#scow

None of these things really mattered to him. He didn’t have time to care about his hair, or even his hat that was definitely on haphazardly at best. He didn’t care that the bags under his were dark against his pale skin. He only wanted to go home, he couldn’t wait to crawl into his bed and rest for a bit. He could already imagine Tucker telling Junior to play his games quietly so Wash could sleep. Tucker would then come into their room, and lay next to him. Sometimes he would fall asleep himself, other times he would just stroke Wash’s hair while his eyes were closed, though he hardly actually slept.

The thought of being home, even for just a hour was all the motivation he needed to pick up his pace and ignore the cold nipping at his face.

Before he knew it he was in front of his apartment building, Valhalla Apartments. Looked like shit on the outside, and was complete utter shit on the inside. But, it was home. The lights worked, they had hot water, and they had heat. It was more than he had at his last place. His super was nothing more than lonely, fast talking, and frankly irritating man, Vic. Who he avoided by tip toeing past his door.

He decided to take two stairs at a time as he climbed up each floor since the elevator was broken. Again. Not that he really minded most days, he could always use the exercise and so could a few other people that lived here. But, he didn’t say that.

Wash barely made it up the stairs to where his apartment was before he could hear the yelling coming for the other side of the hall. He wasn’t sure what they were fighting about, but he could guess it was something idiotic. Just a few day ago, he came home to Junior playing in the hall with Caboose while Tucker was screaming at his once boss. The fight had been long and nasty as far as Wash could tell. Before he could get all the details from Tucker he had to leave though, it was something he still needed to talk about though. Just talking was hard for them.

“You asshole! I need this money, I can’t pay your dad for the loan you gave me!” Loan? Wash hadn’t noticed he had stopped just short of opening his door until he realized he was about to dry heave. “Please, I can’t pay this-” The door opened suddenly, Tucker looking up to a surprised Wash with wide eyes that quickly turned to a scowl as the shorter man looked at his phone, “I gotta go dude.”

The panic continued to rise for the blonde man as he struggled to catch his breath. His thoughts had been swimming with so many questions. But one word stuck out to him. Loan? Three jobs and he still couldn’t afford to provide for Tucker and Junior. The long hours at the restaurant with Donut and Grif where he struggled to make tips meant nothing. The long nights volunteering for extra duty with the police meant nothing. Not even hours at the factory with Caboose and Tucker mattered. He was nothing but a failure. Maybe they would do better without him, maybe ask Church to live with him and his wife. Yeah Tucker and Tex got along. That would be better. Plus they lived closer to the school. Anything would be better, anyone would be better. Just not him.