I let the tub fill up, watching as Lincoln's mother ran her hand through the clothes. They all looked fine, but there weren't any sparks of color to catch my eye, only the drab gray. I let my hand swish mindlessly in the water, taking it out again.

"Sky," the woman called to me, "this would look so cute on you."

She held up a sleeveless gray top, fingerless gloves to match and jeans. Lincoln looked over at me. It wasn't my usual style, but I could give it a try.

"Yeah," I nodded, "it would."

When the water took up just enough of the tub, I turned it off.

I took a deep breath. "Could you guys, I don't know, avert your eyes or something. Especially you, Lincoln."

They both complied, Lincoln's mother turning back to the clothes, and Lincoln dramatically covering his eyes and spinning around. I left my clothes in a heap on the floor, made sure I could still reach all my soap and hair products, and slipped into the water.

"Ok. You can look."

I went about everything that I needed to do, contributing to the general conversation as I did so.

"What are we going to do, after we're all cleaned up and everything?"

"I don't know. We're locked in, what is there we can do?" Lincoln's mother pointed out.

"We just have to wait," I sighed, "and we'll pray Gary's in a good mood."

"Do you mind me calling you Skylar?" There was Lincoln's mother asking me permission.

"Yeah, I mean, it's my name, I guess. What's your name by the way? It feels a little weird calling you 'Lincoln's mom.'"

"My name's Treasa. To be honest, you can call me whatever you want, and if it isn't an insult, I'll be fine with it."

"Treasa, that's such a pretty name. It sounds so unique and beautiful."

She chuckled. "Too pretty of a name for too dull of a woman."

"I think it's just too little confidence. I think your name suits you perfectly."

"Thanks, Skylar. I'm glad Lincoln found you."

I grinned back, but Lincoln interrupted me. "I'm glad she found me too."

I let the two of them talk for a little while, eventually finishing up.

"Avert your eyes again. Please and thank you."

Lincoln had at some point pulled out a different shirt for me, a tank top. I pulled that on, putting the jeans on too. That was more my speed.

"I'm good."

My hair was dripping wet, and I imagined it looked like a mess, but Lincoln still walked up to me anyway, lifting my chin up and kissing me on the lips. "You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen," he told me, looking frank.

"Hey," Treasa protested, "I'm the first beautiful woman you saw."

I let my eyes stay on his face long enough to watch him chuckle embarrassedly. He wasn't shameless after all. That would have been helpful information to learn years ago. You know, there should be packets when you enter a relationship with someone that give little details like that. And they'd have one about you too, so it'd be fair. All you would have to do would be read it to skip the awkwardness of the first few months when you're still figuring each other out.

We all took turns at the tub, lounging about when we'd all finished. Both of my companions found food and ate through it, making me glad that I didn't have to compete with them.

Gary didn't come back until after we'd failed at trying to see the sunset through the one window. It was too high up, too dirty, and too much effort to do, so we gave up, laying on the bed. Treasa had been Lincoln's mother, which kept me from seeing how young she really was. She had to be in her mid-twenties, under thirty.

The grinding of the door above us effectively silenced us all, and we waited as Gary descended the stairs.

We're going again. The souls can sleep in the car.

I looked at my two companions, and stood, the bed squeaking beneath me. I looked at the food they'd managed to round up, took the unopened ones, and grabbed a backpack I'd liked from a closet. I dumped them all in, ignoring the way Gary followed my movements as I slung it over my shoulder, collecting items from around the room that might prove useful. I followed him out, holding Lincoln's hand.

"Aren't you going to tie us up again?"

No, I don't think you, Angel, will run.

And with that, I was in the open air, the starlight tickling my face.