"the way you pull away from me sometimes." Lightning admitted.

"see. you're supposed to annoy the person you love." Doc said, kissing his head when the younger leaned against him. he took the exit as it came up, Mack following behind him.

"why don't you push me away when I annoy you?" he ask with a confused look. Doc snorted slightly.

"because I love you kid. I'm not gonna shove you away because you tick me off a little." Doc murmured. he parked in the parking lot at the diner and got out, Lightning getting out with him. the younger stepped closer to him.

"sorry to make everyone pull over so soon, it's just that its 8AM and we haven't eaten." Mack murmured.

"its all good Mack. we all need to eat, can't let the kid get sick again." Doc said, motioning to Lightning. the youngers cheeks turned pink and he huffed. Red walked over and hugged Lightning tightly, not removing the youngers feet from the ground. Lightning let him, face shoved into the older mans shoulder. he grunted slightly, squirming. his body still ached from the painful way the three older men had grabbed him earlier.

"let go Red." he muttered. Red released him and ruffled his hair.

"you should brush your hair, its messy." Red muttered.

"yeah, you people are exactly why I can't do that." he huffed, following Doc into the diner. usually eating with the guys was just a normal thing, but today was different. usually Doc would shove him into the booth beside the window, but this time Doc made him sit on the outside of the table. it was odd, confusing, but then he realized Doc was sitting in a way he was blocked and couldn't be seen from the outside of the diner. he settled into the booth.

"so you wanna give me a run down of the path from here to there?" Mack ask, looking out the window. Lightning was beginning to feel like he was in the witness protection program or something. he tuned out his friends talking and looked around silently. if they were this afraid Chick was going to come after him, he better keep an eye on the people around them.

"then, you're gonna take exit-" Doc started.

"any one checking to make sure we aren't followed?" Lightning interrupted. all three looked at him.

"what do you mean kid?" Doc ask. Lightning frowned he was probably just over reacting, but he was sure they all were.

"guy that just walked in. he's been behind us driving 2005 Toyota for the past 15 miles." Lightning said. "just double checking someone is making sure we aren't followed or something." he added. Doc looked over at the man, he didn't directly look at the table, sitting up at the counter, with a direct line of sight to not only their table but Lightning.

"could be just random chance, but just in case, Red you and the kid swap seats. that'll put you out of his sight, just in case." Doc said. Lightning stood and swapped seats with Red, leaning against Macks side for extra measures. he looked up, Docs sharp blue eyes were staring at the man he'd pointed out and he continued to give Mack directions quietly but it seemed like he was making things up off the top of his head. Lightning frowned and stood heading over to the counter. he came back a moment later with a pen and piece of paper, pushing it towards Doc.

"this is like some drug deal shit." Mack muttered. Lightning snorted and Doc rolled his eye's writing down the directions.

"don't lose this Mack." Doc warned. "this is direct instructions straight to the hotel." Doc added. Mack nodded.

"I got it." he assures. Doc nodded.

"so whats in Tho-" Mack started.

"Thompsonville is just an important place to Doc." Lightning shrugged. Doc almost looked confused, before realizing he was being careful, just in case. Thompsonville was a few hundred miles from Thomasville.