Kidnapped

Chapter 79: Back Home

George POV

After what felt like hours we all finally made it back to our own homes.

It was currently 6pm and dinner was still yet to be made.

I throw my suitcase on the floor, not bothering to take my shoes off.

I let Wilbur know I've landed and copy his message of Jacks address ready for when I leave.

I rush my way down the stairs and see no sign of my mum, assuming she was putting her things away in her room.

I quickly leave out the door, messaging her that I've left with an apology before pulling Jack's address back up.

It wasn't too long of a walk, in fact his house was quite close to Sapnap's.

I knock on the door and the response was instant, Tubbo immediately giving me a hug.

"Woah hey Tubs!" I smile as I hug him back.

"I've missed you"

I hug him for a little longer before letting go, looking over at Jack, Wilbur and Niki.

"Hi George" she smiles and I give her a small hug.

We weren't exactly close friends but she was still a friend to me.

"I'll be in my room if you need anything" she says before walking off.

"I have all our research stuff in my room" Jack says, leading the rest of us up the stairs.

We step into his room, papers and his laptop scattered on the floor along with a couple pens.

"Take a look at this" he sits down and turns the laptop to face me as I join him on the floor.

"So we went back to around the time you said that he was staying with you and found the exact day that he left"

"He takes a taxi to a hotel, the same hotel you stayed in when you escaped and he stayed there for a couple days"

"Okay how does this help?" I ask.

"He moves about a lot, changing his place of residency and up till about a month ago the trail stops"

"What exactly are you tracing?" I ask again, taking a look at some of the notes on the floor.

"We went to the hotels, asked around for him and followed the trace from there" Wilbur adds.

"So where does the trail stop?" I ask, now having a pit in my stomach.

"The last place we traced him to was in town, he was seen at the gardening centre"

"Hold on" Tubbo interrupts.

"So that means he's living close by and we just haven't seen him?" He asks.

"Possibly" I shrug.

"Can I take all these notes you have with me? I want to go through them" I ask, looking up to Jack and Wilbur.

"Yeah of course go for it" Jack says as he helps me gather the pages.

My phone had relentlessly been buzzing in my pocket, probably my mother trying to contact me.

"I'll message you guys soon, c'mon Tubs let's get you home"

"Oh I put Tubbo's things by the stairs" Wilbur says and I nod.

"Thank you, sorry I couldn't stay long" I say as I quickly leave with Tubbo.

I put the papers in his bag and carry his things for him.

"Do you think we will find him?" He asks.

"We will, I'm not going to give up" I reassure him.

Silence lingers between us as we walk, a cold breeze grazing our skin.

"How does it feel to be back?"

"I don't know" I sigh.

"You miss just hanging with your friends?" He asks.

I think about it, a small smile appearing on my face.

"Or do you just miss sharing a room with Dream?" He adds and my smile grows wider.

My cheeks flushed red as I gasped at him, lightly hitting his shoulder as I shook my head.

"You did not just say that to me"

"Am I wrong?" He raises a brow.

"Shut up" I say, rolling my eyes at him.

"Oh my god" Tubbo laughs and I look at him confused.

"What?"

He continued to laugh, trying to speak but laughter making it impossible.

"Lift your hood up, you're doing a shit job of covering" He says trying to stop laughing.

I lift my hoodie up realising what he's just noticed.

I go silent not knowing how to respond.

"He's not hurting you though, right?" He asks, changing his tone to serious.

"No of course not" I say, knowing the only pain I endure is from how big he is.

"You'd tell me if he was though right?"

"You don't have to worry about Dream, he would never do any of that to me"

The silence lingers once again before Tubbo lets out a small giggle.

"You just admitted those marks were from Dream"

I smile as I look at him, he looked so much better, healthier even.

"You can't tell anyone though okay?"

"You expect this to stay a secret?" He asks as we approach the door.

"Yes until we can't cover it anymore" I open the door and close it behind us.

"What the hell do you think you're- Tubbo hey, how was Phil's house?" Her tone drastically changed and I took the chance to take Tubbo's things to his room.

I took the papers out and put them on my bed, putting my shoes in my room knowing I would probably need to sneak out my window the next time I leave.

I could think about school and my consequences another night.

Tonight I had to read the notes on Ranboo and do my own research.