Chapter 22: Fighting Tears

The walk from the Rodriguez's house to the Rocket's only takes a few minutes. However, to each of the crew, it felt like hours. Each step carries the weight of a boulder, as the fatigue and exhaustion becomes harder and harder to handle. The bright, starry sky lights up the night. However, the darkness of what has transpired overshadows the true beauty above them. They each slowly walk inside, trying to keep up with Raymundo's steps as he turns to look at them.

"Okay kids, get some rest. We're all going to need it after today. I'll have breakfast ready in the morning."

Raymundo does not take long to head up the stairs and into his room. Unfortunately, the kids are not so quick to move. Reggie is the first one to look towards the rest and asks an important question on her mind.

"Okay. Where are we gonna fit everyone?"

The silence deafens Reggie's thoughts for a bit, before someone finally replies in a tough, but broken tone.

"Twist can sleep on my bed."

Reggie looks quizzically at the boy answering her.

"Then where are you going to sleep, Rick?"

He does not take long to respond.

"On the floor. I've done it before."

Reggie shakes her head at her stubborn roommate. She realizes this is a battle that can not be won. Soon after, Jorge's soft voice speaks.

"Sam and I can stay on the couches. Do you think you two can fit Anna in your room?"

Suddenly, Harmony's eyes shoot up towards Reggie as she chirps up.

"We have the inflatable mattress I brought with me. I'll go pump it up right now!"

Harmony swiftly rushes up the stairs and gets to work. Twister sluggishly stands and starts up the stairs, with Otto and Rick following behind in silence. None of them speak, as they slowly trek up. As Sam and Jorge get themselves comfortable, Reggie walks over to Anna, who is still motionless, sitting in the chair. She puts her arm around her and calmly whispers.

"Hey girl. You ready for bed? We're gonna need the sleep."

Anna, in between the tears that have fallen from her face all day, gives a slow and shaky nod as she gets up. They, like everyone else, take each slow and heavy step to get to their sleeping arrangements. Surprisingly to Reggie, Harmony is already done blowing up the mattress by the time they get there. Harmony walks over to Anna and quietly asks her which bed she wants. Anna, without speaking a word, falls onto the blowup mattress and stuffs her face into the pillow Harmony left for her. Harmony and Reggie look over at each other in exhaustion. As Reggie collects herself for a second, Harmony speaks.

"You okay, Reg?"

Reggie, almost in shock at the question, answers.

"Me? I…I guess I'm fine."

When Reggie looks over to Harmony, she notices her crying, with a half smile. Reggie's face grows in concern, before Harmony speaks softly again.

"Well I'm not okay. I don't like any of this. I hate seeing Anna like this. I hate seeing all of us like this. I..I…I just want everyone to be happy. Is it really impossible for us to just...to be happy?"

As she finishes her question, the tears become more pronounced and her voice tougher to understand. Harmony does not take long before hugging Reggie. Even while being taken aback by the surprising embrace, Reggie tries to reassure her.

"Today was tough, Harm. We'll get through this. When Anna and Twist wake up tomorrow, we'll be here. All of us. Together."

As Reggie's words echo, so did the grip Harmony has on her. Reggie understands just what Harmony is thinking. None of them truly are happy, are they? It's been so long since Reggie saw any of her friends smiling. This reality is harsh, but one that, now that she thinks about it, motivates her to change that fact. Harmony, after a few minutes, finally separates herself from Reggie and smiles at her.

"Thanks, Reg. I feel a lot better now."

As Reggie smiles back, she looks over to their beds.

"It's late. We need the sleep as much as Anna does. We'll handle all this tomorrow."

Harmony quickly responds, back to her cheerful tone as usual.

"Definitely!"

The girls, both with a more confident strut in their step, jump into bed and let the wear of the day drift them off to sleep...

With everyone finally getting to their rooms, Jorge and Sam finish getting themselves under their blankets, comfortable enough to try and drift off. Sam soon starts to fall asleep. However, just as it approaches, he hears Jorge's voice faintly speaking.

"You asleep yet, Sam?"

Sam considers ignoring the question for a second, before reluctantly answering him.

"Not yet. What's up?"

Jorge stays silent for a few seconds, collecting his thoughts. He knows it's a bad time to bring it up, but it's something he notices every time he's alone with Sam. Especially with how everything went down today, he did not want anything else holding his friends back any more.

"I want you to promise me something."

Sam, clearly in confusion, questions him.

"Okay? What?"

Jorge looks over at Sam.

"I want you to promise me you're going to tell Reggie how you feel."

Sam sits up abruptly.

"You're bringing that up NOW?"

Jorge also sits up himself and looks at his friend in a serious manner, even in the near-pitch black room.

"Sam, everything has been falling apart for us. All because of stuff we chose to hold back. That's been the problem. We don't talk to each other about the important things. I know you really like her. I can see it every time we're all together. I don't want to see anyone else sad over something they were scared to do. So please, promise me you're going to talk to her about it. Please?"

The whole speech gives Sam a weird feeling. At the same time, he knows Jorge's statement possesses a solid point. The secrets his friends hold on to made their lives into the mess that it is now. Maybe being honest is the best way to change things. It also drove him completely nuts to see Reggie upset. He didn't know how he was going to do it, but for Jorge and himself, he had to find out how.

"Okay Jorge. I promise I will."

Jorge lies back down on his couch.

"Good. That's all I needed to know. Night Sam."

Sam slowly lies back down as well. His voice is quiet as a mouse as he answers his friend.

"Night Jorge."

The two boys downstairs rest their eyes and drift off into sleep...

The water from the bathroom sink is enough to get some of the sweat off Otto's face, but not enough to calm him down. His mind starts racing faster than a downhill skate. The sweat continues to pour off his face like he had just left the pool. Seeing Twister like that, after everything that had been running through his head, just adds to the pain. His mind hopeless to know the solution. After seeing his friend get beat up like that, he could not even imagine how he could break his friend's heart. He tries to whisper to himself softly in motivation.

"Okay, calm down, dude. It will be okay. Twist will make it. Oh god...he's gonna hate me."

He once again throws the water at his face aggressively.

"I can't do this anymore. I gotta tell Reg."

He looks up at his face in the mirror and takes a deep breathe. It was almost like he couldn't recognize the face in the mirror anymore. He turns towards the door and looks back in the mirror once more, as he whispers again.

"Screw it. I'll tell her tomorrow."

As he gains the strength and fortitude, he opens the door and walks back to his room. Shocking to him, Rick looks asleep, sprawled on the floor and Twister looks to have all the blankets covering his entire body on Rick's bed. It drove him nuts how many blankets Rick uses, for how little he sleeps. However, Twister probably needs them all tonight. He once again turns himself towards the wall and gets himself back to sleep...

"Fuck"

Once he hears Otto turn his head towards the wall, Rick opens his eyes. He did manage about an hour of sleep before the sound of the door opening woke him. Still not quite sure how long he had been faking sleep with his eyes shut, Rick felt comfortable opening them now. He gives Otto about five minutes to fall back asleep before getting up. At this point, he did live with Otto long enough to know how long it took him to pass out. It was never very long. Rick slowly and quietly gets up off the floor and heads towards the door. Lucky for him, Otto never shuts the door. It makes it easier for him to sneak out of the room. However, his goal would be trickier than usual.

"Sam and Jorge...Shit..."

Rick tip-toes down the stairs quietly. His mission to be alone every night came down to two simple rules: Slow and Silent. This was his nightly trek outside. This all started before the move. The usual schedule of sleep was somewhere between two and five hours. It tires him out, but it is all he can manage. Until he grows tired again, he would have to wait it out in the one place he could talk to himself freely: Outside. As he safely gets past Sam and Jorge into the kitchen, he turns to the fridge. He usually snuck a drink out to bring with him. Unfortunately, there was nothing in there tonight. Raymundo's shopping trip usually waited until Sunday. Not the end of the world, but definitely the cherry on top of a day that was pretty cruddy. Rick slowly shakes his head and walks over to the door. It took him until now to realize he had fallen asleep in his black sweatshirt he had worn during the day. It was for the better though. He could see outside through the door. It was one of those clear, sliding doors, just like the one back at his old house. Somehow, looking at it felt different today. The wind gave it a much colder feeling than usual. Who knows? Just as he was about to shake it off, Deja vu struck him. Just like earlier in the day, he looks straight ahead, seeing him stare at a familiar face.

"What the fuck?"

As he opens the door, he realizes the reality of his Deja vu. However, this time Twister was not in the middle of brotherly assault. This time, Twister sat on the bench Rick usually occupies at night, sobbing into his blue shirt, with his pajama pants, hat and slippers on. Looking at how drenched the shirt was, Rick came to realize that Twist must have been out here for quite some time. While left standing in front of the door, Rick thought about what exactly he should do. What would even be the right thing to do? He shakes his head quickly and quietly, walking towards Twister, who is sitting on the bench next to him. Twister, after a little while, goes to look towards his house again across the street. His face has shifted from the house back inside his shirt for a long time now. As he turns his head, he nearly jumps out of his seat. He notices Rick quietly sitting next to him, staring into the sky. Twister's voice is hard to hear, but he still tries to speak up.

"H...how l..ong have y..you been there?"

Rick looks at Twister and shrugs his shoulders.

"A few minutes. Ya can't sleep, huh?"

Twister buries himself back in his shirt again.

"Yeah."

Rick looks back up at the sky and sighs before answering.

"Me either..."

The pair stays silent for a few minutes. Both stare off into the distance, trying to calm their minds. Rick, knowing his struggles in awkward situations, thinks silently being there was the only thing he could do at the time. While he wants to help, he honestly has no idea if he's actually helping Twister or not. Just as his mind begins to run again, he hears Twister ask him a question.

"Do...Do you think they're going to take Lars away?"

Rick turns his face towards him.

"I don't think so. He's a kid still, just like us. He's gonna get some serious shit, but I doubt it'll be that bad."

Twister starts to fidget with his shirt as his worried tone continues.

"I guess that's good. I just...I couldn't bring myself to fight back. I was scared of Lars. Of my brother."

Rick smiles at Twister. Noticing the emotion once again about to overwhelm his friend, Rick puts his hand on Twister's shoulder. Making sure Twister's looking at him, Rick talks to him face to face.

"It's not that you were scared, Twist. That's just not who you are. You are not a person who will hurt someone. Even if they deserve it. And that's not a bad thing at all."

Twister looks at him and tries to hold back the tears, shifting his eyes from Rick to his house across the street. He tries to continue the conversation, as his voice begins to break again.

"I just...I wanted to be...to be strong."

Rick chuckles to himself as he looks at Twister again.

"Twist, I don't think you even realize how strong you truly are."

Twister, for the first time all night, smiles at that statement.

"Thanks."

Rick smirks back at his friend. While looking at his friend again, he awakes to another reality. Curious about it, he questions Twister.

"How long you been out here?"

Twister bashfully shrivels his body into a shell as he responds.

"Probably an hour or so."

Rick looks at him once again. He feels the wind blowing and notices the soaked shirt. If he's been out here an hour, he must be freezing by now. At first, he felt the shaking of his body was more due to the crying and mental fatigue. However, realizing how harsh the wind truly is blowing, he realizes it certainly can not be helping. Rick stands up on the bench and speaks.

"Here."

Rick quickly takes off his sweatshirt he was wearing and hands it to the other boy, before continuing to speak.

"You might wanna put this on. I don't want you freezing out here."

Twister looks at him in surprise, but did realize the reality of the cold. He grabs and puts it on, suddenly feeling a comforting warmth around him.

"Wow, this is comfy. When did you start wearing sweatshirts to bed?"

They both laugh for a bit before Rick answers the question, embarrassed at Twister's realization.

"I usually don't. But I guess I knew you were going to need it later."

Twister smirks at Rick.

"Yeah, I guess so."

Twister looks back at the house one more time before taking a deep breath and speaking again.

"I'm ready to head back in. Raymundo's gonna find out we're not inside and flip."

Rick laughs again and shakes his head, as he looks towards Twister.

"We can head back in. But just so you know, Ray's yet to catch me. I doubt he even knows I do this every night."

Rick and Twister slowly get off the bench and walk together inside. They get back into their room safely and lie down. While sleep wasn't necessarily immediate, they both surprised themselves and found a way to rest their tired eyes for the night. After everything that transpired, the world seems full of chaos and turmoil for every single one of the crew. However, realizing the power of being united, their hopes of conquering their worries, pains and stress seems a little more realistic together. As a crew. As a team. Hell, as a family...