Lance gently opened Marie�s door, and peered into her room. Her back faced the door and he could see her side rise and fall with each breath, indicating that she was still asleep. He grinned to himself and let the door fall open all the way. He walked briskly over to the side of the bed and pulled the covers all the way down, revealing her Spongebob pajamas, and began shaking her.
�Wakeupwakeupwakeup!�
Marie jumped and Lance had to duck to avoid getting smacked in the head. She groaned when she saw Lance�s smiling face and flopped back against the bed, burying her face in her pillow. �G�way, to early.�
Lance climbed into bed and straddled her waist, shaking her shoulders with each word. �But we�re leaving today. So get up, sleepyhead.�
Marie slapped Lance�s hands away. �God, who spiked your orange juice?� Lance grinned and poked her cheek annoyingly. She smacked his hand again and he climbed off to sit cross-legged next to her. �What time is it anyways?�
�Six o�clock, darling,� he answered, his accent prominent.
He beamed excitedly and Marie rolled her eyes before sliding out of bed. She put her glasses on and stretched, groaning when a few bones popped. Lance stared, taking in her rumpled state. Her hair was sticking up all over the place, her eyes were still droopy from sleep, and she was yawning widely. He smiled softly and she looked at him.
�What?�
�Nothin�,� he answered, shaking his head and laughing.
Marie put her hands on her hips and said, �No, come on, what is it?�
�You just look so damn cute in the mornin�,� he answered, shrugging his shoulders slightly.
Marie blushed. �Thanks.� They fell silent for a few seconds before she finally said, �All right, go bug Dad or something while I take a shower. I�ll be down in a little while.�
�Okay!� Lance jumped up from the bed and half-danced half-walked out of the room.
Marie shook her head and mumbled, �Freak.�
Half an hour later, Marie came down the stairs with her suitcase in tow to find the house empty. She dropped her suitcase in the hallway and went out into the driveway where Lance and her father were attempting to hook the tow to her car. Lance was bent over at the waist and she couldn�t help but stop and stare at the nice view he offered.
Finally she walked over and stood there, arms crossed over her chest. �Need some help?�
Her father gave her a side grin, as Lance grunted, �No,� and went back to fiddling around. Marie stood there, grinning, as she watched him try to hook it up. Minutes later he dropped the wrench and cursed loudly, �Dammit!�
Marie and her father burst out laughing and Lance scowled. He backed away and motioned for Marie to take over. �Go on, you do it if you�re so smart.�
Marie smiled politely and promptly began working at hooking up the tow. Minutes later she stood up and grinned. Lance made a face and Mr. Andrews had to turn his head to hide his smile. Marie handed Lance the wrench and patted him on the shoulder.
Lance pointed the wrench at Marie when she opened her mouth. �Don�t. Just don�t even say it.�
Marie closed her mouth and giggled. �So, are we going to eat breakfast here or just catch something on the fly?�
�It�s up to you. I don�t care,� answered Lance.
�Y�all should get out of here as soon as possible to avoid all that traffic,� commented Mr. Andrews.
Marie and Lance nodded, quickly going into the house to get the last of their stuff. They loaded up their stuff and did a check to make sure they had everything. Lance shook Mr. Andrews� hand before getting into the car to let he and Marie have some time alone.
Marie clung to her father tightly, tears brimming in her eyes. This was the first time she�d ever been away from him for more than a few nights, let alone across the country and permanently. �I�m gonna miss you,� she sniffled.
Mr. Andrews smiled softly and rubbed her back reassuringly. �I�m gonna miss you too, sugar.�
He opened the door for her and she climbed into the passenger seat. He closed the door and leaned in through the window to give her one last kiss on the cheek. �You take care of yourself, baby.� He looked over at Lance and added, �You, too.�
Lance nodded. �Will do. We�ll give you a call when we settle down for the night.�
Mr. Andrews nodded. He brought Marie�s hand up to his mouth and gave it one last kiss before backing away and motioning Lance to pull out. Marie sniffled and hooked her seatbelt into place as Lance pulled out of the driveway.
Lance wrapped an arm around her shoulder and hugged her as close as her seatbelt would allow. He planted a soft kiss to her forehead and asked, �You going to be ok, sweetie?�
�Yeah,� she sighed. She laid her head against his shoulder and took a deep breath as she felt Lance�s fingers comb through her hair. They stayed like that until Lance got on the freeway and Marie pulled away to get out the map and the directions she had printed off of Map Quest.
~*~
Marie sipped her Slurpee and fiddled with the radio station. Lance cocked his head to the side and let out a satisfied sound when a pop echoed through the car. Marie looked up and asked, �You sure you don�t want me to drive?�
�Naw, I�m all right,� he answered.
Marie shrugged and went back to fiddling with the radio. �Suit yourself.�
When she found a station that came in clear, she sat back and began singing along softly. Lance watched out of the corner of his eye as she bopped her head back and forth to the music, mouthing along to the words.
He couldn�t help but stare at her mouth, now red and slightly swollen from the cold drink. His eyes flickered to the road before glancing back just in time to see her lips wrap around the straw again, sucking softly. His eyes widened slightly and he felt his jeans stiffen a bit. She pulled the straw from her mouth and licked the stray droplets that had gathered on her lips. Lance�s eyes snapped to watch the road and he blinked a few times.
Marie looked at him oddly before offering her drink. �Want some?�
�Uh, no, that�s ok,� he answered gruffly. He wiggled around in his seat to find a more comfortable position and let out a frustrated sound.
�If you don�t like the music then just say so.�
�It�s not that,� he answered.
�Then what is it?� she demanded.
�Nothin�, don�t worry about it.�
Marie pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at Lance before sitting back in her seat, and drinking again.
Lance inwardly cursed himself. Marie was his friend. Almost like a sister even. She�d been there for him for the past three months as he�d been there for her. She was one of his closest friends outside the other four guys. He wasn�t supposed to get�to get hard over her.
He quickly stole a peak at her and smiled softly.
Over the last three months they had grown extremely close. Closer than he had let himself be to anyone in a long time. After the lawsuit, he�d grown hard towards new people. Closed himself off. He became leery of their intentions.
But with Marie he never had to worry. She was up front and called a spade a spade. You knew what she wanted from you because she made that extremely clear from the get go. He cared very much for her.
But was it like he cared for his other friends or was it something else? Had his feelings for her evolved from friendship to something more without his knowing it? He�d heard of that happening before but he�d never had that problem. He�d always known ahead of time whether or not he liked someone in that capacity. But now he was starting to get confused.
He looked at her again and took in the curly wisps of hair that had escaped her ponytail holder and now framed her face. He couldn�t see them but he knew that her hazel eyes were shining with excitement. They fluctuated between light green and brown whenever her mood changed and were extremely expressive of what she was feeling at the moment.
Marie must have sensed him looking at her because she turned, smiling widely. He grinned back and she turned to watch the passing scenery.
Her smiles were very much like Joey�s. They always reached her eyes, crinkling at the corners, and showed a mouthful of teeth. Her cheeks rose up causing her eyes to nearly disappear between them and her eyebrows, and her whole faced seemed to glow.
Her laughter was contagious and you couldn�t help but crack a smile whenever she giggled or laughed full from the belly. She had one hell of a sense of humor. Every time she made a smart ass remark, Lance swore up and down that she was a female version of Chris, only toned down a bit.
Lance slouched down in his seat, settling in for the long drive, and let his thoughts take over. A smile small tugged at the corner of his lips.