Most of the night passed without Norman having any nightmares. Half of him stayed aware that this was probably just some short moment of calm before the storm, while the other was just glad to finally be given those precious hours of sleep. The simple knowledge of Don's presence next door was enough to settle him down whenever the fear came tickling his guts. If he listened carefully, Norman was able hear the soft sounds of bedsheets rustling from the guest room. He could visualize the man stretched out on his back, his chest heaving slowly with his calm and even breath that would stutter from time to time as he dreamed, just like he used to do when they were sleeping in the Fury. It was good to finally have a familiar presence around.

When the morning came he was thrown out of his sleep by a hand on his shoulder. A gasp escaped his throat as he jumped on his back, his eyes opening wide. There was a voice calling his name and a face hovered over him, but Norman couldn't figure out who it was. It took him a while to remember what happened yesterday, meeting Don at the train station and the evening they spent together drinking his father's wine.

''Norman, it's me.'' Collier's voice became clearer in his ears. He sounded only slightly concerned, somehow both gentle and firm. His hand squeezed Norman's shoulder one last time. He was sitting on the side of the bed, still in his nightwear.

Norman sat up with a groan. ''What?''

The young man rubbed his tired eyes and looked around. His dream was already blurry in his mind, which was rare in those days. He wasn't about to complain though.

''You sounded like you were havin' a nightmare. Just wanted to make sure you were okay.'' Don said casually. He had a couple of wild dark blond locks falling over his forehead, right above his stormy blue eyes. He visibly woke up not too long ago, judging by the thick rockiness of his voice and the relaxation of his features. It made him look younger, more human too. If he looked closely, Norman could see some of his burns peaking from under his loose t-shirt, scarring the base of his neck and left arm.

Norman quickly realized that he was staring and cleared his throat. He didn't know what to answer. ''Well, huh… thank you.''

He looked around for some clothes to cover his bare chest, feeling a faint blush painting his cheeks. There wasn't anything much glorious to see, among the itchy red spots on his arms from working in the garden and that old bruise darkening his ribs that he got by falling in the stairs like an idiot, a week ago. Norman had always been a skinny feller, no matter how much he did work out. Bootcamp may had given him an incipient set of abs, but he didn't make a good job at keeping it up after the war. Not that it mattered to him, anyway.

He grabbed his night shirt over his bedside table and quickly put it on, noticing the way Don was examining his bedroom with this special kind of curiosity that was only proper to him. Norman remembered that expression on his face from his first day with the Fury, the same one the man had while studying the dead officers laying around in their party headquarters.

''Anyway,'' Don suddenly said. ''I'll let you wake up. Gonna put something better to wear.''

Norman grinned. Collier was a pretty man, and even his sleeping clothes couldn't change anything about it. It was only a matter of days before all the women of Pittsburgh would come around to give out their phone numbers. For some reason, this thought didn't make it far in Norman's mind. It made something stir, very slightly, inside of him, something he would associate with envy. He wasn't usually a jealous man, but he had to admit that he was never very skilled at attracting girls. They mostly used to ignore him or worse, to take him in pity. Shaking away the thoughts from his head, the young man got up and followed his friend in the kitchen downstairs.

They finally decided to have breakfast outside, with some toasts and the leftovers of cheese and smoked salmon from the last evening. The balcony had a beautiful view on the vast backyard. There was flowers blooming among the bright green grass and butterflies flying around the garden.

''It's a beautiful place.'' The elder said between two sips of coffee. It was a really peaceful morning, making it hard to believe that they were only a couple of miles away from town.

''Indeed, it's the only place that I like in here.'' Norman took a bite of cheese, stirring slightly on his seat. A brief shadow ran across his face. ''That said… well, I sold the house not too long ago. The new owners are coming in in two weeks. I don't really know where I'm gonna go after that, I thought about moving to Chicago since I heard Gordo and Bible live there. It could be nice to see them again, you know… to start over.''

''Yeah.'' Don didn't really know what to answer. He had been thinking the same since he came back to the States. The man didn't plan to survive the war, leaving him with no real plan of what he was going to do with his life. ''You could buy a nice place of your own, become a doctor and find yourself a pretty blonde wife. Seems like a nice plan.''

The comment made Norman snort as he raised his cup of coffee to his lips. ''I guess so.'' Then, ''…you wanna go with me?''

Collier paused and stared at his friend for a moment. He couldn't tell what the surprised him the most, Norman proposing him to leave with him of the fact that he didn't even feel like refusing. After all, he didn't have anything left to lose. The only thing he still cared about was his men, the only people he could still count as friends.

''Why not.''

The answer seemed to surprise Norman as he just sat back in his chair with raised eyebrows. ''You, you sure? I mean, I was just saying-''

''I ain't got anything to lose. Plus, I kinda miss those bastards. How terrible it would be to have them in the same neighborhood…''

The shy grin of the youngest's face slowly turned into a smile, drawing a pair of discreet dimples.

''When do we leave then?''