With Fear or Without

24- Awkward...

Cleo stepped off the stairs and into a square room just like the day before, with only one hallway leading outwards from it. She was alone, no sign of Cassian or her friends. She tried to speak to Cassian, but she felt that bit missing from her head. She wasn't going to get a response.

After ruling out the possibility of calling someone, since her phone wasn't working, Cleo figured her only option was to follow the one path in front of her. So that's what she did.

Thankfully, it wasn't long. Soon she saw Cassian standing with his hands in his pockets at the end of her path. He noticed her when she was a couple feet away.

"Hey," he said with an small smile. "You got here first."

She was about to ask what he meant when she stepped into the corridor he was waiting in. to her left, two other corridors branched off, all three converging into one that led straight the other way.

She returned his smile with an uncomfortable one of her own, saying, "Hey. You could've warned us we'd be getting here separately."

"Oh. Sorry," he rubbed the back of his hair nervously. "They'll get here eventually, there's only one way to go."

Cleo nodded. They waited in silence, each hoping for the others to arrive quickly. Even though she was frustrated with him, Cleo felt guilty about how things were between her and Cassian. She thought about what Terra had said, about her "kinda" hating him. That just made her feel guiltier. It wasn't his fault. She knew she should apologize. She just had to build up the nerve.

With the awkward silence pushing her to say something, anything, Cleo started, "Look, I feel bad about..." Her train of thought was cut off by Andy's impeccable timing. So much for an apology.

Eventually Charlie reached them as well, and together they followed Cassian once again through the boring hallways. He barely spoke to them, breaking the silence only to say how they would hopefully be able to learn to enter themselves.

"Hey Cassian?" Charlie called from behind Cleo, their voice sounding louder after the long silence. "I know time is warped in here, but if we still experience it as hours... I guess I'm asking if we'll still age. Like if we spend enough time here, will I eventually be a year older than I'm supposed to be?"

Cleo couldn't understand how Charlie was focused on that of all things, but she supposed that was a simple enough question that Cassian might actually answer it.

"Well not exactly."

Cleo glared at the back of his head.

"Technically yes, since you are experiencing this time, but if you spend, say, a year's worth of time here, you won't really be a year older when you leave." He paused, inclining his head slightly. "Although, the people who live in these areas do age. I'm not sure how it's able to make a distinction like that, but it does, I guess."

"Huh," Charlie replied.

They walked the rest of the journey in silence.

After a while the group arrived at the circular room, emerging from a different corridor than they had the previous day. Cassian continued to walk forward and began to open the large doors.

As they stood shoulder to shoulder to shoulder, Cleo caught Charlie with their gaze lowered to their hand. She had a guess at what her friend was thinking. She managed to catch Charlie's eye from behind a tensing Andy, nodding slightly and pointedly glancing down to where their hand drifted next to Andy's.

Cleo must have been right, because Charlie blushed and looked away. Their right hand fidgeted, picking at the nails and cracking the knuckles. Cleo smiled to herself.