#sunset curve

Luke reopens the map, turning it around until he's sure north is facing north. He traces his finger along their route.

"Yes, we just stay on the I-40 for pretty much forever. The same as it's been the whole time."

He looks back up at Bobby, whose grip on the steering wheel had somehow tightened. Bobby removes his right hand and gestures toward the expansive desert surrounding them. "Does this look like the interstate? Any interstate?" he asks through gritted teeth.

Luke looks around and shrugs his shoulders. This is his first time outside of LA, how is he supposed to know what the interstates of anywhere else looks like. Nevermind that they'd been on the I-40 for what feels like a million years already and this definitely doesn't look like that.

"Uh, guys?" Reggie's sheepish, all too sleepy voice calls out from the back.

"What?!" Bobby barks back at him.

"Don't yell at him!" Luke snipes back. Somehow even with a years long agreement, Bobby can't always control his temper, even at Reggie. Of course, he always blames Luke. Everything's always Luke's fault.

Luke mentally rolls his eyes.

"What's going on, Reg?" he asks patiently even while shooting daggers at Bobby.

"I uh… I need to pee."

Bobby heaves out a sigh. "We literally just stopped."

Luke narrows his eyes at Bobby. "Not literally, clearly, considering the nap of it all." If Luke's being honest, he's a little irritated too. He's not allowed to nap. Not allowed to close his eyes. Being shotgun means being navigator, he repeats sarcastically in his head. It's not his fault that the back seat makes him carsick. And it's not his fault that he doesn't have his driver's license yet. He studies and practices and practices and studies but everytime he's in that driver's seat, something goes wrong.

"I didn't have to pee then! I have to pee now," Reggie explains, his voice verging on the edge of that whine that they all know Bobby can't stand.

Bobby sighs again. Luke looks out at the road ahead of them. No shoulders, so they can't really just pull over. He supposes that there's not really enough traffic to cause any major issues but he also knows that Bobby won't risk it and the way Alex will worry the entire time makes it not worth trying.

"Can you hold it?" Bobby asks.

"I can try…"

Luke can feel Reggie's knees jumping in the back of his seat.

"But I don't know how long it'll last."

"Can't you just pee in a water bottle and call it a day?" Luke suggests. He can sense Bobby's grimace but there's no rebuttal.

"Dumped 'em all at the rest stop," Alex murmurs from his own half-sleepy state.

Bobby huffs out a breath, "Great."

Luke considers offering to chug a new bottle of water to free one up but if he's being honest, he's not far off from needing his own roadside stop and he doesn't want to incite further wrath.

See, Bobby? Sometimes he can think!

"Luke!" Bobby interrupts Luke's internal problem solving. "Figure out where we are and get us back on route."

"Aye, aye captain," Luke says with an obnoxious salute. He looks at the map again, trying to figure out where they could have gone wrong and traces their choices back. He looks out the window and tries to catch sight of literally any sign of where they might be. They're so in the middle of nowhere, there doesn't seem to even be a driveway or roadway to attempt turning around or stopping in.

He relaxes into his seat. He can feel Bobby's eyes boring holes into the side of his head.

Luke turns to face him. "What? There's clearly nothing we can do right now until we find somewhere to stop so just turn around when you can and we'll figure it out then."

Bobby scoffs but turns his attention back to the road. "You won't be saying that when we miss the show because of your shit directions."

Luke's jaw drops. He hadn't really considered that possibility. They'd given themselves plenty of time to get between stops for a reason!