WARNINGS:
-descriptions of an unconscious man that has been held hostage
-the black brothers fighting

James got up, holding out a hand for Regulus to get up, too. Immediately, dizziness overcame the younger, making him hold on to the walnut-skinned boy tighter in fear of falling back to the ground that really wasn't comfortable. They were still behind the petrol station shop and Sirius was watching them intently.

"Let's go back to the car," James suggested and the brothers nodded. Sirius snatched up two backpacks from the pebbles and Regulus tried to maintain steady steps.

"What happened to your forehead?" the youngest asked as soon as the dizziness faded and he'd figured out how to walk without needing James' support too much.

The boy sighed. "Let's just say neutralising deathly poison twice doesn't happen without some sort of side effect."

Regulus frowned. "Twice? What even happened exactly because I was pretty sure you died and how did you defeat the Chimera?"

Because James looked a little helpless, Sirius explained, "I'm a little hazy around the details, but James hit the Chimera in the stomach and got bitten in the process. His healing powers saved him though and I helped with nectar. Then he did his best to help you while I put out the fire."

They had arrived at the car now and James opened the passenger door for him. "Oh. Thanks," Regulus mumbled and sat down in his seat. Sirius handed him his rucksack.

"Look, I realised my words earlier were a little harsh. I hope you're not too upset," the son of Aphrodite then said, but for some reason, all Regulus picked up from his words was that he didn't say "sorry".

"Whatever." Turning his head to focus on James instead of all the hurt that originally had brought them into this situation, he noticed that he was getting ready to drive. "Are you sure you don't need more rest?"

"Yep," James announced, just as Sirius slid into the backseat once again. "My powers and the nectar fully recharged my batteries so no need to worry. You two rest and eat a little something, while I take us further west."

Regulus wanted to protest, wanted to force him to rest for a bit longer, but James just brightened the car with his energy, so he settled for an unsatisfied grunt and slumped into his seat, not forgetting to buckle up. James restarted the car and away they drove. Soon, the exhaustion nestled in the curly-head's bones and he closed his eyes, sleep overcoming him quickly.

In his dreams, he was back at the cave with Mimas, but this time he wasn't pacing and he wasn't alone. The cave was still big and rocky and dark, only lit by a single torch fixed to the wall. Not far from the torch, a man in a business suit was hanging on a thick wooden bar that was placed on big slatted boxes in a makeshift pull up rack – though Regulus didn't want to do pull ups on that thing, since it looked like it was going to fall apart any second. He was surprised it could even hold this grown ass man.

He took a closer look at him, noticing how his wrists were showing red irritation underneath the rope that was holding him up and his ankles were bound together as well. Regulus vaguely wondered how long this guy had been hanging here until he noticed an even more shocking detail. Because of the pale and sunken face, the messy hair and dirty clothes, he hadn't recognised him at first, but...Regulus was looking at his father. Orion Black.

The sight scared him and he turned around to see Mimas staring directly at him, his facial expression grim. "Come here, save your stupid little father if he's so important to you as you claim," Mimas taunted in a gruff voice, stepping closer. "Come and save him."

Regulus' heart pounded loudly against his chest and he wanted nothing more than to wake up. His blood was rushing in his ears and he stumbled back, hitting something. He turned to look up and noticed he'd fallen against his father, who was still looking as lifeless as before. Eyes wide, he stared up at him once again, wishing the sight in front of him was just a dream. Painfully enough, the boy knew it wasn't. He knew this was real and Orion had actually been captured by a giant.

Then he blinked and he was back in the car, breathing heavily and feeling his hair sticking to his forehead with sweat. "What?" he mumbled, disoriented. In front of them was an empty highway, the next car being far away from them and the sun burned down on the asphalt, but their car was air-conditioned and the stuffy hot air was out of touch, luckily.

James turned his head, eyes furrowing with concern as he noticed his grey eyes darting around wildly. "Are you okay? Bad sleep?" he asked, gaze focused on the road again.

Slowly sitting up, the curly-head rubbed his hands across his face. "Yeah..." His heart was still racing, but he started calming down.

"Do you want to talk about it?" the walnut-skinned boy asked, head tilting to the side despite not even looking at the one he was talking to.

For a second the horrifying picture of his half-dead father flashed in front of his inner eye and he almost wanted to talk about it, but then the noise of someone slowly waking up carried from the back and Regulus remembered that it wasn't just his father. He closed his eyes, shaking his head. "No... It's okay," he mumbled, looking out the window on the side.

A little bit worried about the boy, since it obviously wasn't okay, James just nodded, focusing on the highway. There wasn't much he could do if Regulus preferred to keep to himself. Soon, his thoughts were chased away by Sirius asking for snacks. As a reply, he vaguely heard rustling of plastic and something hitting something, followed by a loud complaining exclaim coming from Sirius.

"Just eat the fucking Pop Tart S'Mores, you wanted them so you eat them," Reg grumbled, crossing his arms. A short look to the side told James that he was still staring out the window. It took them almost ten hours after they left from the gas station until they were in Madison, having made a single stop in between so all of them could go to the toilet and walk for a bit. Therefore they were all tired and exhausted from the fights that sometimes started within the car while they were focusing on driving (James), asleep (Sirius) or staring out the window at the city scenery passing by as they helped looking for a place to park the car for the night (Regulus).

"There!" James called out, pointing at a warehouse parking lot. Regulus turned to look at it, and then shook his head.

"They're closing overnight. We'll get towed away," he sighed.

James frowned, annoyed at all the different parking lot rules that always kept them from parking somewhere. "Oh, come on! Where are we supposed to spend the night?" he groaned.

Suddenly the curly-head sat up further, tapping against the window. "There... There's enough space and we won't even have to pay." Following his gaze, the son of Apollo looked at an empty parking lot by a diner that seemed to have closed many, many years ago. There wasn't a single car and not too much light that would keep them from sleeping.

With relief flooding his veins, James indicated and drove to the deserted place, parking not too close to the main road where cars kept driving by. He picked a space closer by the empty building and turned off the engine, immediately leaning back and yawning. "My legs hurt," he complained, because his legs really did hurt from driving that long.

Regulus nodded in agreement, yawning as well. "We should get up for a little before we go to sleep. Maybe it helps the muscles," he suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." As soon as he said it, James opened the car door, careful not to wake Sirius and jumped out, immediately stretching. After a moment of resting his eyes, the son of Venus followed his example, but then just laid down on the warm asphalt a few metres from the car. It took a minute, but then he heard footsteps coming closer. "Is it comfortable?"

Humming, the boy nodded, wordlessly gesturing for James to lay down next to him. He seemed to hesitate for a second, but then just shrugged and placed himself next to Regulus; their shoulders almost touching.

"What are we looking at?" James whispered, turning his head to gaze up like the boy next to him did, but the sky was just plain black, all the stars hiding from the bright city lights.

"Nothing in particular," Regulus returned, looking a little bit lost in thought.

Finding the sky and the lights coming from the buildings all around them too boring to stare at, James glanced to his side again, taking note of Reg's curls looking like a cushion around his head and his face looking a little like a colourful art piece because of the purple billboard that was hanging on the building next to them. "Okay," he murmured, his lips forming a smile as he adored the sight in front of him. The nicely shaped jaw and smooth nose bridge that he wanted to trace with his finger. Oh and that cupid's bow looked so delicate, James just wanted to kiss it. He wanted to kiss his forehead, his eyes, his nose, his cheek and cheekbones and his jaw, his everything. James wanted to kiss Regulus.

Regulus, who was now looking back at him with a clueless expression. Regulus, who was speaking to him, but James didn't hear his words because he was too focused looking at the movement of his lips. Regulus, who was just Regulus.

James could feel his heart pounding in his chest, threatening to jump out and his whole body tingling as he started to lean in. But halfway to Reg's face, he stopped. It was as if he was trapped in time, unable to move forward. What if Regulus didn't want this? He wouldn't know until it was too late if he just continued on like he did a few seconds ago. It would be smarter to ask, not that he kissed him without permission. Oh fuck, why was Regulus so pretty? For a few more moments, James stayed like he was, looking at every single fleck in the curly-head's irises before he finally moved back to where he was before. Exhaling quietly, he looked up at the sky, but nothing in the view had changed.

In the next minute, the tiredness and exhaustion of the day called back to him and James thought about how it must already be past midnight; he couldn't help but yawn, sitting up. It was like the spell was broken, the loud noises of the city suddenly returning to his ears all at once. "We should sleep," he mumbled, getting up and dusting off the dirt from the ground before offering his hand to Regulus to help him get up as well. The boy shook his curls out, patting himself off as well to make sure he wasn't too filthy.

"Yeah," Reg agreed, yawning. They went to sit back into the car, with James locking the doors from inside – just in case – and then they leaned back, eyes closing and falling asleep in what felt like no time.

When Regulus opened his eyes the next morning, the first thing he thought about was the night before and how James had almost kissed him. James had almost kissed him. And then he hesitated and pulled back, as if he was afraid Regulus wouldn't want to consume him and his beautiful walnut skin, his beautiful brown hair and hazel eyes all at once. Sighing, he closed his eyes again, wishing himself back to that moment to change the course that it had taken. Wishing he had kissed James while he had the chance, to feel his soft lips on his own and his hand in his hair and- hold up. Since when did he want this?

He opened his eyes again, peeking at James who looked like he was about to wake up. It was kind of cute how his face scrunched up before his eyes opened and he tried to stretch in the restricted place. A small smile started making its way onto Regulus' face before he heard someone in the back groaning. Immediately, the smile vanished and his eyes hardened, demonstratively turning his head to look outside. There was no way he would talk to Sirius today. Not after what he had said the previous day, making them both stay silent for a good hour until the older boy had fallen asleep.

Luckily, there was only silence in the car as they shared some snacks in between them. When James announced he would take a short walk before continuing their journey, Regulus did not hesitate to get out of the vehicle as well, not wanting to risk being alone with that prick. There were so many words in three languages he knew to call the asshole right now and he did not hesitate to use them in his mind. Out loud, he was going to be radio silent, pretending that the irrumator didn't exist. Perfect plan for the day, and perhaps the following days until he hopefully needn't to see him ever again.

Mr Fils De Pute got out of the car as well, but luckily walked away from Regulus with quick steps, strolling around the bigger part of the parking lot. Meanwhile, James went the other way – distancing himself from Reg, as well – leaving the youngest of the three to stand by the car for a moment until he decided to follow James. The son of Apollo's presence always gave the curly-head what he needed at the moment – which was mainly calm and comfort. Just like right now.

They didn't need words as they walked, they just quietly enjoyed the little stroll and the somewhat fresh breeze of air. James took the lead of where they were going, looking a little lost in thought. Regulus didn't mind, following the boy wherever he went until they arrived back at the car and it was clear James was ready to leave. A quick shout from the walnut-skinned boy told their third party (that Reg wouldn't have minded if they had left him here) they were going to continue their way now.

Soon after, they all sat in their respective seats, buckled up and ready to go. With a quiet mumble, James turned the key and let the engine start while Regulus checked the map to see where they had to go next. The drive was almost relaxing, with no one speaking except for the occasional direction coming from Regulus and James mumbling incoherent words under his breath. But once they got back on the highway, it reduced to just soft murmuring.

It took about two to three hours until Reg decided he needed a pee break, so they agreed to stop at the next gas station they saw. Then there was beautiful peace and quiet in the car for three more hours. Before Mr He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named started a new conversation.

"I'm hungry."

Regulus didn't move a finger, not bothering since he'd had a snack half an hour earlier.

"Can I have something to eat, please?"

More silence, but knowing it would shut him up, the curly-head reached for the S'Mores in his bag and tossed them into the back row.

"Well thank you for this very nice service. I'll rate you one star on Google Maps." The eye-roll was clear in his voice, and Regulus felt so annoyed he crossed his arms in front of his chest and huffed quietly. He didn't fucking care about anything the ass said, but his mere presence was enough to aggravate him. "Oh so you're giving me the silent treatment now? What for? Are you mad I'm not giving you five stars like posh boys like you want? Or- wait. Is this about my little comment yesterday?"

James exhaled loudly, perhaps to try and stop them from talking any further without using words, but Regulus wasn't going to let that bitch get away with this so easily. I bet they find you disgusting. "That was more than just a little comment," the son of Venus said, his voice hinting he was not up for joking at the moment. "And just because I said your clothing style sucks."

"Excuse me," Mr Bastard gasped. "You said it was disgusting. And that is highly offensive."

"That doesn't give you the right to comment on my family or friends. You know nothing about them," Regulus grumbled, his fingers digging deep into his upper arms, causing him to feel his fingernails sink into his flesh.

"Because you don't talk about them! How am I supposed to know?!" Sirius complained.

"Guys," James' voice interfered quietly, but Regulus was too busy trying to fight this bitch to acknowledge him.

"Because it's none of your business! I don't want to talk about them, basta. Shut the fuck up!" A headache was starting to form, but it was nothing compared to the dagger that the fucker kept pushing deeper and deeper into his chest. Regulus took the pain with gritted teeth.

"Don't tell me to shut up! I can talk when I want," Sirius argued, completely ignoring James trying to catch their attention once again.

"But I don't want to hear your stupid fucking voice. I don't want to see your ugly face or your disgusting clothes. I wish you hadn't come on this dumb trip!"

"GUYS!" James yelled, swerving to the emergency lane and stepping on the brake hard.

STOP! before you close this chapter, pls read this rq

I have not managed to write ch11 yet and i do not want to pressure myself into writing it until dec 1st when im gonna have the same problem w writing ch12...sooo im pausing the fic. i dont know for how long, but i wanna finish at least ch12 before i start posting again. 

I swear I will NOT abandon this fic, i just need to take some of my pressure away, because ive realised it makes me less motivated. thank you for understanding<3