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Hunching his shoulders against the bitter chill in the pre-dawn air, Jonathan Combs loaded the last suitcase into the trunk of his car, a battered but meticulously maintained Delorean he’d gotten fairly cheap off of Craigslist. He closed the trunk and turned to smile at the demon floating beside him, tucking his hands in his pockets to warm them. “Ready?”
Sock was gazing back at the house in the half light of dawn, his gaze distant, but at Jonathan’s words he turned and grinned widely. “Yeah!”
Jonathan snorted, a curl of white vapor on the chill air. “Then why are you staring at the house like you’re already homesick?”
Sock stuck his tongue out. “I’m not homesick! It’s just this is the place we first met and now we’re leaving it.”
Jonathan laughed, a short bark of sound that echoed on the quiet street. “Sock, I’m just going away for college, not forever. I’ll still come back here on holidays and breaks. Mom would save you the trouble of bugging me to death and just kill me if I failed to show up every time I have a break longer than a weekend.” It had taken a long time to be comfortable joking about Sock’s self-professed job, but now Jonathan could do it without thinking.
Also predictable was Sock’s response. “It wouldn’t count. You have to do it yourself.” Sock grinned.
Jonathan shook his head. At least he’d knocked Sock out of the funk he’d been in. “C’mon. Let’s hit the road. I want to make halfway point before we have to stop.”
“You’re not going to say goodbye to anyone?” Sock twitted, but obligingly drifted into the passenger’s seat.
“I said my goodbyes to Mom last night when we went out for a farewell dinner.” Jonathan responded, getting into the driver’s seat and starting the car to allow it to warm. “And you should know by now I don’t have anyone else around here to say goodbye to.” Adjusting to his not-quite-a-relationship with Sock had been odd, to say the least, but Jonathan had come to terms with the weirdness. He even enjoyed it most of the time. “Since you’re coming with me.”
Sock’s face lit up in a huge grin and he reached out a hand.
Jonathan obligingly met it with his own. Sock’s hand was cool and felt almost like trying to grasp water for a second, but quickly firmed, becoming solid and real. Sock could only touch Jonathan with Jonathan’s consent, though it had been at least a year since that had been a real obstacle... unless they were arguing. It was really hard for Sock to try and soothe Jonathan out of a temper, when he couldn’t touch him.
Sock leaned over to rest his cheek on Jonathan’s shoulder. “I’m glad.”
Jonathan knew what he meant but couldn’t resist teasing Sock a bit. “What, that I’m a loner with nobody to say goodbye to?”
Sock’s grip tightened on his hand and he pouted up into Jonathan’s face. “No! That I’m coming with you.”
Jonathan snorted. “Like I could leave you behind. You once promised to follow me even if I went to the ends of the earth.” Using their entwined hands, Jonathan put the car in gear and carefully pulled out of the drive. “Besides, can’t be having you decide to drive my mom crazy.”
“Nah, I leave that to you.” Sock chuckled. “And you know I’d follow you to hell—”
“ — And back.” Jonathan finished in sync with Sock. It was an old joke between them, comfortable and well-used.
Jonathan took his hand back to drive, pulling out of the quiet residential area and into the heart of the city, heading for the interstate that cut squarely through the center. Sock amused himself by playing with the radio. It had taken him a while to learn how to manipulate objects and he still had the occasional accident— Jonathan still had no idea how he had explained away the can opener embedded in the ceiling tiles or the can of soup that went through the kitchen window. He doubted his mother had believed it, whatever he had come up with in the panic of the moment. “You screw up the radio, I promise you will regret it.” It wasn’t the original radio, but Jonathan had spent quite a bit of time and money fitting a new model to the car. It looked like it belonged, but had a much better sound than the original ever could have managed.
Sock scowled, but kept his concentration long enough to plug in Jonathan’s Ipod. Sticking out his tongue from between his teeth, Sock fiddled with the Ipod. “Anything in particular you want to listen to?”
“Anything instrumental, at least until I get on the interstate. I hate having to navigate the roundabouts and on-ramps. That’ll help me concentrate and stay calm.” Jonathan pulled up at a stoplight. “No lyrics to distract me.”
Sock nodded and finally found the folder of game soundtracks. By the time the light had changed, he had something from the Final Fantasy series playing. Jonathan couldn’t name all the tracks, but this one was nice and full of soft piano. It would help him focus on the convoluted area around the interstate.
By the time he’d made it onto the interstate, Sock had gotten bored with game soundtracks and was trying to find anything he could sing along with.
After Aqua, Panic in the Disco and Pink, Jonathan was starting to seriously regret his life choices. “Question,” he broke into Sock’s gleeful rendition of ‘Leave me alone, I’m Lonely,’ “How is it that these songs made it onto my Ipod? I’m pretty sure I know everything I put on there, and at no point were these among them.”
Sock choked mid-lyric and blushed, hunching down in the seat. “Um, you may have left it plugged into your laptop one night to charge and I may have kinda messed around until I figured out how to add a few songs to it.”
Jonathan rolled his eyes. “Jeez, Sock...”
Sock pouted. “One demon can only take so much Valhalla Soundbox.”
“There are other bands on there.” Jonathan pointed out, glancing briefly at his demonic companion.
“Pfft, yeah,” Sock scoffed. “Like four of them. You really need to expand your music tastes.”
Jonathan snorted derisively, but let it go. Apparently Sock’s taste in music ran to anything he could dance to. He jigged constantly in the passenger’s seat along with whatever he was singing along to.
Once Jonathan found himself humming along under his breath, he knew it was time for a short break. At the next exit he took the off-ramp and looked for a gas station and a place to grab food. After filling the car, he decided the little mom-and-pop diner looked like a better choice than fast food and pulled in.
The waitress looked like she was still in high school and had a more cheerful personality than Sock, and that was saying something. She fetched him a glass of water and left him with a menu. Jonathan glanced over it, watching Sock explore things in the diner out of the corner of his eye. He had to stifle a laugh when Sock stuck his whole upper body inside the refrigerated case at the counter that held a variety of pies.
The waitress returned and Jonathan ordered, handing back the menu with a distracted smile. Sock was hanging upside down and trying to peer into the kitchen. Jonathan wanted to call him to heel, but he had finally gotten out of the habit of responding to Sock where other people could see him. Half a year of therapy in his junior year had curbed that urge right quick.
By the time his food had arrived, Sock had gotten bored with his exploration and drifted over, settling himself in the booth opposite, nattering cheerily about everything. Jonathan ate quickly, nodding absently a few times to show he was listening.
Sock had taken to scowling at the cheerful, talkative waitress every time she drifted over to refill Jonathan’s drink. He made faces at her when she turned away and glared every time she returned.
Jonathan made it a point not to linger, asking for the bill. He left a generous tip. Even though she couldn’t see Sock, it made Jonathan feel better.
He paid and was back in the car before he spoke again. “What was all that about?”
Sock folded his arms and pouted. “She was into you. Why do you think she kept coming back to the table, all the time?”
Jonathan sighed and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Sock, she’s a waitress. It’s her job to do that. The more attentive she is the better tips she makes.”
Sock grunted. “You are so blind sometimes,” he fussed sourly. “She was totally macking on you.”
“Macking? Seriously, Sock?” Jonathan snorted a laugh. “Who even says that anymore?” He reached over and tugged Sock close by his scarf for a quick, hard kiss, glad of the mirror tinted-windows. Otherwise, people might see him kissing air. Not that he’d be overly concerned, but still...
Sock melted, reaching up to grab Jonathan’s hair, and kissing back with ferocity. “You’re mine,” he grumbled against Jonathan’s lips. “She can’t have you.”
Jonathan huffed a laugh into Sock’s mouth and nipped his bottom lip.
Sock moaned and strove to press closer, the console between them a hinderance.
Jonathan pulled back. He planted a palm in the center of Sock’s chest when Sock would have gone in for another kiss. “We need to get back on the road,” he reminded the demon with a half-smile.
Pouting, Sock flopped back in his seat. “How long before we get to the hotel?” There was a hopeful note in his voice.
Jonathan grinned to hear it. He reached over and tugged one of the earflaps of Sock’s hat. “A few more hours at this rate.” Starting the car, Jonathan began to make his way back onto the interstate.
“Where are we, anyways?”
Jonathan glanced down at the GPS. “About fifty miles outside of Madison, Wisconsin. We should get there before rush hour, hopefully.”
“Why did you choose a college so far away from home again?” Sock replied, pressing his nose against the glass and staring out at the rather uninspiring landscape of snow-covered fields and barren trees under the lowering gray sky.
Turning on the wipers as the light flurries of snow increased, Jonathan answered with a half-smile. “Best rated school for what I’m majoring in. Besides, nice way to make a fresh start. See a new place, see if it’s somewhere I might like to live someday,” he continued. “Not like I’ll be totally alone, anyways, y’know.”
The cheer came back into Sock’s voice. “True. You’ll always have me.”