001.

[manilargo]

For a while, all he cares about is putting that place in the goddamn rear view, but then it definitely starts to be about more than that; it starts being about leaving Richie behind, leaving behind any sort of life that resembled what he thought he knew the world was. It isn't just that vampires are apparently a thing that exists, and snake ones at that; it isn't just that Richie's a culebra now, but that apparently he's been a monster all along, and Seth just never knew until now.

The silence is good, though after a while, he flips on the radio and turns it up, letting the sound and the breeze hit him in the face until it all starts to chase the thoughts away. He doesn't want to think; he's too tired for that, honestly, and he isn't ready to dump all this out on Kate.

Jesus, Kate. He tries not to look at her, honestly. It's not that he's ignoring her completely; it's more that he's just wrapped up in his own shit, and also they've been through so much and yet actually so little that it's just -- what's he going to say? And what's he going to do with her? It'd been fucking impulsive, saying yes, but he actually wasn't ready to be alone, and shit, was he going to leave her there? The fuck happened to that ranger that he just left her out there?

Unless she didn't really want to go with him, in which case, she's more stupid than he thought.

Fuck. Okay, so the not-thinking thing isn't actually happening. And he still misses Richie, or the person he thought Richie was, like a fucking hole in his chest. The silence stops working after a while, leaving Seth fidgety, squirming in his seat, trying to get comfortable in one position, then another. His fingers flex on the steering wheel.

Finally, he reaches over and turns the radio down, and he glances over at Kate.

"How you doing, princess?" His eyes flick back to the road and then to her again, his eyebrow raised. "Feeling ready to turn back yet?"