I didn't sleep well. I kept dreaming of Doug, and I was thankful he was still there in my arms every time I woke. I was still awake as the sun came up. My head was throbbing. I wanted to cover my eyes with my arm to block the light streaming in, but I refused to remove it from its place around Doug. Looking at his peaceful face made me smile. His eye wasn't as swollen as it had been, though it was discolored. I could see the dried tears stuck to his eyelashes as they fluttered. His hair was disheveled and his patch had shifted during the night to reveal the edge of his nose and the corner of his eyelid.

The sun continued to rise, and I fought to keep my eyes open for short periods so I could burn this moment into my memory. In the early morning he started fidgeting and rolled over. I wrapped my arm under his and placed my hand on his chest to keep him close to me. I curled my head into his neck to block out the light, and decided it was a wonderful place to lay. I could smell his hair, the slight tinge of soap lingering, along with the scent of him and the sweat from the hot summers day.

His body was pressed against my own, but I was careful to keep my hips pulled back to avoid an accident like the night before. It was easy to stay distracted at first. The horrible pain in my head accompanied by the empty feeling in my stomach from not eating enough the day before, and the amount of rum I had downed, helped to keep my mind off anything it maybe shouldn't be on. That is, until I felt him begin to stretch. I felt his lower back and butt push backwards into my stomach. I shifted my position to allow him more room and sat up part way to see if he had awaken. His eye was still closed and he was no longer moving, and so I lay back down. The contact woke me up a bit more and my body was more alert to the figure of the boy in my arms. I reached down quickly to pull my pants loose from my thighs and accidentally brushed against Doug. I boldly decided to place my hand on his hip and then lay still as not to wake him.

He wasn't asleep any longer though. I felt him shift slightly as he moved his arm, the fabric of his pants sliding beneath my hand. I heard a sudden hitch in his breathing before it suddenly sped up. A moment later he stopped breathing as he twitched once. I shifted my hand lower on his hip to where it had been before he moved. I felt him begin to turn towards me a bit and I froze in place as my hand was now resting on his thigh. I heard him take a short, rushed breath. All I could think to do was close my eyes, try not to move, and try not to react.

My heart started to race as I felt him roll all the way onto his back, and panicked when I felt a firm form underneath my hand. I suddenly felt a surge of blood racing through me, and felt his whole body jump as I cupped around him for a split second before I snatched my hand away.

"Doug?" I said, not sure if I was pleading or questioning.

I saw him stop breathing and then rapidly roll toward the wall and onto his stomach. All I could make out was a faint 'ugh' sound from where his face was buried in the pillow. I fought to hide the smile that was growing on my face as he looked up at me. He was bright red. It reminded me of an embarrassed little kid.

"You ok?"

He nodded after a moment and gave me some excuse about peeing. I knew now wasn't the time to expect the truth from him as I heard his voice cracking nervously. I decided to play along with him. I nodded and rolled quickly to my feet, grabbing the damp shirt and my hat off the floor. I used them to cover the front of my pants as I picked up the key and unlocked the door. I glanced around Train's room, which was occupied by Topper and Jumper. Topper was still asleep on the bed, but Jumper was sat on the floor beside it, reading a copy of yesterday's paper. I turned away quickly but saw him look up as I left. There were boys strewn all over the stairs; Mush was asleep at the bottom. There was a cloud of smoke filling the front hall, where several older boys from around town were sleeping on tables, the floor or on top of old crates. I saw Racetrack in the corner smoking the stub of a cigar, and he eyed me as I walked to the bathroom. Passing the bunk room, I could see most of our crew asleep in their racks, many of them doubled up to make room for the visitors. When I rounded the corner of sinks I could see Kelly passed out in the old porcelain tub, an almost empty bottle of gin resting on his stomach. I wished at that moment the tub was connected to the water pipe just so I could turn a blast of it on him.

I headed for one of the stalls towards the end of the room. I preferred the one that had almost a full curtain hanging in it. I stood there trying to refocus my mind away from Doug and the events of the morning. I tried to wait it out but with a full bladder I grew frustrated, and soon found my mind drifting back towards him and decided to relieve myself, in both ways. I heard shuffling feet as I began buttoning my pants back up. As I turned around I jumped, startled by the hand sticking in the stall, between the curtain and the wall. It was holding a piece of paper. I couldn't read it in the dim light, so I took it as I exited. Jumper stood there with an impatient look on his face.

Sleep well?

I handed the paper back to him and went to the sink to wash my face. He followed, placing the paper on the mirror to use as a flat surface to write on. He placed the sheet back in front of my face.

You know you want to tell me.

I shook my head no and bent over the running water with the soap to wash out my shirt that had been used as rag. He tapped on the wood until I looked up again.

Please?

I ignored him and took off the shirt I was wearing to wash as well. I hid a smile at his frustration and heard him scribbling on the paper before it was shoved in my face.

If you don't tell me I will ask you out loud.

I looked up at his smiling face and saw him staring pointedly towards Kelly, just 10 feet away from us. I sighed, handing him my half clean shirt and taking the pencil and paper. He grinned and began rinsing the soap out while I wrote back.

We drunk and he khisd me.

When I handed him back the paper his smile grew. He threw the soaked shirt back at me and went upstairs to tell Topper. I quickly rung out my shirts and threw them over a rope hanging over the sinks.

When I had returned to the room I saw Topper and Mush helping Doug to his feet.

He stood up straight and turned his head towards the door where I was standing. He wore a smile at first, but the color soon drained from his face and he began sinking into the arms of the boys holding him.

Thanks for reading guys, any reviews would be much appreciated! Seeing them makes me excited to write more. Special thanks to the worlds best Beta, who has returned to help me with this story, even after SOOO much time!