Healing a broken soul(Zane×Gene) {Re-write}

Chapter 17

Garroth and Laurence walked into the house, "It was so nice to catch up with everyone again!" Garroth says happily, but Laurence quickly shushes him. "What wro-" Garroth was interrupted by Laurence who covered his mouth. Laurence points to the couch, seeing Gene and Zane snuggled together, asleep.

"This is amazing..." Laurence whispers but Garroth just stayed silent, surprised and feeling a little, sad? Garroth just walks past and goes upstairs to his bedroom, Laurence closing and locking the door, following him upstairs, seeing that he was visibly sad. "Garroth, what's wrong?" Laurence asks as Garroth kicks off his shoes.

"Nothing..." Garroth lies, but Laurence doesn't fall for his lies, "Well, it's definitely something if you're going to lie to me about it," Laurence points out. Garroth sits on his bed as Laurence walks over, wrapping his arms around Garroth. "What's wrong?" Laurence asks again but Garroth stays silent, making Laurence feel upset. "What happened to you immediately coming to me when something's wrong, I guess you not telling me your problems just means you don't trust me enough..." Laurence says in an upset tone and gets up.

"No, wait!" Garroth shouts, grabbing Laurence's hand, "I'm sorry, I'm just overthinking things..." Garroth explains, Laurence sits back down, feeling an empty nervous pit in his stomach. "About?" Laurence asks, "About Zane and Gene," Garroth answers and Laurence sighs in relief, overthinking about what Garroth was overthinking.

"Why?" Laurence asks, "I think they look cute together," Laurence smiles. "I guess they do. It's just,...Gene has only been around Zane for days and I've been around him through his whole journey, but it seems like Gene is taking better care of Zane than I am..." Garroth explains sheepishly, thinking he sounds like a child complaining. Laurence chuckles, "What in your right mind made you think like that?" Laurence asks.

"Well, you saw how they are, cuddling on the couch and being all cute. Zane's so comfortable around Gene, even enough to be apart from me, but not comfortable enough to follow anyone else around like Aphmau," Garroth claims. "Well, maybe something happened between them when Zane stayed over at his place," Laurence says in a sarcastic tone, "That's they kissed?" Garroth questions and Laurence nods.

"Yeah," Laurence says, "It's obvious that they're in love, but think about it, Zane would have never come outside in a public crowded area without your help," Laurence explains. "And yeah, although Zane is starting to get comfortable with certain people without your present around, that shouldn't be a bad thing. Zane would have never gotten this far without you, and I know that he'll always be grateful. You're not gonna stop being big brother, he'll always call you for help, and you can always call him for help." Garroth smiles as Laurence lets go of his hand, grabbing and caressing his cheeks.

"It's just like relationships, you need to balance time with all of your friends, lovers, and family. I don't want this to sound mean, but you and Zane have been together for so long that...you're isolating yourselves..." Laurence's voice faded out at the last part, hoping Garroth wouldn't get upset with him as he was visibly sad.

"Am I not spending enough time with you?" Garroth asks feeling guilt. "You are, but I saw how happy you were when we were around our friends, that's why I'm saying you need to keep balance. Zane also seemed happy around Gene, so he's slowly going to come out of his shell and be able to be comfortable around Aphmau, Aaron, and hopefully become closer to the others like Lucinda, Katelyn, Travis, and Dante." Laurence lets go of Garroth cheeks and rests his head on Garroth's shoulders.

"I'm really happy that he's made it this far. You and him finally fixed the cracks in each other's relationship, and me and him are finally friends" Laurence smiles, grabbing Garroth's hand. Damm, I really don't deserve you..." Garroth comments, making Laurence chuckle, "Probably not."