Help me find one Airpod.

I lost one airpod in the car, and one somewhere else, possibly in the car as well. While I was away from home, with my car, I searched with find my iphone. It said the airpod was at my house (not in the car with me). When I got home, I selected play sound, and it said "sound pending, will play when connected." I physically searched and found one of the airpods in the car. It never connected or played the sound on that airpod, and it never found that airpod while I was away from home since the car was with me.

I then put the found airpod in the case, and taking it in and out of the case experimenting, now when I take it out of the case, findmy will find and play the sound on that airpod every time. It shows a display with the right airpod highlighted, and playing the sound. The left icon is not highlighted.

So now, either I get the "sound pending" status, or it will only play the sound on the found airpod. It will also show, on occasion, that my airpod is next door. That's very unlikely. At best, I had them both in my car, came in through the garage, and it's likely impossible that my neighbor found it and took it next door.

What does all this mean? When I was away from the house, it said the airpod is at my house. Is it at my house for sure? If it is, why can't it connect and play the sound? Now that I've found one airpod, how do I make sure it's not searching for and finding that one instead of the one I've lost? It seems to be finding the missing airpod at my house. What can I do to confirm it's here?