The room was dark still. The hour on the digital clock read 4-"something". He didn't want to read the rest of the numbers. Emmett turned to look over his shoulder. Light haloed the bathroom door and he could hear the shower running.

At this hour, Tab?
…
Or the stranger.

A moment of panic. He'd made it back to his room, hadn't he?

He flipped on the light. Beneath the other bed, a pair of black high top sneakers splattered artistically with pink and green paint and on the side table a phone, plugged in and charging with a logo sticker reading Wolf Pack.

Ok then. Off again with the light. He closed his eyes, hugging a pillow against himself. Despite last night and maybe the night before, it was the closest he'd been to contact comfort in awhile. He dozed awhile.

The bathroom door opened, the light visible through his eyelids for just a moment before the light was flipped off. How considerate. The boy's footsteps were slow and muffled. Emmett heard him kick something in the darkness.

"Ack! Shit." He heard said in a hissed whisper.

Emmett turned the light on.

Tab was doubled over by the bed, clutching at his foot. Fully clothed, what a shame. His hair was still damp, falling loose and wild around his face. A tear glistened brightly in one of his eyes.

...

Damn, I wish I could keep a picture of that.

"What are you doing? Trying to sneak off and abandon me?"

"No." Tab had recovered and he was tugging on his shoes. "I finished my order last night. The post office around here is out of our way so I was going to do it before we got on the road."

"At four in the morning?"

"Really out of the way. Do you want me to pick anything up for you on the way back? To eat, I mean."

"Shitty canned coffee."

"Ok… I should be back in a few hours." Emmett didn't answer and Tab didn't wait for him to. He grabbed his phone and ducked out the door.

Emmett pressed his cheek into the pillow, tried to close his eyes. That tousled hair was still on his mind. I want to bury my face in it. His hand crept under the covers. He was ashamed by how hard he already was.

______________

The sun was coming through the curtains when he woke up again. A generic gas station branded can of coffee sat on the side table and beside it, hand wrapped in decorative plastic, a muffin. A sniff revealed banana nut. What a sap. But he wasn't sure if he was mocking Tab or himself

Emmett took a shower, both to cool himself off and freshen up. He only had the same set of clothes so he put them back on. It undid some of the effort but there was nothing else to be done. He managed to squeeze the coffee can in his back pocket and peel the wrapper from the muffin before walking outside.

The car was closer to their room now and Emmett could see Tab hiding out in his little studio again. It was cluttered but looked well organized. Emmett didn't know the purpose of any of the tools he was looking at though. He took a bite of the muffin.

"Working again?"

Tab's whole body jolted with shock. He pressed a hand to his chest before looking to Emmett. "Yeah, I wasn't sure when you were going to get up."

"You're going to make yourself sick working that hard... A little joke. I know I'm actually the sick one."

Tab didn't laugh. He looked like he wanted to argue the point but ended up saying nothing at all.

Emmett lit a cigarette.

"Hey, not back here." That got him moving. He jumped from his seat, started stashing pencils and papers and folding desks and stools to hang on the wall. Efficient. "I thought you were out of cigarettes." He said as he stepped down from the trailer, locking it behind him.

"A stranger shared with me last night." Technically he'd stolen the carton but he considered it payment for a shit time.

"So I don't need to stop somewhere for you to get more?"

"Oh, you do. These taste like ass but I have them so I'll smoke them." He remembered the muffin in his hand. "I assume you got this for me, so thank you."

"No problem." Is what Tab said, but Emmett thought he saw a slight blush on his brown cheeks. "Are those the same clothes as yesterday?"

"What of it?"

"Well, you just spent all of yesterday in them. And what? Did you sleep in them too?"

And less savory things too. "Yeah, and? You got something else for me to wear?"

Tab walked around to the back door of the car, pulling a cardboard box down on to the ground. When he popped it open Emmett felt blinded by the array of neon shirts within.

"I'm not wearing any of those." Emmett had to chuckle at the ridiculousness of the idea.

"It's all I've got."

"It's all you have that you don't mind throwing away when I stink it up with smoke." Emmett corrected.

Tab didn't deny it, only spread his hands in exasperation. "Ok, then we're going shopping." He picked up the box to shove it back in the car.

"You think I've got cash to burn on a new wardrobe?"

"We'll go to a thrift store."

"Ha, and you think I smell now?" But Emmett couldn't think of any other argument against it. "Fine, let's go."