-Devin-

I yawned as I watched the construction crew fill in the last of the gravel on the forest road. It had been a long day replacing another culvert. This one was more challenging than the others, and on top of that, we'd had a difficult time wrangling all the fish and getting them out of the work area.

Avery spent the entire day running around the site and coordinating everything. I had to follow him and force feed him bites of his sandwich in order to get him to eat, because he wouldn't stay still long enough to take a break. I admired his work ethic and how motivated he was, but I knew I could never work that hard. Most days, Avery had to drag me out of bed so we'd get to work on time.

I leaned against the hood of the SUV and started playing a game on my phone. It was impossible to tell when Avery would have everything wrapped up and be ready to go home. All around me, car doors were slamming and my coworkers were saying their goodbyes. It wasn't until the construction crew drove away that I saw Avery walking towards me. He looked exhausted.

"I'll drive," I volunteered, holding up my hand to catch the keys.

Avery tossed them and we settled into the SUV. He was asleep within five minutes. I knew it would be a long drive, so I turned on some music. I was tired too. The last few weeks I'd worked more than I ever had and it seemed like I couldn't get enough sleep. I wasn't only mentally tired - it felt like my entire body was constantly fatigued, like I just wanted to sit down and rest.

The sun was down now, and the headlights of the car were the only thing illuminating the forest road. Tree trunks and large branches crept into the light and then vanished, returning to darkness as the car moved past. It all looked the same, and with nothing to focus on, my eyelids began to droop.

Stay awake, I told myself. I knew I could wake up Avery and ask him to drive, but I wanted to let him sleep. He seemed more tired, and we hadn't been on the road long enough for me to need a break. All I needed to do was push through until we got to the highway, and then there would be more lights and stuff to keep me focused. It would be fine.

-Avery-

I jolted awake as the SUV rattled and then slammed hard into something. Everything went from black to white and something shoved me back into my seat with a violence that knocked the wind out of me. Gasping, I tried to catch my breath and figure out what had just happened. I was in the car, and it was dark, and there was a tree in front of the car. We were in the forest. I groaned as my head throbbed sharply.

"Avery?! Are you okay?" Devin's shout held a note of panic. He was struggling with his seatbelt and trying to push away the deflated airbag that rested between him and the steering wheel. His eyes were wide with fear and he lunged towards me and frantically started running his hands over me, checking for injuries.

"What happened?" I croaked.

Devin grasped my face and turned my head towards him. I winced as his fingers brushed my forehead, and when he pulled his hand away, I saw his fingers were red with blood.

"Does anything else hurt?" he asked. "Talk to me."

I took a deep breath and tried to focus. I moved my arms and legs and focused on the sensations. Other than my head and chest, everything else seemed okay.

"It's just my head," I replied. "And chest, from the airbag. But I just got the breath knocked out of me. Nothing's broken." I squinted over at him. "Are you okay?"

He nodded.

"What happened?" I repeated.

"I...I think I fell asleep," he admitted. "I was tired, but I thought I'd be okay."

"Let's get out. We need to see how much damage the car has, and if we can drive out of here."

Devin pushed his door open. "Stay there. I'm coming around to help you out."

I released the seatbelt and started pushing the airbag out of the way. By that time, Devin had my door open and he steadied me as I got out.

"How's the car?"

"Uh...not great."

I slowly walked around to the front of the SUV. The hood was crumpled and the front bumper was smashed against a spruce tree. The car was a few feet off the road, down in the ditch.

"Do we have cell service? Can you call your dad?"

"Yeah, I'll do that," he said, pulling his phone from his jeans and holding it up. "I've got one bar. If the call won't go through, it'll at least be enough for a text."

I sighed and sat down on the edge of the road. I was tired and all I wanted was a hot shower and to be in bed. Now, we were probably going to be out here for hours. I heard Devin's voice rising and falling as he talked to his dad, and I reached up and gingerly touched my head. It had been resting on the window as I slept and I must have banged it against the glass when the car went off the road.

Devin appeared in front of me. "My dad is calling a tow truck and he's coming out to get us." He knelt down and touched my forehead again. It stung, and I jerked away.

"Stop touching me," I snapped.

Devin's eyes widened. It was rare that I showed irritation or anger towards anyone, and I knew I shouldn't have snapped at him, but my head hurt and I wanted to be home.

"I'm just trying to help," he said. "I want to make sure it's not going to keep bleeding."

"You've done enough."

Devin's brow furrowed, but I could see the hurt plainly visible in his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"If you were tired, why didn't you wake me up?" I asked. "I know we were both tired, but we could have taken turns driving and sleeping. It would have been better than being stuck out here."

"I was trying to be nice and let you sleep."

"Well, you should have woken me up! If crashing the car is your version of being nice, then I don't want it!"

"I'm sorry, okay?" Devin shouted. "I didn't mean to do it. You think I don't already feel bad enough? I could have killed you! How do you think I feel about that?"

He turned and walked off, kicking the gravel and sending rocks flying into the forest. When he finally plopped down onto the edge of the road, I thought I heard him sniffle. Under any other circumstances, I would feel awful about what I'd said and go comfort him, but I wasn't in the mood for it. I knew I should be better than this, but I was mad at him and my head hurt. So I turned my back, staring into the dark forest instead.

Some time later, I heard the distant crunch of tires on gravel. I turned around and saw two sets of headlights coming up the road. Logan was finally here, and there was a tow truck behind him.

I stayed where I was while Logan talked with Devin and looked at the SUV. I could hear Logan's stern voice mixed with Devin's defensive tone. As the tow truck driver prepared to pull the SUV out of the ditch, Logan appeared in front of me, holding a white box in his hand.

"Hey, Avery. How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. Just tired and ready to be home."

Logan knelt down. "I heard your head got a little banged up. Is it okay if I take a look?"

"That's fine."

I held still while Logan opened the white box, which turned out to be a first aid kit, and then gently turned my head so he could look at it. When he started to clean the wound, I closed my eyes and tried not to flinch.

"I don't think you need stitches. I'm going to put some Steri Strips on it, but you should watch it for the next few days."

When he was finished, he helped me up and guided me into the passenger seat of his SUV. Devin was sitting in the backseat. The ride home was going to be awkward, so I felt lucky to drift off to sleep before we got off the forest road.

-

I woke up to a swaying sensation.

"We're almost home," Devin said. "I've got you."

I opened my eyes against the bright lights and saw we were in the hallway of our condo building. Devin was carrying me.

"What are you -"

"Shh. I didn't want to wake you up."

"You're going to have to put me down to open the door."

I heard a slight chuckle and felt the rumble in Devin's chest. "Fair enough."

As he gently set me down, I felt guilty about how I'd treated him, especially when all he was trying to do was make sure I was okay. Once we were inside, I turned to him and hugged him. "I'm sorry for getting mad and snapping at you."

"It's okay."

"It's not. You were just as upset as me and I should have comforted you instead of yelling at you."

"We were both stressed out. And I yelled back, so don't worry about it." He kissed me on the forehead, making sure to avoid the side with the cut. "Let's get in the shower. I can wash your hair for you and keep the cut on your forehead from getting wet."

I followed him into the bathroom and began taking off my socks. When I looked up, Devin peeled his shirt off and let it fall to the ground, and I physically recoiled. His chest was a dark maroon shade. The bruise that was beginning to form was bigger than my head.

"Your chest..." I breathed, reaching out to him.

He looked down and I didn't miss the subtle expression of surprise. "The airbag," he finally said. "I didn't even notice until now."

I pulled off my shirt and glanced down at my own chest. "I don't have a bruise like that. Are you sure something isn't wrong?"

"We were probably positioned differently in the car. I dunno. It's just a bruise."

I felt even more horrible. Devin had been hurt and I was too busy being angry with him to check on him, really check on him and do more than simply ask if he was okay. I was so focused on my own discomfort that I didn't stop to think that he could have been seriously injured. I knew I was going to hold him a little tighter that night.

"Stop worrying," Devin said, placing a hand on my cheek.

I reached up and placed my hand over his. "I'll try."

"I think we're both working too hard," Devin continued. "Next week, I want to take you on vacation."

"We don't have time for that."

"Yeah, we do. We don't have any culvert installations on Tuesday and Wednesday. And since we worked the weekend we were at camp, that's basically comp time. We're owed two days off to replace the weekend."

"Dev, that's not how it works. We're salaried, which means we work however many hours we need."

Devin rolled his eyes. "You work too hard, Saint Avery. Being salaried also means that we can work less when there isn't work to do. I'll clear it with my dad and it'll be fine."

I wasn't feeling confident about that, but I decided to indulge him. "Where can we go for two days?"

"I'll surprise you."