Noxious

35 | hearts ablaze

Rowan 

"We've got a problem." 

I forced my eyes open. I had been dozing off for a few minutes now, absentmindedly listening to Charly's gentle breathing on my shoulder. She had fallen asleep once the shivering had stopped and I couldn't bring myself to let go of her. 

I could feel the past injuries that littered her body, my arm was wrapped around her entire upper body as I held her against me. Some part of me was proud of her. She had survived through years of abuse and she had escaped, that took grit. 

If there was one thing I had learned about her, she was stubborn. 

My eyes drifted to Tommy. 

He was the one who had spoken. Kyle was slumped against the passenger door, slightly snoring from how heavy he was sleeping. After what had happened to him, I wasn't going to hold it against him. He needed the rest. 

"What?" I asked groggily. "What problem?" 

"I'm almost out of gas," Tommy explained, "We've only got a few more miles left on the tank before we're stranded." 

"Shit," I mumbled, rubbing my eyes with my free hand, "Is there a gas station coming up?" 

"Maybe, I don't know if it's still open," Tommy replied. 

The sound of our voices must have woke Charly because she yawned before pulling away from me. My shoulder felt cold after that. She rubbed her eyes and stretched a little. 

"What's going on?" She asked, blinking away the remnants of sleep. 

"We need gas," I told her, "Like, pronto." 

"Okay," She nodded, and then she was quiet for a moment until her eyebrows creased. Then, she said, "Do we even have any money?" 

I watched Tommy slowly shake his head. I knew I didn't have money on me, and Charly didn't or she wouldn't have been asking any of us. After a moment's pause, Tommy gently shook Kyle awake. 

Kyle groaned, pressing a palm against his forehead, before he looked at Tommy through one eye, "What's up?" 

"Do you have any money for gas?" Tommy asked. 

Kyle pushed his head against the headrest. "No, man. Everything I had was in my backpack." 

"Fuck," Charly whispered. 

"It's fine, we will be fine," Tommy met her gaze for a brief second, although he didn't look convinced himself. 

There was a spell of silence between us. No doubt because we were pondering our current situation. It had finally stopped pouring rain outside and now only a gentle mist settled on the windshield, swept away by the wipers every minute or so. 

I saw the gas station in the distance. 

As we drew closer, I realized it was small and older fashioned. There were only two pumps and half the wording was faded from use. Tommy pulled into the parking lot of the gas station and slowly coasted to a stop in front of the first pump. 

The car engine died. 

"Okay," Charly breathed out, "We can just steal it." 

My face whipped towards her. "What? Are you crazy? Stealing gas is serious business."

"Yeah?" She glanced at me, "Well, so is burning down your high school. Take your pick. We need gas." 

She had a point. I stayed silent.