You're Real After All....

Unexpected Guests

"Ow! Ryan, that hurt!" Lewis yelped as he jerked away from the older's touch. On instinct his hand shot up to cover his eye—which was something he instantly rued, because his fingers felt like they were razor blades and he pulled it away from his face with a painful wince.

"S-Sorry! I'll be more gentle!" Ryan replied as he pulled the ice pack away from his friend's face.

The gamer's couch and carpet were covered with wrappers from bandaids and alcohol wipes—which made him feel like he was in a hospital. Most of his injures were clean and bandaged, but he still felt like a human punching bag. Felt like a punching bag and smelled like a doctor's bag. Ew.

"Hold still, okay? I'll be done soon." Ryan said with an apologetic smile. The younger just sighed and let his friend gently press against his eye with the ice pack. Lewis did his best to hold still, but his eye really fucking hurt. How was he gonna be able to hide that from his viewers—from his friends and family?!

"Yeah, this will be bruised for a while...maybe a week or two? I mean, it looks like he hit you pretty hard."

"He did...."

Lewis grit his teeth at the thought of Darko and his hands gripped the couch tightly. Ryan noticed this and pulled the ice pack away for a moment to look into his eyes.

"Hey, don't think about it too much. I won't let that happen again, alright? And if it does, he'll look a lot worse than you do right now. I guarantee you that." He smiled at his friend, who smiled back warmly.

"My hero!" He teased as he leaned back against the couch. Ryan just chuckled and rolled his eyes playfully, but they filled up with worry once again. He was glad that Lewis was in a joking mood, but at the same time, he feared for his friend's life. What would you do if your friend called you at four in the morning and told you they were hurt in a dream—then later find out that it was true? You'd definitely feel a little nervous like Ryan did.

Actually, no—you wouldn't, because Ryan wasn't just nervous; he's was nervous to the point where he could have a full on panic attack if anything else happened. His head hurt and he was dead-ass exhausted from staying up all night with Lewis—who was trying to stay awake right along with him. This was a fucking nightmare. No one was gonna believe them about this...

"Hey...you okay? You look a little pale..." Lewis asked, snapping Ryan out of his thoughts. The blonde rubbed his tired eyes and sighed with a shaky tone. He wasn't okay, but this wasn't about him, it was about Lewis.

"It's not about me right now. We're focused on you."

Lewis frowned at that and placed a hand on Ryan's shoulder. "Hey, that's not fair. If something is bothering you, then tell me."

"I'm just worried, okay?" Ryan's whole body shook with every word as he tried to pull himself together. There was no doubt that he was scared, Lewis could smell that a mile away.

"I'm really worried about you, and I don't know if we'll be okay after this whole thing blows over."

"Hey....we will be, Ryan. We're still alive right now, aren't we?" Lewis moved closer to his distressed friend and his hand was replaced with his arm as he wrapped it around the blond. That seemed to make Ryan shake a little less.

"I...I'm really glad you're okay—eh, well, as okay as you can be. You still look pretty rough."

Lewis looked down at his bandaged knees and legs. He felt like a video game character—felt like this wasn't really happening to him and that someone was about to load a new save file to choose a different approach. That'd be nice if it were the case, but no, this was actually happening. Lewis was beat up in his sleep. Darko was real. This whole thing was a fucking mess.

"I'm glad Baz is asleep over there so he doesn't hear our crisis." Ryan's laugh echoed through the room. It was the first genuine laugh either of them heard all night. It felt kinda nice.

Baz was snoring as he lay on Lewis's reclining chair in the corner of the room. He was even more exhausted than Ryan and Lewis were, and that was saying something. Then again, Baz wasn't really sleeping well at all during the prior nights. Lewis was glad he was at least getting some rest in.

A knock at the door snapped Lewis out of his thoughts and his heart rate picked up. He had no idea who was there, but he was getting anxiety trying to figure it out.

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Ryan stood from the couch and cautiously told Lewis to keep quiet as he made his way to the door. The gamer just nodded and buried his knees into his chest so he could sit comfortably. Ryan didn't think the person at the door was a bad guy, but he still didn't want Lewis to deal with anymore drama than he already had.

Through the peephole of the front door, Ryan could see Will standing on the other side.

Fuck.

"It's Will, should we let him in?" The older asked with a bit of panic in his voice. This was the last thing they needed right now. What was he doing here? He couldn't see Lewis like this! He wasn't going to believe them, and he could possibly come to the conclusion that Lewis was robbed or something and call the police. That wouldn't be good.

Lewis shot up from the couch with the same amount of panic as if he could read Ryan's mind. They looked at each other for a moment, contemplating on what to do next. The knock at the door returned and that's what caused Lewis to run to the kitchen and hide. The front door, he realized, was unlocked and he knew Will would try to open it if they didn't answer.

"Try to get rid of him." Lewis whispered as he hid behind his fridge, "Stay calm and he'll eventually go home."

Ryan nodded and tried to steady his breathing before he opened the door. He couldn't. This wasn't gonna be easy.

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Lewis peeked his head around the corner to see that Will was in fact, standing in his doorway.

Fuck.

"Hey Ryan. I noticed your car out front. Are you here to check on Lewis too? He called me like six times earlier, so I figured I'd come down to see if he's alright." Will's voice was calm as he tucked one of his long ebony hairs behind his ear. Lewis could hear Ryan's heart from there; quick and full of adrenaline. The blond was never good in stressful situations. This was no different.

"U-Uh actually, I just came to hang out with him. Get some b-bro time in, you know? Nothing's...wrong. He's just tired, that's all. He's in bed r-right now, s-snoring away."

If this was L.A. Noire, Will would be hitting the square button right now. He was doubting every word of this. When it came to lies or skeptical situations, Will was basically Cole Phelps in every situation. Nothing got past him. Well, not always, anyway.

Will raised an eyebrow and frowned. "You sure? You're looking a little pale, buddy. Did something happen?"

"N-No!" Ryan shouted a bit too fast, which made Will flinch.

"Mind if I come in? You know, wait for Lewis to "wake up" or whatever?"

"There's no need. I-I'm here to take care of this. You don't need t-to worry." Ryan was panicked.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck a bag. This wasn't going well at all! Lewis should've known Will would be smart enough to figure out something was wrong. The man may have autism, but he was still a fucking genius sometimes. A genius who never failed to get people's heart rates going—especially Ryan's. The blond was starting to breath heavy, and Will was looking at him with a concerned expression.

"Is that blood on your shirt?" He asked and pointed at Ryan's chest. The younger looked down and his eyes widened as he noticed a small, pattern of reddish brown spots on his clothing. Lewis must've grabbed it at some point while they were talking....

In that moment, Lewis came to a decision: reveal himself and tell Will the truth. It probably wouldn't work but it was better than watching his friend lie and almost have a panic attack.

Well shit...