No Roots |Virgato|

Chapter 2: Close to Home

"I build a home and wait for someone to tear it down

Then pack it up in boxes, head for the next town running"

Chris woke up to his head thumping, a clammy forehead and Joel sprawled over his chest. He rubbed his palms into his eyes, hoping that he would stop feeling like shit, but in the process, the younger boy stirred on his chest, grumbling a "morning" to him.

"Hey," Chris hummed, running his fingers up and down Joel's naked back. "Do you want coffee or anything?" he continued, diverting his eyes down to look at the black haired boy.

"Depends what time it is," Joel stated, stretching out and nearly smacking Chris in the face in the process. Chris reached to the rustic bedside table, swiping his lock screen which was currently a picture of the night sky in Los Angeles, his clock showing 11:43 AM. He showed the time to Joel, the black haired boy jumping out of bed muttering, "fuck, fuck, fuck," to which Chris raised his eyebrows in confusion.

Joel noticed this before saying, "I'm supposed to be at a job interview at twelve!" he panicked, attempting to tug his jeans back on, nearly falling over in the process.

"Oh shit!" Chris joined in with the grumbled swearing, swinging his legs off the low bed and throwing the covers back, grabbing Joel's shirt to help him out a bit, "I can give you a lift if that helps? Richard's car is out front."

"Yes, please," Joel whines, having swiped his shirt from Chris and giving him a weak smile as he put it on, Chris realizing he would also have to get dressed if he was driving Joel anywhere.

"Where do you need to be?" Chris asks, a ridiculous question seeing as though he only arrived in New York yesterday.

"PWC," Joel states, grabbing Christopher's hand slightly too tightly and tugging him out of the room with urgency.

"As in, PricewaterhouseCoopers? Like, the fucking international finance company?" Chris asks, dumbfounded, letting Joel drag him through the house until they get to the front door, shoving their toes into their shoes and Chris lunging to grab the car keys he spotted on the coffee table.

"Yep," Joel hums, letting Chris unlock Richard's black BMW before throwing himself in the passenger seat. "Hurry up, man," he continued, his eyes pleading with Chris to get a fucking move on. Chris started the engine, startling himself slightly when he accidentally over revved the car, making Joel laugh as he plugged Christopher's seatbelt in for him. Joel used the maps on his phone to pull up the route to the headquarters, Chris seeing that the journey would take thirteen minutes, meaning that, while Joel isn't in the most appropriate attire and smells like a barrel of moonshine, he will be there on time.

"What role are you interviewing for? The only thing I know about PWC is that they're one of the 'big four' auditing companies," Chris rambles, wanting to know more about Joel in this short journey than they probably have time for.

"I've got a law degree, so I applied for a role in their legal department," Joel mutters, almost as though he's embarrassed.

"Shit! That's awesome bro," Chris enthused, flashing a quick toothy grin at Joel before he refocused on the task at hand.

"Thanks, Chris," Joel blushes, studying the sleep deprived features of the brunette before deciding he should probably look for some chewing gum in the car seeing as he didn't get a chance to brush his teeth.

"Where did you study? For the law degree, I mean," Chris continued, genuinely curious about what other secrets the black haired boy might be hiding.

"Harvard," Joel reluctantly admits, chewing a piece of stale gum he found and trying to lick off a cola stain from his creased shirt. "I'll never fucking get it looking like this," he groaned, giving up and throwing his head back against the seat in a huff.