Lonely Stranger

Andy sat up in the bed and looked across at the clock. It was four-thirty six in the morning. He'd woken up at half hour intervals since he'd gone to sleep at one. Austin had suggested they stop at around eight at the crappy motel because there was a diner opposite that they could have dinner in, and then call it a night. Andy hadn't argued. He was exhausted. He was so overwrought from lack of sleep that part of his brain wanted to weep - the other half was too exhausted for that.

He opened the small bedside cabinet and tried to pretend he didn't see the Bible on which his guns were sitting. Tucking them into the back pocket of his jeans after pulling them on, he left the room. He needed something - he just didn't want to think about what it was he was about to go looking for.

When Austin knocked on Andy's door at half past eight that morning, he was expecting him to look well-rested and slightly less drawn. The man looked....a wreck.
"Bad nights sleep?"

"Something like that." Austin chewed his lip as Andy fetched his already packed rucksack, wondering if his voice was always that tantalisingly coarse - or wether it was just the effect of what looked like severe sleep deprivation.

"Well, I looked it up - I found a better-looking place to eat than that shit hole across the road just a few miles up the road, and I need food so..." Austin laughed and nodded. Andy was clearly trying to feign a casual happiness or at least indifference...but despite what was probably a very well-practised act, Austin wasn't fooled.

In the diner, Andy drank three horribly strong coffees, had a bite of his bagel and then insisted he wasn't hungry. Austin was desperate to know what was going on.

"Can I ask you something, Andy?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Are you on the run? Like are you in trouble with someone?"

"The police? No."

"Someone else?"

"No."

"I'm sorry, I don't want to stick my nose in but-"

"Some of the hardest battles come from inside, Austin. I'm....dealing with some stuff - but don't worry. If I was in trouble I'd deal with it on my own - I'd never risk your freedom or safety. And I'm not into drugs or...anything like that. I know I kinda look like I could be." Austin nodded, it was plain that Andy was telling him the truth.

"Ok...sorry for-"

"Hey you're giving me a lift - you haven't gotta apologise for anything." Austin chuckled, and Andy did too - far more genuinely than the last time he'd tried to make a joke.

Andy was almost glad Austin asked him. He was glad to get some things out in the open. He knew Austin believed him, too. The other man's intuitiveness set him on edge, but somehow it also brought him comfort to know that there was no point in being anything other than completely honest. He'd never experienced that with anyone, especially not in the last five years.

"Listen, do you want me to drive for a bit?" Andy offered several hours later when he noticed Austin rubbing his eyes with tiredness.

"No it's cool. Thanks, though." Andy didn't argue, not wanting to push him into letting him operate his prized possession. Although, another couple of hours into the journey, and Andy could see Austin was beginning to regret his answer.

When they stopped for gas again, Andy refused to take no for an answer when he offered the other man money for it.
"So can I ask what brought you on the road?"

"Yeah, well...its kind of..I don't know, it seems a little redundant but I'm trying to find my parents. I...uh- I was adopted when I was five."

"Five? That's quite late."

"Yeah...my adopted parents just told me that my real parents were struggling financially and were worried they wouldn't be able to look after me." Andy nodded.

"I'm sorry...that's a difficult thing to deal with." Austin nodded.

"Do you remember anything about them?"

"It's weird...like when I was younger I'd talk to my friends..and they'd all be able to remember as far back as three or four. I can't remember anything except for- I remember my mum had this shock of...curly auburn hair," Austin smiled and gestured with his hands fondly. "I can remember trying to grab it, it all dangling over my face, in a crib I guess." Andy listened intently and nodded.

"Your dad?"

"Don't remember a thing. How about you? What brought you out here?"

"It's...a complicated story. But..I- I was working for the government...and....uh- things just...I just wasn't comfortable in the end with what they wanted me to do. So I left...and I'm on my way back to my family."

"In Oregon?"

"New York. But...I haven't seen them in...years."

"How come?"

"Well I was seventeen when I left and I had personal issues anyway. And then I got offered that job and...moving away was kind of part of the deal." Austin was shocked.

"God, that's a lot of responsibility for a kid. I could barely cook a pizza when I was that age." Andy laughed quietly.

"It was difficult." He didn't say anything further, so Austin decided not to push him. They'd both already opened up significantly - he didn't want to make it awkward.

They listened to different radio stations and managed to catch a live comedy show - having the van filled with raucous laughter and hilarious stories was long overdue, and Austin was genuinely happy that he'd offered the younger man a lift.

Late that night they arrived in Salem, Oregon, and stopped at another cheap motel. Austin noticed as they stood in the lobby waiting for someone to serve them that Andy was fidgeting, his eyes darted around to the street outside almost agitatedly.

That night, Austin heard him leave his room. He also heard him return, early the next morning.

So, he decided to wait an extra hour before waking him up. And when he did, he was ready and armed with coffee.

He heard Andy shuffle towards the door slowly, and when he opened it Austin almost dropped the coffees in his hands. He only wore a pair of sweatpants that hung low on his hips, his eyes were glazed over, and his hair was messy. Thoroughly, and sexily disheveled.
"Oh hey...sorry...I didn't realise what time it was..." Andy stretched and Austin searched in panic for something to say before his travelling companion noticed him staring at him.

"I-uh- yeah no problem I mean rough night, right?" Andy raised his eyebrows.

"I mean- I meant the-uh- weather!"

"The weather was bad last night?" He asked groggily, whilst Austin mentally chided himself.

"Yeah, really windy- and thunder! At least I thought that's what it was - could've been some other noise though I guess- coffee! I got coffee." Andy asked him to wait for ten minutes while he showered and got changed.

He was finished in seven.

Austin couldn't help but wonder if Andy was involved with drugs - his agitated state turning to suddenly spacey and über-relaxed, along with the incredibly dark shadows under his eyes. He quickly told himself he was being nastily suspicious, but something about Andy just didn't add up. Austin knew he wasn't a "normal" young man in his twenties, and he knew there was a lot he didn't yet know or understand.