Chasing the tesseract

Chapter 64

Darkness envelopes the room by the time I awake later that night. Blankets cover my body as I lay in Stephens bed, his arm stroking my cheek gently as he watches me sleep. It isn't until his hand parts from my cheek that I open my eyes, watching him sit up where he is and turn his back to me. Slowly, his head falls into his hands as the moonlight creeps in through small slots in his blinds.

"Stephen?" I whisper, drowsily pulling myself up from the bed and hugging the sheets tightly around me before shuffling closer to him. A sniff comes from his frame just before my hands wrap around his shoulders, pulling his frame over to mine. Stephen's shirt is wrapped over my shoulders, the buttons pressing gently into his shoulders as he looks up at me, resting his nose against my own and closing his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." his voice is Barry a whisper whilst his breaths rise and fall deeply. Whilst his eyes remain closed, his hands reach up towards my cheek which he strokes gently. His skin is soft and warm against mine.

"Hey." Pulling my head away from him, I wrap my hands around his face, pulling his eyes upwards until he looks straight at me. His eyes are distant, barely focused on my face as he smiles weakly at me in an attempt to reassure me he's okay. "Talk to me."

His head falls forwards, resting against my shoulder as I wrap my arms around his frame. I'd never seen him like this before. So fragile and nervous. What had made him this worked up? Rubbing his back soothingly, I place my cheek against the top of his head and listen to his breathing. "There's this voice in the back of my head."

"Voices in your head are never good." A light chuckles comes from the both of us, his frame sitting up as he takes my hands inside his. Slowly, he presses his lips against my knuckles before placing my hand against his forehead, opening my fingers until they rest upon his soft hair.

"Tell me what you hear." He begs, closing his eyes as I do the same. A deep breath runs through my lungs before I dive deep into his mind, flurries of memories and voices diving inside mine. It was a mess in here. How did he remember anything? Just when I'm about to pull myself back out again, my ears ring with his soft voice.

"It's time to go home." The voice is loud and firm, it's words more like a command than a request. "The both of you before it's too late." It warns, my eyes closing again as I'm transported back to the real world.

Opening my eyes, I'm greeted by Stephens blue ones as he awaits for my response curiously. "You know I wish we could but we have to stay." I smile weakly at him whilst he bites his lip, looking away and watching the light outside again. Shuffling closer to him, I place a gentle hand on his shoulder and squeeze it reassuringly. "You know we can't just leave them Stephen."

He snaps. "No I don't." His voice is loud, bitter, as his eyes land back on me. Almost like it's a reflex, I flinch backward slightly just when guilt washes over his eyes. He never meant to scare her but he really wanted to go home. It's was like the voices were saying, it could be too late soon. "They don't need us to beat Thanos so why can't we leave?" He tries again, this time more gently than before as he takes my hands inside his.

"Because I can't abandon my family." A hurt look washes over his expression, his eyes narrowing as his eyebrows crease inwards. After looking for him for so long, I wasn't about to abandon my brother. Or my friends.

"Am I not family?"

"You know you are."

The grip he has on my hands tightens, his eyes closing against the darkness that envelopes the both of us. Nobody moves for several moments, only the air that we breathe making any sound as I watch him carefully. "I want that life you spoke about Abi." He whispers, his eyes still closed when he presses his lips to my knuckles. "Kids."

"And why can't we have that here?" I ask him gently, his eyes sliding back open as they meet mine. This place was a perfect home for a family. There were plenty of schools. Pleasantly of houses and friends. Our family was here. What more could he want?

"When we're here, there's always a threat, something to get in our way."

"That won't disappear when we go home." I warn him, his illusion of this perfect, threat free world taking over his views. If he thought everything would be better there then he was wrong. If anything I think it would be worse. After all, how many enemies did we both have back home? At least a dozen.

"I know but I can protect you better there. I just..." his voice trails off and he looks down at my hand inside his. Slowly, his hands trace the lines upon my palm, fixated upon the one that ends halfway across it. "I don't want to loose you Abi." He finally admits, looking back up at me with tear-filled eyes.

"You won't." I promise him, placing my hand against his cheek and smiling at him through tears. Truth was, I was just as terrified of losing him as he was losing me. I knew going home wouldn't take away the threats but as he said... at least we could protect each other there. And any future uses. "Because we're going home tomorrow."

Relief washes over Stephen's face, his shoulders relaxing noticeably as he closes his eyes with his escaping breath. "Thank you."

"You swear this is what you want?" I ask him for reassurance. A simple nod comes from his head before he collapses back against the soft bed, pulling me down to lie next to him. This was it then, I was going back to the place I swore never to return to. "7 o'clock at Baker St. Don't be late." I was really going home. Although then again, I guess I was always at home. As long as Stephen was here, so was my home.