Mchart week: The Road Trip
They are both unusually quiet in the morning. As if they are afraid to break the peaceful silence and ruin everything, so they let their bodies speak for their tongues. Kurt fries bacon and eggs, Diane warms up bagels and makes coffee.
A light brush of hands, short timid smiles. She adverts her eyes, and he feels a sudden pang in the chest. His arms snake around her waist, he just can't help it, his lips kiss the side of her head above the right ear. Despite the short glimpse of sadness he felt radiating from her just a moment ago, she leans in his embrace readily, caresses his back, kisses his shoulder. They're bathing in morning sunlight, in the warmth of their embrace and in the smell of the coffee.
"Kurt. Let's get away from the city for a while?" Diane blurts out.
"You mean, go to the country?"
"No... Go on a trip. Spend some time in nature." She knows he would love it. She knows that she will enjoy it too and they need it.
Kurt's eyebrows go up. Diane and nature: a beautiful combination but a rare one.
"Why?"
"To make a room," she pauses and finds his left hand with hers. "To clear more space for... love. Just be simply Diane and Kurt for a while."
Kurt is almost ready to laugh. He thinks that he is always himself and that being in love with her is his default state of being. But he gets it, so he just squeezes her hand and kisses her cheek instead.
"Do you have something particular in mind?"
"Nope. We can make arrangements today and go tomorrow."
"It's a deal then." He smiles into her hair.
The silence between them sparks with anticipation of something exciting as they eat.
***
Eventually they decide to go to Starved Rock. It's not too far from Chicago and it's beautiful.
Kurt's driving the car. Lyle Lovett doesn't provoke a sudden wave of longing anymore. The car doesn't reek of incense. Everything falls right into place. They're not going to meditate, they're going to walk and see the waterfalls, although Diane doesn't even mind watching him fishing for the whole day, breathing in the fresh air and the closeness of the most important person in her life she missed so much and desperately tried to forget in the fear of no future.
"You know what. We should try an axe throwing next."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah. I'll show you my moves." She adds with a cheeky smile.
"I always thought it's a pity that you had got over it before we could try it together."
"Maybe you'll find that the axes are actually hotter than guns."
"I know for sure that you'd look hot as hell with an axe. As for the technical side… Maybe I am a simple guy, but I like complicated things, you know."
"Oh, I know. You wouldn't marry me if you haven't." Diane sighs. "There are actually so many things we haven't tried doing together…"
The majority of the trip they discuss their plans for future activities they want to try, building a bridge to their life together in DC. Diane thinks that maybe her cowboy is not an artsy person but he sure knows how to have fun and make her feel warm inside.
The playful talk only dies out when they stop at a parking lot near a gas station to buy some coffee. Somehow coffee gets forgotten pretty quick as they indulge in a not exactly silent make out session.
***
“There is something humbling about the ancient rocks. We try to be important, be heroes, make a difference, while they’re just standing here and will outlive us all…”
“You’ll be able to make a difference again when you’re back in a courtroom. Real difference for real people.”
And you will feel better, his tender green eyes tell her. She already feels better. The earth, the rustle of leaves, water and his steady presence ground her. Baby steps are not so frustrating anymore. Finally she knows what she needs to do: go back to what she does best. Leading a law firm, fighting for clients she actually cares about. Finally she doesn’t feel so painfully alone.
She looks down at the calm water surface and muses.
This is crazy how you start to think that a person you have mutual interests with understands you on a truly deep level, seeking his advice because you feel like drowning, only to realize later that he doesn't know you at all. And it makes sense, because he really doesn't.
And this is crazy how a person, you have so little in common with on a surface level, gets you better than anyone else in the world. It doesn't make sense at all, but it feels so right when you don't overthink it.
***
"Ouch!" Diane stumbles and almost falls but Kurt's strong hand supports her in time.
"Are you alright, hon?" he asks gently caressing her side. Diane takes a deep breath trying to not lean too much onto him.
"I think I've twisted my ankle. I'll be alright in a minute."
"You need to sit down and rest for a bit…" Kurt looks around trying to find something suitable. Sadly, they are out in the wild and there are no benches. "What do you think about this nice looking rock?"
Kurt helps Diane to reach the big flat rock he spotted and sit down. Then he takes three steps back, checks her out affectionately and pulls the smartphone out of his pocket.
"You look like a princess who got lost in the woods."
"Yeah, seventy years old princess in leather pants", Diane answers sarcastically.
"Princess SexyPantsass", Kurt says lightheartedly and gets a perfect shot of her laughing. This will be a nice addition to his growing collections of Diane's photos.
When Kurt helps Diane to stand up again, his stomach grumbles loudly.
"I think we should head to the picnic area. Maybe this place has a dark history, but I don't want my galant knight to starve!"
***
Kurt gives Diane a plate with a hot aromatic grilled cheese sandwich and two sausages on the side while she spoonfeeds him a pasta salad she made this morning. He feeds her grapes. She wipes her hands with a napkin and pats his knee. They clunk two beers and toast their trip. The silence they've immersed into now is comforting in all its cozyness.
A gust of wind ruffles Kurt's hair, and Diane's fingertips tingle. He is relaxed, almost serene. He looks at her with such tenderness that her lips start tingling too. She brushes breadcrumbs from his mustache, lightly touching the upper lip with her pinkie. He smiles and kisses her fingers. She can't restrain herself anymore. One hand goes up his cheek and disappears in the thick silver hair. The other hand goes up his chest, then his neck. And they are kissing, and kissing, and kissing. Bottles fall clinking against each other. Diane silently prays for the bottles to be empty, but when they end the kiss she looks only at him.
"Now I'm starved for something else", Kurt breathlessly murmurs in her ear, sending a tingling sensation down her spine. Diane is half turned on, half hyper-aware that they're in a public space.
"I'm afraid we have to starve for this much longer, my love", she whispers, moving away from him. The look on his face when she says the last two words almost makes her cry.
“Thank you for coming back to me.” She literally breathes the sentence out. Her guilty look adds: Despite me hurting your feelings again and again.
It is both an apology for how she had left things and gratitude for him finally being here for her, not on the phone with a despicable organization, not somewhere else.
“Thank you for choosing us again.” Kurt answers simply, his voice is breaking in the middle.
Her brows form two slanting lines, her lips tremble. As though they both could go a different way. They almost did, but no, she couldn't, they couldn’t.
She just hugs him then. If she could melt into his soft flannel shirt, she would. His hands clutch so tightly on her back as if he is afraid she would disappear.
The next moment an angry kid passes them muttering something about "gross adults". They break their embrace and laugh, probably making the kid even angrier. The unexpressed thought makes them laugh even louder.
On the way back to the car they see a double rainbow.
"Everything is gonna be alright", Diane thinks. Kurt opens a car door for her. Going back home doesn't seem so depressing anymore.
_______________
The song in the edit: Love Will Keep Us Alive by Scorpions.
Thank you @rexlockhart for organizing such a wonderful fandom event! 💗💗💗
