Page 44 of Pippin & Nacho

“No luck. I look like I came out of a brawl, which I did.”

I fell onto the couch and rested my head on Sam’s shoulder. “You’ll find something. Maybe that grocery store where Stix works during the day is hiring.”

“They might. I’ll ask him next time I see him.”

“Are we going to be okay?”

I lifted my head to look at him. “Us or the money?”

He shrugged. “Both?”

“We’re definitely okay, baby. The money is fine for now. I only want that second job to protect us from financial emergencies. You know, like rainy day shit or like that day you needed stitches. Money is really tight right now, but working a couple of more days with the tips, and we’ll be fine.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

Sam nodded and kissed my head. “Yep, I’m going to try trusting you. It’s just my…”

“I understand. You’ve got insecurity issues. We all do. Yours are completely understandable after everything you’ve been through. Hell, I’ve got abandonment issues, so we’re even.”

We entwined our fingers together, his touch putting me instantly at ease. “Nate? I realize this is random, but have you thought about looking up your parents? I know you said you never wanted to, but that was a few years ago. Things change. I never looked up mine again. I just ran until the cops picked me up and dumped me into the system.”

“Why are you thinking about contacting your parents now?”

He shook his head. “I wondered if maybe, just to… I don’t know…”

“See if they changed?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve thought about trying to find mine, too. Maybe one day when I’m mentally stronger.”

“You’re the strongest person I know.”

I leaned forward and kissed his lips, loving that I could do that freely. “Not for this, I’m not.”

I hated that Nate felt the need to get a second job, and as much as I wanted to argue, I let it go because Nate did what Nate wanted. He could be pretty stubborn sometimes, and I loved him for it. His stubbornness was what saved me in the first place, turning to determination to get me out of that house so long ago. His stubbornness was what kept us alive on the streets. We wouldn’t be where we were, safe in each other's arms, were Nate not stubborn.

I wrap my arms around my legs in bed as I watch Nate yank open up drawers, pull out clothes, and toss them onto his single bed. He grumbles about wanting to kill our foster father as he slams one drawer only to open up another and empty that out, too.

“Grab your backpack and pick out clothes you want to bring with you. Everything else stays,” he says.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m getting you the fuck out of here.”

Nate is small, cute, and brave. I love his curls bouncing around. I don’t know how he’s so strong, but I feed off of it. It makes me feel strong despite being weak. Always weak. If I weren’t so weak, then I wouldn't make people so angry all the time. But Nate is never angry at me. He only gets angry at those who try to hurt me. He protects me.

“Sam?”

“What?”

“Pack up.”

I climb out of bed and sort through clothes that I want to keep. But I liked all of them. Most of our clothes were bought used at Goodwill, so they are worn and faded, but they’re mine. There are some T-shirts that are my favorite. What if I want to bring them all? I couldn’t fit them in my bag.

“Do you need help picking things out?” he asks. “You can’t bring them all, Sam.”

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