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Tuck had been feeling a lot better for the past few days. No more cold symptoms, no runny nose, no aching body. It was a good thing, too, because he'd kept himself busy on the training field. Running. Weightlifting. Anything to keep his mind off of what was really bothering him. Tuck had almost forgotten what sleepless nights felt like.

Almost.

He'd always been able to tolerate the lack of sleep. Physical activity kept him from thinking about it - and then there'd been Nevada or Heidi to curl up with. When Tuck was alone, his brain couldn't stop, and if he finally found sleep he was tortured once more by the dream.

Without Nevada, without Heidi? He didn't sleep. It had really given him a lot of time to think about everything that Nevada had said. It had also given him a lot of time to feel frustrated.

What the ******** was he doing.

He'd always lived by a few rules. You don't ******** with taken women, and you don't ******** with virgins. And so the question remained.

What the ******** was he doing.

After a jog, an intense session on the training field, a cup of coffee and then an hour in the weight room, Tuck had gotten back to his room and immediately hit the showers. He was on his way back to his dorm when he saw Heidi talking to his door. The Moon watched her for a long time, a half-smile on his face.

The instant he saw her pull her phone out, Tuck was scrambling for his so that he could put it on silent. It was hard to fight the urge to laugh. ********, she was in his room. Tuck just stood there in the hallway and tried to figure out what to do next.

<It is not so difficult, Theodore. Follow this Short Stack into the room. Then Theodore takes off his -->

Tuck quietly choked and did his best to mentally block out Herryk.

<-- shoes... Theodore should retrieve those thoughts from the disposal.>

Gutter.

<What?>

Gutter. Not disposal.

Herryk gave the notion that he was rolling his eyes. Hard. Still grinning, Tuck pulled out his phone and tapped out a response... ...even though he was standing just down the hallway from his room.

It was getting harder and harder not to laugh. He had the fleeting thought again, self-doubt about what he was doing with Heidi. Kissing, sleepovers. What the ******** was he doing? Why?

It struck him, suddenly, the answer to that question.

He was having fun. A good time. He was enjoying himself. It really was that simple - and there was no reason to dig deeper than that. Not yet - and maybe not ever.

Leaning against the wall, Tuck tapped his phone against his chin before tapping out a reply.

At that point he let out a loud bark of laughter before clapping his hand over his mouth. Had she heard? It wasn't like he could hide anywhere if she had.

Pushing away from the wall, Tuck shuffle-jogged back to his dorm. He didn't bother to muffle his footsteps. There she was, sitting on his bed like she owned the place.

"I didn't have you fooled for a damn second, did I?"

Tuck laughed and approached the bed, hands on his hips. He peered down at the blonde before making himself comfortable on the bed. In truth, he wasn't too eager to get back in bed after having spent a week of complete agony there, but Heidi was too goddamn adorable to pass up.

"I'm glad you know that I'd never do nothin' like that to you," he laughed softly, scratching his jaw. "An' since we got some money an' an extra day off, I think we should get out and have fun. I know we was gonna go hiking or somethin', but if you'd rather go somewhere else and stay somewhere we could do that too. It's up to you, sweetheart."

She hadn't seemed upset when he'd called her sweetheart, but Tuck stopped that train of thought in its tracks. He wasn't even going to worry about it. On one hand he was a little hesitant in putting himself out there - but on the other hand, what did he have to lose? He was starting to feel like a giant ******** baby about all of it, and so Tuck just... stopped worrying. For now, at least. What had happened with Nevada had happened, and they were still friends if nothing else - and Tuck had to be okay with that. Friendzone ******** sucked, but he wasn't going to force himself if he was making s**t too complicated. The last thing he wanted to do was -- there he went again.

Tuck cleared his throat. He decided to leave the sweetheart comment alone.

"Still early, so we could get the hell out of here right now." He kissed her forehead and ran his finger down the bridge of her nose. "I could use a day to get some s**t done on my own."

A day to clear his head would be nice.

"Will it take you long to get ready?"

"Yeah. Yellowstone, Redwoods, whatever you want. You can pack us up somethin' or we can stop somewhere and get stuff, however you wanna do it."

On the topic of kisses, Tuck hesitated. What was a really good kiss? Rather, what was a really good kiss as far as Heidi was concerned? What he considered a good kiss and what Heidi considered a good kiss were probably two completely different things --

<Theodore is being far too thoughtful as of late.>

No, I ain't, I'm just --

<Theodore. Just kiss Heidi.>

Tuck exhaled softly before leaning forward to press his lips to Heidi's. The kiss was simple and soft, lips to lips and nothing more. It was a really good kiss, if not a little boring.