The Gnawing Hunger

Pancakes and Introductions

From the minute that Bo woke up, he thought Hawthorne was just a dream. And he wouldn't be in the spare room sleeping. That there would be nothing there. Only a stuffy room that they had rarely ever used. And that he definitely needed to clean it. He opened his eyes and rubbed the sleep out of them the best he could. Sitting up, he stared down at the floor. Surprised to find that there were dirty patches on the ground. Roughly around the size of a human foot. Almost like his visitor from earlier in the morning. He fully realized that this meant he hadn't been dreaming. That Hawthorne was really in the cabin. In a room, that anyone could find him in.

Pushing his covers off, he looked up at his friends. Neither of them were awake just yet. And a small part of him thanked everything for that. He slowly and carefully slipped his legs out from under the quilt. Right onto the floor of their bedroom.

Carefully standing up to avoid making the bed creak. He quickly and quietly walked out of the bedroom. Shutting the door as silently as possible behind himself. Fearing that he would wake either of his friends. And he didn't want to do that just yet. As Bo didn't know how to properly explain everything. Tell them everything about why he allowed the homeless, possibly homeless, man in. Let him sleep in the spare room and take his clothes. Sure, he was trying to be kind. It was really still a stupid reason. Bo knew that either of his friends would call him on it. Telling him how reckless it was to let someone random into the cabin. Which he knew but, he still couldn't help himself. Quietly, Bo walked towards to the spare room.

Praying that his Grandpa wouldn't be up just yet. As the older man could easily see through any lie he thought of. Like he did when he was a freaking child. Always seeing through whatever in the world he tried. Like taking things when he said he didn't and breaking a window.

He only breathed a sigh of relief when he touched the door. There were no sounds of other footsteps anywhere. It definitely meant he was in the clear. Though his heart wouldn't stop pounding against his rib-cage as he gripped the doorknob. A part of him was unsure of what he was going to say. Or how he was going to properly handle any of this. There were a ton of emotions bubbling up inside him. And he couldn't understand what any of them meant. Though he did his best to shove them down and open the door. Opening it slowly, Bo peeked into the bedroom. In a quiet and somewhat calm voice, he whispered,"You awake in there, Thorn?"

"Yeah, I am Bo.",Hawthorne answered. His voice sounded so very sleep addled and was pretty low. Carefully, he walked into the room that Hawthorne was in. Carefully shutting the door behind himself. Turning on the light to see Thorn sitting up. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with the back of his fists. Setting his hands down, Thorn asked,"What time is it?"

"I think it's around nine or so.",Bo hesitated. He had forgotten to grab his phone. It was charging in the other bedroom on the nightstand. So, he was really just guessing at this point. Taking a few steps forward, he asked,"So...what in the Hell were you doing outside like that, Thorn?"

"I got lost in the woods a couple of days ago.",Hawthorne explained. Bo sat down carefully on the bed. Doing his best to avoid sitting on Hawthorne's toes. Making a motion for him to go on as he did so. Thorn continued,"I went camping by myself and I got lost out there."

"Been out here for...geez. Two weeks. I ain't sure.",Hawthorne stated. It sounded strangely plausible in his mind. Though two weeks seemed like a stretch. How hadn't people been looking for him? Why weren't people looking...he ignored that. It was probably because they didn't live anywhere near each other. And Bo didn't want to open any old wounds that he might have. Though there was something that was really starting to bug him. Bo couldn't put his finger on just what it was. For now, he didn't think of it. Just sat there as Thorn continued,"Lost everything that I owned around five days or so."