A/N: There are a few songs mentioned in this chap. The most important is Ocean Avenue from Yellowcard. watch?v=1HRlDATxODg
It seemed like just yesterday Dougie was taking all of his belongings from his boxes and bags and moving them into their new home, with Tom's help, of course. So now, it was only natural that it felt weird to be putting things back into his bags, although, the extent to which he was packing was not so severe. No, enough for a week, with a little extra in case of emergencies; that was it. Well, not to mention enough shoes to get him through, should a certain occasion arise, or should something bad happen to a pair! Plus, he had to be sure to bring his flip-flops, because NOTHING was keeping him away from the beach. Normally, he believed that guys really shouldn't wear flip-flops because it just made them look gay, but he WAS gay! So it all worked out in the end for him.
He'd ended up with two bags; one with clothes, and one with shoes. The bag with the shoes in them was a bit smaller than the bag with the clothes, but Dougie had still managed to shove a lot of shoes into it. He had two pairs of converse, one plain, black pair, and one yellow pair; a pair of vans that he and his friends had spent countless classes coloring in the little, white boxes; a pair of black, flip-flops, a pair of chunky, black, skater-style vans, in case he felt like skateboarding; and a pair of somewhat nice, black shoes, in case they went to one of the nicer restaurants for any reason.
As for clothes, of course he brought a shirt for everyday, ranging in color and band logo, with a few extra just in case he needed them; mostly shorts, but a few pairs of pants; plenty of clean boxers and pairs of socks; and, of course, his wetsuit, something which he hadn't had the chance to use in a while. It would be hard for anyone to keep him out of the water and off of a surf board once he got a whiff of that salty, sea air. Just thinking of it made his insides burn a bit. It had been so long since he'd done any of the things he'd taken for granted before in his life. Maybe he could even get Tom to surf a bit! They would have to find him a wetsuit, but Dougie was sure there would be one lying around that would for the most part fit. Dougie's wetsuit had been designed just for him, so it fit him in every way possible; he absolutely loved the thing.
A knock on his door pulled Dougie out of his trance, and he looked up from his bag which he had just zipped closed, and turned toward the door to see his mother smiling at him. "You ready to go?" she asked, leaning against the doorframe casually.
Dougie nodded slowly, before looking around his room. "Almost," he told her, slightly contradicting the nod he had just given. "There're just a few more things I need..." he said, walking from his bed to his desk.
Joanne's eyes widened when she looked at the bags laying on his bed. "How do you plan on carrying those?" she asked with a laugh.
"Huh?" Dougie asked absentmindedly.
Joanne stood and walked over to the bed, patting the biggest, fattest one of the two with a loud smack. "These things look like they could break through the bed at any second!" she joked.
Dougie turned and looked at his bags, offering a shrug, before continuing his search through his drawers. "I like clothes," he said simply, pulling out the bottom drawer and finding, at last, what he was looking for.
"I see that..." she muttered quietly.
He pulled a thick CD case out and dusting it off. He hadn't actually used the thing in ages, because all he'd ever needed was his iPod, but he figured Tom's car wouldn't have an input for an iPod, so it was time to take a step back in technology. Turning to look at his mum, he held up the CD case in triumph. "Wait... do you think his car even has a CD player?" he asked jokingly, poking fun at how old-fashioned his friend was.
"I dunno..." Joanne joked back. "You might have to pull out my old cassette-tapes," she said slowly.
"Or maybe even Chris's eight-tracks!"
Joanne laughed and shook her head. "Now that's just not nice."
"Oh, when have you ever known me to be nice?" he asked jokingly, throwing the CD case on top of the bed next to his bags.
"Oh, shush! There was a time when you were a very sweet, little boy!"
"Was not..." Dougie laughed defiantly.
"Was so! You were 'mummy's little helper'! And you always wanted to help me make cookies and whatnot!"
Dougie was silent for a moment. He turned to look at her, his eyes low. "That never leaves this room," he said darkly.
Joanne rolled her eyes and grabbed the smaller of his bags, which was, surprisingly, heavier than the bigger one. "Jesus, what do you have in here?!"
Dougie put his hands in his pockets in a shy manner. "Shoes."
Her shoulders dropped and she stared at him with confusion. "Maybe I let you be 'mummy's little helper' too much..." she joked. "I've turned you into a woman!"
Dougie opened his mouth to retaliate, but he stopped himself from saying what he was about to. No, you turned me into a fag, remember? The thought left a bitter, metallic taste in his mouth; the taste you would associate with sucking on a fork for too long, or touching a piece of aluminum foil to a filling. "But I'm not pansy," he said, faking a southern accent. He was getting pretty good with it, if he did say so himself. He walked over and picked up both bags – one in each hand – and walked down the stairs, the muscles and veins in his arms revealing themselves.
Joanne watched him walk out of the room, slightly impressed at his show of muscles. With a shrug, she grabbed the CD case from his bed, walked to the door, switched off the light, and walked down stairs, making sure to close his door behind her. By the time she'd gotten to the car, Dougie had already put his stuff in the back and was sitting in the drivers seat, waiting for her to get in.
"You think you're driving, do you?" she asked as she stepped into the passenger side seat of the forest green, 2006 Honda Civic.
"You're in the passenger seat, aren't you?" he asked, smiling and nodding at her smugly.
She sighed and handed him the keys, earning a pleased snicker from her son. "You're such a brat."
Dougie nodded and started the car. "Takes one to know one!"
She snorted in response, and that was the last exchange made between the two on the drive over. Both were lost in their own worlds; Joanne's consisting of what might happen to her son when he wasn't under her watch, and Dougie's consisting of Tom.
It turned out what when Tom woke up, he didn't remember anything of the day before, including the confession of his love to Dougie. It was a bit of a stab to the chest when Dougie figured it out, but he made himself move past it, so it wouldn't bug him; or at least, so he could pretend that it didn't bug him. It wasn't supposed to be about love with Tom; he didn't really know what it was about... but definitely not love. He could quite honestly say that he had never been in love before in his life. He had never wanted love before, and he wasn't planning on starting now.
As he pulled into Tom's driveway, his mother turned to look at him, clearing her throat quietly once he'd stopped the car and turned it off. Dougie turned to look at her, a bit of a questioning look in his eyes. "I want you to be careful," she told him, earning an eye roll from Dougie. "I mean it. I know there's a lot of gang violence– "
"Oh, come on, mum. When have I EVER been in trouble with a gang?" he asked with irritation.
"Dougie... just promise me you'll be careful?"
"Alright."
"No racing?"
"No racing."
"No drugs?" Dougie looked at her with a bit of confusion and shock. "Oh, don't try and cover it. Clouds of marijuana used to roll out of your room when you were with your friends. I wasn't stupid, I just didn't care all that much. It wasn't meth, so I was fine."
Dougie had no idea what to say. "Uhh..."
"Just promise me no drugs."
With a sigh, Dougie nodded his head. "No drugs."
"And lastly– "
"What, no sex, either?"
"Exactly."
Dougie banged his head on the steering wheel. "How did I know you were gonna say that?" he asked rhetorically.
"Because... you know me."
"Of course I know you, you're me."
"Oh, get out of the car," she said with a roll of her eyes.
"See?" he asked quietly, but got out of the car regardless. He opened the back door and grabbed one bag out first, setting it on the ground, and then the other bag, setting that one on the ground, closing the car door, and picking one up in each hand by the handle. His mum brought out the CD case, pretty sure there were over 1000 CDs in there. It was quite possibly the biggest CD case she'd ever seen in her life.
Dougie set his stuff down on the porch and rang the doorbell. The wait wasn't long, and before he knew it, Tom was standing in front of him, staring at him through the screen door with a toothbrush tucked in his cheek, and a brush in hand, brushing through his hair. "I can tell you're ready," Dougie joked.
"Hello, Tom," Joanne greeted with a friendly smile.
Tom gave a tooth-pasty grunt, and pushed open the screen door, motioning with his brush for them to come inside. "Did you get a late start?" Dougie asked, stepping inside, followed closely by his mother, who had never been in Tom's house before. It was built in a similar fashion to their house, although it held more of a southern feel. Chris had let Joanne dress up the house a little bit to make her feel more at home, so it had more of a Californian-business-woman feel to it, but the architecture was still, essentially, very southern.
Tom nodded, before walking back to the bathroom and spitting out his mouthful of toothpaste. He rinsed out his mouth a few times, washed off his tooth brush, and came back out, hair brushed and teeth sparkling clean. "I'm just about ready," Tom told them, before walking up the stairs quickly. "You can make yourselves at home," he called down the stairs. Joanne looked around for a second, before taking a seat on the couch across the room.
Dougie, however, made his way slowly up the steps. "I'll be right back," he told her quickly. He walked down the hall and pushed open Tom's room, where he saw Tom scrambling to get his bags all together. "Jeez, I figured you would've been up at dawn and been ready five minutes later," Dougie joked.
"All that sleep I got the other day messed up my sleeping schedule," he said with an exasperated sigh. "I still can't hardly remember what happened that day..." he muttered, throwing another plain, white t-shirt into his bag, and zipping it up.
Dougie's stomach muscles tensed slightly, and he could feel his heart rate increasing slightly. What the hell am I getting all worked up about? It was nothing, he told himself sternly. Clearing his throat, he said, "You didn't miss much."
"Alright, I'm ready to go!" he said, picking up his one, small bag, and smiling at Dougie.
Dougie stared at his bag for a minute. "That's it?"
"What?"
"That's all you're bringing?"
Dougie's expectant stare made Tom a bit nervous. "Am I supposed to bring something special?" he asked slowly.
"Shouldn't you bring more clothes than that? Do you even have more than one pair of shoes?"
Tom looked down at his bag. "No? Why would i?"
Dougie sighed and shook his head. "Okay, but I'm not the one that's gonna be running around naked by the end of the week."
"I'm not gonna be naked!"
Dougie snorted a bit at his response. Just the way he said the word 'naked' with his strong accent was priceless... "Oh my word," Dougie said with a laugh.
"What?"
"Nothing, you're just cute," Dougie said as he turned to leave the room.
Tom's cheeks flushed and his stomach tied itself into a knot. "What for?" he asked shyly.
"Oh, nothing..." Dougie said with a coy smile. "Come on, we should go! We have a long drive!" Tom didn't say anything; just nodded. "We're gonna leave now, mum," Dougie said as they got to the bottom of the stairs.
She stood and walked over to them, giving them both hugs. "Okay, remember what we talked about..." she said slowly, still holding onto her one and only son.
"Yeah, yeah," he said, a bit of irritation in his voice. "No racing, no drugs, and no sex."
"Better add no fighting," she said, pulling away and looking at him seriously. "NO fighting."
Dougie sighed and nodded his head. "No fighting."
With a smile, she patted him gently on the top of his newly spiked fauxhawk. "Good boy," she said with a triumphant grin. "Okay, I'll see you boys in a week and a half!" They both nodded and waved as she walked out the door, watching carefully as she left.
"Alright, we should get going too," Tom said quietly.
Dougie looked out the window toward Tom's truck. Then a thought struck him. "Tom?" he asked slowly, his voice obviously filled with concern.
"What?" Tom asked, thrown off a little at the worry in his friend's voice.
"We aren't taking your truck... are we?"
Tom laughed and shook his head. "I don't trust that thing to make it," he said with another laugh. "We're taking my baby."
Dougie blinked with confusion. He had no idea Tom had another car. "What's your baby?" Dougie asked cautiously.
"You'll see..." Tom said with a mysterious grin. "Follow me," Tom said, grabbing onto Dougie's hand and pulling him quickly through the house. He'd been waiting years for the chance to show it off to someone he cared about; someone he hoped to impress. This feeling in the pit of his stomach was still relatively new, but he was starting to understand what it was, and the more he thought about it, the more okay with it he was. Holding Dougie's hand – like he was – gave him that feeling. "Alright, are you ready to be amazed?" Tom joked as he opened up the door that led from the inside of the house to the garage.
Dougie smiled and nodded his head, thinking it was cute how worked up Tom was getting over some mystery car. Truth be told, Dougie wasn't expecting much. So when Tom flipped on the light and revealed the beauty of a car that he had been hiding from him... his breath caught in his throat. His mouth literally dropped open at the sight before him. "Holy shit!" he said, walking forward and placing his hand gently on the sleek, black body. "This is beautiful..." he muttered, noticing that the surface was so clean, smooth, and just flawless that he could see his own reflection. "What year is it?"
"This is a sixty-six ford mustang convertible..." Tom said, smiling proudly at his own work. "I fixed it up myself," he said slowly. "Dad didn't think it would work out, but I sure did prove him wrong."
"Fuck yes, you did," Dougie said, not taking his eyes from the car. "Oh my god! Nice stereo-system!" he said, noticing all the shiny, blue and black buttons on the inside. "I wasn't even sure if you knew what a CD was!" he joked, throwing Tom a joking smile.
"Oh hush, it even has one of those fancy dealers where you can plug in your..."
Dougie laughed and shook his head. "That's MP... MP3."
Tom stood and scratched his head. "Uhhh... alright? I don't really know what that is."
Dougie let out a snicker and reached into his pocket, pulling out one of the original iPods. "Like this... this is an MP3 player. It holds a bunch of songs, that way you don't need to carry around a bunch of CDs!" Tom took it carefully, examining it closely. "It's just more convenient."
"Alright... well... we should get going," Tom said, handing back the iPod.
Dougie nodded and made his way back toward the entrance to the house. "I'll meet you around front," he said.
"Can you open the garage door and then turn off the lit?" Dougie nodded and pushed the button to open the garage, then turned off the light. He waited a second, watching as Tom got in the car and turned it on. The sound of the engine revving made Dougie die just a little bit on the inside with pleasure. Tom revved the engine a few more times, pleased to finally be driving it, before pulling carefully out of the garage. Once he was out, Dougie closed the door to the garage, and then walked back into the house.
Making sure to turn off a few lights on his way, Dougie left the house, picking up both of his bags, and walking down to where Tom had now parked the car and was waiting for Dougie. "Jesus! How much clothes did you bring?!" Tom asked, hopping out and unlocking the trunk for Dougie to put them in.
"I brought enough so I'm not gonna be... what was that word again? It starts with an 'n'?" he asked, prompting Tom to say it. He just wanted to hear it again.
Tom sighed but spoke up nonetheless to please Dougie. "Naked?" Dougie let out a giggle as he lifted one of his bags into the trunk. "What's so damn funny about the way I say 'naked'?" he asked, getting more snickers and giggles from Dougie. "What?!"
"Nothing! It's just cute!" Dougie was kind of having fun making Tom get all red and flustered. He kind of reminded Dougie of a bird; the way birds get all big and puffy and their feathers get all ruffled when you make them angry! That was what Tom looked like when he was frustrated. And he absolutely loved it.
Tom huffed with irritation, but picked up Dougie's other bag before he had the chance, and threw it in the trunk. Then he took his bag from the back seat and did the same with his. "You're rude," he said with an angry pout.
Dougie grinned and placed his hand on Tom's gently. "I'm sorry," he said, a witty, cute smile on his lips.
Tom melted instantly and shook his head, laughing quietly at himself. "Whatever..." he muttered, yet another word he'd managed to pick up from Dougie. Dougie smiled and hopped into the passenger seat of the car, taking his time to feel the black leather interior. Oh, it was like sex in car form. "You alright?" Tom asked with a slightly smug smile.
"I'm having an experience right now..." Dougie joked.
Tom opened his mouth to warn Dougie about a seatbelt, but Dougie surprised him by actually putting it on before he had the chance. "Wow..." Tom muttered.
"What?" Dougie asked, turning to look at him.
"You put your seat belt on without having to be told!"
Now it was Dougie's turn to be grumpy. "Oh, whatever."
It hadn't taken Dougie long to turn on some music. Silence absolutely killed him. He figured he'd try and start with something that both he and Tom might like, which, on his iPod, turned out to be a difficult task. He did manage to find some country, though, so he tried to level with Tom. Although, Tom didn't seem very pleased.
"What the hell is this?" he asked, keeping his eyes on the road.
"It's Redneck Woman!" Dougie exclaimed. "I love this song! 'Cause I'm a redneck woman! I ain't no high class broad! I'm just a product of my raisin', and I say 'Hey y'all', and 'yehaw'!" he sang, bouncing a bit in his seat to the music.
"Dougie... you ain't a redneck, and you ain't a woman," Tom started with an annoyed sigh. They had only been in the car for about forty five minutes, now, and Dougie's music selection was already driving him up the wall. He never listened to new country, one, because they didn't get a radio station in their small town, and two, it was annoying. "Can you change it to something else? PLEASE?"
Dougie shrugged his shoulders. "That's the only country I have on here!"
"I don't care if it's country! Just pick something else!" Tom snapped.
Dougie huffed quietly and moved away from Tom. "Fine. Jerk," he mumbled, scrolling through his iPod to find the angriest music he could. Once he found a song that seemed fitting, he gave a devious smile and started it, the sound of Travis Richter's scream coming through the speakers. Tom jumped and stared at him with wide eyes.
Let's starve down to the bone,
We're looking better bony!
Who needs figure anyway?
Stay with me, stay with me
So I can dig my nails deep in your skin!
"WHAT THE HELL'S THAT?!" Tom demanded, his eyes wide with fear.
"What? You don't like it?" Dougie asked, feigning offense.
"Hell no!"
"You aren't even listening to the words!" Dougie defended.
"You can't understand the words! He's too busy screaming about it!"
"Okay, fiiine!" Dougie said, holding up a hand. He scrolled through quickly, now actually looking for something that Tom might like. Hmmm... Yellowcard, he decided, picking a random song. The beginning music for Ocean Avenue began to play quietly, before the rest of the band started up and the volume increased a bit. "How's this?" Dougie asked, leaning back against the soft, leather material of the seat cover. He looked up at the ceiling of the car, wishing the weather was warmer so they could ride with the top down.
Tom listened to the music for a minute, a contemplative look adorning his features. "Mmm... i like it," he decided with a small smile. "What is it?"
"It's Yellowcard, and the song is 'Ocean Avenue'."
"I have never heard music like this before..."
Dougie smiled and nodded his head. "I kind of figured." Dougie stared at Tom, smiling dreamily at him. There was something about Tom that made Dougie wanna–
"Doug? What? Is there something on my face?" Tom asked, nervously wiping down his cheek.
Dougie let out a quiet laugh and shook his head. "No, I was just spacing," he said, looking back out the window. The day was beautiful, if he did say so himself. The sky was blue, not a cloud to be seen, the sun was shining, the grass was glistening with frost... yes, it was still cold as hell, if that even made sense, but things were slowly warming up. Thinking about the cold made a shiver run up his spine, and his body quivered for a second, raising goosebumps on his arms. "So... if you don't listen to the radio, and you don't like country, and you've never heard music like this... what do you listen to?"
Tom smiled and leaned back in a relaxed manner. "I like Johnny Cash," he said with a nod.
Dougie smiled and nodded his head. "Me too... it's a little slow for me, though. I like really bouncy music."
"Bouncy? Bouncy how?"
"Mmm... liiiike..." Dougie scrolled quickly to the Blink 182 playlist, staring The Rock Show. ".. This!" Dougie grinned and looked over at Tom, trying to figure out what he thought of it.
Hangin' out behind the club on the weekends
Actin' stupid, gettin' drunk with my best friends
I couldn't wait for the summer at the warped tour
I remember it was the first time that I saw her there!
She's gettin' kicked out of school 'cause she's failing
I'm kind of nervous 'cause I think all her friends hate me
She's the one, she'll always be there!
She took my hand, and that made it, I swear!
'Cause I fell in love with the girl at the rock show
She said, 'what?', and I told her that I didn't know
She's so cool, I'm gonna sneak in through her window
Everything's better when she's around
I can't wait 'til her parents go out of town
I fell in love with the girl at the rock show!
Tom bobbing his head quickly to the beat and smiling was a good sign in Dougie's eyes. "You like?" Dougie asked eagerly. This song ALWAYS got him pumped for anything! It was so bouncy! So exciting! So much energy! This was definitely his favorite Blink 182 song!
Tom nodded, "Yeah, what is it?"
Dougie smiled, finding Tom absolutely adorable. "It's Blink 182... they put out a LOT of good records! I mean, them breaking up would be as bad as... GREEN DAY! Oh god, if Green Day ever broke up... I might cry. I might seriously cry," Dougie ranted, his voice getting gradually louder.
"Who's Green Day?"
Dougie's jaw dropped. "Are you kidding me?! Oh my god!"
"I told you! I don't listen to the radio!"
"Green Day's been around for years! Like... eighteen now! They're from California! LIKE ME! I COULD BE LIKE GREEN DAY SOMEDAY, DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?!"
Tom's eyes got all wide and he glanced at Dougie nervously. "Uhh... yes?"
Dougie quickly changed the song to Burnout. "I declare I don't care no more! I'm growing up and out and growing bored in my smoked out, boring room! My hair is shagging in my eyes! Dragging my feet to hit the street tonight! To drive along this shit town lights! I'm not growing up, I'm just burning out! And I've stepped in line to walk amongst the dead!" he sang, getting all into it and singing into his imaginary microphone.
Tom laughed at how into the song he could get, loving how cute he looked and how excited he seemed to get about being a famous singer of some punk band, and how defensive he got over this 'Green Day'. "I like it," Tom said again, and not just because he was afraid to say otherwise [although he kind of was.].
"Well... good."
The two drove like that until the night, Dougie taking Tom through the many stages of rock and roll, ranging from Elvis, to the Sex Pistols, explaining about Anarchy, what punk REALLY was, and how he didn't believe it was alive anymore. Tom tended to not like the screamo music, meaning he wasn't a fan of From First to Last, but he really liked the fun, bouncy music like Yellowcard, Blink 182, Green Day, Bowling for Soup, My Chemical Romance, and even Good Charlotte and Avril Lavigne! Rap wasn't really his thing, either, but he was doing well enough to branch out from Johnny Cash as it was.
Dougie looked down at the clock on his iPod. 1:27 AM. "Tom? What time did we leave?" he asked quietly.
Tom's eyes sagged a bit as he stared at the red tail lights of the Escalade in front of him. "Uhh... about Nine... why?"
Dougie groaned and rested his head against the back of the seat. "Maybe we should stop somewhere and sleep..." he suggested. "My mum gave me money for such a thing," he continued, looking over at Tom. He could tell Tom was exhausted.
"I don't wanna be late... don't wanna freak out your dad, you know."
"Oh, who cares? We've been driving for... Umm... well, we're a timezone over, now, so if we were back in Arkansas it'd be 2:27 AM... meaning we've been driving for 17 hours!"
"I think we can make it..." Tom continued.
"Oh, come on! We've already been through Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico! We just have Arizona and California to go! Let's just stop... It'll feel good to sleep in a bed!"
Tom was silent for a moment, seemingly contemplating it. "Alright... where should I stop?" he asked quietly.
"Mmm... well, my mum gave us money, but not a LOT of money... so someplace kind of cheap," Dougie said, looking around at some of the options already available to them. "How about that place?" he asked, pointing to a sign that said, 'The Economy Inn'.
Tom nodded and got into the turning lane, sitting there for a few minutes, just listening to the sound of the blinker. Once it was clear, he pulled in and parked in front of the office building. "I'll be right back," Dougie said, before hopping out of the car and running inside.
Tom sighed and leaned back in his seat. He was somewhere between New Mexico and Arizona... he wasn't quite sure which, because Dougie hadn't been clear, and he couldn't recall seeing a sign telling him of which he was in. The point was, he had never been so far away from home in his life. It kind of scared him a bit. When Dougie got back into the car, he smiled at Tom. "This place isn't so bad! It was just 75 dollars for the both of us... and we get two beds, so we don't have to share," Dougie informed him, but Tom didn't really care at the moment.
"Where do I go?" he asked quietly.
Dougie smiled and nodded, sitting back in his seat. Drive around back of this building, you'll see where to park," Dougie told him slowly. Tom nodded and took the car out of park, driving it slowly around back, where he saw a few little houses, and a two story, long building of hotel rooms. "Over there," Dougie said, pointing toward the middle of the long building. Tom drove them to where Dougie pointed, parking them in a space in front of their room. "Should we bring our stuff in?" Dougie asked as Tom turned off the car.
Tom shook his head. "I don't really see the point..." he muttered. "Anything I need in the morning, I'll come out and get it..."
Dougie nodded, seeing his reasoning. "Okay, in the car it stays," Dougie agreed, getting out of the car. He locked and closed the door to the car, before walking hurriedly over to the door of the room they were staying in. This hotel didn't have fancy card sliding systems or anything like that. Nope, you got two keys; one silver key for the room, and one gold key for the pool. Dougie doubted they would be using the pool. They would probably just sleep. After a few seconds of struggle, he managed to get the door open. Reaching around on the inside for a second, he flipped the light on, revealing a dimly lit, small, room with two beds and a sink next to a closed door which was probably the bathroom. Why wasn't the sink in the bathroom? Who knew. Dougie didn't really care. He just wanted sleep.
"Well... it's not a palace... but it has beds, so I'm good," he decided, plopping down on a bed and bouncing a few times.
Tom walked in the room slowly, closing and locking the door behind him. "I don't see how you have so much energy..." Tom said quietly as he walked over to his bed and fell into it.
"All I did ALL day was sit! I was so bored! Tomorrow I'm driving!"
"Like hell, you are!" Tom protested, suddenly getting a bit of his energy back.
"Oh, come on, Tom! I won't hurt your car, I promise!"
Tom sighed and laid back in bed. "We'll talk about it tomorrow," he decided quietly.
Dougie nodded and closed his eyes. "Fair enough..." he said quietly. He looked at the night stand near his bed, noticing a little lamp sitting on it. He turned the lamp on, then walked back across the room and turned off the main light, although the exchange in light didn't make much of a difference in the lighting of the room. Slowly he got himself under the covers, feeling fatigue taking its toll on his body at last. "Okay, good night," he said, earning a grunt from his friend, who hadn't moved on the bed. With a quiet laugh, Dougie switched off the light and settled himself in bed.
Dougie laid there for a half hour, his body feeling tired but his mind restless. He wasn't thinking of anything in particular... just a little bit of everything. He absolutely hated it when that happened. And the silence of the room wasn't helping his situation much. He felt uneasy, and the longer he laid there, the more creeped out he got. Something that scared him a bit more was the fact that he couldn't hear Tom breathing. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness, so he could see that Tom had gotten himself under the covers and was facing away from him... but other than that, he couldn't be quite sure that he was alive. That was, until he heard him speaking.
"Dougie?" Tom asked quietly, turning over in the stiff, hotel bed. Dougie wasn't quite sure if he should respond or not, so he didn't. "Doug... are you awake?" he whispered, leaning a bit closer.
Dougie nodded and sat up, looking over at his friend through the darkness. "Yeah?" he asked, his voice quiet, but not in a whisper. He hated the whistly sound of whispering. It was just annoying to him.
"I can't sleep..." he admitted, sitting up as well.
"How come?" Dougie asked, kicking his legs over the side of the bed and facing Tom completely.
Tom shrugged and sat the same way, looking down at his feet nervously. "I'm kinda scared..." he admitted quietly.
"Of what?" Dougie asked, moving to sit with Tom. Truth to be told, Dougie was scared, too, but probably not for the same reason as Tom. Dougie was afraid of the dark and Tom's presence in the room was only slightly comforting to it.
"I have never been this far from home..." he continued quietly, not looking over at Dougie. "I guess I'm just kinda nervous about it... kinda scared..."
Dougie nodded and rested his head gently on Tom's shoulder. "I'm scared, too," Dougie said quietly. "Remember? I'm scared of the dark... so you're not alone!"
Tom let out a quiet, short laugh, nodding his head. "Yeah... look, I know this might sound kinda weird but..." Tom took in a slow, deep breath, but never let it out. Dougie moved his head from Tom's shoulder and looked at him, blinking curiously. "Could I..." Dougie smiled coyly. He was pretty sure he knew where this conversation was going, but he wanted to make Tom say it. He loved watching him get all flustered and embarrassed. "Could I sleep with you? Nothing gay…uhm…sexual…" Tom smacked himself on the forehead, his eyes squinting and his cheeks turning pink. "You know. Nothing personal... I'm just..."
"Ssshhhh..." Dougie put his hand gently over Tom's mouth, smiling at him with amusement. "Man, we could've saved thirty bucks!" Dougie joked, crawling into Tom's bed without actually agreeing out loud to sleep with him. Tom smiled and laid down next to him, looking at him cautiously. "That's okay, I just won't feed you tomorrow," Dougie decided with a nod of his head.
Tom laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "I'll live."
Dougie smiled and closed his eyes. In an attempt to move, Dougie realized that Tom was still on top of the blankets, which made it very hard for Dougie to situate himself. "Umm... Tom?" Dougie asked, opening his eyes again.
Tom's eyes opened and he looked back at Dougie. "What?"
"You know... I'm not gonna bite... you can get under the blankets," Dougie said with a grin. "Aren't you cold?" Tom sighed and got under the blankets, acting as if it was some big inconvenience for him to have to do so. Dougie just smiled and closed his eyes as he felt Tom settle in bed next to him, thinking, Oh, please... as if you don't want to? Dougie did it slowly, but he gradually got closer to Tom, doing it in a way that didn't freak him out, but instead made him feel comfortable with it, and within five minutes Tom had his arms wrapped securely around Dougie's middle, and Dougie was laying partially on Tom's chest, his ear pressed against him, listening quietly to his heart beating.
It wasn't long before the two were asleep, both comfortable in each other's arms, not caring who out there would call it wrong. For the time being, they were just two boys keeping each other warm and safe; nothing more and nothing less.