Page 3

Fitzgibbon

Highway to Hell

The group sing-along lasted for over an hour, until Jude’s playlist ran out of songs. Fitz found himself wishing Jude had more Willie Nelson cued up so they wouldn’t have to speak to each other. He had a ton of things to talk about with his friends, but at the moment, he didn’t want to let them in on any of his problems. Fitz knew keeping things inside was what led to this situation in the first place, but couldn’t find the strength in himself to confront it. Not yet, anyway.

Jace had done his best to get Fitz to understand that he had as much blame in this situation as Ronan and Jude, but he hadn’t been in much of a mood to listen. Truth be told, one of the problems Fitz was keeping to himself had to do with Jace. He’d gone over the conversation he wanted to have with his husband in his head a hundred times, but when push came to shove, and it was time to open up, Fitz couldn’t get the words to come out of his mouth.

Thankfully, they were almost to the campground, which meant Ronan would be calling out directions, telling Fitz which way to turn. It also meant that no one could address the elephant in the car. Fitz knew it would all come spilling out at some point, but he hoped that the conversation wouldn’t come until they’d reached their destination and, at the very least, got their tents set up.

“Take this left.” Ronan pointed to the next set of lights. “According to the GPS, this is our last peek at civilization for a while.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Jude asked, sounding alarmed.

“This campground is almost off the grid. That’s why Ten picked it.” Ronan didn’t sound any too pleased at the idea.

“So that we’d have to talk to each other instead of being on our phones all the time.” Fitz shook his head. Under ordinary circumstances two days away with his best friends wouldn’t require WIFI, but now, all he could do was make sure their rift didn’t widen any further courtesy of his big mouth. “What’s the name of this place?”

“Bear Necessities,” Ronan said on a snort. “You know, like the song from Jungle Book .”

“Wolf loves that movie. He and Lizbet get up and dance during that scene, then they make Cope play it again so they can keep dancing. Sometimes Cope and I dance along with them,” Jude said, sounding wistful.

Fitzgibbon found himself smiling at Jude’s story. Aurora loved to sing and dance along to all of the Disney movies. When she was little, she’d insist Fitz sing along, which he wasn’t fond of doing. She’d shoot him a grumpy look until Fitz did as she demanded, Aurora would hug him and sing at the top of her voice. It was safe to say his little June bug wasn’t going to be the next American Idol.

The road got more desolate the further they drove. Gone were houses, farms, and other signs of life. Large growth trees bent over the road, their leaves and branches nearly changing day into night. “Shit, Ronan, are we almost there?” Fitz felt a shiver go through his entire body.

“Uh, three hundred more feet.” Ronan looked up from his phone and back down again.

“Guys, this feels like the kind of place where Jason Voorhees would live and find inventive ways to kill wayward teenagers. Maybe we should turn the car around and book rooms at that cute little bed and breakfast we saw back in North Conway.”

“We’re two miles off the main road, Jude. We’ll be fine,” Fitzgibbon said. Secretly, he agreed with Jude. In his early fifties, Fitz wasn’t built for sleeping on the cold, soggy ground. He’d do it in a heartbeat for Aurora if she asked, but his daughter hated dirt, mud, bugs, and serial killers. There’s no way she’d ask to come to a place like this.

“See, here we are,” Ronan said, when the wooden sign came into view.

“ Bare Necessities,” Fitzgibbon read. “So, not like the movie. More like living with no comforts of home. I’m also guessing there are no amenities, like hot water and soap.”

“Ten packed a bar of soap for me, maybe this is why?” Ronan asked.

“Maybe,” Jude agreed, not sounding pleased with their situation.

“Here’s the office.” Ronan indicated a building up ahead. “I’ll run over there and get us checked in.” He hopped out of the SUV, leaving Fitz alone with Jude.

It was on the tip of Fitz’s tongue to ask Jude if he’d see the Sox game the night before, but instead stayed silent. He wasn’t sure if the two of them could talk about something as simple as baseball without getting into a disagreement.

“Okay, we’re all set,” Ronan said, as he got back into the SUV. “Our campsite number is 1245. The guy who checked me in gave me a map. I think I can read it and get us there.”

“Who the hell can’t read a map?” Jude asked.

“Uh, maybe those of us who grew up in the city and couldn’t afford to go anywhere. Check your privilege,” Ronan shot back.

“ My privilege?” Jude half-shouted. “I grew up on a Native American reservation and had a white mother. Oh, yeah, I’ve got privilege pouring out of me in buckets.”

“Enough, you two.” Fitzgibbon sighed, pulling up to a crossroads. “Ronan, where the hell do I need to go?”

“Go straight,” Ronan said. “You’re gonna turn left when you see a sign for campsites from 1000 to 1050. Should be your fourth right.”

“You just said left! Which is it?” Fitz asked, feeling more and more like he should have stayed home and waited for the disagreement between them to blow over in its own good time.

“Give me the map,” Jude leaned over Ronan’s seat and snatched it from him. “Okay, take the second right up here. Bare Creek Road, it’s called.

“There’s the sign I told you about,” Ronan said, sounding pissy.

Fitz took the turn, anxious to get to the campsite so they could set up their tents and get the lay of the land. He read the wooden markers as he drove, finally locating their site. “Okay, here we go.” Fitz parked the SUV and hopped out.

Opening the hatch, he started pulling out the camping gear. Jude and Ronan came to help. After several minutes the SUV was unloaded. All that was left to do now was to set up the tents and gather wood for a campfire. “Let’s get to work setting up camp.” When neither Ronan nor Jude responded, Fitz turned around ready to give each of them a piece of his mind. What he saw made him want to get back in the SUV and drive home.

Walking toward their campsite were three men, laughing and joking with each other. At first, the men reminded Fitz of himself and his friends, one was tall like him, another was blond like Ronan and the third was dark haired, like Jude, but that’s where the similarities ended. All three men were buck naked. “What the actual fuck is going on here?”

“I’m not sure,” Ronan said, with his mouth hanging open.

“Morning, fellas! Hell of a day, huh?” The tallest man asked.

“Sure is,” Ronan returned. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but…”

Oh Jesus , Fitz thought to himself. Ronan was going to open his big mouth and make enemies out of the three jovial men. The good news was that none of them were carrying weapons, unless of course they were concealed.

“Which way is the orgy?” Ronan asked, his usual snarky grin was in place.

“Orgy?” the brunette asked, laughing. “We’re coming back from yoga.”

“They have naked yoga here?” Jude asked.

“ Everything is naked here,” the blonde laughed.

“Oh, sweet Jesus, when we get home, my husband is gonna die. Slowly. Painfully. Naked as the day he was born,” Ronan muttered. “This place is a nudist colony?”

“What gave it away?” the tall man asked. “Anyway, we’ll catch you later. Ultimate Frisbee starts at two.” All three men waved and were on their way.

“I don’t even want to know what makes nekkid frisbee ultimate ,” Jude said, with a shiver.

Ronan burst out laughing. Within seconds, Fitz and Jude joined in.

Fitz could have done with a different kind of ice breaker, one that involved fully dressed fellow campers, but at least the three of them were laughing together again.

“This explains why Cope packed a huge bottle of…”

“Lube?” Ronan interrupted, sounding like his usual snarky self.

Jude snorted. “No, sunblock.”

“You think they all knew what this place was when they booked the reservation?” Fitz asked.

“Fuck, yes!” Ronan said.

“Absolutely,” Jude agreed.

“All that’s left to do now is plot our revenge.” Fitz waggled his eyebrows and burst out laughing.

Jude and Ronan joined in.

Sharing a funny moment together wasn’t much, but it was a start in the right direction. The three of them were at their best when they worked together to confront a common enemy. Jace, Ten, and Cope weren’t going to know what hit them.