・Lungs・

[Dip]

Florence looked over Nathaniel gently. Had he not heard of Yrtle the Turtle? It was his favorite childhood story! "Alright," He agreed, looking for the X-Files. He heard about it a few times, but never bothered to watch it. He figured that if it was anything like Special Victim's Unit, he already saw it.

Florence scrolled wildly through the episode list. "What do you want to watch first? What do you wanna watch fist?" He asked, before stopping and grabbing his head violently. Oh god, Brainfreeze. He was going to die.

 

[RiniPinja]

"The first one!" He replied, kind of excited. Nate didn't often watch movies, he found it boring to do so on his own. And Valencia sure never agreed to watch with him, as she was always socializing or going out of the house. He would watch once in a while with his other friends, but... They would rather do other stuff.

"Florence?" Nate looked up at him as he paused. He blinked at first, but then remembered that Florence was eating an icee. Oh. He laughed a little, "Brain freeze? I never actually experienced one before, how is it?" He slightly teased.

 

[Dip]

Florence let out a groan, then a moan, then something between a cry for help and a cry for the police. Florence soon calmed himself down, and sighed, rubbing his head. "Be warned, they're the worst." Florence said, selecting the first one and letting the intro play. Florence stood up only to grab some blankets, and let his dog climb onto the couch.

"Don't tell my mom Water-Lou is up here. She'll cut my nuts off." Florence said, before sitting next to his favorite person. He placed his head on his dog's back, watching the show play on. It seemed like the other really must have liked it if he was so excited about it.

 

[RiniPinja]

Nate couldn't help himself, as Florence was crying out in agony, he just laughed a bit. "Nope, never had them, never will!" He grinned, as if taking pride in the fact. Sure, he personally had nothing to do with it, but still. It was a track record to keep, right?

He took a blanket for himself, allowing enough room on the couch for the both of them and the dog. He glanced over at Florence as he rested on the dog, slightly envious. Of what? Of Florence... Of course, because he looked comfortable laying on the dog. Water-Lou was probably super warm and soft, after all.

The show was interesting enough. Nate wasn't quite sure what to think about aliens, but he couldn't help it. His eyes were droopy, his head felt tired. He was trying to stay awake... Trying to fight off the sleep that threatened to swallow him whole. At times, he would drift in and out of consciousness, he only managed to catch bits and pieces of the show. Still, he tried.

But it was a futile battle. Nate's head finally fell over when his eyes officially shut down.

 

[Dip]

Florence really did like the series. He would have to look into it more in is down time, but as of then, he was fighting off sleep himself. It wasn't long until his eyes were floating downwards and he felt himself in a half-asleep-half-awake state. Florence felt his dog move from under him, and his head hit the sofa harder than he could hit a car. He sat up, being surrounded by static and darkness and him.

Nathaniel.

Florence stared at him a bit, because he had assumed he left already. He looked so peaceful. Well, he was probably going to kill him in a few minuets. Florence shuffled from the couch, and headed into the bathroom. He turned on the light, and watched himself in the mirror before closing the door. He looked tired. He looked sad. It was the night time that always demanded to be felt.

Florence pulled out his pack of cigarettes, and mentally damned himself. Not because he felt guilty, but because they were soggy and likely to be ruined. Florence tried lighting them, but they were too wet. "Damn it all." He muttered, before he turned on the tap and rubbed water on his face.

 

[RiniPinja]

Nate felt the shift in the couch as Florence moved. At first, he groaned and turned around, not wanting to wake up quite yet. But then his face encountered something that smothered him and refused to let him breathe... That never happened before.

He jolted awake, his eyes wide. Where was he? His surroundings where unfamiliar, did he kept kidnapped by aliens?! He looked around wildly, but then it dawned to him. Right. He was just at Florence's house. He must have fallen asleep during the show. Once again, he looked around, but this time not in fear; he was looking for Florence. "Hello? Florence?"

Nate stood up and walked around a bit, feeling the blood circulate back into his limbs. Finally, he located a room with a light on from inside. "Florence?" He called once again, knocking on the door. "Hey, are you in there?" He yawned a bit, rubbing his eyes. "I think I should go or something..." He muttered, but in his head, he was thinking whether or not Florence would let him stay over. Sleeping over sounded nice in his ears...

 

[Dip]

Florence shoved the cigarettes in the drawer, and turned off the tap. He opened the door, and saw the other standing there. He reminded him of a little kid, but it was probably the way that the light bounced off of his features. Florence faintly thought the other was beautiful, but it just dawned on him how much he missed Nathaniel's sister. "Do you want me to walk you home?" He asked, as he grabbed the end of his shirt and wiped at his face.

He ran out of gas in his car, so it was either walking, or staying over. "You can stay if you want, I can get you some pajamas or something. Your clothes might be dry. Do you want me to check?" Florence was such a humble house owner. He spoiled company, and made sure they were aware of it. Florence soon left the bathroom, and shut off the light. Across the hall was the laundry room.

It was an ugly shade of orange, with glow in the dark stars all over the walls. This used to be Florence's room, but he graduated into something larger. He opened the dryer, and placed Nathaniel's clothes on the top, incase he didn't want to change just then. Florence pulled out a clean pair of boxers, and quickly stuffed them into his pocket. The reason behind that was because they were ALSO glow in the dark. They were a Halloween Joe-Boxer edition, with knives and ghosts all over them. He would never wear those around Nathaniel.

 

[RiniPinja]

Nate was instantly glad that Florence suggested him to stay over and he followed the other like a little puppy. He was still sort of tired, so he wasn't completely focused on the tasks at him.

When Florence pulled out his dried clothes, Nate shook his head a bit. "I don't want to sleep in my jeans... Can I borrow some more clothes?" Nate frowned slightly, once again being unsure of himself. Was he imposing too much? Florence didn't seem to mind, because he was the one to offer it in the first place. But still, he could have just been polite.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw something glow faintly before Florence shoved it into his pocket. Nate blinked and looked towards that direction. "What was that?" He asked curiously. His first thought was some sort of glow in the dark toy, but they were in the laundry room... Clothes? "A glow in the dark shirt?" He was truly intrigued now, so he reached out to try to see it. "I want to see it, I've never seen one before!"

But as he tried to grab the cloth from Florence, Nate didn't see where he was going. He was still wearing Florence's long pants, which had come unraveled as Nate got comfortable on the couch. And now, they were back with a vengeance from being stuffed away for so long; they tripped Nate with no mercy. He fell on Florence, dragging the other down with him.

"Owww... Shit..." He muttered, rubbing the back of his head. "That hurts..."

 

[Dip]

Oh, there was no way in HELL the other person would be able to see what Florence had. He moved, hiding the clothing inside his shirt, trying to cover his chest with his hands. There would be no end in sight when it came to what Nathaniel would tease him about. Who even still HAD glow in the dark underwear, not to mention ones with KNIVES and GHOSTS! "Oh, hell no," Florence said, trying to cover himself

But when Nathaniel fell, it seemed like the entire world went down with him. He felt the other topple on top of him, and Florence felt himself on the bottom. Now, this was a situation that didn't seem very well pleasing to the other. Florence would have said something, but he had managed to bang heads with both Nathaniel and the floor on the way down. He used both of his hands to cover his face, groaning slightly.

He was pretty sure the other could see the small lump of something glowing under his shirt, but that wasn't the cause right now. Florence slowly opened his eyes, and saw the other towering over him. And, my god, he actually was beautiful. Maybe it was just the way his underwear glowed under his shirt, or the way his head seemed to be spinning, but Florence noticed features in him that he had never seen in Valencia before.

Florence saw freckles. Small, sure, but they graced over his nose like stars graced twilight. His eyes were deep and rich, and seemed to threaten to swallow him whole with every blink. As brown as they were, they were also light in their color, like a ballerina's hair or the first leaves of fall. Maybe it was the smell of bleach, or the feeling of an impending headache, but he had a feeling that the Cross family were doomed to sway Birdwhistle off of his feet every time. First it was the fall of books, and now it was the fall in the laundry room. Florence pulled out his panties.

"You tackled me because of underwear."

 

[RiniPinja]

Nate blinked as he stared at the glow-in-the dark underwear. Really? Those existed? He just stared at it, trying to imagine Florence wearing it. Tall, proud, bright multi-colored hair Florence, wearing the most childish pair of boxers ever. And yet, it worked. Nate could easily imagined it in his mind. He couldn't help but laugh a little, looking at Florence's face. "Really? These boxers?" He smiled a bit brightly, "I bet they look good on you though. They seem to fit you somehow."

He realized that Florence must have slammed his head pretty hard, as his bright blue eyes seemed to obtain some sort of strange glow onto them. Florence was staring at him... Staring at him as if... As if...

As if he was Valencia.

Nate felt the flush of anger rush through his heart and mind, although he couldn't quite understand it. After a tiny bit of deliberation, he finally chalked it up to his still bitter feelings against Valencia, and how much she affected Florence. Why must Florence be so caught up in two things that were bad for him: cigarettes and Valencia? The other need to let go of those things. Seriously. He bet Florence was secretly some sort of masochist.

Wait! Wait a second. Why would Florence be thinking about her right now? They were in the laundry room. Florence was hiding underwear. Nate had fallen on top of Florence. He was laying on top of Florence on the laundry floor, his arms and legs pinning him down an- Woah.

It took a few seconds for him to realize their position. As he mentally visualized their position in his head, as he mentally realized just how CLOSE his own face was to that person's own face... How much of the other boy he could actually see in his field of vision, well, how he was the ONLY thing he could see in his field of vision. Nate felt his face heat up in embarrassment, but quickly tried to shake it off. What was he? A girl? He immediately sat back up, pushing himself away from Florence. "Sorry about that..." He muttered quickly, staring down at the floor. "Do you have some... PJ's I could borrow?" He was quick to change the subject both aloud and in his mind.

His eyes gravitated towards the soft glow of the panties. Weird how befitting it was.

 

[Dip]

Florence watched the other sit up quickly, and he did the same, even scooting away from the other. He stood up, and looked for some pajamas that Nathaniel could wear. Florence would have given his up, but.. Hell, he wanted to wear them. Slap his ass and call him a lightening-bug. Florence dug in a nearby hamper, and handed him a pair of pants that he only wore when he went to yoga with his mother.

Real men did yoga.

Florence gave Nathaniel a pair of black harem pants, and a white shirt, with the words that said "World's Okayest Son." His mother had gotten him matching shirts like that for Christmas. Mytle's said "World's Okayest Mother". It was great. Florence gave him the shirts, and allowed him to change in the bathroom. Florence, on the other hand, headed into his room to change.

Nathaniel had already ventured into his room, but it was still a sight to behold. Florence changed into his boxers, and grabbed an ironic shirt that said "Tobacco is Wack-o". It was something he had picked up from the local Good-Will, and he mostly used it for painting with his mother. It was nothing but a failed slogan for anti-drug use, but Florence thought it was the funniest shit he has ever seen.

 

[RiniPinja]

Nate was a bit confused at the words on the shirt, but figured it was some sort of joke between mother and son. Irony? Sarcasm? He wasn't sure, but he decided not to question it. It was just a shirt to wear at home anyways, it seemed.

Again, the bagginess of the pants that Nate had to wear always threw him off. Exactly how much taller was Florence? He didn't seem that tall! But looks could be deceiving, he suppose. Again, he was glad that it was just clothes to wear at home. Nobody else could see just how engulfed he could look in the pair of clothing.

Nate made a mental note to work out some more later. And drink milk, lots and lots of milk.

When he saw that Florence was neither in the living room or back in the laundry room, he figured the boy was in his own room. Still remembering the way there, Nate knocked on the door briefly and went inside.

He stared at Florence- No, rephrase that. He stared at the shirt. "Tabacoo is whacko?" He questioned, now giving Florence a sort of a stink eye. "The irony. I wish that shirt could slap you for not listening to it." His voice was dripping with bitterness, but then it quickly disappeared as he looked around the room some more. "Do you want me to just sleep with you?" He then looked over at the bed. It fit Water-Lou and Florence just fine, he was quite sure it'll fit himself and Florence...

Now whether or not their positions would be comfortable is questionable. "Or I could sleep on the couch again."

 

[Dip]

Florence was cheesing the entire time that Nathaniel had been asking about the shirt. It wasn't long before they he was asking about where to sleep, and Florence just shrugged. "If you're fine with sleeping on the bed, then we can sleep in here." He said. Florence made sure his door was open, so Water-Lou could get in and out as they needed. Florence then went over to flick on a touch lamp, and he got himself situated.

When he checked the clock in bed, he realized that it was about two in the morning. He yawned, and rubbed his eyes as he got under the covers. Soon, though, Florence looked over at Nathaniel, and grabbed his recorder on the night stand.

"Star date... well, that's not important." Florence started softly, pressing down on the recording button. "I made a new friend today. His name is Nathaniel Cross, and he really likes making sure I don't smoke. Over." Florence placed the recorder on the night stand, and looked over to the other. "You should feel special. I never record in front of anyone."

 

[RiniPinja]

Nate's eyes were wide the entire time that Florence was staring at him as he recorded. He could feel Florence's blue eyes burning through him, and he didn't know what to do or what to say. He had thought that Florence was angry at him for listening to the recorders... But Florence's action proved otherwise.

After the recording, Nate climbed into the bed. He immediately went under the covers, taking comfort in the warmth that surrounded him. And as he breathed in the smell of the bed, he could distinctly pinpoint Florence's smell... Along with the smell of smoke. It was disturbing... And although Nate didn't want to admit it or try to understand it - it was also somewhat comforting. "You bet I like to make sure you don't smoke." He muttered, grinning underneath the blanket.

"Now that you promoted me as friend, I think I'm officially legally allowed to beat you up if I do catch you smoking." He glanced up at Florence, and then yawned. As he got comfortable snugging into the bed, he tried not to touch Florence. But he was use to sleeping by himself, so it took some work. Finally, he settled, and allowed some minimal physical contact for the sake of comfort.

 

[Dip]

Florence snickered. "I'd like to see you try." He smiled, before getting himself situated in the bed. "Now that you've decided to take it upon yourself to snoop through my personal recorder," Florence started, "you can ask questions about it, if you want." He said, rubbing his eyes and turning to face the other.

This was something new for him to do. He had never let anyone, not even VALENCIA had seen his recorder, let alone hear anything from it. He felt his heart jolt with some form of energy. Maybe it was because he was so anxious about what he'd ask. Maybe because he was ready to come clean to someone. Or, atleast, someone else. Maybe it was because he was just tired of being so secretive.

 

[RiniPinja]

Nate was ready to sleep. He was ready to surrender once again, although this time willingly, to the warm embraced of sleep. But nope. Florence had to ruin it. The boy just had to open his mouth and ask a question that nearly shocked Nate to death.

Nate wondered if this strange new-found relationship with Florence would cause him to die early from a heart attack.

"Questions?" He echoed quietly, trying to think of all the entries. There were just so many... And most of them were just random feelings and thoughts of various random days. What could he ask? The topics ranged from childhood to current day. He shifted through the various entries that he could remember at the top of his head. Lots of the earlier one, the ones that involved toys, were irrelevant now (although he admit it was quite cute to listen to Florence gush about the latest toy). "You mean, besides the fact that I'm shocked you were into action figures at one point and even thought about getting a Barbie?" He teased lightly.

There were few that involved romantic relationship. But Nate didn't think that was something he wanted to bring up now. Especially with the topic of Valencia being so raw. Speaking of, that also ruled out most of the entries from current year. Not that Nate wanted to bring that up-- those were the entries that nearly made him gag. Friend or not, the idea of his sister dating? Ugh. And man, can Florence get DETAILED.

Several long minutes passed, enough to make it seem like Nate had simply fell asleep. But he didn't, he wasn't able to. Finally, he was able to ask a question. It was simple, and it was probably a painful topic to bring up. But he had to ask.

"Your dad..." Another pause. He wasn't quite sure how to word his question. "You mentioned about him a few times at first... But then stopped altogether. A lot of days were missing in between that time... What happened?" He probed a bit.

"Also... A friend...? Do you mean it?" It was surprising that it took that long for Nate to fully register the latest entry, but hey, cut him some slack. He was still sleepy. "We nearly killed each other a few days ago." He muttered under his breath, still trying to wrap his head around it. Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that Florence tried to shove Nate's head out the window of the car? And hours before that, weren't they just beating each other up in the hallways?

Man. Times sure changes fast.

 

[Dip]

Florence was patient as he waited for the other to ask away. He felt like he was floating between the sheets as he tried to keep his mind on task. He felt like he was just in midair, when really it was just his mind playing tricks on him. His bed was so warm, and he had to control himself from sapping heat from the male next to him. Florence rolled over onto his stomach, looking over at the other when he began to speak once more.

Then his heart stopped. "M-My dad?" He asked, making sure he hadn't missed something. He hadn't talked to the guy in years, let alone talked about him. He just expected the other to have an innocent question about how he got Water-Lou, or something! The old dog managed to make their way into the bedroom, almost seemingly unnoticed. The dog jumped aside Florence, and scooted him towards the middle. That dog took all the warmth he had just compiled! But that wasn't the point.

Florence tried to distract himself with the next question that the other asked. Florence sighed, and shrugged, now talking in a whisper because of the subtracted distance. "Yeah, why not? You've helped me more in these few days-- these few weeks, than most people I've known for a lot longer." Mackenzie was an example of that. Maybe it was because he seemed too calm about the situation, but Florence had a feeling that he was in it with Ran, as well.

His mind wandered to Ran. He would have to apologize, despite his better judgement. He knew that Nathaniel might kill him if he found out, so he would have to simply dwell on it for now. But now, he started to dwell on the thought of his father. He stuffed a pillow in his arms, rested his head lazily onto the cushion. "I haven't talked to that guy in years. I doubt I even know where he is-- I doubt he even knows where I am, now." He said, almost absently. What should he say about him? He had spent most of his young life living with him. He had so much to say, but would it be appropriate?

Florence decided to start from the beginning. "He is... everything I hope to never become." That was a good start. "He was with my mom since ninth grade, and he was a really good guy. They were married when they graduated high-school, and they were engaged all up through college. My mom wanted to be a paranormal investigator.... until reality hit her in the face, and now she just works nights as a janitor." She hated it, but what are you going to do? Florence had tried helping his mother with bills and everything, even going as far as asking to live out in the shed. But, she politely declined, and grounded him for a month and a half for 'Not Letting A Women Be Strong And Independent'. Florence smiled, but it was lost. "He was an architect."

Florence thought silently for a while. "They lived together for years-- I think it was five... Then they had me." Florence stopped gently. "My dad-- his name was Vincent Florentine Birdwhistle-- had to get a few other jobs to pay for the apartment, and he started taking drugs to... get around more. To do more work, and get more money. B-But the drugs, they made him crazy. He got schizophrenia from using LSD, and depression from misusing pot, and I can't tell you how paranoid he got after he started using meth." Florence could go on about the drugs he used, but he kept going on about what he had done.

"It got worse and worse when I started growing up. He lost all his teeth and started twitching. All he did was shake, and do drugs, and shake some more. My mom tried getting him sober, but he just... He just lost it." Florence said. "He tried empowering us with the 'Glory of God' by baptizing me in the bathtub, but I turned blue and God wasn't there to save me. He tried an exorcism on my mom for giving birth to a ginger. Can you believe that?" Florence shook his head, rubbing his eyes. "I mean, I had sympathy for him. I always knew he did what he did to help me and my mom, but.."

Florence let out an exasperated sigh. "But-But you just don't do that. You don't do that to kids-- I can't go near a swimming pool for the life of me. Bodies of water scare me half to death. I can't be alone in the bathroom! I have to have the door open, but that isn't even the half of what he did to me. My mom can't afford to pay for his house, and my grandfather... God, that guy makes my blood boil. I know he's sick, and he's getting help, but I haven't talked to him in about ten years."

 

[RiniPinja]

At the answer to his 'friend' question, Nate just smiled. Truthfully, he could have argued back. He technically 'helped' Florence merely because he had to. Because of their circumstances, they were thrown together in a blender and forced to mingle. If Nate wanted to be brutal, he could have mentioned that if he had it his way, he probably would have never even approached Florence... Ever. The thought of becoming 'friends' with such a person would have disgusted his past self.

He was glad that changed since then.

For the rest of the answers, Nate was quiet the entire time. He just watched Florence as the boy truly confided in him. Honestly, Nate wasn't expecting much. He thought that perhaps Florence would just yell at him for asking such a personal question, so the fact that Florence said anything at all... Well, Nate felt happy.

But there was so much to answer to. And how COULD he answer to such a thing? His family may not be perfect, but his father certainly wasn't a druggie. And his parents never... never even thought of hurting either of their children. The whole idea was just... baffling to him. Nate decided to take it one a time. It'll be easier that way.

"That's..." He began, still not quite sure what to say. He shut his mouth once more, unable to construct a feasible adjective to match the situation. He decided to drop the sentence altogether. "You're nothing like him. At least, nothing like what he became." He muttered, although he eyed the cigarettes once more. No, they didn't have that much damage, they wouldn't mentally force Florence to murder anybody. Sure, they were self-damaging, but nothing that would... Do such despicable acts.

Nate tried to understand Florence's feelings, but he couldn't. He didn't have the capacity to truly understand. Everything he felt would be artificial and superficial in comparison. But he wanted to try. He wanted to understand. Nate closed his eyes for a bit, trying to imagine the entire situation. What if his dad - his stoic, strong, and strict dad, that he loved - became a maniac? A crazed individual whose only concern seemed to involve having the next fix? What if his dad then tried to kill him for some strange delusions?

Nate felt his heart break in half. His heart started to throb at the thought, and soon enough, in his thoughts, his self images began to turn into images of young, tiny little Florence. A small Florence with bright blue innocent orbs, that couldn't quite understand everything that was going on around him. A Florence that must have felt the most shameful type of betrayal.

Before Nate even realized it, his cheeks were slowly getting stained wet. He blinked, his eyes blurring, and he quickly rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. "S-sorry!" He muttered quickly, hiding his face against the blanket. "I just..."

"Your mother and you... You're both just so... admirable... I don't think you ever have to worry about becoming him... You've already shown enough - shown so much - that you're better than him in so many ways..." He paused, trying to stop his eyes from becoming leaky faucets.

"But, I want you to..." He started, losing his words once more. But he was determined. "I want you to talk to him... And I'll help you! You need the closure, at least... I think you do... I'll help you though, I want to help you." He frowned a bit, not quite sure if he was saying the words right. "If you don't mind me helping, that is."

Another pause from Nate, and he tried to grin a bit teasingly. "Not that you really have a choice on the matter."

 

[Dip]

Florence took his hand and wiped at the other's tears, albeit lazily. He didn't understand why he was crying for him, but it must have been something in the air. Florence had cried for others nearly all month, he felt as if he deserved some tears. Florence watched the other carefully, with eyes as deep as the oceans he was so deathly afraid of.

He couldn't argue with what he had said about him and his mother. They were a team. Two of a crime! Gingers had eachother's back. Literally, Florence couldn't tell you how many times he had to apply sunscreen onto his mother's back. But he had it. But when the other brought his father into this, he laughed. That was hilarious! Him? Talking to Vincent? Hilarious.

But he wasn't kidding.

"You're not joking?" Florence rubbed his face, stopping the laughter quickly. "That's one thing I can't do, Nathaniel. I got my father's addiction, my mother's stubbornness, and I get the feeling that you've never met my father before." He said gently. One thing he would never admit was that his father HAD tried getting into contact with him before. Every year, for every holiday, he would get a letter from a different mental institution, or a different jail.

And that was every year! Halloween, Christmas, His birthday. That man never missed a beat. He had them all in a large suit-case under his bed, but he would never say that to someone like Nathaniel. He was just so... detected to helping others. Florence would tell him everything else, but he wouldn't mention what was under his bed.

A few new rules that Florence wanted the other to live by:
1) No one drove but Birdwhistle.
2) No one looks in the glove compartment.
3) No one looks in the suitcase under the bed.

"I swore I'd never talk to that bastard again, and I plan on keeping it that way. Plus, I... I don't even know where he is." He was in the Sacramento Institution for the Criminally Distraught and the Mentally Disabled. He was a mixture of both. Florence only knew that by what was on the letter.

 

[RiniPinja]

Florence's hand felt warm. He always felt warm, even his eyes. Nate's fleeting thought quickly faded though, as he focused on the other subject at hand.

"Of course not," Nate frowned as he laid back down. "Why would I joke about such a thing...? It's important." He muttered the last part, his brain beginning to shut down again. He was tired, and thinking about and listening to sad stories was tiring. He needed sleep. "You should see him and talk to him... It might help you for closure 'n stuff..." His words began to slur together as his eyelids truly began to close.

"If you don't know... we will... find him." And even with the last bit of consciousness, the head-strong brunette was set on forcing Florence to seek the help he didn't want. He fell into a blissful sleep, his body pressed rather closely to Florence due to the fact that a giant beast was taking up the majority of the bed. His breathing was deep, and long, but rather quiet. The boy didn't seem to snore. He hardly even seem to flinch, it was as if he was completely relaxed and comfortable.

He seemed peaceful, so peaceful it was hard to believe how nosy and invasive the boy could be.

That night, Nate's dreams were filled with Florence. Nate managed to finally convinced Florence to stop smoking - although, he did notice that Florence would smoke once in a while. It made him a little annoyed, but he was glad Florence was trying. And they found his father. And Valencia never showed up. And he never had to face the wrath of his own parents...

It was a good night.