Tuck Sinn

30

In the morning, before the sun, Tom stirred. Huck was already up on the ground by his bag, writing on a piece of paper.

"What are you doing?" Tom asked, looking over, sprawled across the bed.

"Forgot we had homework." Huck said.

"I forgot about that!" Tom got up quickly, kicking and swinging his legs, tangled in sheets, off the bed. He stumbled quickly, unsteadily, over to Huck, ignoring the coldness of the floor on his feet. Tom looked through his own bookbag and got out the worksheet he was supposed to do.

"Sorry I didn't wake you." Huck said.

"No bother-- I can finish it." Tom said. His hand ran through his hair over and over with the turning stress in his stomach and the closeness of Huck as they did their homework.

The sun started to rise, and they looked out the window at the sudden brighter light.

"We gotta go." Tom said. He shoved the paper back into his bag, and stumbled over to his closet, grabbing clothes. Tom then turned to Huck. "You got clothes to change into?" Tom asked. Huck shook his head. "Well, do you want something?"

"I can't take your clothes, Tom." Huck said, wringng his hands slowly together.

"...Huck, how long have you been in those?" Tom asked, then. Huck glanced to the side and continued wringing his hands.

"I's used to it, Tom. Been living this life for a while, you know that."

"Well if you ever want clothes-- I'm serious-- just ask and I'll lend you some. For real." Tom said. Huck shook his head with a slight smile.

"Thanks for the offer. Come on." Huck slung his bag on his shoulder.

"Hold on, I gotta change." Tom said. "Seriously, just take something." Tom said, pausing for another moment to watch Huck. "At least a shirt." Tom said. Huck rolled his eyes and shook his head again and wrung his hands, but still approached the closet.

"Fine. Thank you, Tom." Huck said, and Tom nodded and left, going to the bathroom to change.

As Tom walked, he saw Sid's door open. Tom ran to the bathroom, then, because he knew otherwise Sid would. He closed and locked the door behind him and got dressed quickly. Then he wondered with vibrating breaths if Huck would actually wear something. Tom heard Sid knocking and knocking on the door, and realized he had just been standing there, thinking. His face reddened and he picked up his discarded clothes. He opened the door, and Sid pushed past him.

"What do you even do in there? Get out, I'm gonna be late!" Sid said, and Tom left, being pushed out.

Tom went back up to his room, and opened the door. He saw Huck and got a rush to his face-- he had forgotten for a moment that Huck was in his house. And Huck was pulling up one of Tom's shirts over himself, and Tom could see part of his stomach.

"Sorry." Tom said.

"Ain't nothing." Huck said back. Tom put his clothes in a bin.

"It looks good on you." Tom said with a reddened face. A green shirt; Tom couldn't even remember the last time he wore it. "I can wash that, if you want." Tom said, motioning to Huck's old shirt.

"Really?" Huck asked.

"Yeah; I'm gonna have to wash these ones, anyway." Tom said.

"You're doing too much for me, Tom." Huck said, handing over his shirt.

"No, you've done much more. I'll give it back to you in a day or a few." Tom threw it into the bin with the other clothes, and then ran a hand through his hair, watching Huck.

Huck looked back to him, meeting his eyes. "You don't owe me anything, Tom." Huck said. And they paused.

"Well, I..." Tom started, then stopped. He looked away and nodded.

"...Ready to go?" Huck asked.

"Oh-- Yeah." Tom looked out the window a moment, seeing how much the sun had already risen. He walked quickly over to his schoolbag and put it on.

They walked down the stairs, with Tom's quiet steps avoiding the creaks and Huck's stepping on every. They grabbed their shoes and left the house. They walked through town, hurrying to get to school before the sun rose completely.

"Thanks for letting me stay over." Huck said.

"Yeah, no problem. It was fun."
They were almost to the school's entrance.

"...It was nice laying on something other than ground. I think," Huck glanced to Tom, seeing what he could in his eyes, "I think I'll try to stay at the Widow Douglas'." Huck said. Tom looked over quickly.

"Oh. Well, that's great, Huck." Tom said. "She'll take you in, no problem." Tom said. A lull came to the conversation's tone. "...Guess I won't find you in the woods, no more."

"...I bet not. But you could find me at her house." Huck said. He rubbed his hands together and they kept walking. The air, to Tom, had gained a vastness.

"Yeah." They smiled a last time.
They got to school.