Accidents Made Right 3: Philophobia

Chapter 13: An Awkward Walk Home

20 minutes later

It had been a few minutes since Knightmare revealed the truth to Bob, and we eventually decided that him, Samantha, and Matthew should stay behind while Steve and I went to the Berkan house, which Steve believed was where Dylan had his lab.

We were now heading down the Main Street, since his house was directly across the town from my family's house.

And there was an awakened silence between us.

Once we were halfway through the town, I looked at Steve, then back at the ground before saying "Y-Y'know... I n-never thought I'd g-get the chance to w-walk you home... but h-here we are."

With a sigh, Steve replied with "Yeah, sure."

"Y-You alright S-Steve," I asked, looking at my lover again with my empathic green eyes.

"Yeah, I've just been thinking. Knightmare had a perfectly good chance to stop us, and for a second I thought he was trying to so I wouldn't find Dylan's lab."

"But now I realize he just wanted to force Bob to see his son again. I don't know why, but all I know is it can't be for a good reason."

...

I looked around at the villagers, and, despite just being enslaved... they were all smiling at me. I was confused for a moment, until I realized why...

Despite their pains, their struggles... they still wanted to show me their support. I couldn't help but shed a tear.

Quickly wiping it, I told Steve "A-Actually... my father d-did t-talk to me... when I was f-freeing your n-neighbors."

"Really? What did he tell you," Steve asked, returning a concerned yet curious stare.

I slowly breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth before explaining "A-Amongst other t-things, he t-told me... he told m-me the cost of f-finding this truth y-you're searching for."

"What? What did he say will happen," he asked, the both of us now walking up another hill which lead to the Berkan household.

The house on top of the hill looked almost exactly like my family's house, with a triangular-bricked roof on the taller part of the house, and along with a dark oak front porch in the front, there was a garage connected to the left of the house which, unlike the Griggs garage, it was twice as long and tall.

I wanted to say it... but along with my heartbeat, my anxiety levels were quickly rising, creating a lump in my throat as my shoulders tensed.

But, I knew I had to say it. So, pushing through the tension, I eventually managed to say "H-He told me that you'll p-push me away."

Steve stopped when we got to the top of the hill, grabbed my hands, and stared directly into my gaze, and then promised as surely as possible "I swear, no matter what, whatever it is, I won't push you away."

"A-alright."

Steve gave me a smile, then released his left hand from mine. Then, still holding our right hands together, we stepped onto the front porch.

He then opened the door, which immediately lead to an intersection between a dining room with a sliding glass and garage door, and between the living room.

There was also a grey, metal door on a wall in the intersection, with a bookshelf next to it that was smashed on the ground.

After staring at the metal door for a few seconds, Steve let go of my hand and reached his other hand to the door.

The surface of the door in front of his hand changed, revealing a fingerprint scanner which Steve placed his hand on.

"Welcome, Steve Berkan," an ai voice said in a monotone voice, and the door proceeded to move into the wall, revealing the basement stairs.