Small.<br/><br/>Small as hell.<br/><br/>Roslin peered out the window of the car as they drove through the town they were settling into. It had-shit, were those fruit stands? Those were fruit stands. What century was this? Not that he had a problem with fruit. Fruit was awesome! Pineapple? Yes, let's. Apples? With caramel all day long. Cherries? Can we just. But what cities had fruit stands? In the summer at little festivals he'd seen fruit stands. But this wasn't a city. It was a town. That was the difference. Roslin shifted to lay back down on the back seat of his parent's car. He watched the roofs of the buildings go by in the window across from him. They passed a theatre that still had the marquis up... Big difference from Chapel Hill. And it was colder too. The colder weather was just rolling around down in North Carolina when they had left. Here, a few states up, it was nearly ten degrees cooler. With tired hands Roslin rubbed his big brown eyes, feeling them itch with the need for sleep. His parents were talking in the front seat, he doubted they knew he was awake. Roslin felt a slight tremor in his right hand and knew it was because he was so hungry. Looking over his pale hands he could see his long, thin fingers trembling slightly. They were cold, too. When he pulled his cellphone from his pocket it felt nice and warm from having been pressed to his leg for an hour. The screen told him it was nearly five o'clock.<br/><br/>.... he wasn't even sure how many hours they'd been in the car now.<br/><br/>Roslin tucked the phone back into his pocket, having to shift around in the seat a little. His head bumped against the car door and he curled up, putting his hands over the aching spot. He resumed feigning sleep where he lay, waiting for the ride to be over. It took another twenty minutes to get out to the boonies where their new house was. The moment the car stopped Roslin reached over his head and pulled the lever on the door. He army crawled out of the vehicle and rolled onto the grass in the yard. The house didn't even have a paved driveway. After Roslin rolled onto his knees he could see the thin layer of gravel well worn into the earth just barely outlining a drive. No wonder the last few seconds had been so bumpy.<br/><br/>The moving truck had beaten them here. It was parked a little closer to the front porch, resting in the overgrown grass. He watched as two tall, thick men carried a sofa up the front few steps of the old colonial two story house. The paint was pealing, a shutter was crooked. It swayed in the slight breeze, creaking on the lone hinge holding it in place. Just inside the windows he could see heavy drapes and he knew... he was going to have the worst allergies. A shiver brought him back to the present, Roslin reached back into the car and grabbed his red coat. After pulling it on he grabbed his pillow and backpack and started into the house. He nearly fell through the first step, the wood felt so rotten it must have been full of termites for years. The movers avoided the step he noticed when they walked back out.<br/><br/>Inside the house was dark, a few lamps set on tables stuck in the corners next to light sockets were on. The dining room table was set up(and hey, mum's persian rug was rolled out beneath it), the sofa was in the living room along with the armchair. The coffee table was in the corner, though. His mother was trying to arrange the kitchen table with his father.<br/><br/>"Why don't you go and check out your room?" his father suggested with a smile. Roslin just nodded, glancing around the kitchen.<br/><br/>Thankfully when he found the staircase the steps were considerably sturdier than those on the porch. He tested them with his toe before trusting them. He held the banister when he ascended, testing it to see how strong it would stand. It didn't budge. So don't judge a book by it's cover? The outside of the house looked like hell but the inside was top knotch first class. Granted, the wooden floors looked like they could use some polishing but it wasn't anything too bad. And dad had said they're probably look into rennovations the first year.<br/><br/>The top of the stairs let out on a hallway. Directly in front of him was the bathroom and just to the right of it was his room. Just a few steps down was his parent's room and just next to that was the guest room. Simple lay out, easy to remember. A pair of movers were coming up the stairs with a rocking chair and he ducked into his room to avoid them. And, oh, nice! The bed was already set up. Well... it needed sheets. One of the bigger boxes he knew had his mattress pad and blankets in. He surveyed the piles of different boxes and moving gear. His desk needed to be moved to the other corner but thank god the bookshelf was in the right place. Roslin found the box he was looking for on the opposite side of the desk-hiding from him- and opened it up.<br/><br/>"Shit," he muttered to himself, voice soft in the quiet. He could hear the people talking downstairs but his ears were ringing from hearing the wind rushing around their car for what felt like an eternity. And even though it felt like heaven to have his legs stretched out Roslin wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. He quickly stretched the mattress pad over the bed, pushing the frame into the corner of the room. He pulled his favorite pair of soft sheets from deep in the box and threw them on, piling on a fleece blanket, quilt, comforter and throw blanket. Quickly he shoved his desk into the corner and threw some books on the bookshelf. Lamp on desk, check. Lamp on bedside table, check. both on? Check. Hardbacks on the shelf, check. Paperbacks, yet to be found. Without much planning at all he slapped up a poster print of Starry Night over the desk, made a little collage of old photos of himself and his friends and pulled out a small collection of stuffed animals. Just when he was about to pull out a few clothes the moovers brought in the dresser and set it next to his bookshelf. Without bothering to fold anything he threw in most of his tee shirts and some pairs of shorts(like he would ever need them again).<br/><br/>There.<br/><br/>That's enough to have done, right?<br/><br/>Right.<br/><br/>Without any further hesitation or delay, Roslin jumped into his bed and burrowed under the covers. A slight case of the chills came over him. He shivered, knees tucked against his chest and waited patiently for the bed to warm. He pulled the phone out again to check for text messages. He had none. ... And no service either. There was one small, sad bar in the service detector. How sad. He dropped the phone into his bed, not worrying about losing it. Without any other delay he fell asleep.<br/><br/>Roslin didn't wake up until early afternoon the next day. He didn't understand when his mom gently shook him awake to tell him they were leaving for town. Grocery shopping... yeah that was a thing that probably needed to happen. About an hour after they left he rolled out of bed and changed his clothes immediately. Thank god he had been wearing sweat pants the whole previous day. If he had slept in his jeans it would have felt downright gross. After deciding to shower later and leaving his black wavy hair in a mess and ignoring the purple circles under his eyes Roslin trumped down the steps, groaning a little to himself. He flipped the television on for background noise and went to look in the pantry. The most appetizing thing in there was a jar of peanut butter. Who doesn't love eat gobs of that stuff? Roslin grabbed it and a spoon from the counter. Guess mom hadn't made it to put them in the drawers yet.<br/><br/>With his rations Roslin grabbed his red hoodie(he had a thing for red outerwear) and decided to venture outside. His pale sheeks flushed pink under his freckles once he was outside. He had to squint in the light. And... WOW SHIT! He almost screamed and dropped his food when he saw the boy under the tree. They were about the same age-not like this kid was some creepy stalker man come to kill him but still... where in the hell was the nearest house? He hadn't exactly been paying attention during the car ride yesterday but....<br/><br/>"Roslin," he answered after a moment's hesitation. "I live in this house." He pointed down at the floor with his spoon. "...Where around here? Did you walk here? It's kind of far out from the town..." Roslin looked the blonde boy over, blushing a little. Thankfully no one would be any the wiser thanks to the wind chilling him to look like Rudolf. His fingers grew cold around the spoon and the jar, a little shiver ran down his back. Should he invite this Jakob kid in or... Roslin wasn't sure what to do so he stood there awkwardly, looking at his new acquaintance.