filter things out. Only the aisle he was in existed, and right now, it was the clearance section. The rest of the store wasn’t there. It helped keep him calm.
“This won’t fit.” Jayden held up a T-shirt with the NASA logo.
“I’m hoping it will fit your new roommate,” Gray explained. “Can you tell me about Justin?”
Jayden shrugged and struggled out his jacket. “He’s quiet and goes to bed early. I don’t know. He doesn’t like the dark, I think. Luis came in to say goodnight, and Justin sat at the desk drawing, but he ran to bed so fast. When I looked down at his bunk, he had the covers up here.” He gestured to his eyes.
Gray hummed and eyed a blue pajama set with little astronauts on it. “Do you think this will fit him?”
“I don’t know? Maybe. He’s small.”
Well, it was seven bucks. If it didn’t fit Justin, it would fit someone else sooner or later, so Gray grabbed two sets in different sizes.
Then he remembered the list Adeline had sent him and checked his phone. Oh, thank fuck. She’d included his sizes. That made shit a lot easier.
“Are we done with clothes now?” Jayden asked hopefully.
Gray chuckled. “We are.” He looked up at the signs along the aisles. “I think a night-light would be good for Justin. I had one when I was little.”
Darius came up behind him and pressed a kiss to his temple. “I’m just gonna step out for a minute and call Charlie’s mother. He’s in the hospital.”
Worry shot through Gray, and he widened his eyes. The last thing Gray needed was to hear about another friend’s death or something. Charlie had to be okay, goddammit. They’d lost too many innocent young men.
“Yeah, go call her. Fuck.”
While Darius walked out, Gray tried to act like he wasn’t on the verge of panic. His hands felt clammy all of a sudden, and breathing was a chore. But he managed to push through and throw things into the cart on autopilot. He had to do something. Everyone who’d come back alive had scattered after Florida, and Gray didn’t like it. Perhaps he could arrange a group chat for everyone so they could stay in touch and support one another.
They found a night-light for Justin. One of those with an adhesive on the back that you just stuck to the wall above your bed and pushed in when you wanted more light.
It took about ten minutes for Darius to come back, and by then, Gray and Jayden had made it to the crafts for kids.
“Are you ready to test your math skills, buddy?” Gray picked Jayden up from the cart and set him down. “See these boxes of crayons?”
Jayden nodded and eyed the crayons on the bottom shelf.
“I want you to pick boxes for a total of twenty-five dollars.” Gray bent down and grabbed one box. “It doesn’t have to be exact. Don’t worry about the cents.”
“Okay, I think I got it.” Jayden squatted down on the floor and picked three boxes, then started counting on his fingers. It was too cute for words. And it would keep him occupied for a bit.
Gray joined Darius a few feet away.
“He’s all right for now,” Darius said quietly, much to Gray’s relief. Thank God. “He goes from nightmares to flashbacks, where he thinks he’s still got the GPS tracker embedded in his neck. So he wakes himself up clawing at his neck, trying to dig it out. Apparently yesterday, he’d woken up with blood everywhere.”
“Jesus.” Gray’s stomach churned with unease. “Is there anything we can do? I thought I could reach out to them and suggest a group chat, but I don’t know if it’s enough.”
“Group chat sounds good,” he replied with a nod. “Charlie will be fine, I reckon. He wears his grief on his sleeve and goes to therapy every day. He’s not hiding anything, and he’s close with his family.”
That was good to hear, at least.
Gray glanced over at Jayden, who was juggling a stack of seven or eight boxes of crayons while using his free hand to count.
“I shouldn’t be surprised you’re keeping track of everyone,” he murmured.
Darius rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m just texting their folks.”
There was no “just” about that.
Gray leaned up for a quick kiss, but Darius held him there. He palmed Gray’s cheek and kissed him slowly.
“I’m looking forward to tonight.” Darius ended the kiss with one, two, three soft pecks. “You, me, good food, and a movie.”
Gray blinked