So just pull the trigger.

35. Wouldn't you rather play with us?

Misha and the others left shortly after noon. Anna had made a small fuss before leaving about Joni's lunch. She wanted to ensure he'd have something proper to eat since the rest of them were eating late lunch/early dinner at Misha's uncle. 

Joni didn't need to understand what she said, he understood her grandmotherly concern well enough, and it warmed him. She prepared a plate for him from the leftovers of yesterday's lunch, and all he needed to do was warm it in the oven since there was no microwave. She had Misha show him how the oven worked

"Tell her that I'll be fine, I'll manage, and I won't burn the house down, I swear it," Joni told Misha with amusement in his voice.

" She's not worried that you would. She's worried that you won't find enough to eat, that's all." Misha smiled.

And then they were gone, leaving him alone in the house that suddenly felt a lot bigger than before. It was an odd feeling; although he had wanted to be alone, or at least thought he had, he suddenly felt slight uneasiness about it.

He needed to distract his mind and try his best not to think about the matter that stressed him out like nothing else.

 Exercise usually worked the best, and for a brief moment, he pondered about going out for a run but then decided against it feeling much too exhausted. Still, he managed to push through it to some extent and did a short interval workout. It was probably shorter than ten minutes, when he usually kept them at least twenty, but he knew it was wiser to listen to your body and his told him that he needed to rest.

After his rather short workout, he took a warm, relaxing shower. Trying to keep his mind distracted from his worries while standing under the hot spray and focusing those thoughts elsewhere. It was difficult.

He got dressed and walked into the kitchen to get a small snack. He didn't feel like eating lunch yet, so he settled for yogurt that probably had way too much sugar, but it would have to do for now.

The house was eerily quiet now that everyone was gone. Well, not completely quiet, old people seemed to have a fixation on clocks that made a loud noise, his grandparents had those clocks too. He found the sound annoying, and perhaps even a bit ghostly, but perhaps the sound gave old people comfort. A reminder of childhood or something. – He wondered and decided to move upstairs to try and get some much-needed rest.

His thoughts began to wander back to those unwelcome thoughts. To Chris and Aki, to that issue with the pictures, the messages received from Aki, and the fact that the man hadn't answered his latest reply, calm before the storm; he couldn't help but think.

How far would Chris and Aki take this? – Joni wondered and felt another strong wave of anxiety and fear moving through him. He had to try and think of something else!

London... They would move to London, and everything would be different. He would study, Misha would work, they'd meet new people, and no one would know. Unless... Someone would have seen those pictures and tell everyone they met?

He could change his name. Perhaps take his grandad's surname from his mother's side and use his second name. Eelis Kosa? It sounded foreign. He silently repeated the name a couple of times until it started to sound okay enough. Perhaps he could claim that he came from Hungary? Only... he didn't speak the language...

It wouldn't be such a far-off lie. His mother's father came from Hungary. His grandmother, Elisa, had fallen fiercely in love with him, much to the disapproval of her own family. 

Robi Kosa, Joni was told, had been or was a gypsy and that was not something that sat well with Elisa's family. In the end, his grandad left her with two small children and a broken relationship with her family before traveling off on his adventures.