Disclaimer: I still don't own anything.
The following morning, the group piled back into the car to continue their drive toward Houston, Texas. Only a few miles in, Karl whined, "Luke, I'm starving! When can we stop for food?"
"You literally just ate at the hotel," Luke sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. "How the hell are you hungry again?"
"There was hardly anything good there," Karl retorted, folding his arms and shooting Luke a glare. "You know how it is."
"We're not stopping," Luke stated as a means to try and end the conversation.
"But I'm hungry still!" Karl cried, throwing his hands up. "What am I supposed to do?"
"You're a grown-ass man, Karl. Suck it up," Luke growled.
Finn audibly whimpered from the back seat. "You good, dude?" Karl asked, turning around in his seat as best as he could.
"Yes, yes, fine," Finn hissed through clenched teeth. He forced a smile. "Nothing to worry about here."
"You sure?" Karl continued. He gestured vaguely in AJ's direction. "He's pretty worried about you. But, I guess you know how he gets." AJ glared playfully at him.
Finn laughed, but it seemed almost hollow. "Yeah," he sighed, turning to AJ. "Don't worry about it. I've just been tired lately."
"I guess we've all been," AJ muttered half to himself, dropping his gaze momentarily to his hands.
Karl shot AJ a glance. "Told you," he stated, turning back around. A few seconds later, he exclaimed, "Oh, look! Wendy's!" Luke groaned.
About two hours later, Finn had drifted off again and Karl was wavering on the edge of consciousness. "I can drive for a bit if you want me to," AJ offered.
Luke shook his head. "I've been doing some thinking since last night," he said, "And I think you're right. Finn has been kinda off lately."
"What does this have to do with driving?" AJ enquired, tipping his head slightly to one side.
"He trusts you more than he trusts either of us," Luke stated with a shrug. "If he does start having some kind of episode or something, I think he'd want you back there with him instead of me."
"That can't be true," AJ insisted, shaking his head. "If you ask him-"
"Exactly. If you ask him," Luke interrupted. "He's too nice to admit it himself."
AJ sighed in defeat, glancing over at the sleeping Irishman. For the first time since the previous night, he looked completely relaxed and at ease. AJ suddenly realized Finn had been doing an awful lot of wincing recently and only seemed perfectly fine when asleep. That can't be good, he thought.
"You think he's getting sick or something?" Luke asked, cutting into AJ's thoughts.
"I don't know," AJ answered truthfully. "I mean, he seems okay right now."
"There's something he's not telling us," Luke decided, sighing and shaking his head again. "Damn it all if we don't find out what it is."