Hey everyone! Thanks for the feedback! I've got this new chapter I hope you all enjoy just as much! Thanks to Zickachik, as always!

Disclaimer: The usual.

On with the show!

The next morning, I woke up on the couch with Steve's jacket tossed over me. I'd fallen asleep watching the movie. I wanted to laugh right then. All the fuss I'd made about getting clean clothes and I'd still ended up falling asleep in my bar ones.

Steve was asleep in the armchair and it looked like he had managed to transplant Johnny onto the other small couch. Steve looked chilly, and I was pretty sure he'd thrown his only plan for warmth over me when I'd fallen asleep. Steve had been nice to me since I fixed his shoulder. I'd told him that next time he was going to crash into a wall; he should curl up more instead of trying to catch himself. I also told him I wouldn't tell anyone and he'd just been...nice since then. It was amazing what understanding could do for the way you treated people.

From the sounds of it, no one else was awake and that suited me just fine. I tucked Steve's jacket back around him and made my way down to the bathroom. I wanted to make sure I looked ok before slipping quietly out the backdoor. Looks never mattered much on the road, but people here would remember someone who looked like hell and I didn't need to be remembered. Sam was asleep on the back deck and thumped his tail in greeting when I sat down beside him and scratched his ears.

"I need to find Davy," I told him.

If I was with Davy, maybe I'd have things sorted out by the time I ran into Two-Bit again. Davy had a way of making things make more sense than they did when I thought of things on my own. Maybe he'd come up with something better than Two-Bit did when it came to dealing with Del.

"Cover for me?"

Sam thumped his tail again in a 'yes' fashion. I scratched his ears before heading out to roam the streets. I had no idea where Davy could be at the time of the morning. I knew he wouldn't be asleep because he had told me himself that he worked the night shift, making sure the shelves were stocked. Then he took a 6-hour sleep/food break before heading back to the store for a three-hour shift and then a dinner break of a couple hours before he went back for the night shift again.

It was a tiring schedule, but he had said himself that he needed the money to keep his family afloat. And with any luck, I would catch him just heading home if I played my cards right. So I walked towards the business area and hoped to see a tired teen in a black smock with green lettering on it. I guess I was having some luck because I did find a store with the same lettering on the sign out front that Davy had on his smock. I was even luckier when I walked in and saw Davy leaning on the front till and talking to a perky looking redhead. He glanced over at me when the door chimed and smiled tiredly.

"Good morning, Jocelyn," he greeted warmly. "You have great timing - my shift just ended."

I nodded and watched as Davy said goodbye to the redhead before coming over to join me. A minute later, we were walking side by side back the way I'd come from. Davy didn't say anything until we were in the middle of a quiet neighborhood.

"You're getting antsy to leave, huh?" he asked and I shrugged. "Something happened."

I nodded. "Two-Bit met my cousin Del."

"That must have gone badly if you're giving Dallas Winston the slip just to come and talk to me," he surmised and I nodded.

"Ross thinks I'm with Two-Bit. Two-Bit thinks I'm still asleep over the Curtis'. The Curtis' weren't awake when I left."

"Ah, the tangled webs we weave," he commented and I frowned at him. "So, Two-Bit met Del?"

"Yeah. Del was being a bully and Two-Bit made it worse by sticking up for me. He's going to do something horrible because of it. He always does."

"I see. I think you should avoid him unless you're with Dallas," he suggested. "That way at least you'll have someone tough in your corner."

I didn't bother pointing out that Ross hadn't been in my corner for a while. We were nine the last time he bothered to be in my corner. Now he was just playing babysitter and peacemaker between Del and I while trying to keep his reputation intact.

"I just can't figure out why he's sticking around," I confessed. "He and Ross might be up to something, but I think it's more like Del is making up for 8 years of missed bullying time."

"That's a tough situation," he sighed.

"I don't expect you to do anything about it. I just needed someone to talk to," I told him. "Between you and Two-Bit, this is the first time in forever that I have actual friends."

"And yet you're still going to Florida the first chance you get?" he asked and I nodded then shook my head.

"I don't think I'm ever going to get there at this rate."

Davy stopped on the sidewalk and looked at me. I was ashamed to admit that there was a tear rolling down my cheek.

"It'll be alright," he soothed, rubbing my arm.

"No it won't," I told him. "I can't get out of here, no matter how hard I try. And now I've been here so long that I'm not trying as hard anymore. I'm trapped and I can't breathe."

"Hey, I'll help," he assured me, hugging me. "If it's killing you so much to be here, I'll help."

I couldn't remember the last time someone hugged me. That was mostly because I didn't trust anyone enough to do so. I trusted Davy, so I soaked it up. By the time Davy pulled away from me, his shirt was wet. I blushed something fierce.

"This is my place," he explained, thumbing behind him. "C'mon on in and I'll get you something to eat before I take you back to your cousin Ross."

I nodded and followed Davy into his place. You could tell many other people lived there and Davy had said he was supporting little brothers and his mother. It was a mess, but I didn't mind. It was warm and smelled all right. Those were my usual requirements when I decided to settle down somewhere for a while.

"Sorry, it's a school day, so it's a mess."

"It's fine," I replied following him into what looked like the kitchen.

I sat down at the table and watched as Davy looked around the room before disappearing down the hall. He was back a minute later in fresh clothing. He looked around the kitchen before opening the fridge and frowning.

"Hope you don't mind leftovers."

I shrugged and he nodded, pulling dishes from the fridge.

"Sometimes I forget that you're a drifter," he said while let everything in the dishes land in the same frying pan. "You were probably lucky to even eat some days and here I am asking if you mind leftovers."

"I have the feeling you all forget from time to time," I offered.

Except for Ross who wanted me to keep on drifting right out of his town.

"Well, it's not hard now that we're so used to you being around," he replied. "Speaking of which, we should put some thought into getting you out of here so you can breathe again."

"Like what?" I asked.

I had honestly never been one for plans. Getting to Florida was the best I did in the planning department.

"Well, first we should see about money and supplies and then maybe some transportation. It all depends when you want to go," he shrugged.

"What do you recommend?" I asked and he looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Well, since it's the middle of the month, I recommend waiting for the end of the month…What?"

"The middle of the month?" I asked in a small voice and he nodded.

"Is there something special about the middle of the month?"

"No, not really. I just have to be somewhere."

Back at Jebb's, to be precise. I had nearly forgotten his threats about what would happen if I wasn't.

Davy gave me a look that said he didn't believe me, but he didn't press the matter. He just turned back to the stove and stirred things around.

"As I was saying, you have half a month to get everything you need together and store it in a good place where your uncle isn't going to take it from you," he added.

"Where is a good place?" I asked and he frowned.

"I thought you were staying at 'Buck's Brothel and Booze'?"

I blinked at him. "He calls it 'Buck's Place'," I told him and he smirked a little.

"Sarcasm is something we've gotta work on before you take off. I meant to ask, weren't you staying there, regardless of what goes on?"

"Yes, but with Del making war on me…" I shrugged. "It's not the best plan to leave anything around he can tamper with."

"Well, mi casa, as they say down in Mexico."

"What do they say?" I asked, confused again. "I've never ventured into Mexico."

"If you need to get things together, we can stash them here," he clarified. "My house is your house."

I frowned at him as he turned back to the stove and pulled the frying pan off it. He really was too distracted when he was supposed to be cooking. However, it tasted just fine. Davy sat across from me and we both ate in relative silence. I could tell Davy was tired after his shift and I felt guilty I'd been intruding on his rest time.

"After we eat, I'll walk you to the bus stop," he said around a swallow. "That is if I'm taking you back to Buck's?"

"No, I need to go to my uncle's place."

Davy set his fork down and studied me. "And why would you ever go back there?"

"It's the middle of the month. The government people come mid-month. The fifteenth. So I won't get hit."

"That's tomorrow," he told me. "At least spend the day doing something you'll hopefully end up enjoying."

"Like what?"

"Watch TV, read a book, walk through the park." He shrugged. "It doesn't much matter as long as you enjoy it."

"I like Mr. Ed," I told him. "But not as much as I like sitting and watching the world go by."

He smirked a little, brushing his dark bangs out of his eyes. "That's a good plan."

It wasn't long after Davy and I did up the dishes that we ended up sitting on his porch swing and he ended up falling asleep on it. I'd nudged his shoulder after a while and told him he needed to go to bed and I needed to get back to where Ross could find me. He didn't object, but he did tell me he'd come and check up on me on the fifteenth over at Jebb's place.

I made my way back down the road, hoping that I wouldn't get too turned around before I got to the Curtis' house. I didn't know this are of town, even though I had been through it quite a bit since I walked into town. After an hour I had to admit I was a little turned around, though. I doubted I could even make it back to Davy's at this point. I must have looked lost, too.

This old, souped-up black car pulled up alongside where I was walking and I stopped to look at it. It stopped as well and the driver rolled down his window. He had a scar on his face and it looked like he'd tried to fight someone for the good spot under the bridge.

"You lost?" he asked with a smirk.

"I need to get to where the Curtis' live. Do you know them?" I asked, not getting any closer to the car, despite the fact I had to raise my voice.

"Sure. Hop in."

"No thank you," I told him with a shake of my head. "I can manage if you point me in the right direction."

"It would be faster if you let me drive instead of trying to remember directions."

"I don't do so well with cars," I replied and it was mostly the truth. I was in them so rarely that the odd ride I did have could become nauseating quickly. "Please?"

"Well, ain't that nice. It's not often someone says please." He smirked, but it wasn't humorous. "Go down the block until you hit the intersection. Turn left. You should see the lot that's not far from their place."

"Thank you very much," I offered and turned in that direction.

"What? I help you out and I don't even get your name?" he called.

"Passin' Through."

He blinked and I jogged off down the sidewalk. I'd said it before and I'll say it again – there was something in the water here and it seemed to affect the entire male population I wasn't related to. I wasn't pretty, I wasn't nice, and with Davy's help I would just be passing through again.

Cookies to anyone who knows who made a cameo in the car. Alrighty, another one bites the dust, as they say. Next chapter we have the state visit, so tune in for that.

Any comments at all are welcome and flames accepted.

See ya in the funny papers!!!

Tens & Zickachik