All You Need Is Love II (MewGulf AU)

🌻Chapter 20

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As he listened to the sounds, Gulf gazed once against his hands and feet. Even the slightest movement jangled the chains.

"Now what?"

Just moving his lips made the cut he'd sustained when Bright hit him ache. The memory of the cold metal of the gun pressed into his forehead reawakened in his skin and his entire body started to sweat uncomfortably.

Mew was the son of a gang boss. He knew how to survive in that world. But this was the first time Gulf had ever seen a gun, and the first time one had ever been aimed at him.

He had believed things like that existed only in TV shows and movies, in an unreal world entirely separate from him.

But Mew had been staring reality in the face. He knew exactly what there was to fear and exactly what he needed to protect Gulf from.

"Mew's not the one being naive---I am."

Gulf abandoned himself to the joy of being with Mew and tried not to see anything else. The pain in his face and the weight of the chains on his hands and feet made that clear.

He sat up on the sofa to take stock and examine his surroundings.

He could see almost the entire room just with a casual look around. The door was made of metal. Just to the right was a simple water heater. In the center of the roughly square room were four office desks, carelessly arranged. Gulf's sofa was flush against a wall.

The chain binding his wrists and ankles stretched down from the ceiling to fasten around the legs of the sofa. There was a bit of slack, so he could still go to the bathroom.

He stood up to give it a try. The simple bathroom looked like it hadn't been used in many years and a fine layer of dust covered everything. Still, the water worked and there was even hot water. Gulf stuck his cuffed hands under the stream of water and splashed his face. He looked at himself in the mirror above the sink and gave a rueful smile.

The place where Bright had struck him was turning into a shocking bruise that looked much worse than he'd expected.

There were cuts around his wrists, as well. The chains that bound him were heavy and could not be cut through easily. The weight pulling on his arms only solidified the crushing truth of his situation.

"I have until tomorrow night."

Gulf walked over and peered out of a small window to try and get a look.

The sky was dark and he could see lurid neon lights. He was sure he was near Shinjuku.

He'd left the restaurant at ten. He suspected that not much time had passed since then. So he had maybe a little less than twenty-four hours to decide what he was going to do.

His jacket hung on a dusty chair.

Bright had left him his cellphone, too. Gulf had Mew's number on speed dial, he could talk to him right now. But he didn't know what Mew was doing and if he wasn't careful, he might put his life at risk.

Gulf called his own apartment, bit there were no messages on his machine. It was just after Friday midnight, or early Saturday a.m---so there would be no work for the next two days. Gulf wasn't sure if that was a blessing or not.

The countdown had definitely begun.

Bright was moving into action to kill the murderer of the man who'd been like a father to him. Mew probably didn't know that. And he certainly didn't know that Bright was holding Gulf hostage.

"What are you doing right now, Mew?"

Gulf had dream about high school while he was unconscious.

Adults had taught him then that no matter how much he loved Mew, his loved would never be enough. Pulled under by a swelling tide insensible to his resistance, Gulf had been left with no choice but to pull away.

Mew had risked his life to suggest they run away together, and what Gulf had done was nothing short of betrayal. But until he'd talked to AA, Gulf hadn't realized just hoe serious Mew was.

And once he knew, Gulf could no longer run away with him.

Mew had been ready for anything. He had been ready for the consequences of running away with Gulf, and he knew what those were likely to be.

He'd only been a high school student, but he had been ready for everything and had sworn to protect Gulf. But Mew had understood the reason for Gulf's betrayal and choose to return to his family in the end.

Gulf had always been naive. Only now did he finally, painfully understand Mew's feelings. And now that Mew had taken him back, the thought of leaving him again was unthinkable.

Gulf wouldn't just stand by and let himself be killed.

It was important to remember that Bright was someone that Mew trusted. Mew would probably be more bitterly upset than anyone if Bright killed the man who'd murdered his father's right-hand man.

Gulf had never asked how Mew really felt. But if he knew Mew, he hadn't gone soft. He was sure he just didn't want anyone else to be killed senselessly. If Bright took his revenge, then people close to the man he killed then come to kill Bright. The eternal cycle of revenge had to be stopped somewhere.

Gulf didn't know what the relationship was between Mew and his father's murdered right-hand man. But if Mew was the man Gulf knew him to be, he definitely cared about the man. He was definitely grieving for his death.

And now Mew was struggling to find a way to keep any more people from dying.

What can he do for Mew, for Bright, and for himself?

Gulf had often believed that he was a burden to Mew. He had none of Mew's strength. If something happened, he might be the first target. But he still couldn't leave him.

Then again, he thought, as a smile broke over his lips. I never thought I'd get kidnapped by someone on his side.

Thinking back, he realized it had begun eight years ago. Mew's guardian AA had urged Gulf to keep his distance.

Guf discovered his own weakness and could only surrender himself to the tides of fate. But he wasn't going to let what had happened then, happen again.

He was surprised by his own courage in this crisis. Of course, when the gun had been aimed at him, his fingers trembled and he'd felt an urge to flee. But he hadn't done it.

Unlike eight years ago.

When he had let adults decide his life for him, and had sealed away his own feelings.

He and Mew hadn't been brought back together only to part again.

Gulf cutched his cellphone, then slipped it into his pocket unused.

TBC