The four men shuffled into the rather impressively-sized gas station store at the stroke of 3am.
"Wait, what happened to all the snacks we brought with us?" Shea said as he dug through his backpack for his wallet.
"We ate 'em all," Vaughn said as he eyed a rack of candy bars.
"You mean YOU ate 'em all," Denny side-eyed him and thumped his stomach. "And you ate before we left!"
"Shut up." Vaughn reached for something on the top shelf. "I'm hungry."
"You're always hungry," Denny sighed as he browsed the rack below.
CJ stood awkwardly next to them as he pretended to not pay attention. His eyes drifted toward a rack of mini donuts and he grabbed a few.
Shea wandered over to the slushie self-serve and CJ subconsciously followed him.
"So, how you feelin'?" Shea topped off his frozen drink with a lid and gold-colored straw. CJ grabbed a cup and stared at the mediocre selection of flavors.
"I'm fine. I'm sorry."
"You're all good, man." Shea gently knuckled his shoulder. CJ found himself unflinching at the brief touch. "I was kind of awkward when I first got here myself," Shea's eyes downturned as he smiled. "My English wasn't that good, I didn't know anyone, all I had was my grandfather. I felt very isolated myself."
CJ chose an orange straw.
"But, for the most part, people here are very sweet and welcoming," Shea continued as he looked back to CJ, "Have you met Vaughn's mother yet?"
"Yeah."
"She's a gem, I love her." Shea began laughing uncontrollably. "Ahh, I feel like we're all one big family."
"Even me?" CJ snarked.
"Of course, man!" Shea continued to giggle here and there, either out of joy or being high, CJ couldn't tell.
Vaughn and Denny turned a corner to meet up with Shea and CJ, arms wrapped around each other's shoulders and laughing to themselves.
"Hey, hey, hey, what'chu doing with my boyfriend, old man? Do I need to get jealous?" Shea snorted.
"Nah, you know I don't roll that way," Vaughn grinned. He shoved Denny off his arm and all three laughed together.
"Ah yeah, because you're just straighter than a ruler at bible camp, huh?" Denny punched the cowboy's shoulder.
"Straighter than a razor in a pulpit," He shoved the fisherman back.
Shea joined in and they continued with a chain of idioms, but the words again all turned to mush in CJ's ears. For some reason he couldn't quite articulate into mental words, his heart felt broken all of a sudden. Not sour, not sad, just shattered. He found himself stealing glances at Vaughn, seeing him smile for the first time since the soft grins at the Comptons' dinner. He quickly power-walked down the aisle away from the group to allow himself to breathe.
Okay, okay, maybe he liked Vaughn.
He felt some kind of draw towards him, he couldn't quite explain. He was a gentle giant - he towered over even Shea, who was still pretty tall, and he was quiet and warming and dark. He didn't really understand people's reaction towards him, especially Mark and Elliot's.
But not that any of that mattered now, as if CJ had any chance with him in the first place.
He grabbed some candy and a choco taco. He might as well give in to the munchies and admit defeat. Also, he just really wanted that fucking choco taco.
"CJ! We're checking out!" Denny called out from across the store. CJ gingerly stepped his way back and to the counter with his spoils and stepped up between Vaughn and Shea.
The cashier rung out Denny and Shea's stuff, and the couple pushed each other over the card reader in a fight to pay for the other's. Shea won and managed to jam his card in before Denny could reach, and they grabbed their stuff and scooted to the side.
Vaughn dumped his armful of different chocolates in front of the beleaguered cashier. CJ took out his wallet and thumbed through the bills and grimaced when he realized he had less than a hundred dollars left - including the turnip money. He was debating on what to put back when he noticed Vaughn staring at him over his shoulder. He met his gaze before realizing the man was gesturing him towards the counter. The cashier wasn't done scanning Vaughn's hoard of treats, but he pointed to a sliver of spare counter top for CJ to sit his stuff down.
With all the confidence and pride of a terrified hamster, CJ placed all of his stuff next to Vaughn's. The cashier tried his best to hide his tired sigh, and continued scanning.
"Are you sure?" CJ asked, trying not to collapse right then and there.
"Don't worry," Vaughn reached over and closed CJ's wallet and ripped out his own card. His other hand lingered on CJ's hand and he felt all the breath suck out of his chest.
The butterflies in his stomach fluttered out when Vaughn's declaration of his sexuality leaked into his thoughts again, and he attempted to apply Occam's razor to assuage his soul.
He's probably just making sure he didn't pay. He's preventing him. He must want to show off or something.
He looked back over to Shea and Denny, who were watching everything unfold. Denny caught CJ's gaze and smiled before whispering something to Shea. CJ looked away and back to Vaughn's hand, which finally - and slowly - drifted off as he stepped over to pay. He then dropped CJ's bag into his hands, grabbed his own, and began to step away. CJ followed him, slushie in hand.

The moon painted the wood on Vaughn's porch underneath the four filled rocking chairs. Cigarette smoke and chocolate wafted through the air amongst the small piles of garbage brushed to the side. Conversation had been light, leaving CJ to explore the consequences of fitting his cigarette through the hole of a mini donut. Vaughn was dangling on the edge on consciousness, his hat tilted over his eyes and his body leaned back and draped heavily over his chair, surrounded by plastic carnage. Denny was humming some song to himself as he smoked and rocked himself with a single boot, his other draped across his lap. Shea was intently studying the lavender crystal strung around his neck, as if secrets would ebb from them if only he asked.
CJ jumped back and launched his creation toward the dirt ground in front of the porch as the mini donut caught on fire. He screamed an expletive causing his newfound friends to slowly gaze over to the scene in front of them. The donut sat, burning, unassisted, until it was a pile of ash and the fire was snuffed out by the dirt under it.
"Cool," Shea said, his almond eyes wide as dinner plates. Denny laughed, and Vaughn shoved his hat back over his head. Denny stopped laughing and watched the cowboy for a second. One hand on his stomach, one hand digging his short nails into the chair's arm, hat now completely covering his head. CJ sat beside him, still in shock over his dearly departed snack.
"Vaughn, are you tired?"
"Yeah," He stood up rather fast, and began gathering up everyone's garbage. Denny slid himself off his chair in attempt to help, and Shea began grabbing his backpack. CJ's vacant stare drifted over to the scene. Denny and Shea were saying goodbye to them, but he wasn't really registering their words.
"Weather's gunna be good tomorrow, I have to get up early anyway," Denny tried to assure him as his boyfriend's head rested on his shoulder from behind, bemoaning his exhaustion.
The three said their goodbyes, and Vaughn turned on his heel to head into his house when he noticed CJ hadn't moved from his chair. He stared at him, unaware of what to say without sounding like an asshole.
"I, uh, gotta sleep. Go home." Okay, maybe that wasn't quite what Vaughn was aiming for, but.
CJ drifted up towards him, hands folded in his lap. He remained silent, staring.
"CJ," Vaughn said with intent to follow up, but his voice fell from his mouth.
CJ stood up and stumbled off the porch. He tripped over a rock and fell to his knees, as graceful as a head-on collision. Vaughn grimaced. He had had close to his limit of social interaction tonight, but CJ's cognitive functions were currently melting and dripping out of his ears.
He wasn't sure what to do.