He pulled his sweatshirt off, leaving himself in just a T-shirt. “I need your hoodie, Jay. There’s blood on it.” When Josiah didn’t move, Mateo pushed it up and over Josiah’s head. He wiped his hands on it, then ran over and grabbed Josiah’s bag, shoving them both inside. Then he grabbed the cloth that had been shoved in Jay’s mouth, ripped the gloves from his hands, and put them in the bag, too.

“We gotta go. Come on, mi precioso. Let’s go.” Josiah shook like crazy, his face red with tears. “Fuck, I am so sorry this happened, but I need you to try and pull it together. We gotta get out of here.”

Josiah shook his head. “I’m trying...I’m trying. He wanted...” He shook his head again. “I don’t know if I can do it, Teo.”

Mateo closed his eyes and pulled Josiah to him. He fucked up so bad, letting him get hurt like this. It was too much. “Okay, we’ll find a hotel for tonight, and then we’ll decide where we want to go tomorrow. I’ll figure it out somehow, and we’ll get the fuck outta here, Jay. Somewhere safe.”

Mateo slid his arm through Josiah’s and started to walk. “Just try to act as normal as you can. I’ll get us somewhere we can stay tonight.”

His eyes didn’t stop scanning their surroundings as they went. Teo tried to walk fast, hoping to put as much distance as he could between them and cops, or whoever else could come back.

“Come on, Jay. You can do this. We’re almost there.”

Mateo found a shitty hotel, half of the bulbs out on the letters, where he knew they wouldn’t worry about credit cards or anything like that.

Five minutes later, they were in a room. He pulled Josiah over with him and checked the window to make sure it was locked before leading him to the bathroom. Everything inside Mateo called out for him to hold Josiah, to find a way to get him out of here tonight, but he knew Jay couldn’t make it.

Kneeling in front of him, he cupped Josiah’s face with his hands. “You did so good tonight, mi precioso. So fucking good. I’m so proud of you, but I need you to do something else. You’re going to have to stay here for a few minutes. I won’t be gone long, but I have to get rid of our clothes.” His fingers shook as he untied Josiah’s shoes.

“No!” Jay shook his head. “I want to go with you.”

Mateo just pulled his shoe off before going to the other one. “You can’t. You’ll draw too much attention to us. I’ll be gone forty-five minutes, tops. I got you. Don’t worry. I’ll be back. I promise.”

Josiah shivered as Mateo finished undressing him. He shoved everything in the bag. “Take a shower while I’m gone, yeah? I’ll be back by the time you get out.”

He didn’t wait for Josiah to reply before washing his hands and going out the door. It didn’t take long for him to find some piece of shit clothing store, where he got them both pants, boxer-briefs, T-shirts, hoodies, gloves, shoes and beanies. He found an alley to change in before taking the bag down to where the homeless hung out and burning all their shit in a trash barrel.

He kept his face down the whole time, but knew that might not matter. His heart hadn’t slowed down since he saw the lights out at Charlie’s. He fought to keep his breathing steady, knowing if he lost it, Josiah would be right behind him.

When Teo got back to the room, Josiah sat on the bed, his hair wet and a blanket wrapped around him. He had his arms around his knees, his eyes wide and frantic until he realized it was Teo.

A scream fought to jerk out of him. The urge to kill anyone who stood in the path to keeping Josiah safe kept his heart beating and his blood flowing.

Mateo went straight to the bed, crawling in with Josiah and wrapping his arms around him. “I got you, mi precioso. No one will ever hurt you again. I promise.” Self-hatred burned like acid through all his vital organs as Josiah shook in his arms.

“We’re gonna get out of here, Jay. I’m going to get you somewhere safe. If we go far enough, and since it’s been so long, I don’t think anyone will be lookin’ for me.” Which was a lie. He’d said the opposite just this afternoon. “We’ll find us a place and you can get your GED. I want that for you. Promise me you’ll get it.”

Shakily, Josiah whispered, “I promise.”

The sound of his voice almost cracked the last of Teo’s resolve, but he stayed strong for Josiah. “Once you get that, then you can go to school. You’ll be real good at college, and you can work in your coffee shop till you graduate.”