Reconcile › P. Parker [2]

009. prague

› CHAPTER NINE ‹

Peter was the first to fall asleep. At first, Raleigh didn't realize it, until he heard the rhythmic sound of Peter's head hitting the window glass. After watching and listening to the tapping, Raleigh finally decided to shrug off his jacket and bundled it between his best friend's head and the window. 

He was surprised he hadn't woken him up, because even if he was being careful not to, Peter tended to be a light sleeper, especially after everything that has happened the past year of their lives. It was something Peter complained to Ned about a few times and Raleigh had overheard them. He said he often wakes up in the middle of the night hearing his aunt shuffling around in the kitchen for a glass of water or would be shot awake when an emergency siren drove past his apartment complex. It was just another result of the war.

After making sure Peter was comfortable, Raleigh hadn't planned to fall asleep on the bus ride—in fact, he would have rather it of not happened. He expected to spend half of the trip reading, before moving on to watching another episode of the TV series Ned recommended awhile back off his phone until they finally arrived in Prague. However, not long after getting rid of his jacket, he slipped onto a surprisingly deep sleep. Though it didn't make much sense, because Raleigh didn't feel physically tired. He slept pretty decently last night, after laying beside Peter, and he thought he felt rejuvenated in that sense. Yet, that wasn't the case when the toes of a sneaker roughly pushed into his thigh, waking him up.

He tried to ignore it by sinking deeper into the warmth on his right, but the pushing only got sterner and more impatient.

"Wake up, loser." Flash's voice said, causing Raleigh to open one eye and peek over at the boy. His phone, along with the street lights, illuminated his frowning expression as he typed swiftly on his phone. He wasn't bothered with Raleigh upon learning he was finally awake, and again grew distracted by whatever was on his device. A muffled sound of cheering could be heard coming from it.

Raleigh rolled his eyes at the boy, but suddenly went stiff when he realized his cheek was resting on a broad shoulder. He forced himself up, grimacing as his tense muscles stretched after sitting in that hunched position for hours on end. In the flustered motion, he accidentally bumped his arm against Peter's, stirring the boy awake.

Raleigh rubbed at his eyes, pretending as if he hadn't just been basically laying on Peter's side, as the brunet boy sat up in his seat. The red jacket Raleigh had been wearing earlier, slid down from between Peter's head and the window, and fell onto his thigh, causing Peter to flinch since he hadn't been expecting it. He blinked at the familiar clothing for a second, before turning towards the window, seeing them driving slowly through a lively city and up to a stone-brick building.

"Alrighty, did everyone wake up their neighbors?" Mr. Harrington asked loudly, earning some grunts from the tired teenagers.

Mr. Dell pulled himself to his feet. He yawned, relating to the other passengers. "Make sure you gather everything you brought onto the bus because you'll probably never see it again if you leave it."