𝑊𝐴𝑁𝑇 𝑇𝐻𝐼𝑆 (locke and key gabe)

26 rewritten

When night fell and Key House was silent, Avery turned the Anywhere Key in her bedroom door. Anticipation gripped her. She loved the thrill of it, sneaking around with him. It was verging on the early hours of the morning, and she was sure her siblings were asleep. The door swung open of its own accord, allowing her a glimpse into the Well House. Gabe's eyes were already on her, his brow raised. She could tell he was surprised at her, and Avery felt almost proud of herself for doing something that he couldn't read. He approached her slowly, as though waiting for permission to pass through the threshold. Once he left the well house, returning to it would kill him. If he did this, there was no going back.

Avery tried to swallow her doubts, replacing her fear with something far too akin to desire. The moment he entered her room, the world seemed to shift. The room became hotter almost instantly, the air heavier and more stifling. She felt sort of intimidated all of a sudden, debating her decision to ever let him leave his prison behind.
"God I've missed you," he murmured, closing the door behind him. A grin spread across his face, and at the sight of it all her fear and regret seemed to evaporate until her smile mirrored his own. He was even more mesmerising than he had been when she had seen him only hours ago, and she did little to fight the army of butterflies set free within her stomach.

She was hungry, so hungry, and still not quite able to grasp all of the ways Gabe's Key had changed her. Having it half turned had in ways done well to prepare her for this, only she hadn't quite understood the depths of her newfound strength. Avery felt as though she had been transported into someone else's body, with limbs so different to her own that she no longer knew quite how to use them. It was like learning to write all over again, something that had become so natural was suddenly ripped away and replaced with a blank slate.

And yet as hungry as she was, when she looked at him the feeling dulled. The gnawing, consuming hunger was little more than a numb sensation somewhere far off in the distance. All she could think about was Gabe.

She looked him over once. He grinned in return and closed the gap between them. Avery reached behind him and slipped the Anywhere Key into her clammy palm. She held it out to him, both a peace offering and a token of her repentance. There were so many things she wanted to experience with her new heightened senses, and she sensed that he felt the same. Gabe tucked the key into the pocket of his jeans and snaked his hand around her waist. It felt strange to her that this was real, that after longing for him to come back to her, here he was, solid and true with his arms wrapped around her. As their lips met, Avery couldn't help but smile against him.

Sunlight danced across her eyelids as dawn broke over the woods. Avery's eyes opened slowly, softly. Her burnt curtains fluttered in the morning breeze from her open windows, light pooling in through the charred holes in the fabric. Gabe was still beside her. She had expected him to be gone, but there he was; proof that yesterday had not simply been a dream. She ran a hand down his chest, smiling softly to herself. Her idyllic wake-up was ruined by the realisation that her mum would come and check on her in a moments time. Nina had taken to checking on Avery whenever possible, following Gabe's 'death', and she didn't want to think about how she'd handle it if her mom discovered him very much alive and in her daughter's bed.

"You need to leave," She told him, eyes wide, suddenly alert. Gabe looked at her, his eyes half closed, hair hanging lose over his face, his arm slung over her waist.

"Gabe," Avery shoved him slightly and he grunted in response. "Quickly, my mom will be here any minute!"

Slowly, reluctantly, he pushed himself to sit, running his hands through his hair. He fumbled for his discarded jeans, the Anywhere Key still in the pocket. Avery knew she was making a mistake, but mistakes weren't supposed to feel so good. Gabe kissed her once more, tenderly, lovingly, in a way that let Avery pretend for a moment that he was just a boy. He turned the key in her bedroom door, not taking his eyes off her as he did. "I'll be back,"

The moment the door closed behind him, Nina entered, still in her Disney pyjamas. As she sat down on the edge of her daughter's bed, clutching a steaming cup of coffee. She realised that for the first time since Gabe's death, Avery was smiling.

Her time at school wasn't spent in quiet self-pity, for once. She hardly even noticed her loneliness. All she could do was count down the minutes until night fell and she could be in Gabe's arms again. 

"What's up with you, Ave?" Kinsey asked, seated beside her in English, "You seem particularly happy today,"

Avery shrugged, still smiling to herself at the thought of him.

They sat in awkward silence for the rest of the lesson, neither sister daring to speak another word. Avery's eyes stayed glued to the clock above the door, watching the hands ticking down, waiting until she could see Gabe again. 

She noticed then, that in the small glass panel in the door, she could just about see the full extent of the corridor. She had that feeling in her chest, the one she got when a key was nearby, as though she could sense it, calling out to her. She watched as a door swung open, and Gabe stepped out into the hall, tucking the key into his back pocket. 

Avery stiffened at the sight of him, and quickly excused herself under the pretence of 'female emergencies', which was always sure to get her out of class. 

"What are you doing here?" She hissed, "These people think you're dead, Gabe, what if they see you?" 

Gabe only smirked, completely unbothered by the idea of being discovered. "I missed you," He told her, his tone almost mocking. "I've got nothing else to do and nowhere else to go."

Avery heard footsteps down the hall, and quickly shoved the both of them into a nearby storage cupboard. "Is this you wanting the Identity Key, then?" She asked him, trying to think of anything but how close their bodies were.

"Oh please, Ave," He scoffed, "I want all of the Keys, and I want you to get them for me."

She stepped away slightly, flinching as her back hit the stack of boxes that lined the wall. "And if I don't?" She asked him. She had missed him, she had missed the games that they played, the thrill of their never-ending chase.

"You will." He said simply, drawing closer. "You know you want it too, for things to be back to how they used to be."

He was right. They both knew that he was right, no matter how much she wished that he wasn't. It was still the same game they always played, only it wasn't only the rules that had changed, Avery had changed too. 

"Once I have the Keys," Gabe murmured, the ghost of a smirk at his lips, "We can go back to Javi's, finish what I started, and I'll give you whatever you want. Everyone in this town will obey you, worship you, and anything you ask for I will give to you."

The way he spoke was so enthralling, Avery wondered how she had ever resisted him for so long. He kissed her softly, and she leant into him, her back still pressed against those boxes. His hand slipped into the back pocket of her jeans, and she felt his fingers curl around the Identity Key. He kissed her harder when she did nothing to stop him. 

"Come with me," He murmured between kisses.

"Where?" Avery asked him, pulling away. His gaze was locked with hers, and she never wanted to look away. The identity key clicked into place beneath his chin, and his face began to smooth and stretch and contort, until he became somebody she no longer recognised. But his eyes stayed the same, and she knew that deep down he was still Gabe. 

"Anywhere," He told her softly, "I just don't want to be without you,"

She shook her head, "I can't, Kinsey will know, and if we need the keys then I can't let them get suspicious of me," 

His smirk faltered ever so slightly, his arm curling around her waist. "Then meet me in the sea caves tonight."

He kissed her again, one last time, and then the Anywhere Key turned in the lock, and Avery was left standing alone in the dark.