The Foreigner & The Pessimist (malexmale)

10. Zuuro

"Uhh...hi." Lane says; looking confused. Most likely because I just told him this morning that I didn't know where his room was, and now I'm suddenly here standing outside his door.

But I had to come. I didn't have a choice. I had to see if he was okay.

"Fallon told me where to find you." I explain as my eyes scan over his body; looking for any signs that he might be unwell. Anything that might tell me why after Fallon left him alone up here, I got hit with that overwhelming need to find him. Like he was in danger and needed me.

Only, now that I'm here, I don't see anything. He's got no bruises, or bumps, or scrapes, or cuts, or marks. He's a little uneasy, but that's nothing unusual for Lane. As far as I can tell he's just...he's fine.

But he can't be. Something has to be wrong. There has to be a reason I was called up here. So, I begin scanning his room. Maybe that's the issue. Maybe there's someone else in there with him. Someone bad. Someone who wants to hurt him, like in those crime shows my parents love so much. Maybe it's Darin...

Lane eyes me oddly as I keep scanning his room. "Sorry, I had to take care of something." he says.

Again, I'm wrong. He seems to be alone up here, so it's a no to the Darin theory, but I'm still no closer to figuring out why I felt the need to find him so fast. Maybe he had another anxiety attack?

I could feel him getting anxious while I was downstairs waiting for him, but he told me last night he knew how to deal with that on his own, so I didn't think it was anything I needed to worry about. "Yeah, I know." Fallon said as much when she came down; something about an assignment he forgot to do. But I'm not so sure I believe that. I wouldn't have felt like he was in danger if he was just up here finishing an assignment.

Lane reaches behind the door to grab his jacket. He's definitely finding my behavior strange, but he's choosing not to say anything about it for now.

"I'm done, so we should probably go. My dad is already downstairs waiting for us." He says, finally stepping out into the hall and closing his door behind him, much to my relief.

I nod, "Fallon introduced us." I tell him. It was only for a second, but I couldn't really spare more than that until I found Lane and knew that he was alright.

As he starts down the hall towards the tubes, I fall into step beside him, taking the time to look him over again now that he's unobscured. I'm trying not to be painfully obvious, but I'm not sure how well I'm actually doing at that, because I can feel him getting consistently more uncomfortable with each passing second.

Of course, that could also be because I'm currently crowding his space a little...okay, maybe I'm crowding his space a lot, because if he stopped right now, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to avoid running into him.

What are you doing, Zuuro?

Being this close is a mistake. This thing between us is still too new, and we're still just friends, so there should be more than a breaths distance between us right now, but there isn't.

And...I don't know...I can't explain why, but I just get this feeling that despite there being nothing visibly – or even emotionally – wrong with him right now, that something is still off. That I need to be this close to him. That I need to protect him. Because that feeling that I get whenever Lane is in danger still hasn't gone away yet, even now that I'm with him. It's dulled slightly, but it's still there; hanging in the background and keeping me on alert.

The danger is still here, I just have to find it.

***

By the time we reach the restaurant, that feeling still hasn't subsided, so I'm doing my best to try to keep Lane safe while also trying not to be too obvious about it. I think I'm failing though, because Lane's dad is definitely not thrilled with my being here...or maybe he just doesn't like how close I'm currently sitting to his son. Either way, he's not happy. I mean, he's not being blatantly obvious, but I can still tell.