THARNTYPE: AS WE GET OLDER

ROAD TO HAPPINESS

Tharn stared up at the ceiling with unseeing eyes. His chest felt tight and his hands were clammy from the anxiety. Type was lying next to him with his back to him. Probably the first time in a long time that he didn't sleep tightly pressed to Tharn's side. It hurt. There was nothing that could rip out his heart like Type in pain. His immediate impulse was to soothe him, but Type didn't want that from him. This time, Tharn was the cause of his pain. 

A hand crept closer to Type. Right near his back, but not touching. Tharn was able to breathe a little easier just feeling Type's body heat. The helplessness left him so cold, he felt like he was dying. 

"No...no....stop..." Tharn heard Type murmuring and frowned at his back. He turned on his side and reached for Type's shoulder, but Type shook him off. 

"Stop!" Type screamed and it startled Tharn. Tharn flipped Type onto his back quickly and shook him. 

"Type! Type, wake up!"  Tharn yelled down at him. His hands rubbed Type's arms trying to wake him, but Type wasn't listening. He was locked in his usual nightmare. One that hadn't come back since he met Tharn. 

Tharn's eyes watered and tears streamed down as he saw Type's face. He was frowning, but he was terrified and sweat ran down his temple as if was physically fighting his demons. His body shook against Tharn and his hands were fisted tightly against Tharn's chest. 

Tharn hauled Type against him and kissed his cheek and his forehead. "Type. Type, come back to me. Wake up, please. " Type's hands gripped Tharn's shirt and then he was hyperventilating as if something held him in its grip. 

"Tharn. Ai Tharn, help me!" Type cried with his eyes tightly closed. His hand simultaneously held onto Tharn and pushed him away. 

Tharn took a deep breath and made his voice firm. "Type, wake up. Now!" he shouted. 

Type's eyes fluttered open and for a second he was disoriented. He looked down at his hands clenched around Tharn's shirt and slowly loosened his grip. 

Tharn looked down at him with concern. "Are you okay?" 

Type buried his face in Tharn's neck and let him hold him. "No. I saw him again...I couldn't breathe...I"

"Shhh," Tharn said soothingly. "He's gone. He left the island and he's never coming back."

Type frowned and pushed Tharn away by his shoulders. "How do you know that?"

Tharn looked away with a guilty expression. He'd given himself away by trying to comfort Type, but if it was the only way that terrified expression would leave his face, then he was willing to be the villain. "I talked to your dad. I asked him for his name."

Type scrambled away from him and Tharn dropped his arms uselessly. "Why the hell would you do that?"

" I wanted to see where he was. It's been more than ten years since that happened and I wanted to know what happened to him."  Tharn braced himself for Type's anger. He could already hear the tirade that it wasn't any of his business, that he had no right, but Tharn didn't care. He protected what was his. 

Type looked heavenward as he asked for patience. "Tharn, please don't tell me you talked to him. Why...?" Type got up from bed and paced back and forth. He was so angry he could scream. He should've known Tharn would not let it go. He was too protective for that, but Type didn't want him anywhere near that monster. 

Tharn got up on his knees on the bed and put up his hands as if in surrender. "I didn't talk to him. I just looked him up." Tharn sighed. "Type, they disabled him in jail. He's in a wheelchair."