Feral (Gabentine Fic)

Everyone Meet Gabe

The morning was filled with tension as we all sat around tables and ate breakfast together. Gabe had finally put on some clothes but, Lee still looked at him like he wanted to hang him by his calves. Gabe sat next to me on one side and Kate sat on the other. Lee was sitting across from us and sending dirty looks at Gabe all throughout breakfast. Gabe seemed oblivious about the looks and ate without a care in the world.

After we were all done eating, everyone gathered around and waited to hear about Gabe. He doesn't seem deterred by the attention and leans back in his seat before beginning.

"Well, let's just start from the very beginning. My name is Gabriel Garcia, I am 19 years old, and I am the son of David Garcia and was brother to Mariana Garcia. My mother died when I was younger and then Kate came into my life. We were all pretty close before everything went to shit one day but, that day was the last time I had seen my father. Javi then took us under his care and we all traveled in this shitty van together and everything was great. Until, one night, it wasn't. Lee and Kenny had stayed with us that night because of an awful storm coming through. Me and Mariana were outside, watching the storm slowly blow in, when something attacked us. I tried fighting it off but, it didn't want me. It wanted Mariana."

I could feel Gabe tense whenever he mentioned Mariana and I didn't know what to do. I'm not the best at comforting people so, I froze as Gabe clenched his fists and tensed up once more. Kate finally came to the rescue and rubbed Gabe's back in circles. He let out a shuddering breath and give everyone a slight smile before continuing.

"After it was done with Mariana, it turned on me. When it came closer to me, I seen what it really was. A wolf, big ass one too. It clawed and bite but, I stuck it with a nearby limb. My clothes were getting torn to shreds and I was bleeding profusely. The wolf then chased me into the woods and I just ran. I finally came to a river and I jumped into it, the storm sweeping me away until I hit a rock and was knocked out. I must've floated for hours before finally waking up and dragging my body to the shore. Some people found me and they helped me recover. I was with them for a very long time and then, I'm here."

The ending of his story was pretty weird and sounded rather abrupt. I was about to question it but, looked at Lee and was shocked by his expression. He must've dropped his glare when Gabe was talking because Lee was looking anything but angry. He was almost in tears and Lee stood up and walked over to Gabe. I didn't know what he was going to do and watched him with my breath being held. Lee dropped down on one knee and pulled a shocked Gabe into a hug.

"Gabe? Little Gabe? I didn't even recognize you, you've grown up."

Gabe awkwardly patted Lee's back and laughed lightly at his words.

"Yeah, Lee. It's me, Gabe."

They stayed like that for a couple of moments before Lee released him and he turned to me. Lee smiled at me and nodded his head before returning to Lilly's side.

What the fuck. Why did Lee nod at me like that?

The rest of the day was kind of fun. Gabe didn't seem to want to leave my side and I sort of liked the company. I told him about everything that has happened to me and about Lee. Gabe seemed to hang on to every word I said and it was refreshing for someone to listen to me without any doubt or questions. We walked around the community and just talked about everything. Gabe told me about his sister and how they were close. I asked about his father and I seen Gabe tense up and touch his wrists. I frowned as I remembered the scars and went to ask Gabe about them but, was cut off.

"Hey! You two coming to dinner or what?"

We both turned to see Javi grinning slyly at us and I'm hit with a sense of déjà vu when me and the other Gabe, the wolf, was walking with me down the same street.

Huh. They both have the name Gabe. What a coincidence.

I didn't have time to dwell on my new discovery because Gabe took my hand and lead me to the dining building. My heart did a stupid little stutter at the contact and I calmed myself down before we walked into the building. Everyone was already sitting down and eating when we walked in, hand in hand. Becca let out a loud whoop at the sight and I released Gabe's hand to flip her off. After that, we sit down and chow down on some food. There's talk thrown around and Javi mentions something about a storm coming and a full moon because he can feel it in his bones. Gabe snorts at his comment and throws a chicken wing at him. Javi looks offended before throwing an empty water bottle at Gabe.

"Alright! The next person to throw anything is getting their ass beat by me!"

Kate's shout did nothing to faze Javi as he smiles really big and picks up a chip and flicks it at Kate before winking at her.

"I love it when you get rough with me."

I was dragged out of the building as Gabe sprinted away as fast as he could, whilst holding my hand. I laughed at his reaction and ran with him all the way to my apartment. I had agreed to share it with Gabe while the others would fix him up a place of his own. Gabe didn't want to stay with Javi and Kate in fear of hearing them do something. I felt exhausted as we finally settled down for bed and the pillow barrier still remained between us. I turned to face Gabe as he laid down as well and we both looked at each other. I looked down at his wrists and took them in my hands, my thumbs running across the deep scars.

"Gabe, how did you get these?"

Gabe looked uncomfortable at my question and tried pulling them back.

"Some things are better left buried and kept hidden."

I felt something in my chest at hearing his meek voice and brought his wrists up to my face and placed kisses on each scar on each wrist.

"But, even things buried in the deepest graves and hidden in the darkest corners, will eventually come into light. Goodnight, Gabe."

"Goodnight, Clementine."