He pauses for a moment, hand on the door, looking from Tom to Neil and back to the road again. He hadn't ever wanted to be back on that road. All roads are the same road, and none of them have an ending.
Except one.
"Fuck," he whispers softly, and slides down into the driver's seat, pulling out his keys and starting up the car. There's an old familiar rumble and for a moment he's almost happy to hear it again, until he remembers where he is and it vanishes. It's too easy to slip back into old habits, far too easy, and it makes him wonder if all the change he'd thought he'd gone through might not be just a fresh coat of paint over rotting boards. If under the surface is the same old Mike Pinocchio, just waiting for the right time to reassert himself.
When they start moving he manages to steel himself, glancing at Tom and then back at Neil and making himself a silent promise. Not the same old shit. No way.
"We'll be okay," he says gruffly. "We just gotta work out where the fuck we are and we can go from there. Find somewhere safe to lie low." Or what passes for 'safe', here.
no subject
Except one.
"Fuck," he whispers softly, and slides down into the driver's seat, pulling out his keys and starting up the car. There's an old familiar rumble and for a moment he's almost happy to hear it again, until he remembers where he is and it vanishes. It's too easy to slip back into old habits, far too easy, and it makes him wonder if all the change he'd thought he'd gone through might not be just a fresh coat of paint over rotting boards. If under the surface is the same old Mike Pinocchio, just waiting for the right time to reassert himself.
When they start moving he manages to steel himself, glancing at Tom and then back at Neil and making himself a silent promise. Not the same old shit. No way.
"We'll be okay," he says gruffly. "We just gotta work out where the fuck we are and we can go from there. Find somewhere safe to lie low." Or what passes for 'safe', here.