Chapter Four

John slouched in his seat, Claire's head resting on his shoulder. He watched as they crossed state line between Illinois and Missouri, he was officially the farthest from home he'd ever been in his life. He looked around the bus, seeing that almost everyone was sleeping, except for Allison. "Hey, Alli," He tapped her shoulder, nodding toward Vernon's oldest Landon, "Wanna see how many pencils we can keep on Landon's head before he wakes up?"

She bit her lip, obviously considering it. "I want to, but the moms would kill us."

John jumped as he heard Amelia scream, bolting from her dream. "Mommy!" She sobbed, as her mother picked her up. "John was hurt." She sobbed into her mother's blouse, the image of John's convulsing body still fresh in her young mind.

John stood, walking the two seats up to where Mary and Amelia were sitting, and sliding into the seat beside them. "Hey, I'm okay." He rested a hand on Amelia's back, smiling as she looked up at him. "See? I'm not hurt."

She crawled into his arms, clutching his t-shirt like she was afraid he would disappear. She wiggled around until she found a comfortable spot on his lap. "You… you were-"

He held her closer, shushing her as he did so. "I know, Princess." He pressed his lips to the crown of her head, his heart aching with every cry from the child.

Claire watched from her seat, thinking about what she and John's children would look like after they got married. She knew that John would make a great father one day. She let a small smile grace her features as she listened to John start to hum a tune for the child. "His hair's really growing out isn't it?" She leaned forward, resting her arms on the back of Allison and Andy's seat.

Allison nodded, looking at the awkward length of John's dark hair. "Did you notice that the gray isn't as light as it was."

Andy nodded, looking to his left at Brian and Kaylie. "Yo, Brian." He smiled at the two, pointing to the paper that Brian had in his hand. "See if you can get Bender to do something."

Brian shook his head. "You do it."

Vernon looked back at them in the rearview mirror. "Anyone hungry?" He asked, as they pulled into the next town. "There's a McDonalds up here."

Everyone raised their hands, and Mary raised a brow at John. "No being a pig." She smiled, noticing the fake hurt on his face.

"I'm hurt." He smirked, pulling the kid higher on his lap. "I'm not a pig all the time."

Amelia looked up at him, poking his chin. "Don't steal my nuggets." She ordered.

John wrinkled his nose. "I'll steal your fries then."

"No!"

John squeezed her to his chest, tickling her in the ribs. "You will let the tickle monster steal your fries!"

The bus erupted with laughter, only getting louder when a yelp of pain escaped John. "What's wrong El Jefe?" Dominic laughed, knowing damn well what had happened. "Forget to wear your cup?"

John passed Amelia to her mom, doubling himself over so that his head was between his knees. "Screw you man." He growled. "Why does this always happen?"

"Because you always forget to wear your cup." Andy laughed. "We bought that just so that you could do that without getting hurt, but you never wear it."

John looked up, turning to look at the athlete. "Maybe it's too small."

Claire threw her jacket at him, not wanting to hear anymore. "You are so gross!"

"What's a cup?" Amelia piped up, looking at everyone with the innocence that so many of them had been robbed of.

Mary looked down at her daughter, shaking her head. "You don't want to know."

Vernon parked the bus, opening the door for the flood of hungry teens. "Alright, don't cause too much trouble." He caught a glimpse of Dominic in the parking lot, watching as he and Landon pulled Jessop's sweater over the top of his head. "Landon! Don't do that to your brother!" He rolled his eyes, sighing to himself. "This is going to be a long road trip…"

Thomas chuckled, patting Vernon's shoulder. "Tell me about it."