Rough Seas

22 - Fireside Chats

(Y'ALL REMEMBER THE TOM AND RUPERT BONDING THAT I TOLD YOU WAS GONNA HAPPEN THROUGH THE STORY? WE GOT IT BOYSSS

Also there's some innuendos sorry lol)

"Really dude, I think you're just freaking out about nothing." Josh said as he lifted a box out of the back. Tom merely frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, stepping out of the way so that Josh could set the box of camping supplies where it needed to go. Wiping his forehead with his shirt, Josh used one of his hands to shield his eyes, squinting up at the sun. "about what time would you say it is?" Tom glanced upwards and answered.

'Two, three o'clock?" Tom bit his lip as Josh got back to unloading their cart. He waited a few moments, before speaking again. "Really though I'm- "Josh cut him off with a sigh.

"Dude. Seriously. It'll be fine." Josh huffed as he saw Tom's expression remain the same. "Look, you don't see Tony worrying about anything, yeah? Be like Tony." Tom glanced over to the man that Josh was talking about. The other Modestep brother, Tony, was busy making sure that Rupert was securely tied to a tree. Tom had tried to persuade him to at least let him sleep on the floor of the cart, but Tony had merely pushed him off, talking about 'Ianitee scum' and how he should 'be treated like the dog he is'. He had been shocked at Tony's treatment of Rupert. Tony hadn't ever seemed like the type to discriminate. It really just made Tom uncomfortable, and Tom could see Rupert trying to push himself as far away from Tony as possible. That was fair. "Look, Tom. They won't find your weird diary that talks about what kind of dreams you had, or whatever fantasy you jerk it- "

"Okay, that's enough." Tom cut him off, his face flushing at the thought of Katherine or Jordan finding something like that. "It's not that kind of book Josh. I use it to talk to Dianite when we're apart." Josh merely snorted, raising an eyebrow at Tom's flushed face.

"It'll be fine, man. Calm down dude." Patting him on the shoulder, Josh continued to unload the cart. Tom sighed. That was not the answer he had been looking for Knowing the Modesteps, and Tony's current attitude, if Tom were to say anything more they'd probably tie him to a tree as well. Gag him too, to make him shut up. Tom silently helped the brothers unpack, and they had a roaring fire and dinner as the sun was going down. Tom glanced around their small camp. The brothers had their bedrolls beside each other, and Tom was across from them, sitting cross-legged on his own bedroll. Not too far away on his right, about six or seven meters away from him, Rupert sat up against a tree, his arms tied behind the tree and a few strands of rope wrapping around his chest. His ankles were also still tied together, and Tom felt a pang of remorse that he couldn't do anything about Rupert's situation. At least he was asleep, his head lolling to the side, resting on his shoulder.

"Hey, Tony?" Tom asked over the crackling of the fire. Tony's head jerked up from his lap, and he looked at Tom confusedly. "Who's taking first watch? Cause I don't know if I'm gonna be able to get to sleep that easily, so I can." He offered, watching as Tony bit his lip, thinking for a moment.

"I guess you can." Tom nodded, fiddling with his hands in his lap. He was seriously dreading falling asleep, especially since his nightmares had been coming back. At least if he drove himself to exhaustion he wouldn't have any dreams whatsoever. After a couple of hours, Josh called it quits, fall asleep a few minutes after he had gotten bundled up in his bedroll. Tony followed not long after, and was also quick to fall asleep. Tom smiled wishfully as he watched the two of them sleep. Gods, he wanted to be able to do that.

He sat in silence, minus the spitting fire and the sound of wind brushing through the trees. Distantly, he could hear an owl calling, but that was about it. A few hours passed before anything remotely interesting happened. Tom had been staring up at the sky, naming stars, when there was the sounds of groaning and shuffling coming from his right. He immediately glanced over, finding a slowly blinking Rupert trying to be more comfortable.