That Sunday morning started for Angel and Zara like always, even though they were together in her bed. Angel was sleeping in, face smushed in the pillow, while Zara sat in bed with a cup of coffee, her laptop and a stack of assignments. Now that she had company her space was limited, so that thick stack of papers was on Angel, and it fluttered to the floor when he rolled over.

"Shit," he grumbled sleepily. "Sorry."

"My fault," she laughed a little. "There's coffee for you." Zara pointed to the travel mug on the nightstand as she got out of bed to grab the papers. "It should still be hot. I don't know how you take it but there are sugar packets and cream there too, just in case."

"Mm thank you. Great service at this place," he said with a smile and a wink. "Work?"

"Yeah," she laughed. "Sorry. It's my usual routine and I figured since you were sleeping," she shrugged.

"No, you're good. I don't wanna bother you," he said, grabbing his boxer briefs off the floor, "I'll get outta your way."

"Oh, you don't have to leave," she said. "I just didn't want to wake you so I figured I'd get some work done."

Looking rather relieved, Angel sunk down in bed again. "What are you grading?"

"Essays," she offered him one.

Angel read the first few lines before he started to laugh. "Shit, I remember this kind of stuff."

"You actually did it?" She looked at him with feigned surprise.

"Sometimes," he said with a smirk. "You grading all day?"

"Basically," she told him. "Sunday is usually my grading and laundry day."

He nodded slowly. "Got time for anything else?"

"Depends," she looked at him, "Just spit it out."

Angel rolled to his side and grabbed her laptop and reached over her legs to carefully place it on the floor beside the bed. He then grabbed her hips and guided her on top of him as he rolled onto his back again.

"I thought we could go for a ride," he suggested.

Zara looked at him suspicious eyes, her hips starting to slowly sway on him. "What kind?"

"Definitely this kind," he said, grabbing her waist to keep her still while he spoke, "But I had another idea too."

"Spill it, Reyes," she told him.

"You're not from here originally, right?"

"West coast but no, not here specifically."

"You ever hear of Slab City?"

"No," she said intrigued. "What is it?"

"Something I think I'd you like," he said vaguely.

Zara knew she shouldn't. She had been putting off the essays for a week out of laziness and so she could see Angel. Sunday was supposed to be her day to knock them out, finally, but she couldn't say no to him and she definitely didn't want to.

"Okay," she said with a smile. "That's sweet of you." When she attempted to climb off him, he held her firmly.

"Not yet," Angel smirked devilishly. He pinched the hem of her T-shirt and pulled it up over her head. Looking her over, he let out a little groan when he noticed she wasn't wearing any underwear.

"Mm, a pre-trip quickie," she said matching his grin.

Grabbing her wrists and guided her arms to the headboard above him. "Didn't say it was gonna be quick." He tapped her thighs and she rose up a bit to allow him the space to remove the thin fabric between them. "Christ, you're wet."

"I've been thinking about round two since I woke up." Zara bounced on him teasingly as told him. "I almost couldn't wait." Leaning down she kissed him, gasping as he grabbed her hips and lifted her right over his erection.

"No more waiting," he growled. He felt Zara lower herself down onto him, moving slowly just to tease him even more.

"Oh, you're gonna wait," Zara told him. "It's better that way."

A few hours after they woke up Angel was sitting outside Zara's, in Coco's car, waiting for her join him. When she bounced out the door, wearing a simple pair of jeans and a T-shirt, she saw the car and stopped cold.

"Wow. Look at you. Nice wheels."

"Not mine," he said loudly as she locked the door. "She's beautiful though," he added once Zara slid in beside him. "It's Coco's."

"He's a lucky guy," Zara said. "Why are we not on your bike?"

Angel grinned wickedly, his tongue running along his bottom lip as he put the car in drive. "Slab City is a good ride. I figured you were sore enough from me, I didn't wanna make it worse."

"Oh," she chuckled and rolled her eyes, "Okay. You keep thinking that."

Angel wasn't used to having conversations or listening to music while he drove but it was a nice change of pace. The company helped too.

"Just a head's up," he said, breaking the flow of their conversation, "The people up here can be kinda wacky. You know?"

"Wacky, eh?" She was obviously intrigued and Angel took that as a good thing.

"Yeah, it's a bunch of artsy, hippy, living off the land, off the grid, people."

Zara looked at him with a hint of disbelief. "And how do you know about this place?"

"It's a place," he shrugged. "I heard of it but uh, last night I was looking into it more and it sounded like something you'd like." That wasn't selling it, in fact telling her she'd like these 'wacky people' was slightly offensive.

"Oh yeah," she said with disappointment.

"No, I mean cause they have like art installations and shit," he said trying to recover. "Not cause they're RV living weirdos."

Zara turned her body toward him again. "This story is weird. What aren't you telling me? You're trying too hard to be vague."

"Shit," he hissed quietly. "I got up to piss last night."

"Lovely," she teased. "Sorry, go on."

"I couldn't get back to sleep. I just googled shit to do in around El Centro and Imperial," he explained embarrassedly. "I always thought Slab City was a bunch of crazy ass people, and it is, but they have painting and trash art," he chuckled, "The article made it sound pretty cool and I just, I thought you would like it."

"Angel," Zara sighed. "That is the sweetest thing anyone has done for me." Even with his eyes on the road, she could see his toothy smile and flushed cheeks. "Thank you," she added quickly.

"Shit, Z, I hope it doesn't fucking suck," he groaned.

"Even if it does, it won't matter," she assured him.

Zara was no fool. She knew he was trying to do something to appeal to the side of her that EZ connected with so easily. She wondered why there was, or seemed to be, such a competitive but also emotionally charged tension between them.

"It's only been a few weeks," he said suddenly. "Sorry if I'm being fuckin' weird."

Shaking her head, with her eyes focused out the window, she placed her hand on his thigh. "You're not weird, Angel."

Smiling to himself, Angel felt more confident with her than before. They went the rest of the way in silence, a comfortable silence, until Angel pulled off the road and parked.

"You up to date on your tetanus shots?" He joked before getting out of the car.

"Oh god, stop," she laughed.

They walked around, meeting at the front of the car, and looked at Salvation Mountain in awe. It was a man-made mass of earth that had been painted with hundreds of thousands of gallons of paint in every color imaginable.

"This is gorgeous," she said in disbelief. "God is love," she read the words painted on the mountain, "Say, Jesus, I'm a sinner, please come upon my body and into my heart."

Normally, Angel would have cracked a joke about the wording but, standing there, he was amazed by the scale and beauty of it all.

"If this is the first thing what else are we going to see?" He asked, giving her a little nudge.

Zara looked at him, her face lit up, and nodded. "I can't wait to see it. This was such a great idea, Angel. Thank you." She reached for his hand as they began to stroll away other tourists and visitors milling about.

They walked along the sculptures created from scrap and trash and random materials. Angel was impressed and interested but not as much as Zara. He almost felt as if he couldn't talk to her for fear of bothering or distracting her.

"What did you think?" She asked suddenly as they neared an open space of sand and dirt.

"It's cool," he said, "Some of that shit was wild," he added with a laugh. "What did you think?"

"It was amazing," she said excitedly. "It's totally weird like if I weren't here with you I'd be terrified, but I love it."

Angel laughed. "Yeah, there's some uh," he looked around at the crowd, "Creeps."

There were a few unsavory types, old men half dressed with wandering eyes and some sticky-fingered crooks taking advantage of the out of towners but it wasn't one of them that caught his eye. Angel saw two kids, kids he recognized but couldn't place until they ran over to Pablo, Adelita's right-hand man.

"Come on," he said quickly, changing direction, "Over here."

"What?" She followed, surprised by his sudden shift but not concerned.

"I think there's some more stuff back here."

There actually was, there were things to see everywhere really, but Angel didn't know why Los Olvidados were there and he didn't want to find out. Okay, he did, but not with Zara there. There would just be too many questions.

They continued down in the new direction, a variety of art and unusual people to keep them interested until finally, they came across the surprise. When Angel read about the library at Slab City he knew he had to take her and there it was.

"Hey," he called her attention, "This is the real reason I brought you up here."

"Slab City Lizard Library," she read the sign. "Angel," she looked at him and sighed, "This is amazing."

It was a building, of sorts, made from plywood and fencing and anything the makers could find. It had piles of books on old tables, crooked shelves, and even cable reels. Zara let go of Angel's hand and disappeared, leaving him to sneak back outside for a cigarette and some passive investigation.

Walking back in the direction they came from Angel looked around for Pablo and the kids but he couldn't find them. Either they were blending in, something they were particularly good at, or had already left.

"Shit," Angel grumbled, seeing how poor service was out there, "Fucking figures." Still, he tried to call Coco. It wasn't the clearest call but it went through.

"You see Adelita?" Coco asked, sneaking away from the others.

"Nah, just the kids and Pablo," Angel explained. "What are they even doing up here?"

"I don't know," Coco scoffed.

"Following me?" Angel asked darkly.

"You'd know better than me," Coco mused. "You even know if they saw you?"

"No," he huffed. "Zara doesn't know shit, you know. Now's not the time or place to share shit or have anything come out."

"Keep your eyes open then," Coco advised him.

"Yeah," he huffed.

"Hey?" Zara called out from behind Angel. "Everything okay?"

"Better think fast," Coco teased before hanging up on Angel.

Angel turned and nodded. "Uh yeah, work thing," he shrugged. "Shitty service out here."

"I didn't think that was even a thing anymore, shitty service," she remarked, "But it is, it's terrible."

"Yeah," he chuckled awkwardly. "How was it?"

"It's awesome," she said excitedly. "There were a few I would have gotten if I could but that's not how libraries work apparently," Zara joked.

"Which ones?" He asked, walking back toward the library.

"Angel, what are you doing?"

"Nothing," he laughed. "Just wondering what books you wanted."

"They're not like first editions or anything," she shrugged. "There was a really old copy of "Where the Sidewalk Ends," that I really wanted. I had that book as a kid but I was a little asshole and didn't take care of it. I know I could just buy a new one but I like the idea of an old used one, you know? Since mine would be well worn by now."

Angel laughed at her anecdote. "I get it. Where is it?"

"I left it by this cracked stained glass window thingy." Zara panicked as he started to walk away from her. "Angel," she grabbed his hand, "Stop. What are you doing?" She knew and she kind of liked it but she had to at least try to stop him, even if it was a weak attempt.

He smiled and pulled his hand away. "I'll be right back."

Not stopping him, Zara watched as he went back into the library. She followed at a distance as if he didn't know she'd follow or someone would suspect something seeing them together. Watching, she noticed he found the book and Zara felt a surge of guilt as he slipped it sneakily into his kutte. On his way out, he tossed a twenty dollar bill on the makeshift counter when the worker's back was turned.

"You didn't," she sighed as he joined her again.

"I did," he winked.

"You also paid for it."

He didn't know she had seen him do that. It wasn't that he was embarrassed about paying but Angel wasn't doing it for the same reason he took the book, to begin with, he was doing it because he didn't want to rip these people off. Slab City was their home and he respected that...just not enough to not steal from it in the first place, apparently.

"I'm not all bad," he remarked with a grin. "I don't think there's much else," he told her. "Maybe some more shit down after the library."

"I think we've overstayed our welcome," she told him. "That was a very sweet misdemeanor. Thank you."

"Not mad?" He eyed her as they headed back toward Coco's car. "I don't know how moral you teachers are."

"Not very," she said. "Although I don't consider this a major crime." Zara didn't know if she'd ever admit it to anyone but she didn't really care that he'd stolen the book. Maybe the money or her feelings for Angel made it easier to overlook but she was truly tickled he did it for her.

"Don't rat me out," he teased. "Wanna grab lunch?"

"Yes," she said dramatically, "I'm starving!"

It was dark, very dark, and Coco's car was off on the side of the road. Angel and Zara were on the hood wishing their stop was for another, sexier, reason but it wasn't. They drove a while before finding a spot and after a long lunch and a few drinks they were finally heading back toward home.

It was then that passenger side front tire blew out, giving them both quite a scare, and now they were waiting for help. Any help from anyone.

"This is some bullshit," Angel grumbled as the third call in a row dropped, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," she grumbled. "At least we have good company."

"Yeah we do," he agreed.

They heard a loud truck barreling down the road toward them, Zara was simply hoping for someone who could help but Angel was suspicious. The road was empty, it was always empty, and the truck was speeding dangerously.

It slowed to a stop a few feet behind Coco's car. Angel looked at Zara, his hand on his gun, and gestured for her to remain sitting on the hood.

"You need some help?" A woman called out to them. Angel couldn't make out their face, the headlights were purposely on too high and blinding him. He knew the voice though.

"Christ, Adelita," he hissed. Angel jogged closer to her and lowered his voice. "What are you doing all the way up here?"

"Meeting with a friend," she said. "And you?"

"Same," he said quickly. "You got a spare?"

"We do," she smiled. Adelita turned to Pablo and had him grab the jack and spare. "It shouldn't take long."

"Thank you," he said almost regretfully.

"You're welcome," she smiled knowingly. "Lucky we ran into you."

"Lucky you didn't," he huffed. "I thought you were gonna take us out."

"Angel?" Zara called out to him.

"Hey Z, it's all good," he said in a light tone.

"Okay," she said nervously.

"I gotta go," Angel said to Adelita quietly.

"We'll be in touch," she assured him. "Enjoy your evening."

Angel didn't respond, he nodded and watched her walk back toward the truck. It wasn't a chance encounter, it was much more, but he wasn't sure of her motive or intention. They drove up, making eye contact again, before turning abruptly and heading back down the road the way they came.

"Who was that?" Zara asked without shame.

"Dunno," he lied. "Locals I guess."

Zara nodded. She didn't mention Pablo asking her how long she'd known Angel or how she now knew Angel lied. It was so innocuous, the entire exchange, that she couldn't understand what the point of lying would be. It had to be deeper, why were they there, it couldn't have been a coincidence. The more she thought about it the more unsettled and annoyed she became.

"Better get back home," she said, her demeanor much colder than before, "It's a Sunday night, I have work tomorrow."

Angel could tell he messed up but he wasn't sure where or how. It all happened in the few minutes that Adelita was there but that had gone smoothly and there was also the possibility of a text that got through or something. He wasn't sure of what needed fixing so he was stuck, unable to do anything.

The ride back was quieter than before but the silences were less pleasant. Angel's own concerns and Zara's negative feelings added a sourness in the air around them.

"Thank you for today," she said brusquely. Zara opened the car door and got out, leaning in to give him a tight smile and a wave, before jogging up the steps to her front door.

Angel watched as she got in, locking the door behind her, and let out an emotional sigh. It wasn't until then that noticed the book he'd stolen for her was still sitting on the passenger seat.

"That shit was on purpose," he grumbled to himself. Digging through Coco's glovebox, Angel found a pen and yanked the cap off with his teeth. He opened the cover and looked at the yellowed title page.

"Z, sorry I screwed up. Keep this copy so you don't have to replace another. - Angel"

He flipped it shut again she snuck up the steps leaving it in her mailbox before making a quick getaway.

Anyone notice Angel isn't listed in the Mayans character drop down list? What the hell, man? As always, I'm asking for comments, pretty please. Thank you for reading!

Also, there's a bunch of photos of Slab City on my Instagram PBB_Writer so check that out if you want! Xoxo