airplanes(Thiam)

chapter 16: Pack of dogs

Liam woke before Theo. He figured he shouldn't be that surprised, Theo hadn't slept much in the past week and, the few times he had he'd either been woken by a nightmare, Liam, or on one occasion, a police officer but still, despite everything it was strange to think that not only had Theo slept a whole night through but he'd also stayed calm enough not to yank his hand from Liam's.

Liam blinked out of the window. Not yet ready to move despite the uncomfortable press of his bladder. The blanket around him was warm and soft and despite Theo rudely stealing his own blanket back, Liam knew his one didn't smell too bad. Their scents had leached into it from where it had been stuffed into the duffel and then laid over Liam for a night, nicely masking the smell of random shoppers and despite his arm being sufficiently dead from the awkward angle he didn't want to pull his hand out from Theo's.

It's helping him sleep Liam thought with a small nod and quick, resolute huff. Nothing weird about it And he could believe himself, as long as he didn't think too hard about the fact that they'd....sleep wrestled..just two days before.

Theo's fingers begun to twitch just as Liam was worrying he'd wet himself. Liam slid his hand from Theo's grip, he curled his hand into a fist, trying to counteract the sudden spike of cool air against the skin. Theo let out a muffled grunt that Liam supposed was meant to mean 'good morning'. He watched as Theo slowly peeled his eyes open, squinting against the sun pouring through the windows bitterly. Liam shrugged out of his blanket, throwing open the door, ignoring the hiss of 'fucking cold' from Theo as he wandered further into the field to find somewhere a bit more hidden from the main road to take a piss.

By the time he was back at the car Theo was sitting in the bed of the truck, blanket around his shoulders, knee's tucked up to his chest and chin resting on them.

"You alright?" Liam asked, Theo hummed, the sound soft. "Are you actually awake right now or is sleepwalking a thing I should be prepared for." Theo grunted again. Liam couldn't help but laugh as Theo tilted his head towards him, hair sticking out every way and his eyes still hazy with sleep. "You sleep well?" Theo's lips curled in a smile, either he was too sleepy to try and stop it or he just didn't care about Liam seeing him actually looking happy any more. Liam really wasn't sure which one it was. His head bobbed in a nod and Liam resisted the urge to brag about how he'd helped with that.

"Where too?" Theo asked, voice coming out in a dry croak. Liam shrugged, looking towards the main road.

"We could just drive? See where we end up."

"You drive."

"It's daytime."

"Well noticed." Theo hummed, tossing Liam the keys. Liam watched as he basically rolled out of the back and threw himself into the still reclined passenger seat.

"You know, sleeping well is meant to make you less tired." Liam said. Theo pulled the blanket up until it was basically at his ears, eyes peeking out, crinkled at the edges like he was smiling behind the cover.

"I needed it after all your snoring."

"Will you cut it out with the snoring? I don't constantly joke about your drooling!"

"Tell you what, if you start the car first time, I won't make another snoring joke."

"Deal."

*

"Jesus, that's almost as annoying as your snoring." Theo snorted, Liam glowered out at the road stretching in front of them. His phone vibrated harshly against the dashboard leaving both boys glowering at it.

"Then get it-"

"You get it, it's your phone."

"I'm driving, I can't take my hand off to see who it is!" The phone rattled again. "Come Theo plea-" Theo launched himself forwards with a grumble throwing his blanket into the back seat leaving a wisp of fir and citrus lingering in the air. "Thank you." he sighed. "So who is it?"