WHERE TO NOW? (M/M) 18+

Chapter 24

Travelling Back

I awoke to the sound of people moving around outside my room, and it irritated me. The lack of sleep making me groan as I rolled over and shoved a pillow over my head to drown out the noise.

My eyes opened under the pillow when I realised what day it was and why everyone was up at the crack of dawn. An anxiety and dread filled my chest as I sighed, shifting onto my back.

Someone knocked on the door, loud enough to wake up the dead. Skyler's voice rang through the wood, yelling for me to get up, and a deja-vu washed over me. I thought back to the night before, and I could've sworn I heard a knock at my door in the night, but I couldn't be sure... maybe it was just my half asleep state.

The sound was unrelenting, the shuffling and conversation pounding in my head like a drum, I couldn't take it. I threw the pillow off the bed as I stripped off the blankets and sat up with a huff of annoyance. I stormed over to the door, yanking on it, forgetting it was locked, and letting out a groan of frustration as I turned the lock, and threw open the door.

I couldn't see Skyler, but I could hear her. The young foghorn of a woman was in her room while she yelled for Daz to hurry up. My eyes drifted beside me to see Daz shuffling the kids out of their room and talking about their coats as he tried to put them on.

His eyes lifted, and his face lit up when he saw me. "Samuel, you're awake" he said fondly.

"Kinda hard to sleep with all this racket"

He chuckled, ushering the kids downstairs before turning back to me. "Everyone's almost ready to go. Grab your things" he said, before he limped down the stairs.

I didn't understand how everyone was moving around so quickly, I could barely see three steps in front of me.

I wasn't used to waking up this early, and with the little sleep I got, I was cranky, oh so cranky. Everything irritated me, from the sound of people talking to the sound of my shirt ruffling against my chest.

I was about to go back into my room to flop onto the bed when I saw Damien leave the office from my place atop the stairs, peering over the railing. My body visibly stiffened as the air caught in my throat. Nerves and excitement filling my chest like a flood.

I was taken aback by the realisation that I was excited to see him. It was strange. He exposed himself in a way I never thought he would, and it brought me great pleasure to know that he was comfortable enough to confide in me like that... at least at the time. Although I couldn't see him doing that again if I'm honest.

I was happy that he talked to me, letting me in on the inner workings of his mind. I felt closer to him, but for some reason I felt an unease, a nervousness that creeped up my spine at the thought of going downstairs.

He was intimidating, sure, but I'd never felt this hesitant to interact with him before. I had no idea what I could possibly say to him, not after we opened a vault he and I both locked up long ago.

I turned around, walking into my room and wishing to dear god that I could lie down for just a minute longer. Praying that someone would fall down the stairs so we were inevitably delayed, and l could get some sleep as we nursed them back to health. Or maybe, just maybe, I could throw myself down the stairs and get the best sleep I ever had.

I chuckled at the thought as I grabbed my bag from the floor, placing it on the bed and started to stuff clothes inside. I walked into the bathroom; there was no way I was leaving my soap behind.