𝒜𝓇𝑒 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝐿𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔?̵̭̞̪̊ (𝔊𝔯𝔲𝔪𝔟𝔬 𝔉𝔦𝔠)

✾15✾

As promised in the last chapter and a comment section, here's part 15 with some Grian~
Also if you want to be hurt, listen to "For Forever" While reading this <3

Tw: Homophobia, mentions of yelling, implied abuse

Grian's Pov
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I'd been walking for hours before it fully processed that I was actually out. I was free. I hadn't known what freedom had felt like in years. I smile to myself, I had missed the smell of the wildflowers. I had been too distracted by the greenery to notice the hill in front of me, until I went tumbling down it that is. At first I freaked out, half expecting to tumble into a death trap, before remembering I was out of danger. I didn't try to catch myself after that, or stop the momentum. Instead, I curled my wings around myself so they were out of the way and laughed as I rolled down the hill. I laughed the whole way down, all the way until I rolled into a field of dandelions, only stopping to watch the white seeds of them fly into the air and be carried off into the wind. I laid there on my back, smiling at the beauty that surrounded me. I felt a figure lay down beside me, so I looked over, being met by Martyn, except he didn't look how he did last I saw him. He looked how we did when we were kids. His hair was lighter and tied into a bun, his eyes reflected the setting sun. He wore a dirty grey t-shirt with a brown vest, and a torn-up pair of jeans. He giggled then looked at me, smiling brightly. I smiled back as he sat up, taking my hands into his own and standing up, pulling me up with him. Martyn had always been taller than me, but in this moment I was a little taller. (Grians 5,6 , Martyn is 5,4 here, he is usually 5,9)
"Tag! You're it!!" He shouts as he taps my forearm, then takes off running through the dandelions giggling. I Stare at him for a moment, before I take off after him, laughing as well. He had made it halfway across the field by the time I'd caught up to him. I grabbed his wrist, but before I could shout that he was it, we both tumbled to the ground and down another hill. We laughed the whole way down, till he hit the ground with a grunt. When I finally opened my eyes I realized why he'd stopped laughing. I had landed on top of him, which knocked the air out of his chest. I couldn't help but laugh at this until I took a proper look at him. He looked more like himself now, but not exactly. His hair was shorter and a darker blonde, he had on his bandanna and a white button up, and gray sweatpants. This is how he looked back in Evo. 
"Did you forget how physics work Charles ?" He laughed, teasing me for my stupid decision. As much as I wanted to quiet him, I couldn't bring myself to speak. I hadn't heard my first name in so long, it didn't feel like mine. Yet hearing him say it sparked a feeling in my chest I didn't recognize. 
"hey- are you alright??" He sat up, forcing me to sit down on his legs. 
"Yeah I'm just- you're- you were back in last life- and now you're-?" 
"Last life?? What on earth are you on about Gri? You don't need to look so jumpy, we're safe" He smiles, though showed obvious concern about my 'last life' comment.
"Safe-? we're-.. We're safe." I repeat him, then lean my head against his shoulder and smile. "We're gonna be safe." I feel his hand in my hair, his fingers softly running through the strands. It felt so real. 
"C'mon you goof, Jimmy's waiting for us" he removes his hands from my hair so I could get up easier, but part of me just wanted to stay there. Despite that feeling, I got up anyways, grabbing his hands and pulling him up. 
"Tims waiting-?" It was hard for me to speak, the feeling in my chest was heavier now but it wasn't exactly a negative feeling. 
"Yeah! I told him I'd go find you and bring you back''
"o-oh- okay-?" He let go of one of my hands, but kept hold of the other and lead me away from where we were before. I could feel my legs moving in step with his, I could tell that I was keeping pace with him, but I wasn't exactly controlling my own body. My mind was racing with thoughts, possible explanations of what was happening. The one that sat best with me was that this was a dream. I never left Last Life. I'd wake up there, maybe passed out in the grass near the border. But I never left. This wasn't real. Just a dream. Martyn's back in the Southlands still. We're not here. My thoughts are cut off by arms wrapping around me, this brings me back to my senses. It felt so real.
I look over my shoulder to see who was hugging me. I was greated by Jimmy's fluffy and tangled blonde hair. He wore his usual red, white and blue sweater. I couldn't see his face from this angle, but there was likely some bandaids on his face. He didn't have his ear wings. But his normal pair of golden wings were folded neatly behind his back, they were more well kept than his hair was.
"There you are Grian!! We've been looking for you everywhere!!" His voice sounded more innocent, untainted. Happy.. I felt an ache in my chest at this.
He pulled away from the hug and stepped in front of me, looking at me with a bright smile.
I felt particularly to blame for why he doesn't smile like that anymore. I left with very little explanation. I wish I'd have told him one more time that he was loved.
"C'mon!! The others are waiting!" He steps back towards Martyn, still smiling. Martyn offers me his hand, which I just stared at.
There's no way that this is real. I have all my scars from 3rd life and last life so far. I have my scars. I have proof of those places. This isn't real. It not being real hurt more than if it were and I was just suddenly back. Part of me wanted to tell them all the things I didn't get to when I left. But I knew that it would just make me want to stay.
I pushed past them, and continued on following the cords. I didn't look back to see their reaction, but I could feel eyes on me.
I can't get distracted. I have to find a way to get help. Maybe then Tim will smile like that again. And Martyn wouldn't be afraid to be open, play stupid games of tag despite being told we're too old for that.

I continued my walk, which there were no distractions for several hours. When the sun had started setting I quickly built a little shack, and sat down on the bed I'd made earlier in the day.
I laid down and pulled the covers over myself, just wanting to get some sleep. But of course I wouldn't be able to just sleep. I began to hear muffled yelling. It confused me for a moment until I realized it was the voices of my mother and father.
I quickly sat up and frantically looked around. I was in my childhood bedroom. A cross hung above my bed, along with a bible beside my bed. The bookshelf near the door was a complete mess, and my bookbag had been discarded on the floor. There were some Zelda posters on the wall in the bare parts of the room.
I couldn't tell what the two were yelling about, it was far too muffled. I was terrified to open the door and try and find out though.
I heard a little tap on my window. Reluctantly, I got out of bed and went to the window, hesitantly opening it, whatever was out there was definitely better than having to deal with those two yelling.
"Hey!" Martyn shouted, pulling himself up so he was in my sight. His hair was a mess and tangled kinda badly. He wore a hoodie, though the sleeves were bunched up by his elbows, and his arms were scraped up, likely from the climb up.
"Martyn -? What're you -" I didn't get to finish my sentence before he pulled himself up fully and climbed through the window.
"Well, you left without telling your pops beforehand, so figured it'd result in some sort of yelling. Seems like I was right" He kept his voice low and soft.

"I-I-. you shouldn't be here-" my voice came out like a pathetic whine.

"Oh definitely not, but I wanna make sure you get to sleep alright " he smiled, dragging me back to my bed by my hand. He sat me down, then laid down on the other side of the bed, away from the wall and motioned for me to do the same. I hesitated before laying down, turning to be facing him. The yelling got louder and I curled closer to him. He seemed to notice this, as he wrapped his arms around me, and placed a hand in my hair, allowing me to hide my face in his chest to help muffle the noise. I can feel him run his fingers through my hair. Just these two actions alone broke me. I couldn't keep it together anymore. I wrapped my arms around him, gripping the back of his hoodie tightly as I burst into tears.
He didn't slow his movements at all, he just continued running his fingers through my hair.
"Hey. You remember that solar eclipse I was talking about? The one that'd be in a place near here? It'd be 27 when it happens. Funny thought huh? I know things are rough right now. But I promise you that when we're older we're gonna see that eclipse"
I thought through what he said quietly. The eclipse is this year. How could I forget?? If I did I'm sure Martyn did. This for some reason made me start sobbing more.
The yelling got closer, less muffled. Up until the door flung open.
"Charles! Get your ass -" It was my father who'd entered, I didn't need to lift my head to see this.
"What the hell is this?! Sneaking a boy into your bed!??"
"Maybe he wouldn't have to if you weren't such an ass all the time." Martyn snapped back at him, but he didn't raise his voice. I couldn't bring myself to argue, or try to stop Martyn from arguing. So I just laid there and cried into his chest.
"Oh you are in so much trouble boy!!" He stormed out of the room. To get the belt was my guess.
I was going to try to tell Martyn to go, to just leave and then let it happen, but he picked me up and flew out the window. I'm surprised he managed to pick me up, let alone glide with that extra weight.
He landed pretty roughly, then took off, I didn't really care where too. I didn't realize I couldn't breathe til now.
When he finally stopped I could feel him set me down in some grass, my back press against the bark of a tree. I took a look around my surroundings. We were on a hill beneath a large oak tree. The moon was pretty high in the sky. I felt him sit down next to me, his shoulder brushing against mine for a moment. He wrapped his arm around me, and curled his wing over my shoulder and side like a blanket.
"Martyn-?"
"Yeah Grian?"
"Thank you for still being here. We made it to 28."

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And here's 15 finally!!
Sorry for the wait.
It's weird to think that it's been over a year I've been writing this! The introduction was posted January 14th, it's the 23rd a year later.

Please remember to drink some water, eat and take any meds you need!
I love you all!! Have a great day!!
2069 words
<3