RORI POV:
Hyde nudged me gently, waking me up from a sound sleep. Everyone was gone already, even Donna and Eric. I sat up, stretching and yawning. I heard him chuckling beside me. "What're you laughing at?" I asked, sticking my tongue out at him. "You look half dead." He said, shooting me the same look. I smiled shaking my head. "I feel like it. I haven't slept that good in years. What time is it anyway?" "It's getting late, 9:30-ish. Kitty has a rule, no one in the basement after ten, so I'll walk you home?" He asked standing and stretching out his hand to me. I nodded taking his hand. He pulled me to my feet and headed toward the door. "Thanks for talking to Eric about that ride. I need a break from all this shit." I said rubbing my eyes with a sigh. "What's going on with you today, you seem like you've been ready to cry all day." "Got a letter in the mail today, my house is getting foreclosed on. The guy I'm renting from died, and it's going back to the bank, there's nothing I can do about it. I'm going to be homeless by the end of the week. I'm going to talk to Kitty tomorrow, but I don't want to lose my place." I looked at the ground putting on my tennis shoes. He pulled me into his chest, wrapping his arms around me. I wanted to cry, but I knew that would be pushing it too far. "Is there anything else?" He asked sarcastically, I laughed. "Yeah, my mom is going to prison after she gets out of the hospital, and I have a second job from 3:30 in the morning until eleven." I said cuddling against his chest. He chuckled and pulled away. "You do realize you are completely fucked, right?"
He walked me home, past all the warmly lit houses with families gathered around the TV. Neither of us had ever had anything like that. I smiled to myself, the two of us really were completely screwed from the beginning, and yet here we were, surviving and thriving. When we got to the porch steps I turned to look at him. He had his hands in his pockets and his eyebrows furrowed together in thought. "What are you thinking about Steven?" I asked tilting my head to the side. "How much money you have got to be going through right now." "A lot." I said with a chuckle. "Hospital bills, dad's debts, it was too much anyway, at least now I can just work the one job and get enough sleep." I said with a sigh. "Do you want to come in for a minute? I have some beer stashed, we can drink and smoke and stare at the walls." I said smiling at him. "Sure. Only for a minute, though."