Long Away

Chapter 58

Joe was walking down a long, dark hallway. A dim, white light covered the ground like glowing mist. Eery voices sang a song of suffering and death in the distance. He needed to escape them, run, but every time he did, pictures appeared in his head. His father on his death bed. Joe abruptly stopped in his tracks, but as he did, the voices became louder. Against his better judgement, he ran again. The face in his vision changed to Roger's. Again he stopped, tried to force himself to stand still this time. But the singing turned to screaming, he needed to make it stop. Now it was Ben he was seeing. Joe tripped over his own feet. The different voices merged into one. It was clear now, right in front of him.
"Go away!", he growled through gritted teeth.
"Not before you face me, Joe," the voice replied. Hesitantly, Joe looked up. Right into the eyes of... a broccoli cardboard cutout?

The confusion was enough to wake him up. Joe let out a deep sigh. This was the third night in a row he was having such bizarre nightmares. A look at his phone told him it was just after 1am. Great.
He knew that if he fell back asleep too fast, the nightmares were just going to continue. With a grunt, he maneuvered himself out of bed and quietly made his way to the bathroom to splash some water on his face.

On his way back, he noticed the light was still on in Gwilym's bedroom. Joe frowned. Gwil had gone to bed a few hours before Rami and him. He said he had a meeting with his agent early in the morning, and wanted to be well rested. Did he have trouble sleeping as well? He decided to knock. Perhaps talking for a little while would help them both.
A surprised "Yes?" came from the other side of the door. Joe slowly opened it and peaked inside. Gwil was sitting on his bed with his laptop in front of him, which he quickly closed when he saw Joe.

"Sorry, I'm not disturbing you, am I?"
"No no, don't worry." Gwil shook his head for emphasis.
"I was just looking something up. For, uh, work."
"Oh. Do you still have something to do?"
"No, I just got done. But anyway, what's up? Were you having those nightmares again?"

Joe nodded.
"I was. But it's fine, I don't want to keep you awake any longer if-"
Gwil interrupted him.
"It's okay, if you need something I'm more than happy to help. You know that, right?"
"I do. Thanks."
"Do you want to talk about your nightmare? Was it similar to the last ones?"
Gwil put his laptop on the bedside table and pulled his blanket aside, making room for Joe to sit next to him.

Thankful, Joe closed the door behind himself and joined Gwil on the bed.
"It was similar. Except this time Stan and Cardboard Ben's secret love child had a cameo in it."
Gwil couldn't help but laugh.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled with a hand in front of his mouth.
"Don't be," Joe said. "It was quite weird."
"I wonder what caused that," Gwil said. Joe cleared his throat, before putting on his wise-uncle face.
"Well little Gwilly, when a broccoli plush and a cardboard cutout love each other very much..."
Gwil playfully slapped his arm.
"That's not what I meant."

Joe chuckled.
"I know. I guess my brain is just holding onto everything that's somehow connected to Ben and Bohrap and mixing it all together. That and all the tragic stuff going on." He sighed.
"I really hope my worries are unnecessary, but it seems that everything is going wrong right now."
Gwil looked at him with sad eyes.
"I know. I wish I could say something to take your concerns away, but..."
"I won't stop worrying until I can talk to him again. So don't blame yourself."
Gwil looked away. The pattern on his blanket appeared to be very interesting all of a sudden.

"Are you tired?", Joe asked.
"Not really," Gwil said.
"Joe, can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"This might be a bit random. And if you don't want to talk about that right now, that's okay. I was just wondering, when exactly did you start catching feelings for Ben?"
Joe was surprised. This wasn't where he was expecting the conversation to go.

"Well, I'm not sure when exactly," he admitted.
"I always thought Ben was a very interesting person. And the more time we spent together, the more I got to know him, the more I felt drawn to him. It was such a steady build-up, I can't say there really was a particular moment or anything. But what definitely made a big impact was how he was there for me when my dad passed. Ben is always so thoughtful and caring."
He smiled sadly.

"I see," Gwil said.
"Why do you ask?", Joe wanted to know.
Gwil shrugged.
"Just curious. And I thought maybe..." He shook his head.
"Never mind. I think you were right. I am getting tired."
"Alright. Then I won't bother you any longer," Joe said.
"Thanks for taking the time for me."
"But of course. Good night, Joe. Sleep well this time." Gwil pulled him into a hug before he could get up. Joe smiled.
"Good night."

***

Hey guys!

I bet you didn't expect another chapter so soon. To be honest, neither did I. But I'm having an easier time writing again, so let's just hope that it lasts.

Until whenever this adhd brain decides to spew out another chapter,

Tay