MAC: The Twisted Alternative

9: Secrets

—STAMPYS POV—
I woke up at 3am by my alarm; my hands were shaking again.. I looked down at my notebook trying to narrow it down... I couldn't keep it a secret forever.

I got dressed into a jumper and jeans, putting on my glasses and lifting my phone. Beth hadn't texted me; I hadn't expected a text.. I just missed her.

I walked into David's room, he was fast asleep under the covers with one bare arm clutching another pillow.
"Time to go." I told him, we had to get a taxi to JFK airport, his eyes squinted open and he sighed.
"I don't know if I can go.." David muttered, his face was pale, I was sitting on his bed beside him.
"Dave you've got to go. He's your brother."
"He was my brother." David corrected, covering his mouth with his fist.
I looked down, sighing, "if you don't come people will think you don't care."
"I don't care what people think."
"Well.. today you should. Do it for your family, do it for Tom. They need you now."
I looked into David's red eyes as he closed them, making them water.
"Okay.. Okay.." he sighed, stepping out of bed. I had packed him a bag. "I should- I should ring into work and say I'll be off."
"Already done." I told him.
Squid gave me a look of surprise before saying, "thank you."
"No worries," I replied, "go freshen up."

**

We were in the lift leaving our apartment, the airport would be a half hour drive away. My hands started shaking again, I slapped them behind my back.
"H-how's Beth about all this?" Asked David.
"S-she understands.. I guess." I replied, surprised by his concern.
"Y-you two.. gonna move in together?" He asked,
"Eh- hadn't really crossed my mind, We've not been going out for that long." I admitted, "-why?"
"Just... I was wondering if you needed your own space.. you don't want me hanging about so.. I was thinking of moving.."
I didn't really know how to respond to that, I was taken aback.
"Y-you don't have to move out we like you here.. I like you here."
We walked out of the building and got into a taxi.
"JFK airport please." I said, sitting down into the back.
I looked at David again, and dared to ask,
"Y-you never bumped into that girl you met on Christmas Day again did you?"
He gazed at me. His mouth dropped slightly as a tear formed around his eyes.
"Mate?" I began to feel nervous,
"No." He responded, looking in the other direction.
I pondered about the situation.. not fully convinced by his answer. But I decided not to pester him more, he was in a bad way already.

When we arrived at the airport I printed out our boarding passes and we queued up to get through security.
In the queue I swung my bag around to my front and placed my laptop and my phone on the conveyor belt. David did the same, taking off his belt and fleece.
I chuckled at him, "You stripping?"
"These trousers are far too wide, they better not fall down." Laughed Squid, now only in a white blouse and the huge black trousers.
I walked through the scanner and sighed with relief when the machine didn't beep.
However, when David walked through, the scanner beeped. I saw his eyes roll as he broke into a smile to me and lifted up his arms to be checked. I laughed out loud at him as I collected his and my things from the tray.
I looked over at David being patted down, his face was that of absolute terror.
When I had packed our bags up again, David put his belt back on and his fleece and shoes while chuckling with me.
"You looked comfy." I giggled, nudging his elbow.
"No ones had their hands there for a while." He remarked with wide eyes.
I burst out laughing as we walked away into the duty free zone.

I looked around the shops, buying lots of chocolates and water for the flight to London.
I took a glance at the over-priced jewellery section where I saw a ring.. no, we haven't been together long enough.. she's too young..
I looked over at David where I saw him looking longingly at me, i was getting confused about him. I knew that there was something he wasn't telling me about his romance life. I just couldn't understand why.

—SQUIDS POV—
I saw Stampy looking over at the rings, my stomach jerked at the thought of him proposing to Beth.. I would have to move out, she would distract me too much.. I would have to tell Joe soon enough that it was his girlfriend that I fell in love with on Christmas Day.

Just before we boarded the plane we had to get our passports checked.
I went first up to the man in a small booth, they always looked terrifying.
I handed my passport, staring up at him, trying to look like that terrified face I made on my passport.
"Any medical conditions?" He asked,
"No." I responded.
He handed back my passport and I walked away.

I watched Stampy go, he handed in his passport before he man asked the medical condition question.
I was confused when I saw Joe whisper back something to the man.

"Joe?" I asked, when he walked over to me.
"Y-Yeah?" He replied, his eyes twitching and his hands jittering.
"Are you okay?"
He just stared back at me. His eyes facing the ground as he brushed his hair back.
"-Final call for flight to London, Heathrow. Boarding now."
We looked at each other and ran to the gate.

We boarded the plane, we had business class boarding, which was nice. I sat beside Joe, fastening my seatbelt and glancing out the window.
I thought about what life would be like as soon as I got home. My brother was dead. My parents would need me.. but my work needs me. The Pixar movie was coming out in a month and I needed to be there..
I saw Stampy take out his Nintendo switch as I took out my laptop, grinning at him.
"You still play minecraft?" I asked him,
"Course I do." He replied, but his hands were shaking too much so he put the switch back in his bag. Looking out the window again.
"Joe.. you said you had a medical condition... what's wrong with you?"
He bit his lip and shook his head. Looking down at his shivering hands.
"I don't know, David... I don't know.."