burning future;

He nearly mouthed the words along with her. He just knew she would say it.  “Of. Course.” He turned to her and shook his head but the playfulness on his lips assured her he wasn’t being serious. “I swear you like to poke me just to see how high my tolerance is. You think you’re slick but I see you, Hana Kim.”

Hana laughed happily and without any inhibitions, not caring much if she disturbed anyone else or woke them up. She had a feeling this was what Alfie wanted them to be feeling on this trip. That indescribable feeling when the sun streamed through the windows and made her feel so warm not only from the heat, but because this random bunch of orphans were truly her family. “I would never even deny that. I’ll own up to it proudly!”

“It’d make for a pretty interesting group funeral,” Hana mused darkly, though she grinned. Oddly enough, she didn’t mind Devin’s driving all that much, but it did leave some room to be improve. “That’s a cheerful thought. While we’re at it, why don’t we just stand the whole trip.” She deflected the bottle neatly, slapping it onto the ground in front of them. “Then consider this me filling my quota for the day.”

“That’s the worst one!” He sat up straight in his seat, hands in the air as if saying ‘I give up.’ He wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic about the matter as he pretended to be, really he just found Hana and her mixed looks of pouting and mischief adorable. The more she did it, the more he wanted to laugh. He watched the van’s speedometer’s needle rise and felt himself calming down as he realized that so far, everyone was alive. Now, whatever quiet moment there was between them was broken by Donnie humming the tune to Fruit Salad. 

Hana immediately started to hum Fruit Salad under her breath, adopting her best innocent look as she drove along. She stopped though, genuinely afraid to annoy him when he was doing her a favor. Once she’d settled into a consistent speed, she finally noticed that he had started humming the tune himself, and grinning broadly, she started to sing along. “Fruit salad.....” she paused for a long moment until they reached a red light, before she shot him a glance. “Yummy yummy.”

“More like motivational books have been conditioned to be crappy and I’m just observant. Do it. I triple dog dare you.”

“Don’t take it personally. Have you ever actually heard of a motivational book that was any good? The answer to that would be no. I think we did. I’m sneaky like that, Cody Bradford.”

“That’s morning for me,” Hana reminded him, as if that were the most obvious thing in the world. She scoffed at him, letting out an incredibly ladylike burp. “That’s what seatbelts are for. And Devin’s not that bad, he’s just... enthusiastic.” Rolling her eyes, she picked up a balled up napkin nearby and chucked it at him. “Rude. What, get over my throat being slit? Yeah, I’ll try.”

"No. No." Donnie widened his eyes as he shook his head and dramatically placed a hand on her hand over the steering wheel as though this would help transmit how serious he was being. "No, Hana, no." He was trying to be serious, something he normally had no problem with, but his lips were beginning to stretch into a silly smile. “I hate those people, and I swear I’ve got every single song stuck in my head. It’s never going away.” He let go of her hand, taking note of just how nervous she was. “You’ve got this,” he offered in encouragement as she attempted to break. To her reaction he grinned, briefly turning to see if the rest of the group was even aware of the new driver. When it appeared they weren’t, he nodded towards the road. “Let’s keep going.”

Hana pouted at him, almost genuinely crestfallen that he wasn’t going to allow her to make a playlist of a children’s band, and she used the term band very generously. “Are you sure?” She started to hum, shooting him a mischievous glance. “Fruit Salad is an American classic!” She felt tension ease out of her body when he put his hand on hers, loosening her grip on the steering wheel just a little bit. “Yeah. I do.” Taking a deep breath, Hana started to let the van actually pick up some speed, reaching the speed limit comfortably. “This isn’t so bad.”

I never said that.

“You’re the one who understood it,” he shot back with a small smile. “You are currently speaking to the brother of a once ten year old sister. I understand all references of all the old disney tv shows and movies. It’s a talent I’m not proud of.” He eased back into his seat as she readied herself to go and stepped on the accelerator. This wasn’t too bad. He had imagined a sudden pull forward. “Yeah, but the breaks aren’t, they’re the opposite. So to brake, it’s best to start from a distance to get this thing to start slowing down.”

"Well duh, Suite Life is a classic!" She smiled at that, never really having a hard time picturing Donnie as an older brother, despite his silent nature. She'd never met his sister, but if the way Donnie looked out for her was any indication, she imagined that her life hadn't been all that bad as long as she'd had her brother. "You should be proud of it. Do you know any songs by The Wiggles? We could make a playlist of them." She nodded, concentrating hard, her knuckles going a little white as she nervously clutched the steering wheel. She eased onto the break, the van giving a little jerk at first before she found the right amount of pressure. Eyes lighting up, she turned to Donnie briefly before starting out onto the actual road, confidence building. "Asians are bad drivers stereotypes can go to hell! I got this."

Hana grinned at his obvious discomfort, stretching out her legs to let her knees pop for good measure before finally settling back down into her seat. "If you're going to wake me up, you have to deal with my morning routine. What time even is it? I feel like my body is permanently fused to this seat." She grabbed a water bottle, tossing it in his direction before opening her soda, drinking half of it in one long gulp. "Oh, I see. Just keeping me around for what I can do, not my actual self. Harsh." Nudging him with her elbow, she stretched out, resting her feet on the cooler. "Please, as if I'd go anywhere."