I'm gonna kill Kate for not texting me just this once. Or, fuck, maybe she did, I don't know. I always forget to check that shit. For all I know, the battery's dead. I don't care enough to check, though. After a moment of hesitation, I pull Carla Jean toward me in a hug, once she's close enough for that, hand curling briefly in her hair before I step back again. We're not touchy-feely people, but it's been too fucking long since I was last around her to ignore the desire to hold her just for a second, like I can't be sure she's real until I've felt her presence, solid and whole.

"Same old bullshit," I tell her, shaking my head, "time being all fucked. You didn't miss too much."

Other than that shit with me and Kate, but I'm grateful for that as soon as I think of it. I don't need Carla Jean knocking me upside the head for it. I already know it was dumb as hell.