Sunlight came all too quickly for Clark's taste. For one long moment, he considered pulling another pillow over his head and falling back asleep. The only thing keeping him up was the buzzing in the room. He sat up reluctantly and looked around to see where it was coming from. On the desk, Nakota's phone hummed with life. He reached across the empty bed and grabbed it. He didn't recognize the number.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Clark?" His father sounded surprised to hear him. "Hey, how are you doing? I hope I didn't wake you up."

"No, not at all." He rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Nakota was nowhere to be found, but where he'd snagged the phone, he found a small note. He lifted it up and flipped it over to read it. 'WENT TO GET BREAKFAST. WE'LL TALK ABOUT LAST NIGHT.'

"Did you hear me?" his father asked.

"Huh? Sorry, I was reading something."

"I said that they have a picture of the man from the hotel. Right now they're trying to enhance it so that they can get a clearer image, but they have something to go off of. Brown baseball cap, right?"

"Y-yeah," he said, smiling. "That's good news. I'll tell Nakota about it when he gets back. Where are you, by the way?"

"I'm with your mother."

"Good," Clark said. He knew that Leon and the guards outside their house were more than enough protection for her, but he still felt much safer with Darin there as well. He hated the idea of them being separated at a time like this. "I can't wait for this to all be over," he sighed.

"I know, bud. Just hang in there, okay? Keep hidden and let the police take care of things."

"Because they did such a good job back at the house," he muttered. Darin laughed.

"Be nice. I'll call you if they find anything else, okay?"

"That sounds good. Love you, Dad."

"Love you, too, bud. Talk to you soon." Clark hung up the phone and placed it on the table again. He turned his attention back to the note in his hand.

"'We'll talk about last night,'" Clark said to himself. He climbed out of bed and went searching for his underwear. In the heat of the moment, he'd tossed them somewhere across the room. He found the black boxer briefs in the corner behind a chair. He also grabbed his t-shirt and dressed himself. They'd have to pick up some more clothes today, that was for sure. Just as he crawled back into bed, Nakota opened the door with food in his hands. He smiled at Clark and placed the bag on the bed.

"Good morning," he said as he closed the motel door.

"Morning," Clark said. He reached for the bag and began emptying its contents out onto the bed. Inside, he found two breakfast sandwiches and a box of mini hash browns. Clark patted the seat beside him and Nakota obliged. "I got your note," he said nonchalantly.

"Did you?"

"Mhm. 'We'll talk about last night'?" Nakota smiled bashfully and unwrapped one of the sandwiches.

"That was more serious than I intended it to be, I apologize."

"I was a little scared, but..." Clark shrugged and bit into his sandwich. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Last night was interesting." Nakota distracted himself with his food, and Clark was left wondering what kind of interesting he'd meant. Was it the kind that you thought about years from now, smiling at the good memory? Or was it a memory filled with embarrassment that he would beat himself up over down the road? "I don't know if that was such a good idea on either of our parts."

"I don't know," Clark shrugged, "I can't speak for you, but I had a good time. And I don't really regret it, either." Truth be told, Clark imagined knocking the food out of his hands and pulling Nakota back on top of him for another go at it.

"It's a conflict of interest," Nakota said.

"So you admit that you're interested in me?" Clark teased. Nakota gave him a look and he laughed at his mild irritation.

"I'm serious. You and I... I don't think this is a good idea. At least not yet. I don't want anything getting in the way of what we're supposed to be doing. Which is hiding and waiting this whole thing out." Clark didn't take his words to heart. He could tell by the way Nakota kept his eyes downcast that he was struggling not to look up at him and break apart this new resolve he'd come up with. It stung a bit to hear Nakota tell him no, but he didn't want to press the issue and make things worse.

"Fine."

"Fine?" Nakota looked up, his eyebrows knit together.

"Fine. If you don't want to do anything else now, then we don't have to. But the second we catch this asshole, I'm coming straight to you. And you better be doing the same. I'm not a very patient person when it comes to something I want," Clark said. Nakota nodded and a small half-smile formed.

"Something you want," he repeated. "Noted."

"Good. You better highlight that note, too." Clark tossed the paper from his sandwich back into the bag and pulled out a handful of mini hash browns. He stood up and paced the room, trying to distract himself from thinking about Nakota's weight on top of him again. "So, what are the plans for today? Are we leaving?"

"We're just going to a different hotel. We don't want to get too comfortable, just in case he somehow finds us again. So, we'll be leaving after breakfast."

"Gotcha," Clark said. He tossed one of the hash browns into the air and caught it in his mouth. After he'd finished eating, he walked to the bathroom. He stopped in the doorway and looked over his shoulder at the man. "I'm gonna shower."

"Have fun," Nakota said absently.

"Not without you." That got his attention. "You should join me. Save some water. Economically efficient. All that crap." Clark gave him an innocent smile and took hold of the bottom him of his boxer briefs. He tugged them down just a little, enough to give Nakota a glimpse of his skin. "C'mon."

"We just had this conversation, Clark."

"Pretty please? Let's make this whole 'pretend we didn't have sex' thing active once we leave the motel?" The look on Nakota's face was evidence enough that he was weighing his options. Clark turned the shower water on and allowed it to heat up for a moment. He poked his head out of the door and tossed his underwear at Nakota.

"The invitation is still on the table," he said. He climbed into the shower and began scrubbing away the day before. Two minutes later, he heard the bathroom door open, and he smiled.

Before heading back out onto the road, Clark convinced Nakota that they needed to get a change of clothes. He really didn't like the idea of wearing the same underwear for an extended amount of time. As much as he enjoyed spending a good amount of time looking for clothes, he knew that they didn't have more than twenty, maybe thirty, minutes before Nakota wanted them back on the road. He snagged a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, as well as the other basic necessities, and called it a day.

After pulling on his new outfit and his old jacket, the two of them were back in the car and heading for their next destination. Clark fiddled with the radio while Nakota drove. He settled on a pop station and sighed.

"I should have grabbed a book before we left," he mumbled.

"Why? Is my company not entertaining enough for you?" Nakota gave him a side-eye.

"Not at all," Clark grinned. "As much as I love road trips, I usually have my phone with me or I'm on my computer or something."

"So, you don't know how to have fun without technology? Millennials," Nakota sighed.

"Um, hello, you're a millennial, too?"

"Technically, yes, but mentally, no."

"Anyways," Clark said, rolling his eyes dramatically. He reached for Nakota's cellphone and navigated to the games menu. It had been years since he'd used a phone that didn't have a touch screen, and becoming reacquainted with the technology was interesting. He scrolled through the game menu and groaned.

"What is it this time, cry baby?"

"This phone has three games. Snake, Pong, and Brick."

"It's a good thing I didn't buy the phone to play games on it then, huh?" Nakota smirked.

"Ha ha."

"If you're bored enough, you'll pick one of those and be happy with it." Clark thought about shoving Nakota's shoulder but reconsidered. Pushing the driver of the car he was in might not be the best idea.

He clicked Brick and got comfortable in the car, his seat pushed all the way back and his feet on the dashboard. The first level of the game was quite easy. He remembered playing this on his first cellphone. His obsession started when he first got his phone and it came with a keyboard that slid out. It was the pinnacle of cool techy things, and he was so proud of himself when he carried it around school. After that, he became more and more interested in technology – and now here he was, recognizable in the digital age.

He'd just beaten the second stage when the siren sounded. He brought his feet down and turned around in his seat to look at what was going on. Behind them, a police car's lights flashed. Nakota pulled to the side of the road and rolled his window down.

"What's going on?" Clark asked nervously.

"I don't know. Just be calm."

An officer walked to the window of their car and looked at the two of them. "Sir, I'm gonna need you to step out of the vehicle," he said simply.

"For what reason, officer?" Clark could hear the edge in Nakota's voice. Given his history, Clark had a feeling he was trying his hardest not to say something that might get them both in trouble.

"This car was reported stolen earlier last night, at around six in the evening. We've been on the lookout for it ever since."

"We didn't steal this car. We're renting it from Motorsure."

"Do you have your paperwork, then? The receipts, contract, any of it?" Clark watched as Nakota's face shifted from confident to uneasy. He looked in the glove compartment and returned empty-handed. As he looked for the papers, the officer made eye contact with Clark.

"I think we might have misplaced it," Clark said meekly. The officer smiled humorlessly and glanced back at his car. He jerked his head.

"Like I said before, I need you both to step out of the car." Beside Clark's window, another officer appeared. Clark heard Nakota curse under his breath.

"Yes sir," Clark said. He gave Nakota a reassuring look and slowly opened his door. He tried to calm down once he felt the metal of handcuffs around his wrists. His last conversation with the police had been him trying to get his stalker put in these things. Now it was his turn. He and Nakota were lead back to the car and placed in the back.

"I think I left without getting the papers," Nakota said.

"Yeah," Clark replied. He thought back to the man running after them with paper in his hand, mouthing words he couldn't quite make out. There was something humiliating about being put in the back of a cop car like he was an actual criminal. He considered himself to be a law abiding citizen, and yet here he was, seated where so many murderers and armed robbers had. He could only imagine how it felt for Nakota. It was like a twisted ride in nostalgia.

"Officer, can I call my mom whenever we get back to wherever we're going?" Clark asked.

"I don't care who you call, kid."

Not a goddamn kid, he thought to himself. "Okay, cool," he thought. 

 He had to formulate some kind of plan or think of something else to keep from losing his cool. He needed to call his parents and tell them what happened. He wasn't sure how, but he knew the person following him had something to do with this. The two of them clearly hadn't stolen the car, and he found it hard to believe that after agreeing to rent a car to Nakota, that same salesman reported his vehicle stolen. And not only that, but he wasn't sure how the man had known they'd gone to a rental in the first place. His stomach dropped at his next idea.

"Shit," Clark muttered under his breath.

"What?"

"We're being tracked right now." He looked at Nakota and then down at the YouDoo button on his jacket. He'd picked it up at the convention. It was the only thing he'd taken with him other than the clothes on his back. He was willing to bet money that his button was different than all the others on the panel.

"You... you think there's a tracking device in your button?" Nakota asked.

"There has to be. Otherwise, how did he find out we went to the rental place after we left the hotel?" Nakota thought it over and his face softened, as if everything suddenly made much more sense. Without thinking, he leaned over and trapped the button between his teeth. He yanked it back hard, tearing the fabric of Clark's jacket.

"Hey," the officer's partner said suddenly. "What the fuck are you two doing?"

"A technology purge," Clark replied. Nakota spit the button out on the floor of the car, and with one hard stomp of his heel, he broke it apart.