I just want to pop in and say how much I love and appreciate all of you who are reading and leaving reviews! Without your kind words I wouldn't be posting.

I do need some help with something- the site says I've reached my chapter limit and have to convert them to add more. I have no idea what this means. Can anybody tell me?

Chapter 46

They continued on the road. In the darkness of the night Billie lost sight of streets she might have recognized and no longer had any idea if they were headed north, south, east or west. She took a deep breath, never having felt so powerless. "Where are we going?"

It was the first time anyone had spoken in some minutes. Everyone was tired but Billie was almost livid with the confinement of everything. Didn't she deserve some answers or information? John would have probably been much more forthcoming if they were alone. He, too, probably felt constrained; he, just like everyone else, was stuck in that car indefinitely, and he also seemed to know nothing. When Billie asked about their destination he couldn't supply an answer. Instead, he looked to the front seat, to the driver.

Red answered without emotion. "Iowa."

"Iowa!" Billie squeaked. She looked to John, perplexed. What was in Iowa? Why there, of all places? Her eyes were filled with questions but John still could not answer them. Instead he gave her a small smile but it didn't give her any comfort.

"Why don't you try to sleep, doll?"

Her eyes grew even wider. "Sleep! How can you expect me to sleep?" she asked in a harsh whisper. There was no question that she was tired, she probably looked completely haggard, but the idea of easily drifting off to sleep at that moment seemed impossible. She was far too worked up. Clearly he could see that.

John knew she was testy. It was the first time he'd really seen Billie cranky, not including when she'd confronted him about his identity- that was an entirely different thing. He wasn't happy she was upset, but he admittedly like when she became feisty. She looked too pretty, and her accent became too thick, for him to be frightened by her. He lost his nerve when things were serious and he was being threatened with losing her or other things of that nature; but, now, he knew she would cool down eventually.

"At least rest," he tried to reason. "We're gonna be in here for awhile... Lay down. Relax."

She looked into his eyes. He really did want her to calm down and be in a better frame of mind. With his tone so soft and sincere she gave in with a sigh. "How will I do that?" she whispered, glancing to the crowed backseat. John turned his head to the side, giving Homer a look.

"We'll switch seats, and then you can lean on me and put your feet on Homer. Homer, you don't mind, do ya?"

The man knew better than to go against John's wishes; that was a losing battle. He already had John's suitcase crowding his legs, and now he'd have to be Billie's foot rest? He was frowning darkly, then he made out Billie's gaze falling directly on him and softened under her stare. If it were going to be anybody's feet Billie's were probably the ideal ones. "Sure," he replied sarcastically. "I don't mind."

John and Billie began to switch seats, elbows and knees knocking into Homer and even sometimes Red. After a good minute of shuffling things quieted down. John leaned against the door, Billie in the middle of the men but mostly positioned on John's body. She didn't want to really put her feet on Homer so she tucked her knees under as close and comfortably as she could. John had taken off his coat and it was draped over Billie like a blanket. Somewhere their hands were entwined, she holding on to his fingers tightly. His other hand kneaded her shoulder, an attempt to relax her. After some minutes in the quiet and under his soothing touch, she did begin to ease. Holding his hand gave her comfort, assured by the constant contact. Sometimes she would squeeze his palm just to see if he were still awake and if he'd react with his own squeeze. He did every time.

Billie had been positive that she wouldn't sleep. She rested against John and closed her eyes, lulling into the movement of the car and the noises within. Red and Jane spoke little, and Homer rarely. She thought about Jane, and Mairy somewhere in a car nearby, and wondered what they were thinking. Did their thoughts mimic her own? She considered it a serious situation but everyone else acted so calm. Unlike her, they were experienced. They dealt with harrowing situations regularly. Did the women ever engage in robberies like the men? What was their part in all of this? Didn't they have family and friends that they were leaving behind too? It would have been useful to know and to be comfortable enough around the women to ask. Maybe she would get a chance to speak with Jane. She couldn't think about Mairy without also feeling her attacks and reliving them over and over.

As her knees and shins brushed him, Billie thought of Homer. Even in her short time of being with John and her one meeting with the gang, Homer had been clearly labeled as a kind of doormat to the others. They teased and ordered him around. Why did he stand for it? Billie thought of the other gang members and everyone's relationship therein. There was an existing kind of hierarchy though they all were united by an unlawful bond, and everyone participated in the criminal acts. Were the men actually friends or were they just people who happened to be criminals as well? Did all of them want to be there by their own desire? She tired to make sense of things and it was during this process that she became exceedingly weary.

She had been awake long enough to notice a lightening outside the car. It was dawn, or close to, and with the coming light of day she decided she may as well wake up fully. However, the next time she opened her eyes, blinking, it almost looked to be midday. The car, outside and in, was clear and illuminated. At some point she must have fallen unconscious to account for the missing time the sun had grown stronger. It was a relief thinking she had missed part of the trip, that the distance they needed to cover had lessened.

The radio emitted static but Billie could still make out a song playing talking about a big moon and a red barn in Indiana. The irony was bitter. Billie tried to sit up, her limbs stiff, her body having remained still and in one position for hours. She could still feel John behind her, supporting her in sleep, and their bodies were warm having melded together so long. In the passing moment she heard a low nasal groan. He was snoring. Billie almost wanted to roll her eyes at his ability to fall deeply asleep anywhere anytime. She stretched. Forgetting that Homer was sitting next to her, her foot dug into his ribs and he let out a loud wail.

John woke in the middle of a snore, blinking rapidly and repositioning himself. "Oh! I am so sorry, Homer!" Billie leaned in to him, touching his shoulder lightly. He had a whole slew of angry, rude, nasty things to say until Homer heard her utter his name for the first time. He clutched his aching side and glared at her, alarmed at the color of her blue eyes so close and in the startling daylight.

"Yeah...fine..." he cringed, looking out the window. Billie sighed, truing toward John. He was rubbing his eyes and yawning. She was glad he got some sleep, for however deeply or long. It took him a moment to wake, and even then his eyes were heavy and tired, his hair falling loosely over his forehead. His hat had been taken off sometime during the night, balanced on the back of their seats. He yawned a second time, smiling to her.

"You sleep, doll?"

She smiled at the sound of his voice, the first noise it made when he'd woke; gruff and lazy. She was happy to be the first person he spoke to. In reply she nodded, leaning in to him and kissing his cheek. The gesture warmed John. The first things he woke to, aside from Homer's yelping, was Billie's warmth and compassion. His tired eyes took on a dreamy look.

"Well you sure did!" Jane spoke from the front seat, glancing back to them. "I'm surprised Billie could sleep at all through that snoring."

The girl smirked, giving a side look toward John. "I'm getting used to it."

"Red almost fell asleep a few times, too," Jane mused, touching Red's ear gently. The man had driven through the night, spending hours behind the wheel. "Maybe you should take over, John."

This was readily in agreement, the occupants of the car deciding to pull into the next rest stop and switch things around.