#almost 5am

“5pm…” Mumbled the exhausted teen, “11 more hours to go…” The boy raked his fingers through his soft, short brown hair and sighed. It felt like time decided to disappear— No, to become nonexistent, and that it seemed like he had been driving on the road for days now. He knew that he needed to take a break, but the guilt that was resting so heavily in his stomach wouldn’t allow him to pull over or to wake up Harima; He had already disobeyed him once, and he didn’t want to make that same mistake again. Every so often, he could feel his glare latch onto one of the trees and he would follow it, until he’d lazily have to readjust his attention back onto the road, or he would find himself trapped deep in thought, until Harima would weakly sneeze or cough and snap him out of it. “We’re almost there…” He sighs, trying to convince himself that the remaining hours would be the final stretch, and that it wouldn’t be too much longer.

“Tch, yeah, keep telling yourself that, kid.” A groggy, lack lustered murmur was heard from the right side of Yuko. Harima was still engulfed in the cozy warmth of the boy’s blanket, wiping at his nose with a corner of the fuzzy cloth that was draped over the coil of his shaky finger. “11 hours is a long time to be driving, even for you.” His voice was still clouded with both sleep and deep congestion that made his him sound frail and insubstantial.

The boy smirked at his sick companion, trying to wipe off the hazy, weary look he had that coated his face; He didn’t want Harima to think of him as weak, and as someone who couldn’t handle a few hours of simple driving. “Whatever!” Yuko scowled at the man, tightening his grip on the steering wheel, “Anyway, when are you gonna take that medicine I bought for you?” The boy had spent his last few bucks at the gas station for Harima, and for him to ignore his efforts made the teen bite his lip in agitation. The stubborn man rarely gave Yuko any money in general, and if he did, it was only spare change that he was tired of carrying around; all of the cash that the boy managed to save had been spent on the medicine.

“Listen, kid, I don’t need that stupid medicine.” Harima rasped, feeling a slight itch clawing at the back of his throat, easing its way up his nasal cavity. He tries to swallow deeply in order to ease the itch, only to find himself snagging the blanket over his mouth, “All I need is—” The itch grows into an agitating burn, causing Harima to hack into a lung rattling coughing fit, interrupting him mid-sentence. Each cough scraped the back of his throat, giving a sensation of needles jabbing into his raw gullet. “— Is a pack of smokes and a bag of jerky!” He managed to compel out of himself, while the stinging pain and burning itch were causing his eyes to become glassy and unfocused.

The teenager chuckled at the stubborn man and shook his head, “Are you sure those are needs, or is that just what you want?” After not receiving a response from his companion, Yuko’s mood instantly shifts from humorous to worried. He temporarily turns his head over to his right side, only to see Harima’s head engulfed into the blanket, as he desperately tries to silently stifle three of his gruesome sneezes. The boy winces as he quietly observes Harima sneezing into his favorite blanket, but tries his best not to show any of the disgust he feels. He could tell that Harima’s sneezes were sounding harsher each time; he could tell that they were hurting the sicky, and that it was becoming a lot harder to stifle them. “Jeez, Harima… You’d do yourself a huge favor if you quit stifling your sneezes. It sounds like it hurts—”

“—Hh’sscht-‘isschiih!! HIH’TSHhh!!I Ihh-KTT’SCHhah! HEH’SSShuhh! IKGSSschiih!!” Harima’s brash eruptions cut the teenager off, as he smuggles his face deeper into the blanket, rapidly swiping away the wetness lingering in underneath nose with the orange cloth that rests over his arm. He decided to heed Yuko’s advice and to sneeze naturally, which helped him for the moment. “Damn, I’m hungry…” He grunts at Yuko, who’s ferociously glaring at the road, with a strong, silent intensity emitting all over his face. He was highly peeved at how much Harima was using his blanket as a… really soft and fuzzy tissue! If anyone would be using it for that purpose, it should be him and only him! It was his favorite blanket, after all. Was he doing it on purpose?! No, he’s sick and vulnerable… What else would he use? Surely he couldn’t just use his already contaminated scarf laying in the back se—

“Stop at the next food place you see. I don’t give a care what it is.” Harima’s gruff voice cracks the teen’s train of thought. Yuko absently nods his head and gives a half-assed smile, attempting to offset the rugged atmosphere he created. Thought we weren’t making any stops. Thinks the boy, trying his hardest not to give a snarky reply.

About ten minutes of silent driving pass by and the two reach a restaurant in the middle of nowhere they both had never heard off, ‘Emma’s Diner’. The soul tapping warmth from diner embraced both of them, since the heater in Harima’s car was trash compared to the roaring fireplace inside the diner. A waitress greets, and sits them down at a small booth beside a window. “What can I get for you boys?” Charms the waitress, as she hands them both a menu. Harima orders a coffee and the teen gets a mountain dew. The teen can’t help but stare at the man in his poor condition. He looked paler than usual, his coughs and sneezes sounded harsher than usual, and he couldn’t stop rubbing at his nose to save his life.

“You should probably get something light, Harima…” The teen warns Harima, watching his unfocused eyes glare out the window, “Your stomach might be sensitive or something.” He can tell that he’s wasting his breath, seeing how the stubborn man will most likely order whatever he wants to, anyway.

The sicky smirks at the boy, “I’m a man, Yuko. I need the protein… and nutrients to… replenish my body and crap.” He announces to the innocent teen, trying to sound smart and to justify his order. Yuko only sighs and shakes his head, shrugging at the man in a gesture of ‘I warned you’. Harima decides to order a double cheese burger with French fries, and Yuko orders a Cesar salad and a fruit bowl. They eat their meals with a few enjoyable side conversations about New York and the remaining hours of the road trip.