“It’s so boring here,” Amber sighed into the phone. She was currently lounging on her couch with one leg propped up over the back and her free hand controlled the tv remote. Her ankle was now fully recovered, but SM hadn’t exactly asked her to come back yet. The capability to do things, but nothing to do, drove her crazy.
“Things aren’t exactly busy around here for me either,” she heard Henry’s sleepy reply back. It was nearing one am in Korea. The massive time difference only made Amber feel farther and more disconnected.
“I wish I could just go back already and we could be bored together, in person,” she said although she knew she was never really bored when hanging out with her best friend.
“I’m sorry, Amber, but I have to go. We’ll talk again tomorrow?” He questioned with a yawn.
“Oh,” she tried to mask the disappointment in her voice. “Yeah, okay. Night Henry.”
Henry hung up and dropped the phone on his bed. Their conversation ran over and over in his head for a little while. He felt bad for her, being stuck in California while her group promotes without her. He knew she said it was alright, but it would bother anybody. He wished he could just find a way to cheer her up. He sat up suddenly when he thought of an idea. He remembered something Amber told him years ago when they were still trainees. He got out of bed and pulled out a suitcase.
“It’s not like we’re promoting or anything,” he convinced himself while throwing clothes into the bag.

⟶

Amber’s eyes forced open when she heard the doorbell rang. Groaning she rolled out of bed and walked slowly to the door. The person at the door began to press the bell continuously.
“Aish, I’m coming!” She yelled. When she finally reached the door she was shocked at who she saw standing on her doorstep.
“H-Henry? What are you doing here?”
He just smiled, “Aren’t you going to let me in?”

She stepped back a bit, “Oh, of course.” She directed him to put his bags down and to sit on the couch. 

“Do you want anything to drink? Did you just get in? Why are you here anyway? Does your manager know?” She bombarded him with curious questions.

He laughed before answering, “Coke, yes, to visit you of course, and not yet.”

She tossed a can of coke at him before sitting down next to him on the couch.

“Seriously though, why did you come all the way here without any notice to visit me? Won’t your manager throw a fit?”

He opened the can and took a long swig. He set the now empty can on the table. That always was one of the talents Amber marveled.

“I left him a note. And a guy can’t just visit his best friend when he wants to?”

Amber just raised an eyebrow, “Not when said best friend is on the other side of the world and he’s a part of a controlling recording label.”

“Okay, there’s something I really wanted to do with you. It’s something you told me was on your bucket list, something you’ve never been able to do.”

“And what is that?” she said hiding a smile.

“Road trip.”

⟶

Amber giggled as she put her feet up onto the dashboard. She plugged in her ipod and played the road trip playlist she made years ago when she held the hope that one day she would hop into a car with someone and drive away and they rolled the windows down. It took them only an hour to get Amber’s stuff packed, the car stocked with enough snack food, and to say goodbye to her parents. They brought a map, but didn’t intend on using it. They would just drive.

Amber stuck her hand out of the window and spread her fingers out. She glanced over to Henry who was driving for the first leg.

“I love the feeling of driving with the ac on and the windows down. It’s like an oxymoron for you body.”

“You’re so weird,” he snickered.

She brushed off the comment, “Thanks for doing this. I’m happy.”

Without warning Henry started singing while drumming on the steering wheel, “You’ve got a fast car. But is it fast enough so we can fly away?”

“We gotta make a decision, we leave tonight or live and die this way.”

⟶

The pair sat in one of the booths towards the back of the diner. They sat next to the wide windows that over looked the highway. The lights from inside the diner poured out onto the dark road outside.

Henry took one of his fries and dipped it into Amber’s chocolate shake. She didn’t protest, but stole five off of his plate in return.

“I still can’t believe that I’m here, doing this with you. It’s like I ran away. I can’t say I regret it though,” he mused while popping the ice cream covered fry into his mouth.

“I still can’t believe you did all of this for me,” it came out before she could stop it. The freedom of being on the road together doing whatever they wanted freed up too apparently. She promptly stuffed with a handful of fries.

Henry didn’t bother to deny it; didn’t bother to respond with one of his classic cuts to her. Because he couldn’t believe he was doing all this for her either.

⟶

The car drove smoothly across the iconic red bridge. They were amongst the hundreds of other cars that were all going someplace. Henry and amber were just going.

“I don’t want this to end,” she whispered into her arms that her head was resting on against the window.

He took his eyes off the road to look at her. Right now would be perfect timing, to tell her that this didn’t have to end. “We have to get off the bridge sometime,” he said giving a sad smile.

Once crossing the bridge they pulled into the visitor center. The store was full of souvenirs: models of the bridge, t-shirts that said ‘I ❤SF”, and even umbrellas with cartoon icons of San Francisco.  Amber wandered over to a shelf that held various snow globes. She picked one up and tipped it over. The snow fell around the bridge and it was an odd scene considering it hardly snowed in the area. For some reason she really wanted it. It would remind her years later of the spontaneous trip she took with her best friend when she was feeling down. The snow would remind her of Henry in California, rare and fleeting.

Henry stood by the rotating rack of key chains. He gently spun it around when one spotted his attention. It was a simple keychain that showed the Golden Gate bridge, but underneath spelled out the name ‘Amber’. He wanted to buy it, not for her but for himself. A way of saying to everyone and himself, ‘I went to California with Amber’. It was like he was staking a small claim that she belonged to him.

⟶

They collapsed the back row of chairs and lay on top of a blanket side-by-side looking out the skylight in the roof of the car. Their feet stuck out slightly of the open trunk door. The stars were bright in the cloudless night sky and they both knew it would be their last night on their adventure. Amber had to get home sometime and Henry’s manager called more frequently. They had driven all the way up the state and back down; it was only a matter of time before they reached her house again.

Neither of them said anything, they didn’t want pointless conversation or words to be said. They just wanted to soak up the moment, absorb every second of it, every feeling.

Henry’s hand fell inches away from Amber’s and the static seemed to fill the air in small distance. His pinky reached out slightly and she wrapped hers around his.

It was like they were promising never to let go, never to forget each other or forget this trip. It said everything either of them couldn’t find the words to say.