Lucy had driven them home happily, briefly telling them about a job she had landed. She didn't like to talk about their financial situation, she didn't want them to have to worry but she was so excited, thrilled to be able to support her family.
"Great hours," she said, watching the road carefully.
When they had left the town and started up the long road to their house, many of the streetlights had been off "I'll be out of the house a lot, and I still have all this paperwork to do but the manager is just so flexible" she had explained, "and the pay is higher than the minimum wage, I couldn't believe how generous…"
"Mom, why aren't the lights working tonight?" Sam asked, looking out of the window and into the dark sky.
"I don't know, honey" she said with a reassuring smile. Sam didn't like the dark, "this town was always on the fritz, I guess nothing's changed. We're almost home though. Hey did I tell you I get double pay on holidays and weekends?" she asked him, her eyes bright.
"Yeah, mom, it's great" he replied sincerely, his comic book resting on the dashboard in front of them.
Both Elizabeth and Michael were dozing in the back.
"They're really pooped, huh?" she asked, quickly glancing at them in the rear view mirror.
"Yeah, I don't know why" their house was coming into view, the curtains were all drawn but Sam could see bright light shining through their lines, "we didn't really do much. I found a comic book store, though, mom…"
"Yeah?" Lucy asked with a smile "they have anything good?"
Sam shrugged, "I seriously doubt it.." but it was so haphazardly organized, maybe they were sitting on a rare title and didn't even know it?
He grinned a little.
When they got home, Elizabeth mustered up enough energy to give Nanook a quick pet and had eaten a packet of potato chips before heading up for bed without fanfare or conversation. She'd given Lucy a kiss on the cheek and, aside from the sound of the taps running briefly and the flush of the toilet, nothing more had been heard from her.
Michael had eaten a frozen meal and three bread rolls, prompting Lucy to comment that she should be giving them bigger lunches. He shook his head, too busy drinking the coke left over from their pizza order to reply.
"I'm tired, I'm gonna hit the hay" he said, rubbing his brother's hair as he passed, "night Sammy. Night, mom. And the job's really good, I'm happy for you. I'll keep an eye out too. Sure there's gonna be some work somewhere" he sounded a brighter than before but he was slouching a little and kept fighting back yawns.
"You too Sammy. Up for bed" Lucy told him and he nodded without complaint, fixing his hair before heading for the stairs.
His shared bathroom was empty and dark.
"Hey, Mike?" he called softly, opening his brother's bathroom door just a crack.
The light spread a small line on to his brother's face. He was sleeping deeply, his mouth open a crack. He was flat on his back and his blanket was pulled up sloppily around his neck, like he'd slid in and crashed out. His clothes were on a pile beside his bed and Sam wondered if he was sleeping naked.
He shut the door. Why was his brother so exhausted? Had he even brushed his teeth? Gross.
He frowned and looked into the sink, it was bone dry.
"Rank.." he muttered to himself.
He left the bathroom and stood at the bottom of the steep attic stairs. There was nothing, no sound or light coming from Elizabeth's room.
He had the urge to go and check on her, too, but he hesitated, scared. She was a fussy sleeper and what if she was naked under her sheets, too? He didn't need to see that. Shuddering at the image, he went back into the bathroom and shut the door.
"Weird" he muttered, glancing at his face in the mirror. He was a little tired, sure, but not exhausted like those two. What had they been doing?
He reached for his toothbrush and noticed that Michael's was as dry as the sink had been, "what the hell did you do, Mike?" he asked in the direction of his brother's room.
He heard Nanook jumping onto his bed and started to brush his teeth.
A/N: thank you so much for the incredibly kind reviews. They genuinely mean a lot to me!