Emmett pushed the last bite of French toast along his plate. Tab had already finished eating and was leaning back in the booth with his eyes closed mumbling about having overdone it.

"A growing boy like you shouldn't have so much trouble." Emmett said before placing his fork in his mouth and chasing it with his last sip of coffee.

"How long are you going to keep making these kid jokes?" Tab grumbled, hardly moving from his seat. He sighed when Emmett only shrugged in answer. "Wow, did you really just eat all of that?"

"You say it like it was difficult."

"Well you must have a crazy metabolism to be able to eat that much and stay so thin."

It was a compliment.

He believed it.

He wouldn't do it this time.

"I'm going to use the restroom." Emmett said, sliding to his feet. "I don't expect you're going anywhere." Tab only waved his hand in answer.

The diner had only gotten more crowded. The occupants somehow managed to kick up a dull roar in the small space. Eye contact was something that couldn't be avoided and Emmett felt as if the locals were looking down on him as he passed them by. What right do they have to?

The noise of the building was cut off at least a little when he turned into the hallway containing the restrooms. He rapped a knuckle on the door before giving it a push.

The door didn't open. "Occupied." A stranger called from within.

Really?

Emmett leaned back against the wall, holding himself with crossed arms. Of course he could wait.

The seconds marched by like a swinging pendulum. He tapped his fingers on his arm, gripped it tightly to stop himself, then crossed over to pound on the door. "Hurry up in there!"

"Fuck off, man."

Emmett grit his teeth against a comeback, glancing at his table to see Tab waving receipts in the air. He gave the door one last kick before stalking back to the table.

Tab seemed nervous at his approach and it tempered his anger just a hair. "I need to stop at a gas station on the way out." Tab offered as he signed off on his receipt. "Probably won't have as clean of a bathroom though."

He wouldn't be so considerate if he knew what you wanted to do. "Every restroom is a shot in the dark." He pulled out his wallet and dropped a handful of bills on the counter. I don't need a clean one anyway.

Emmett felt too anxious to even smoke in the car. He thought he heard Tab talking beside him but the words just weren't reaching. He bit at his nail instead, trying to keep himself occupied.

Emmett stepped from the vehicle as soon as Tab pulled to a stop at the pump. He thought he heard Tab say something again but he just kept walking. A car squealed to a stop a he crossed it's path, the driver blasting the horn. Emmett cast a middle finger over his shoulder as he continued into the building.

It actually was a clean gas station, which was a huge surprise. He thought all of them still looked like the seedy one across the street from his apartment. Just a place to buy gas, cigarettes and whatever mistake your local drug dealer was selling that month. He felt too dirty to even be in the building that long. A gas station. Of all places.

Emmett ducked through the aisles, banking for the clearly visible restroom sign. He pulled on the door handle; pushed it. It wouldn't budge. Belatedly he noticed the handwritten sign taped to it. "Out of Order"

Shit. Emmett pressed his back against the wall. I can't ask him to find another place. I can't wait any longer.

Emmett took the back exit from the gas station. He hated doing it this way. Too many eyes and questions and evidence left out in the open.

There was no more waiting. He leaned over next to a pathetic decorative bush, pressed his fingers into the back of his throat and purged dinner.

It was unpleasant.

It always was.

Emmett spit and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He felt… better? He wasn't sure. Guilt was still sitting there in the pit of his stomach. That only seemed to grow bigger each time.

He spit once more before pushing himself upright. Back to the car; to the bulky SUV with the little cargo trailer hitched to it.

He took a step but stopped short. There it was already, in plain view. Tab would have only had to glance out of his window to see. Did he? Will he bring it up? Will he berate me for it? He'd heard just about every line over the years.

He crossed the road back to the car with a little more caution. Tab was poking at his phone again as he lowered himself into his seat. Did he not notice or was he just trying to hide that he had.

"There's a few bottles of water in the back seat if you want one." Tab offered as he stashed his phone and turned the car on.

He definitely saw it.

Emmett helped himself, taking a swig from a bottle before spitting out the window.

"I told you diner food was suspicious."