The Prince and I - 10

I woke up cold and alone, neither one a surprise until I remembered Connor had been sharing the small space with me when I fell asleep.

“Oh shit,” I growled, both in anger that he’d slipped away and because I’d hit my head trying to sit up, which wasn’t happening with the ‘roof’ just a couple of feet above me.

“Are you alright?”

I scooted forward to look down at the path, sighing in relief. Connor stood there looking like he just woke up himself. A minute later I was beside him after tossing him my pack.

“You thought I’d left, didn’t you?”

“It did cross my mind, yeah.”

“I wouldn’t. Really. I…” He worried his lip between his teeth. “Are you my friend?”

I gave that some serious thought. If I was, then I wasn’t acting like one, not telling him about Arthur and all. On the other hand I thought he needed a friend so maybe I wouldn’t tell him. At least not until I got a better feel for him.

“Yeah, I suppose I am, as much as I have anyone who I’d call a friend.”

He looked relieved. “And my protector?”

I chuckled a bit. “Umm, not sure I’d got that far unless it was one on one.”

Instead of saying anything he dug into the pocket of his hoodie and handed me a half-eaten burrito wrapped in the paper it had come in.

“Been dumpster-diving?” I asked with a grin, breaking it to give him half.

He shook his head. “It was in the trash can over there.” He pointed to the one by the ramp leading up to street level. “I saw a guy toss it and…” He shrugged before devouring his half of the half.

I did the same, then after checking to make certain no one was around went to relieve myself behind a bush by the creek. When I got back he was fidgeting like he wanted to get moving, which was fine with me.

“Ready to head downtown?”

“Do we have to?”

“Well yes and no. If we want to spange then yeah, we probably should.” I picked up my pack which he’d set down after I’d tossed it to him. “There are other places but we might not do so well.”

“Can we try? Please.”

“Sure, why not.” I turned away from downtown, thinking we could take our chances along Colorado Blvd. “It’s going to be a bit of a walk.”

“Okay.” He rubbed his arms, obviously trying to get warmer since the sun had just come up and it was still chilly. I dug into my pack, handing him my old jean jacket, trying not to laugh when he put it on. It had been a bit big on me. On him it was huge. He didn’t seem to care though. He just shoved his hands in the pockets after thanking me and started walking.