Their first order of business was making their way to the hotel. Nakota picked up their rental car and Ruby and Clark loaded their bags inside. Neither could stop their 'oohs' or 'ahs' as they looked around the city. It wasn't as if they'd come from a rural town in Kansas and this was their first time in the big city, but New York looked so glamorous on TV. Clark imagined all of the episodes of Gossip Girl he'd binged on, trying to see if anything looked familiar.

The hotel Nakota stopped in front of was an enormous mass of reflective windows, each pane glimmering as they stepped out of the car. To Clark, the best part about traveling wasn't seeing new locations and gaining new experiences; it was all about the hotels. While Nakota unloaded the car, Ruby and Clark headed in to pick up their room keys. Together, the three of them filed into the elevator. Clark's stomach dropped when he opened his door and spotted only one bed.

"Scared of a hotel room?" Nakota teased, stepping around him and carrying the bags into the room. He flopped them down on the bed and looked around. "Not too bad."

"Not too bad? There's only one bed in the room. Where are you gonna sleep?"

"There are two chairs in here, I'll just put those together. No big deal."

"That's a huge deal, it'll probably ruin your back," Clark said. He started for the door to get Ruby. "I'll just share a room with Ruby and you can have this one."

"Clark," Nakota called out. "I'm fine, you don't need to worry. That's kind of my thing, remember?" His mouth tugged into a crooked smile. Clark still felt bad about not booking an extra room or at least one room with two beds, but if Nakota didn't have a problem...

"If you ever need to lie down, use my bed, okay? I'm serious, I'll go share a bed with Ruby, it's not a problem."

"I appreciate the offer," he replied. Clark watched Nakota place his bag on the chair and look out of the window. They couldn't see much other than huge buildings and the bustling streets below, but it was such a different view than the one at home. If he looked out of his bedroom window, he'd see his uppity neighbors splashing around in their Jacuzzi. He might also see the man outside waiting to get him. Clark rolled his eyes at himself and began unpacking, laying out the small amount of clothes he'd brought with him.

"Have you ever been here?" Clark asked.

"Never. It's insane how different life is here. Walking into the hotel, I saw a woman talking on two different cellphones, a group of ten people using a selfie stick, and a homeless man asleep on the street all in the same breath."

Clark cracked a smile. "Yeah, things out here are a bit different. I've heard all these horror stories from this podcast I regularly listen to. They're always talking about how cold it is, and how nasty people can be. I'm still happy to be here though. It's a relief getting out of California, y'know?"

"That reminds me, how are you doing? You seemed weird on the plane trip. When you woke up, you were peppy and ready to go. Then you came out of the bathroom with this look on your face. I don't know what it was, but you weren't happy."

"Oh, that," Clark said. He quickly searched for a lie in his dishonesty rolodex. "I dropped my phone in the toilet, that's all. And when I got upset, this man lectured me all about how my generation is obsessed with technology, and when he was young and fighting in the war... It was dumb, but it really pissed me off."

"Old people," Nakota chuckled. "Thank you for letting me know. I felt weird asking in front of Ruby, but I'm glad you filled me in."

"Anytime," Clark said, looking away. "Um... we'll have to get a new phone today, though. My mom and dad will be pissed if I don't answer their calls. They have your number, right?" Nakota nodded, his gaze still fixated on the city down below. "Cool. I'll leave you to your people watching. Ruby probably needs some help unpacking."

"See you when you get back," Nakota said. Clark opened the door to the room beside his, smiling at Ruby as he entered. She had already dumped out all of her clothes on the floor and was shuffling through them anxiously.

"I have nothing to wear. I brought all this crap and none of it is cute. I'm meeting with that hot guy you're friends with and I'm gonna end up matching with one of those homeless guys outside."

"Calm down," Clark said, taking a seat on the bed. He looked through her items until he found a baby doll dress. "Just wear this and some sandals. We're not going to Tiffany's or anything. You can wear that until we get some new threads. Alright?"

Ruby held up the dress and looked it over. It was a simple white piece with yellow sunflowers all over. "This works," she shrugged. "The rest of these, though, I'm donating." She scooped them up and dropped them in the chair by the window.

"So, what's on the agenda for today? Shopping, dinner with Lawson, and then..."

"Well, I need to get a new phone, so we'll do that before we eat." Clark told her the same lie he'd given Nakota, and just the same, she ate it up.

"Awesome. I need to wash up really quickly and then I'll be ready to go. Are you?" Clark gave himself a once-over and shrugged. He wasn't too scummy looking, he could manage it until they picked some new outfits up. He sat back on her bed and played around on her laptop while she showered again. She changed into the sunflower dress and looked herself over in the mirror.

"This is missing something," she said to herself. He returned to her pile of clothing and accessories and pulled out a straw sun hat. She flattened her curls out on top and put the hat on. "Perfect!"

+

Dinner was something Clark had anticipated all day. He'd distracted himself with shopping, but the anticipation had sat in the back of his mind the entire time. This wasn't the first time he and Lawson had hung out, but it was different now. Back when Clark was just starting his channel, Lawson had encouraged him and given him plenty of promo. He recalled many of shout outs at the end of Lawson's videos, demanding that everyone watching go over to Clark's channel and subscribe. It was crazy to think that they were both pretty popular now.

Ruby didn't seemed fazed by meet him at all. She'd changed into a burgundy button up skirt and a black turtle neck. Clark was almost disappointed that he wasn't that into women, otherwise he would have found another reason to love her outfit. She held her straw between her maroon-colored lips and looked around the room.

"Is he gonna show up?" she asked.

Clark scanned around as well. This restaurant was one of the better ones he'd been to, and he could see everything pretty clearly. Couples filled the tables surrounding them, chatting and laughing flippantly. Nowhere did he see Lawson. He checked the time on his phone and frowned. The other guy was almost ten minutes late – and he'd been the one to set this whole thing up.

"Um... I'm not sure where he is. I'm gonna call." Clark dialed his number and drummed his fingers on the table. The cloth felt silky under his fingers. Lawson picked up immediately, first curious as to who was calling, and then apologetic for being late. His tire pressure was extremely low and he'd needed to get a cab instead of driving. Clark assured him that it was no big deal.

"Well, I'm ordering some appetizers while we wait," Ruby said, waving the waiter over. She smiled and ordered a basket of breadsticks and olive oil dip. Clark scrolled through his Twitter timeline, only mildly disappointed that there wasn't any interesting drama. He placed his phone down and looked behind Ruby. Just over his shoulder, he could see Nakota nursing a small glass of water and a Caesar salad. He smiled to himself, imagining how awkward it must be to come to such a fancy place and try not to look suspicious eyeing Clark and Ruby.

Another five minutes passed, and just as the waiter returned with appetizers, Lawson arrived. At just over six feet tall, he was the epitome of what many Twitter girls called 'goals.' His smile might have been crooked and his eyes were a bit intimidating, but he wasn't a bad looking guy. He smiled wide and gave each of them a hug.

"I am so sorry for running late. I had a feeling something was going to happen today, I should have known it would be something with my car."

"Don't worry about it," Clark laughed. "I broke my phone today, and Ruby couldn't find anything to wear. Kind of an off day for us all."

"Seems that way," Lawson agreed. He ordered a glass of water with a lemon wedge and turned to Ruby. "So good to meet you, by the way. Clark always brings you up. Never did tell me that you were a model, though."

Ruby smiled bashfully. "How often does that line work?"

"Would you believe me if I said you're the first girl I've tried it on?"

"No."

"Then not very often," he said. She smiled and tore a breadstick in half, her eyes lingering on Lawson. Clark suddenly felt out of place, like he was third-wheeling on someone else's date. He grabbed a breadstick as well.

"I got something for you both, actually," Lawson said, pulling two boxes from his pocket. He handed the smaller, thinner one to Ruby. When she opened it to find a pair of earrings, she covered her mouth.

"Oh my god, these are beautiful! Thank you so much."

Lawson shrugged, "Gifts are my specialty." He handed the other box to Clark. Inside, he found an expensive watch.

"How did you know I've been needing one of these?" Clark asked. He took it from the box and tried it on. It fit like a glove.

"I saw it in one of your vlogs when you were talking about those old Rugrats watches they had at Burger King!"

"Wow," Clark said in disbelief. He'd even forgotten that he'd talked about those watches a few months ago. Still, he was thankful for his gift. "I've gotta get you something in return. This is amazing."

"Don't even worry about it, man, how long has it been since we last saw each other?" Lawson asked.

"Um... Almost two and a half years, I think. Had I known New York was this amazing, I would have hopped on a plane a lot sooner. I'm kind of jealous that you get to live here for six months every year."

"Almost three years," he said, shaking his head. "Of course I'm getting you a gift. And just wait until it starts snowing even harder. Kind of a nightmare, kind of fantastic."

"Maybe I'll get lucky and it'll get really bad. I can make a cool vlog out of that," Clark said.

"Which reminds me. We need to film that Cops and Robbers thing we were talking about. I already bought all the supplies we'd need. Outfits, handcuffs, all that. The only thing I'm missing is all my wigs. I left them in California a few month ago and I haven't gone back for them. I hope you don't mind?"

"No, that sounds like an awesome video. We've been needing to collab for like, two years. Our schedules just suck ass," Clark laughed.

"You're telling me!"

Clark and Lawson had talked about filming plenty of videos, and so far, the most they'd done was put together two-part videos that related to one another. Neither had flown over to film, and for a minute there, they'd lost all drive to even make something together.

"I'm free tomorrow, I think. I'll come over to your place."

"This is gonna be amazing," he grinned. The waiter returned and took all three of their orders. Once he was gone, Clark and Ruby filled Lawson in about all the issue he'd been having at home. They told him about the murder, the stalking, and even about Nakota.

"Jesus Christ," Lawson said. "I thought it was just some hacker messing with you whenever you called and asked what I was doing in the chat room. I had no idea it was that psycho. Please tell me you carry a weapon of some kind?"

"Well, my mom made me carry some pepper spray, but I think it was just because she thinks New Yorkers are crazy, not for the killer." Stacy was adamant about him keeping the keychain close. She didn't want anything bad to happen to him while he was out of the state.

"Actually, I just remembered that I need to call my parents and let them know where I am." Clark excused himself from the table and made his way outside to call his parents. They were both quite pleased to hear from him rather than having to call him and find out where he was. He told them goodnight and headed back inside to finish dinner with the others.

Dinner was over an hour and a half later. Clark was almost too full to even stand, but somehow he and the others managed to make it outside. Ruby took the rental car home and Clark, Nakota, and Lawson all headed for the subway. Clark had never been on the subway before, and Lawson described it as a completely new life experience. They took up seats and talked quietly, trying not to get in anyone's way.

The first punch came unexpectedly. Clark had noticed two passengers huffing and puffing at each other, but he never would have expected it to come to blows. Both women were soon smacking each other around, calling each other every name under the sun, and threatening to kill each other. As horrible as it was to watch, Clark was even more shocked that nobody seemed bothered by the altercation. Many of the others put in their headphones and tapped along to the beat, completely ignoring the ladies and their fight.

Finally an older man broke them up and they moved to opposite ends of the car. Lawson struggled to keep from laughing, both at the fight itself and Clark's reaction.

"I told you, subways are something else. Just be glad there are no beatboxers or dancers. I almost got my face kicked in when some dude decided to spin around on the poles right there." He pointed to one of the many poles being held by standing passengers.

"Jesus, maybe I don't want to visit New York as often," Clark said, laughing.

Lawson got off on his stop and Nakota took his seat once he was gone. He looked at Clark with a smile.

"What?"

"Nothing," Nakota said. "You seem to be enjoying yourself, that's all."

"I am! It's only the first night, and I'm tired as hell, but I still want to go out and do things. This place is kind of amazing, fights not included."

"It is pretty nice."

"Did you enjoy your dinner?" Clark asked.

"Mhm. You?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Good," Nakota said softly. He surveyed the subway car, looking at all of the various people waiting to get home or get to work. When he looked back at Clark, he was dozing off, his head drooping to the side. Finally, it settled on Nakota's shoulder. He let him sit like this until they were at their stop. After that, the two of them hailed a taxi and were back inside the hotel in under thirty minutes. Clark pulled off his clothes without a second thought, tossing them aside and crawling into bed.

He lie on his back, staring at the ceiling. He listened silently as Nakota removed his clothing as well, getting himself situated on the chairs. "Nakota?" he said, finally.

"Yes?"

"I need to tell you something."

"This doesn't sound good."

"It's not," Clark said. He waited a minute before continuing. "I... I think you need to update your wardrobe." He could hear Nakota exhale.

"What?"

"You dress... like you're still in 2007."

"Give me a break, I was in jail," he retorted.

"I've seen Orange is the New Black, some of those ladies were fashionable as hell."

"Fashion wasn't a top priority where I was."

"Still," Clark said. "Do you wanna go shopping? It'll be like Pimp My Ride, but like, Pimp My Bodyguard."

Nakota laughed and said, "We can do whatever you want tomorrow, Clark. Just get some sleep. You had a long day." Clark smiled and rolled onto his side, scooting to the left side of the bed. In the dark, he could see the outline of Nakota's body.

"Sweet dreams," he said.

"Goodnight." Clark watched Nakota get situated again, and he could have sworn he felt the man's eyes staring back at him.

+