Close The Door

Chapter 26- Soul Purpose

It wasn't hard to get back to the dorm buildings from where I was since they were pretty tall and were visible from where I was. I initially wanted to go back to mine, but I had to go to Ash's room first to get my belongings, even if I was dreading the interaction. It felt like I was being a horrible boyfriend. 'No Goh, you ARE being a horrible boyfriend.'

It's not quite the surprise upon seeing Ash's angered expression, even though he wasn't furious. Instead, he ran up to me, squeezing me just as tight as the ropes around my limbs, which left marks that Ash thankfully couldn't see. Koko had been sleeping, balled up like a dog, raising their head groggily before falling back into a relaxing slumber.

"Goh, where were you? I was worried sick," he said. I looked down, contemplating whether he should know about the kidnapping. Ultimately, I go with a lie, even if it may bother me later.

"I just needed a while to be alone," I said, hoping it was enough to deter Ash from asking tons of questions. He pulled me in for another hug yet again.

"Lillie was also worried to, but I told her you were going to be fine. She's staying at Lana's for the night," he said. He noticed my worried expression, and even though I lied to him, he saw right through me. "Is everything really okay?"

I remained silent for a bit. My guilt overwhelmed me, and decided it was for the best to tell him the truth. I slowly lifted up my sleeves, revealing marks from the ropes, showing dents in my skin.

"No, it isn't. I still don't know how to process it," I said, as I feel a small tear fall down my face. Ash catches it with a finger, wiping my eye from the sadness that began to wash over me.

"Baby, tell me exactly what happened," he said comfortingly. I hesitated for a moment, breathing slowly, before getting the strength that I needed.

"Kiawe-" I began, before Ash impatiently cut me off, a fire brewing in his eyes.

"What did he do to you?" He asked angrily. Flustered, I tried my best to de-escalate his negative emotions.

"It was nothing bad, honest," I said.

"Then why were you tied up? Explain that to me," he said. His arms crossed against his chest, awaiting my explanation. I didn't know where to start, so I ended up saying what his warning was.

"There's someone out there with blue eyes that's after us," I said, recoiling at the thought of it. He was stunned, his eyes growing in size.

"Does he-" he began to ask. I cut him off.

"They know we're gay. Him, Paul, Gary, even Bede," I answered. He curses under his breath, beginning the start of an anxiety attack. I shut it down real quick. "They're okay with us, Kiawe was trying to protect us, which is why he had to go through extreme measures," I finished.

Ash doesn't say anything, processing the information, which gets me thinking as well. There were a couple of people we knew that had blue eyes. Serena, Jessie, Lana, hell even myself. But what stuck out was the person with blue eyes as well that was currently in the same room as us.

Koko, completely oblivious, awoke from their slumber, their blue eyes shining in the light from the window.

My heart dropped, and judging from the look on Ash's face, a similar thing happened to him too. Koko was looking at us confused.

"Is there something on my face?" They asked. Ash and I were still nervous about the whole situation. Ash stepped in front of me, as if he were my shield. Part of me was completely trusting of Koko, but the other was filled with uncertainty, as we didn't really know much about them.

"Koko, you're cool with us, right?" Ash asked. Koko looked even more confused than when they woke up.

"What do you mean? About you two, I said I was. Or is this about something else?" They asked. Ash looked back at me, indicating that I should say something, but it felt like lumps were stuck in my throat, and I couldn't swallow the fear or spit out the truth.