holes fanfics

Texan heat pt4

It's almost a week before Hector sees Ricky again. He thinks it was a week, his perception of time now skewed, by his long days. He's sitting at the tree, actually hoping to see the man. He wants to see what weird things the Ricky will do next.

"Hey, Ricky!" He calls out to who he thinks is Ricky, while walking over. The man turns around, and it is in fact who he thought it was. He's different now though, looking panicked and scared. He's shaking, but he'd done that the last time they'd been together so he is unable to tell if it's related.

"Hey, come on and sit with me..." Hector invites him over. He tries not to touch him, unsure if he'll yell at him or try to hit him. He knows that some don't like to be touched when their scared. Ricky does go over, he sits with a thump on the ground. He shoves the palms of his hands over his eyes, the tips of his fingers digging into his hair.

Hector sits down too, softer than Ricky, but still quickly. He doesn't know what to do so he waits. He sits there in silence as Ricky babbles about things he can't understand, and as he shifts from covering his ears to his eyes over and over. He stops after an hour, and Hector realizes after he stops, he could've just left him earlier. He doubts he'd notice.

"Thanks." Ricky says, sounding exhausted and small. Hector feels bad about even thinking of leaving now. Ricky is folded in on himself, bags Hector hadn't noticed before, deep under his eyes, he looks sickly as well.  Now Hector is just worried.

"Do you want some water?" Hector asks him. Ricky shakes his head no, and tugs at his hair once more. Hector nods, and takes a drink for himself. Now he looks like he wants the bottle. Hector hands it over to him. He should have guessed that if he can't eat food then he would be that way about beverages too.

"I... thank you, really..." Ricky tells him again. He seems slightly better now, after drinking some water. He still looks bad though.

"You're welcome, man..." Hector doesn't feel this situation earns a 'you're welcome', but he says it since he figures it will make Ricky feel slightly better. It does. Ricky smiles at him, soft and almost serene like, and Hector is taken slightly aback.

"These last few days have been bad." Ricky says, after a minute of silence, smile turning to a frown. He doesn't elaborate, Hector doesn't want to pry.

They sit in silence once more, Ricky starts to drum his hands against his thighs. Hector wrings his hands. He feels like he never has anything to say.

"Want to go eat?" Ricky asks suddenly, hands no longer tapping. The tapping is a sign he's thinking, Hector guesses. He nods his head just the last time. He stands before Ricky this time, offering him a hand this time. Ricky takes it, but it's clear to both of them who pulled the weight of the tall man up. Ricky turns and grabs his bag. Hector almost yells at him, but before he can, it's being held out to him. He takes it, and throws it around his shoulders.

Ricky never has anything on him, Hector notes, as they walk to what he assumes is the same restaurant as last time. A wallet and that's it. Hector remembers the note suddenly, as they're walking.
"Hey, what uh, what'd the note in your pocket say in the jacket you let me borrow?" He asks. Ricky turns his head slightly, and looks down at him.

"Grocery list." Ricky tells him. Hector thinks it's funny Ricky even goes to the grocery store, since he's so nervous about food. He keeps that to himself though. The walk is nice, as they weave through people, fewer than normal, Hector thinks. They arrive to the same restaurant.

"Hey sweeties." The same waitress, greets them, they smile and nod back. They sit where they sat last time. The same old woman is there as before. Hector wonders if things have changed since the last time they were there. It has, only slightly though.

"Special today is pancakes..." Ricky tells him, before continuing, "If you uh, tell me what you like I can find things similar on the er, uh, the menu for you..."

Hector can't think of anyone who has been this nice to him besides the homeless shelter workers. He smiles now, it's a soft smile, that reaches his eyes. Ricky smiles back, but it's more of a, 'smile back' type.

'I'll get the pancakes, today, thank you, maybe some other time though." Hector tells him, smile still on his face. Ricky nods, before scanning his menu again. Hector leaves him to it. He watches the waitress approach

"What can i get you two to drink?" The waitress asks as she reaches into her apron for her notepad. They order the same drinks as last time, and order their food at the same time. Ricky had apparently checked the menu thoroughly enough. She shuffles off, to get their drinks.

She comes back, and puts their drinks on the table, before leaving once more. Ricky takes a drink almost immediately. He almost finishes the entire thing in less than 15 seconds. Hector takes, what he thinks is a normal sip of his drink.

"Say, since you asked me a question about uh, the first time we met can I, er, ask one?" Ricky asks, and Hector appreciates how he asks now.

"Sure." He responds and waits for the question. Ricky starts to tap one of his hands. It takes almost three minutes for Ricky to ask a question, and Hector had almost told him to just ask.
"Why do you go by Zero?" Hector thinks of how he deflect the question. He doesn't want this fun time to be sad. He can't think of anything.

"I'm not really anything, you know? I'm nothing just a big zero, won't ever amount to anything." He tells him. Ricky frowns. Hector feels like he's ruined everything. The waitress comes to their table and sets the food down, leaving as quick as she came. Their table is uncomfortable Hector thinks.

He almost automatically reaches over to Ricky's food to take a bite. Ricky is still staring at him. He does it anyway, hoping Ricky will just eat and forget what he said. He does eat, but the air is still thick.
The pancakes are good, but he can't eat all of them, he feels too bad. Ricky doesn't finish his food either. He isn't frowning anymore but he looks like he's upset still.

"You're pretty cool, like an 8." Ricky tells him, and Hector thought it was going to be so much worse. He doesn't even know what that means, but Ricky is smiling so he'll take it. He smiles back slightly, he still feels like he's messed up.

"All finished?" The waitress appears again, Hector barely sees her before she starts talking. She leaves the check, and Ricky automatically tips five dollars, despite the total definitely not being twenty five dollars. Hector doesn't see to tell him.

They stand, Hector almost forgets his bag. He notices it's raining as he reaches the door.

A/n heyyy ik I haven't updated this in like a while  I've been kinda homeless for 4 months (im not anymore dw) so I haven't really had the chance to update anything  but I'll try to update more now its the new year and all that xx