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Slipping my hand from his neck, I reached behind the seat.

“Wow, you really thought of everything didn’t you?” I sifted through the bag that had more choices than a convenience store.

“Chalk it up to me trying to impress you.”

“Well, Cheez-its are my favorite. Consider me impressed.”

We fell into a comfortable silence as I switched from my preferred emo music to something more his speed. Cranking up the volume a couple notches, the piano intro to “Welcome to the Black Parade” by My Chemical Romance rang in our ears like an unforgotten melody of our pasts.

All it took was a single look between us, and a new tone had officially been set as time passed, continuing to travel toward our destination.

Even with a playlist blaring, screaming at the top of our lungs to music we both loved, occasional small talk, and enough road snacks to feed an army, the doubt started to creep in, and I wasn’t one hundred percent sure if I was ready to see Logan after all this time.

The GPS had us arriving to the prison in just a few minutes, and I couldn’t help but notice the closer we got, the more somber Andi became.

Her natural way of communicating through jokes and sarcasm turned off about one hundred miles ago along with the heavy beat of the music bumping through the speakers.

“We’re just about there. Do you have everything you need?” I broke the silence.

“I don’t know. I’m nervous I may have forgotten something.” Andi pulled down the visor, looking at herself in the mirror as she rubbed her fingers along her eyes, completely bare of any makeup, allowing her natural beauty to shine.

I’d only ever seen her all dolled up for work or a night out. It was refreshing to see her softer side.

“Run through your mental checklist with me,” I offered.

Andi took a deep breath before ticking off the first item on her list.

“I called to make sure my background check passed and that I was on his list for cleared visitors.”

“Okay, good. What else?”

“I have my ID in a plastic bag along with some cash and coins. Nothing else.”

Visiting someone in prison wasn’t a walk in the park; there were a lot of steps you had to take and rules you needed to follow.

“Okay, check.” I nodded.

“I just need to change into some pants. The rules state I can’t wear anything revealing, and I’m not sure what exactly their definition of revealing is, but I’d rather cover up to feel more comfortable anyway. And since I’ve never visited my brother, I made sure to ask what color their uniforms are. I wasn’t sure if they are bright orange like you see in the movies or not, but I know it’s against the rules to wear similar colors. So, I made sure not to bring anything in the brown, tan, or beige family.”

There was a subtle change to her voice, a little higher pitched with her words running a mile a minute. By the way she rambled, it became clear to me that her anxiety was increasing.

“Anything else you can think of?”

“No. I don’t think so. But I feel like I could puke.”

My eyes widened.

“Do you want me to pull over?” I asked, feeling concerned.

“No. I think I’m okay.”

“Are you⁠—”

“Actually, yes. Please pull over. I need some air. I⁠—”

“Hey, everything is going to be okay.” Jerking the wheel, I immediately pulled off to the side of the road.

Before I could even put the car in park, Andi launched herself out of the passenger side as if she was desperate to stand on her own two feet.