh, don't you think?" She says, tuning him out after that to search the depths of her mind for the answer. Long drive, out of state, visiting a friend. If she were in a movie, a lightbulb would flash over her head as the answer comes to her. Annoyed that she didn't pick up on it sooner, she turns back to Cooper. "Are we going to Vegas?"

He simply smiles, leaning back in his seat just as the waitress comes over to deliver their food. As soon as she's out of sight, Cooper plops a fry in his mouth and says, "Ready to sin in sin city?"

Ellie's eyes slowly drift shut as she's met with the darkness that lies just outside of the car. The moon serves as a natural night light, a sense of comfort in the dark abyss that is the night sky. They're somewhere in Utah, she thinks. Or maybe Nevada. She's not quite sure. All she knows is that they've been driving for ages and she's tired.

She turns over in her seat so that her back is facing the window, letting out a tired sigh as she tucks her hands beneath her head as a sort of makeshift pillow. Cooper lets out a quiet laugh and as she squints her eyes open, she can see he's looking down at her instead of ahead at the open road.

"Tired?" He asks, a sympathetic smile gracing his lips.

She nods, letting out a yawn before sarcastically saying, "Wide awake. You?"

"I'm beat," he says, turning back to face the road. As Ellie studies his profile, she can truly see how tired he is.

"You should've let me take over earlier. You've been driving all day."

He shakes his head, turning back to her with a smile before facing ahead once more. "I know you hate driving."

"You still should've let me take some of the burden off you," she argues, shutting her eyes as she tries to get comfortable in the reclined seat. "What time is it?"

"Almost midnight."

"We should stop for the night. Let's just find a motel or something so we can sleep," she says, barely able to get the words out because she's so tired.

"I booked a hotel in Vegas. I thought we could drive through the night and make it."

She peeks an eye open. "Where are we now?"

He sighs, dragging a hand down his face and blinking rapidly like his eyes are threatening to close on him at any moment. "We passed Reno, like, two hours ago."

"There's no way you'll make it a few more hours, Coop. Let's just get a motel for the night and we can get an early start in the morning."

When he doesn't say anything, she opens her eyes fully to look at him. Pushing herself up from the seat, she looks to the road ahead of them to see him getting off the freeway. They're lucky to find a motel so conveniently in the middle of nowhere, the next one had to have been at least another thirty miles away.

Within minutes, they're parking in front of the run-down motel. The vacancy light flashes as if it'll go out any minute, just like it would in any horror movie. But the knowledge that this place has a room available is enough to ease their thoughts. At least they have a chance to rest before they wake up with the roosters to continue their journey.

Cooper turns the car off and makes his way to the trunk, grabbing both of their bags before slumping off towards the lobby of the motel. Ellie follows after him, nearly falling from exhaustion with each step. When the fluorescent lights of the motel lobby greet her eyes, she nearly hisses. Pulling an arm up over her eyes to block the harsh light, she leans on the front lobby desk next to Cooper.

"Do you have any rooms available?" He asks the man behind the desk.

He glances up from his phone, a bored expression on his face. "Was the vacancy sign on?"

"Yeah," Cooper says, a yawn following his words. "Can we get a room?"

The man behind the desk laughs. His deep southern voice then saying, "You could."

"We'd like a room, please," Ellie cuts in, having no time for the man's bullshit.

He looks over to her, clearly sensing that she's not here to mess around. Finally, he pulls his feet off the desk and begins typing away at his computer. Getting through all of the finalities of setting up the room, he produces a set of keys and hands them to Cooper.

"Have fun you two," he says with a wink.

Ellie has to hold back an eye roll as she makes her way out of the lobby and in search of room one-hundred and three. She grabs her bag from Cooper, who initially tries to continue holding it before giving in and letting her take it.

"Did he seriously think we were getting a room to fuck each other in?" He asks, his eyebrows pulled together in confusion. "Did he not see the bags under our eyes? I don't think either of our performances would be very good tonight."

A tired laugh sounds from Ellie as she pulls the key from Cooper's hand and sticks it in the slot of room one-hundred and three. The light turns green and she pushes the door open, kicking it with her foot to hold it open for Cooper.

"Speak for yourself," she finally says, shooting him a wink before tossing her bag on the ground.

"Is that a challenge?" He asks, a playfulness to his tone. He flicks the light on, revealing a room that has only been seen in nightmares. They both glance around, taking in the charm of the place they'll be spending the night together in. "Shit. Well that explains why it was so cheap."

"We have to check for bed bugs," Ellie says, making her way over to the bed and grabbing one edge of the sheets. Cooper follows suit, grabbing the other end and quickly pulling them back with her. After inspecting the sheets, she determines that they're free of nasty critters.

Tossing herself onto the bed, she pulls the blankets up to her chin. Cooper turns off the light before settling in on the other side of the bed, also pulling the blanket up to his chin. They lay in silence for a while, the only sound being the matching of their heartbeats.

"Aren't you going to brush your teeth?" She finally asks.

She's met with his tired laugh, the sound of it causing Ellie's eyes to flutter open. And then she's met with the darkness of the room. "Aren't you?"

She laughs, turning onto her side so that she's facing him. She can see the outline of his body, courtesy of the moonlight shining through their curtains. His gaze seems to be focused on the ceiling above him, and curiously, Ellie glances up to see what's caught his attention. All she sees is a dark ceiling.

"You know," she says, her voice barely above a whisper, "I drove through Nevada with my mom and dad once. We went on a road trip to the Grand Canyon."

Cooper breaks his gaze from the ceiling, turning instead to face her. His eyes meet hers and she has to remind herself to breathe, even under his studious gaze. "We were driving through Nevada when a flash flood hit. It was the middle of summer and we were all surprised. Nevada is such a warm place, it seemed odd that we'd been caught in the middle of a huge thunderstorm."

"Sounds scary," he says, his voice matching her own. She sees his eyes shut once before fighting to stay open. As she watches him yawn, a yawn of her own mirrors his.

"It was," she agrees. "But my dad got me through it. We stayed in a motel like this. My dad told me jokes all night and rubbed my back until I fell asleep."

"He sounds like a good dad."

"Yeah."

Ellie shuts her eyes, allowing the exhaustion she's felt over the past few hours to finally take over her body. The bed creaks as Cooper adjusts himself on it, but Ellie's eyes remain closed. When she feels his arm drape over her waist, her eyes finally react. She searches his face for a reaction, but all she's met with is the serene expression as his breaths even out, his eyes shut and ready to sleep.

"Goodnight, El," he mumbles, his hand rubbing lightly along her back.

She allows her eyes to fall shut once more as sleep overtakes her, but not before responding with a quiet, "Goodnight."