We Are Bulletproof

I'm not

doesn't seem like it

especially without you!!!
you're a jerk!

but maybe i can start over in washington

I'm 19... not a kid.

...are you outside the bus?

he's like the same age as you...

He's not a creep.

that's not the part i mean

no
i don't

if you're going to still be an asshole
just go away

im fine

Oh, wow. Well, it sounded like Devlin lucked out. He sat next to somebody that actually knew something about running away. It made him feel a little more secure. At least he wouldn't be left floundering alone, not sure where or what to do. This guy knew the area, too, it seemed. Devlin relaxed a little, feeling somewhat relieved.

"Of course," he said to the question of whether he liked music. "Who doesn't like music?"

He cracked a little grin as he added, "I don't trust people who say they don't like music."

It was like they weren't people or something. Music was the universal language. His eye ticked again and he rubbed it tiredly. The tics acted up when he was tired, too, that was the problem. Okay, so there were a lot of problems on his end but at least he was taking his life into his own hands now. He was about to ask the guy about what kind of music scene Washington had when he noticed that the bus was slowing to a halt.

Devlin sat up, squinting out the window in confusion. "When did it get so foggy?"

The driver pulled over to the side of the road and made an announcement over the intercom, letting them know that the road conditions were too dangerous to continue and that they would move forward once the fog had passed through.

How long would that be, though? Devlin jiggled his leg up and down, lifting a thumbnail to his mouth.

"Hey," somebody said from behind him, startling Devlin. He looked up to see a dark haired guy a little older than him. "Your brother says to tell you he's sorry."

Devlin stared at him. Then his left eye twitched. What was he supposed to say to THAT? And who was this guy, to know his brother? Devlin nodded, because he didn't know what else to say or do, and then he turned away with a twitchy shrug.

A few moments later, the guy was back. Devlin looked up at him.

"Now your brother is asking you to unblock him."

Of course he was. Devlin didn't know if he was ready to talk to him, though. And the second he unblocked him, he was just going to get an earful. Probably more crap talk, too. Devlin shrugged and turned away.

"So is that a no?"

Devlin didn't look up.

"Oh." He let out a little soft laugh of relief. Not a laugh at anybody, except maybe himself? Devlin felt a little odd about everything and he wasn't sure what he was doing, either. So it was kinda... funny that he would be sitting next to somebody with the same problem.

Did anybody really know? Where they were going? Really... in all his life, Devlin didn't have a plan. And even if there was a plan, it never worked because Devlin couldn't stick to any plan. He just... lived life as it came for him. A reactionary liver. Was that a thing? A liver, not the body part. A person that lives. He rubbed at his eye again.

He smiled, though, despite himself. A small smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Thanks. It's all I got left of my old life."

Not many people liked it. He used to get bullied over it. Devlin the Devil. It was a stupid name. Devlin was nothing like a demon. But kids were mean. And Devlin was soft.

"Okay. Honestly, I just got on this bus. Was thinking Washington but who knows. This bus just goes into Portland but from there..." He put out his hands. "Lots of places from there."

Yeah, me either, he said silently. He had no idea where he was going, either. Just... out. Out of town, out of sight, maybe once he was out of sight, he'd be out of mind, too. The last words that his brother sent to him before he blocked him still stung. If that was really how he felt... What a jerk!

"Big guy...?" Who was he talking to? Not to him. Sure, Devlin was tall but big guy was kind of a stretch, given the way he hunched over and slouched so much, trying to make himself smaller, less of a target. Even now, he was leaning forward, one thumbnail in his mouth, worrying the end of it as he looked over at his seat mate. His eyes ticked, once. Twice. They did that when he was under a lot of stress.

This guy looked like he was under... something. Stress, maybe. Or something else. Devlin reached up to rub at his ticking eye but before he could, he was leaning back as a finger came at him and poked him nearly between the eyes.

"I'm here," he said, wondering if he was still Big Guy or if Big Guy was somebody else. Or if Big Guy was somebody else but this guy THOUGHT he was seeing him right now.

"N-no way. Nothing to be sorry for. Sometimes I don't think things are real either....." He pulled his thumb from his mouth and slid both hands between his knees, pressing them hard against the backs of his hands.

"I'm Devlin," he said. "And I don't know where I'm going either..."

No don't think so.