we're not on the map but we're on our way

1/3

"The planet?" Jon asks a bit stupidly, but he wasn't aware they could see planets. Spencer nods and Jon stares at Venus.

"The Earth revolves nine hundred miles per hour. And everything you see, the stars and planets, we're all moving a million miles a day. And the Milky Way is just one of billions of galaxies in the universe, which is constantly expanding to every direction at the speed of light," Spencer says, and suddenly Jon feels small standing there by the road, leaning against his old Ford.

"So you're an astronomer," Jon concludes and Spencer laughs. It's the first time he has heard Spencer laugh, and it's a nice sound.

"My mother's into all that stuff," Spencer explains, and he sounds happy at first, but then he sounds sad all of a sudden. And Jon's been asking, but he thinks this is a good time to stop.

"Come on. Let's get out of New Mexico," Jon offers, and he knows that in the bigger scheme of things, New Mexico is not even the smallest speck of dust, it's much smaller than that.

They get back into the car and the engine starts on the third go.

* * *

East is their general direction. Once they hit the Atlantic Ocean, well, there's north and there's south, and if worse comes to worst, there's always the possibility of going back west. They're still on Route 66 as they cross over to Texas. Jon drove all night, listening to an a.m. radio talk show, which was discussing infidelity. It made Jon think a hell of a lot, to hear the hushed voices saying, "I think my husband is cheating on me." It made Jon think of the wedding ring hiding in his glove compartment, but he pushed that thought out of his mind.

They spent most of the previous day trying to get out of New Mexico, and Jon refuses to sleep in the car. They find another cheap motel, and again take a twin room. Jon crashes on the bed and is asleep within minutes.

Ryan takes the opportunity to wash his clothes. He does the same for Jon because they look out for each other. They don't know how long their companionship is going to last, but while it's alive Ryan is going to be helpful. Brendon joins him, but Spencer goes for a shower.

Brendon has quarters and soon they wait around in the laundromat, watching the clothes spin in the washing machine. Ryan's stomach grumbles, and he realises he forgot to eat the day before. It happens to him a lot, forgetting to eat. Ryan doesn't take very good care of himself. Ryan only has one pair of shoes, he's had them forever, and they are falling apart. He's tried sewing them back together a few times, but the shoes are old and most likely stink. But they're on his feet, so it's not like he has to smell them himself. He can't throw them away, though. He sees a faint red stain on the tip of the shoe, and knows it's his blood. The bruises on him have faded now, he thinks anyway.

But Brendon asks questions, and so he asks, "What happened to your eye?"

He is talking about the ghost of a black eye that is hardly there anymore. He gives Ryan a genuinely worried look.

"Got punched, didn't I?" Ryan replies. Brendon keeps staring, and Ryan shrugs. "Just a bar fight. A drunken misunderstanding. Shit happens."

"I'm sorry."

Ryan laughs. "It's not like you punched me."

"Well, yeah... There are some bad people in this world," Brendon says, and Ryan can't get over how naïve Brendon sounds when he says it. Brendon pulls his phone out, but the battery is dead now, it has been for the past sixteen hours. Brendon has no charger with him, he didn't have the time to think of stuff like that. Still he keeps checking it, out of habit.

"So your friend, in the East Coast," Ryan starts, "where exactly does he live?"

"Oh. Um," Brendon begins.