It had been ten days since the four had left New York. Nico and Will were constantly at each other's throats; Lou Ellen and Cecil, exactly the opposite. They had just arrived at the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and were searching for a place to crash.

"William, we set up the tents on an island, and no one knows we're here, easy. What do you have against it?" Nico asked. The two of them had been arguing about this for the last fifteen minutes and had gotten nowhere.

"There's rain in the forecast, dumbass, we have to get a cabin. Cecil can get us a key; I don't even care how anymore, Nico, but it's getting dark and we need a place to stay."

Fed-up, Nico finally agreed to a cabin, it would be safer in a rainstorm.

Will called Cecil over, "Hey, could you go get us a key? It doesn't matter how, just make it cheap."

With a grin, Cecil agreed and ran off.

That night, Nico and Will were sitting on the porch, watching the stars. They were quiet for a while, then Will took a deep breath and spoke,

"Sorry I've been such a jerk lately, Nico. I'm just," he paused and looked away. "I guess I'm scared. I'm worried that we won't make it back before the solstice."

Nico was a bit surprised at the openness of the boy, they were barely friends, but he couldn't help but relate.

"I'm worried too, Will; but we'll make it back. I promise." A rare smile tugged at the boys lips. "It's getting late though, we should get some sleep."

With that, Nico stood up and went inside. Will stayed out a bit longer, pondering what the younger boy had said. The thought came that maybe, just maybe, Nico was finally allowing himself a friend. Hoping that he was right, Will went inside and collapsed into bed.