let the rain sing you a lullaby.

four.

They walked until the late afternoon when Ross spotted another store. All at once, their energy was restored, and they ran to the building. Riker and Rocky barred up the door behind them.

It was similar to the last one, old and grey. Ellington didn't hesitate to lie down on the cool concrete floor, using the backpack as a pillow. Rydel followed his lead and lay down next to him. Maia and Ryland started handing out the water bottles they found, which everyone gladly accepted.

Riker was sitting on the floor reloading his gun. Rocky came and sat beside him.

"Bro," he started simply. "You really need to sleep."

Riker simply shook his head.

"I know you want to protect us all, but we're big kids. And honestly, man, you're not doing much to keep us safe if you're exhausted."

Riker didn't respond. He focused on the weapon in his fumbling hands. Rocky reached out to put a hand over his brother's, stopping him. It forced Riker to finally look up at him.

"We're safe in here," Rocky reminded him. "Nothing's gonna get us. And if it does I'll wake you up and let you take care of us. I promise."

Again, Riker didn't answer, but his expression seemed to change. Rocky thought that he must have finally gotten through to him because Riker finally nodded, put the gun down on the ground beside him, and crawled over to join Rydel and Ellington. He collapsed within moments.

The group stayed in there through the rest of that day and night. Rocky took a short nap in the evening and woke up just as he felt Ellington stirring awake beside him. Rydel and Riker slept the entire time. Raini, Ross, Ryland, and Maia had joined them at some point in the middle of the night. Rocky and Ellington were the only ones awake in the early hours of the next morning.

"Rydel thinks you're distracted," Ellington said at some point. He was sitting with his legs crossed on top of one of the little tables in the corner. "That you might snap or something."

Rocky glanced up momentarily, then went back to looking at the labels on the canned food like he had been. "Does she?"

Ellington nodded, though Rocky wasn't looking at him to see it. Ellington looked down at his hands clasped together in his lap. "Because you're stressed and distracted about me, I think."

This time, when Rocky looked up, he didn't turn away. "Why does she think that?"

"You know Rydel. She's not stupid."

"You're right. She's not." Rocky sighed. "I guess we are, though."

Ellington's brow furrowed. "Why do you say that?"

"It shouldn't have taken us this long. To come to terms with things, I mean." The taller boy shrugged, stacking the cans back up as he had found them. "You've always meant more to me than everyone else, man. I was stupid not to see this coming."

"Having feelings for me?" Ellington asked.

They stared at each other in a somewhat stunned silence at that. It was the first time either of them had said it out loud. They'd done all those way-too-intimate-to-just-be-platonic things and danced around the subject over the last few days, but neither of them had come right out and said it like that. Rocky sort of felt like he got the wind knocked out of him.

"Yeah," he said when he caught his breath. "Having feelings for you."

Ellington watched him for another quiet moment. Then he leaned forward from where he was sitting on the table to kiss Rocky. It was a little awkward and it didn't last long because this was really going to take some getting used to, but it was good. It was amazing. It left Rocky feeling even more breathless than he had been moments ago.