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Thomas laid on his soft sheets, under thick blankets. Cozy and curled up, his breath slowing and his eyes dreary. There he was. On the cusp of sleep. It was the middle of the night and Thomas was about to find rest.
Finally everything was peaceful. The night and his bed felt calm, inviting. Upon laying down Thomas thought that maybe tonight would be one of the few nights he went to bed and drifted off without violent nightmares. His last thought this is so comfortable barely drifted by before life was silent and his consciousness slipped away.
Knock Knock sounded at his door. Despite the fact that most nights, no matter how hard he tried to escape sleep, Thomas couldn’t awaken. Tonight was not one of those nights. It was quite the opposite. The knock was a soft and gentle sound, yet it pierced the night. It stirred a very tired and now very annoyed Thomas. His first thought who the shuck is at my door at this hour? sounded.
Then, with a groan he shoved back his covers and slowly, slowly sat up. After a moment he started to move, slinking out of his delightful bed into the frigid darkness. His movements were sluggish with sleep and his eyes glossy.
Though the door was only a few feet away Thomas felt like he was miles away. Soft groans left his body as he stumbled forward through the abyss that was his house. His legs felt stiff like the wooden floor he walked upon and his feet drug limply as he tried, and failed, to blink his sleepiness away.
Sluggishly, he raised his hand and reached out for the doorknob. As he did so Thomas became aware of a sob. “Who’s shucking crying at my door?” he mumbled to himself. Warm fingers fumbled about, before finding an impossibly frigid doorknob. Then, with a loud creak his door slowly, slowly crept open to reveal an odd sight.
In the pitch black of a freezing and cloud covered night, of all the people in Safe Haven, stood sobbing and shivering on Thomas’s doorstep, was Gally. Gally?
Clothed in a thin t-shirt and shorts, face red from cold and wiped tears he looked a mess. The hair on his arms and legs stood up and he jerked as sobs fell. Gally was at his door. Disheveled and sobbing. Man he looks terrible. The person shivering and panting was Gally. Gally? What in the world had Gally, of all people so worked up? And what brought him here?
Thomas stood still, stunned by the sight, overwhelmed by a myriad of thoughts. His eyes, wide from the sudden surprise, studied the other boy as he shook with sputtering gasps. For a few moments Thomas considered that the moment was actually a hallucination or that maybe it was a dream. But everything felt far too real.
Though he’d been out only a few seconds he was freezing and while he hadn’t known who to expect, in no reality would he have thought Gally would be knocking on his door. This was not something Thomas would dream up, nor was it something he could imagine or begin to fathom. This was real. There was no doubt in his mind.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Thomas broke the cold and otherwise silent night, “what the shuck man?” Thomas huffed, his voice heavy with drowsiness. The soft words seemed to seep deep and hurt Gally. Because if Thomas thought the boy had been sobbing before, he was wrong. What was happening now was a sob. The motherlode of sobs.
Acting purely on instincts, too tired and upset for thoughts, Gally started to take a step back and his body began to turn. As if to fade away into the darkness. Without a word of explanation. Nothing to denote why he’d visited or why he was crying so uncontrollably.
That was something that would leave Thomas with too many questions. And he couldn’t just leave Gally to weep on his own. He’d feel cruel to leave someone by themselves in a condition like Gally’s. While the two rarely interacted, there was a hint of a growing peace between the two and Thomas did genuinely want to be amicable. Apparently the growing spark between them was deep enough for Gally to come to Thomas.
With an odd quickness Thomas extended a hand, seized Gally’s wrist, and steered the shaking man towards him. The movement elicited a quiet yelp from Gally, but he gave no sign of resistance. He continued to tremble as Thomas guided him into the house and then into the smaller boy’s chest, and he still did not fight the actions. Gally gave no opposition, letting Thomas have complete control of what he was doing.
The door closed and the two stood wordless again. Thomas could feel how quickly Gally’s heart raced and the boy’s tears ran onto Thomas, wetting his shirt. Other than Gally’s cries they were unmoving. For what felt like hours they staif like that. Thomas pressing into the other boy, holding him close. Embracing him as be shuttered and whined. Shuck was Gally cold.
A million thoughts flooded Thomas’s mind. Was he supposed to do something? Did Gally want something from him? How did he get himself into this situation?
Flooded with thoughts and questions and not knowing what to do or how to help, Thomas decided to just go out on a whim. He snaked an arm around Gally’s waist and draped his other arm on Gally shoulder, further connecting the two in a true embrace. He rubbed circles on Gally’s shoulder and back, while softly cooing and murmuring affirmations into his ear.
Gally sunk further into the hold, enjoying it and the warmth it brought. Slowly, his breathing shifted from quick pants to a more regular pattern. Though he continued to cry, it was far less intense. Becoming more and more controllable. Eventually his shoulders relaxed and he fully faded into Thomas’s form. Soaking up Thomas’s words. He hadn’t had much physical contact since the Glade. And certainly nothing like this.
The closeness also calmed Thomas’s racing mind. He turned from questions to observations. This is nice. Holding someone, being so close. Feeding off the warmth of someone. Being helpful. But then a bit of sleepiness wore off and questions returned. This wasn’t someone Thomas was close with. This wasn’t someone Thomas even knew. The two were connected, but barely. What were the two of them doing?
As the whirlwind of thoughts picked up again he was interrupted. Gally uttered a sentence, or more so a word. He mumbled,“‘M sorry” in the most gentle and quiet tone. The way he said it was so different from his typical voice. It almost didn’t sound like Gally. And Thomas almost didn’t hear it.
Sorry for what? Thomas wondered. Pondering over the meaning, he continued to hold Gally, rubbing circles on his back. Silence reigned between them and somehow Thomas’s questions quieted. He just stayed in the moment. The really weird movement.
Eventually Thomas found he could not stay standing. And part of him feared that as Gally continued to calm down might leave. If he did leave then the two might not speak of this and Thomas’s questions would gnaw away at him bit by bit.
So, reasonably, Thomas pushed Gally, gently guiding him once more. Pressing the confused freckled boy into his bed. Thoughtlessly, Thomas found himself atop Gally, pinning the taller boy, half straddling him. “What’re you sorry for?” Thomas whispered, locking his glossy eyes with Gally’s wide and weirdly beautiful blue-green ones. Had his eyes always been that pretty? And his skin so soft?