They drove another twenty minutes before stopping for gas in the foothills of lower Kentucky, the gas station standing on a great grass bluff overlooking a green valley. It was vast and beautiful, like something out of a fantasy novel.

Lily walked over to the guard rail and snapped pictures with her iPhone, standing sickly pale in the sunlight.

"She really does look unhealthy," Evan thought as he pumped the gas. He noticed several other guys at the pumps, all of varying ages, noticing Lily.

Evan had a very satisfying nose-picking in the bathroom stall. The bathroom smelled like strawberries and farts. He flicked away the huge booger he'd dug out of his left nostril and whistled while he washed his hands.

Lily emerged from the ladies room as cheery as she had been that morning. The meal seemed to have rejuvenated her.

"Sorry for being a snippy little bitch earlier," Lily said when they both got back in the car. "I'm really glad you're taking me on this little mini-cation."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you could come with. It's, uh, you know, it's nice to catch up with people," said Evan as he pulled back onto the highway.

The cluster of towers that comprised downtown Nashville spread out along the southern horizon not too much later. They were listening to the Deftones, Lily having changed her mind about Radiohead halfway through OK Computer.

"There it is," said Evan.

"Yep," said Lily, texting again. She gave the shining city in the miles ahead a perfunctory glance, then it was back down to her phone again.

She had been quiet since they stopped for gas, leaning back in the passenger seat and taking what looked like a very nourishing afternoon nap. She placed her phone on her stomach and dozed until one of its periodic vibrations awoke her.

Evan furtively gave notice to a few of the names that popped up on the screen—Marcus, Nathan, and the one that turned Evan's heart to cold stone-- the infamous Daddy, he of the creepy forehead-kisses and the lazy eye and the violating of Lily's small body with his diseased, vile, thirty-six-year-old dong. Evan wondered if Lily called him Daddy when they were fucking, and then wished he hadn't.

Evan steeled himself to not thinking about her relationship with Daddy. Maybe Lily didn't really like Daddy. Maybe she was just sleeping with him out of convenience or necessity. Maybe she was looking for someone to rescue her.

Either way, thought Evan. He's not here, and you are.

Evan longed to know what sort of expansive conversations she was having with these men. He hadn't seen a single female name pop up on the iPhone's screen.

Her thumbs must get really tired, he thought as he watched her drum away.

They'd had several decent conversations along the course of the trip thus far, but those conversations were perforated with dry spells filled by the CDs they chose and the ceaseless drone of the wheels turning, and they were almost always caused by a text that Lily would receive.

She would briskly engage in conversation with the sender and Evan would feel like he was being put on hold. In those moments Evan looked at her narrow shoulders and the soft skin behind her ears and he thought of holding her the other night, and he longed to reach over and touch her again, but didn't.

They hurtled past downtown Nashville, the skyscrapers and stadiums rearing up to the west. A thick, winding rope of river coursed through the center of it all.

After about twenty minutes of driving south they took their exit onto a road called Harding Place, made one last left and arrived at their Motel 6 just as the sun began its final descent. Evan listened to the engine tick and Lily's text- tapping as he pulled the key out of the ignition.

Despite the evening's onset, the air felt like a warm bath when they stepped out of the frigid, air-conditioned Civic. Lily stretched her arms skyward with her phone clamped in one hand. She groaned, her belly showing under her lifted shirt. She twisted her wrists, and Evan heard them crackle. She gave a content little sigh and sniffled. It was all adorable and Evan wanted to run over and shower her with kisses. Instead he made for the front entrance.

Could be cuddling with her again just hours from now in any of these rooms, he thought, surveying the three stories of motel. A flurry of butterflies erupted in his abdomen despite his intuition still insisting it was all extremely unlikely.

They checked in, the lobby small and lit like a DMV, the tiles drab and cracked under their feet. There was a long blue rug on the floor that got caught on the door when they opened it.

The clerk was a dumpy-looking woman with hundreds of wet, tightly-wound curls. She clicked on a keyboard and handed Evan their key cards.

Their room was on the second floor, up a cement flight of stairs past vending machines and an extremely slow elevator that they gave up on waiting for when they realized they could've walked upstairs in the time they'd spent waiting. The room's window and door looked out on a balcony that gave view to hazy hills and rooftops. The Nashville skyline shimmered in the distance, miles to the north.

"I like the tower that looks like it's giving devil horns," said Lily, taking in the sights as Evan stuck his key card in the door slit. She made devil horns with her pointer and pinky fingers. She scrunched up her face in a mock metal sneer and poked Evan in the side with it.

"Grrrr," she said. "Devil horns..."

"You know, it's funny," said Evan, wincing as her fingers made contact with the side of his torso. "The devil horns. They were originally a curse—the evil eye."

"No shit."

"Yeah. You pointed your hand like that at someone you wanted to die."

"I did not know that."

"Yeah, but nowadays, if you add your thumb," Evan demonstrated, sticking his thumb out with his pointer and pinky finger sticking up. "It means 'Nothing but love'."

"That's fascinating," said Lily.

Evan's heart sank when they entered the chilly room.

There were two beds.

It dawned on him that he hadn't actually confirmed Lily was coming when he'd booked the room. Even if he had, he wouldn't have had the presence of mind to book a room with only one bed. He wasn't even sure Motel 6 had rooms with one bed.

He tried to hide his disappointment as Lily strode right in and set her stuff on the bed nearest the bathroom. Evan stood in the doorway a moment before setting his own bag on the one nearest the window.

The light-killing curtains were drawn and the room was dark. Lily turned on a lamp over the night stand between the beds, then the light over the sink next to the bathroom. The air conditioner rattled and hummed.

Evan weighed his options. He must start negging her soon, if it wasn't too late already. It was probably too late now. She had made physical contact with him, though. What was that called in PUA speak?

Kino. That's what it was. She had touched him. That was a good thing, wasn't it? Even if it had been in the sign of an ancient curse, it was the first time she'd made physical contact with him since they'd left Michigan.

Evan noted the TV and desk on the eastern side of the room. The floor was hard wood. The sheets and comforter on the bed were thin, and so were the pillows.

"Wanna go to Wendy's?" Evan asked. He'd seen one across the street when they pulled in, and he wanted to get out of this disappointing room. "I'm hungry again."

"Sure," said Lily. "Lemme use the bathroom first."

They walked to the Wendy's. Lily was cheerful, a spring in her step.

As they ordered, she told the cashier, "I love your accent."

The cashier smiled and asked them what they were doing in town.

"I'm trying out for Idol on Saturday," said Evan.

"Oh, well, good luck," said the cashier, handing him his change.

They brought their food back to the room. On their way back in Lily took the "Do Not Disturb" sign from the inside doorknob and hung it on the outside knob.

Another good sign, thought Evan. Literally. She doesn't want anyone bothering us. She wants us to have our privacy together.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

His heart fluttered.

You're grasping at straws, said that killjoy voice.

Fuck off, thought Evan.

Evan figured out how to operate the TV while Lily sat on her bed and chowed down. He flipped through the channels, finding nothing worth watching, before finally settling on Back to the Future.

Lily finished her spicy chicken sandwich and said, with her mouth full, "I'm gonna take a shower. I'm all gross from the car ride."

She crumpled her wrappers in the Wendy's bag and stuffed it all in the small trash can under the desk.

"K," said Evan.

An undeniable thought was creeping up on him-- she wasn't treating him in a way that suggested she was attracted to him. She was treating him like a companion and not a potential lover.

He had to start negging her.

Lily took her travel bag into the bathroom with her and Evan heard the shower hiss. He reclined on his bed and thought about his dick, lonely and unwanted in his pants, untouched by anything his whole life except his right hand and the dirty socks he jacked off into.

He was hoping she would come out of the shower naked and dripping with arms wide open, begging him to take her. Instead she came out fully dressed in some comfy-looking baggy pajama pants with Twix bars on them and a loose blue tank top. Her jet black hair was wet and dangling and stringy. She ran a brush through it, grimacing as she worked out snarls.

Maybe she'll say we should sleep in one bed, Evan thought hopefully, telling himself that was retarded before the sentence was even fully formed in his head.

"I'm fucking tired," Lily said as she took a seat on her bed. "Don't be offended if I fall right asleep."

"I won't," said Evan.

GODDAMMIT ALL TO HELL.

He had to neg her. There had to be something he could say.

He examined her and fired off the first thing he could come up with.

"Your hair looks like shit," he blurted.

"What?"

"I just- I said, your hair, it looks like shit," he said. "Cause you know, it's, it's all wet and stringy and stuff."

"Uh, thanks, asshole," said Lily.

She went over to the mirror and finished combing.

Evan sat on the bed, watching Doc Brown tell Marty McFly they wouldn't need roads where they were going.

Had his neg had any effect? It didn't feel like it.

"That was really mean," Lily said, sitting on her bed again and checking her phone. "What's your problem?"

"I don't have a problem," said Evan. "I just thought, you know, I just thought—I don't know what I thought. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, I guess you are," said Lily, texting. "Shit..."

Back to the Future ended. Evan had hunted all over the room for a channel guide but found none. He channel surfed until he found another movie. The Usual Suspects.

"This'll do," he said.

"Whatever," said Lily.

As the usual suspects stood in their line-up, each reciting, "Gimme the money, ya fuckin' cocksucker," Evan broke out his laptop and checked his sites. Mjsbigblog and Votefortheworst were both talking about the Nashville auditions, the first of season 10. There were numerous articles on the inevitable decline of the show, Simon Cowell's departure, his potential replacements, and what all this meant for the future.

Maybe this time next year I'll have my own thread, Evan thought.

Lily had snuggled in under her covers, sending yet another text. She looked sleepy.

Evan frantically tried to think of something to ask Lily, something to clear the bad air left in the wake of his failed neg.

He really wanted to crawl into the bed with her, but that clearly wasn't the right thing to do now. If she wanted to, she would crawl in bed with him just like she had the other night. And maybe now they'd be able to do something more. If she did, Evan vowed that he would make a move.

Then he remembered something he wanted to ask her.

"What's your favorite song?"

"What?"

"What's your favorite song? Like of all time?"

Lily yawned, thought about it.

"The first thing that came into my mind is 'Girl of Colours' by 24 Gone," she said after a moment.

"Never heard of them."

"Here," Lily said, and typed on her phone. She leaned across the space between their beds and handed him her phone. She'd pulled up a YouTube video and pressed play. "Listen."

An ethereal arpeggiated riff drifted out the iPhone's speakers. A wistful melody. Very eighties alternative, a haunting and mournful drift of a song, like blue and grey clouds coming in off a mountain range.

"I like this," said Evan, genuinely intrigued. He made a mental note to LimeWire it. "I think I've heard it somewhere before."

The volume lowered to signify the arrival of a new text. The message popped up on the top of the screen. It was Daddy.

For a second Evan felt like he was falling.

Honey, I'm not sure you should mention anything about the pick-up, I'm not happy about— said the message before it cut off.

"Doubt it," said Lily, snatching her phone back and hitting pause. "I can't find the CD anywhere, not even online. The album it was on came out in 1990 and they re-released it in 2003. I still can't find it."

He called her 'honey', moaned Evan internally. He felt tremendous rage at the man's nerve, calling her "honey" like she was a daughter or something.

He wanted nothing more than to lie down next to Lily on the bed and kiss her cheeks and face and lips and slide his hands up the loose tank top to feel her little pink nipples and pinch them until they stiffened.

He shoved the thought of Daddy away yet again.

"Who was the band again?" he asked.

"24 Gone, they were a Canadian band. They were only together like five years. This was the only album they put out."

"Why's it your favorite song?"

"I don't know," said Lily. "It reminds me of being a baby, or a toddler or whatever. I remember there was this apartment we had and my dad was still around and I remember him holding me in the car and looking up at this jetstream above the roof of the apartment building, and this song was playing on the radio as he was putting me in the car. It just makes me feel very safe. Makes me think of, like, flying through heaven or something."

She pointed at him, a poignant thought occurring to her.

"Makes me think of gloryland."

That made Evan smile.

"Where were you going? With your dad?"

"I don't know. It's just, like, a flash of a memory, but when I was older I heard it on the radio again and got the Internet and looked up the lyrics, and... yeah."

She typed out another message and put her phone down on her chest.

"What's your favorite song of all time?" she asked.

"Right now it's this," said Evan instantly. He opened his laptop and hit play on Lola Stars and Stripes by The Stills. He'd had his answer ready even before he'd initiated the conversation.

Lily listened politely, looking up at the ceiling. Her phone lay dormant. The conversation with Daddy must've been finished for the time being.

"They're a Canadian band, too," explained Evan. "This is the only song I've heard by them but I love it."

"It's pretty," said Lily, her eyes on the ceiling.

"Yeah, that's a good way of putting it, though. It makes me think of gloryland. I hear gloryland when I listen to this song."

"Word."

The air conditioner under the window kicked on, and its guttural buzz forced Evan to up the volume on his computer.

"Notice anything about this song?"

"What do you mean?"

"Listen to what the guy's saying," Evan said. "Or singing, I mean."

Lily listened some more, her brow furrowed. She looked like she didn't know what exactly she was listening for. When the chorus kicked in, she raised her eyebrows.

"Ah, yeah," she said. "They're singing my work name."

"Yeah," said Evan. "This song reminds me of you."

Lily nodded over on her bed, eyes still on the ceiling. She didn't look impressed or moved by that. And why would she be?

I'm losing her, Evan thought. He began to sweat.

"Why did you pick Lola as your name, anyway?"

Lily shrugged.

"The day I had to pick one I'd just watched Space Jam, and—"

"Lola Bunny?"

"Yeah."

Evan laughed.

"That's awesome."

"Yeah, I couldn't think of anything better... so yeah, Bugs Bunny's girlfriend."

She gave her full attention back to her phone.

Evan continued talking, hoping against hope to keep their first evening together alive. If he didn't make a move tonight, he might not get another chance. According to The Game, he had to do it tonight. It may already be too late.

He kept talking.

"They opened for Kings of Leon last summer."

"Who?"

"The Stills."

"Opened for Kings of Leon?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

"Yeah, I wanted to go, but I couldn't."

Lily's phone vibrated again.

Evan kept talking. The show must go on.

"You know what I don't understand about Kings of Leon? They started up the band and all of a sudden they just had a deal. I mean they didn't actually have to tour or anything. They just had the connections right away. That's how it always is with a lot of successful bands. They just form and then all of a sudden they're just successful. They never talk about how they had to actually get there. They always, just, like, skip over it in their biographies. On Wikipedia or whatever."

"Mmm..."

"I'm telling you man, it's all who you know," said Evan. He forced a laugh. "And I don't know anyone. Gotta make people like you. Make the right people like you. That's all that matters. I can't even get Matt to let me sing in his band."

"That sucks," said Lily. She set her phone down, clicked it off. "I'm really tired, and we should probably get to sleep. Did you set your alarm?"

Shit, he hadn't.

"Uh, yeah," lied Evan, not wanting to look unprepared. He hurriedly flipped open his phone and set it. "Yep, got it set right here..."

"Good deal," said Lily. "Well, good night."

She shut off her lamp and turned away from him.

Evan sat on his bed, looking at her, now a faded lump in the dark.

Just do it, he told himself. Just do it.

If you don't, you'll regret it. Just do it.

He thought of a Mark Twain quote: "In forty years you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the things you do do." Or something.

He got up, took two steps, and lightly lowered himself on top of the covers, getting into a spoon position with her. He couldn't get his right arm under her because of the securely tucked-in blankets. He snaked his left arm around her midsection and tried to pull her in closer.

"Uh, what are you doing?" she said, turning to look at him over her shoulder with a look of foreboding annoyance.

"Uh," said Evan. "I thought— I thought cause, you know, we... we cuddled the other night, we could maybe, uh, you know, cuddle again, tonight."

Lily let out a long sigh and turned away, but didn't protest.

"Sure, whatever makes you happy," she mumbled.

Hot damn, good enough for me, thought Evan as he lay his head on the pillow and tried to hug her. His dick began to fatten in his pants. She smelled like a cherry orchard. He laid his cheek on her damp hair, splayed on the pillow.

"God, I needed this," whispered Evan. "You have no idea how much I needed this, Lily."

"Just... don't talk," said Lily.

Evan's dick was now reaching gargantuan proportions. It poked Lily's butt through the covers.

Should he call attention to it?

Brian Dinkins' face flashed in front of him.

In to WIN, said Brian, grinning widely.

If this was to go anywhere else, he would have to make it happen. But he shouldn't overdo it.

Best to be subtle.

"Uh oh," said Evan, giving a little thrust of his hips and trying to sound frisky. It was all he could think of.

"Uh oh, what?" Lily snapped.

She turned and faced him, her dark eyes burning into his in the dim light. She was glaring at him.

"Uhhhh," Evan said, the look on her face causing blood to rush out of every extremity in his body.

He swallowed.

Now or never.

"Do you want to kiss me?" he asked, timidly.

His voice cracked on "want".

"Not really," said Lily, still glaring at him.

Evan observed the furious look on her face for a few seconds longer, then got up without another word and retreated to his own bed where he lay back down, under the covers. He felt like a dog that had just been told to kennel up.

Lily turned away from him again and put her head on the pillow. Evan's dick wilted, seeming to give a deep and mournful groan as it shrank back into his groin.

He lay there in the dark, eyes wide open, face on fire.

"I hope that doesn't make things weird now," he said aloud after a few moments. His voice cracked on 'things'.

There was no response from the other bed.

Lily was already asleep, her breathing measured and steady.

Evan fell asleep cursing his very soul.