Out of Your Control - a Hermitcraft AU

~ Chapter 17 ~

It was almost an hour ago, when Zedaph came running out of Xisuma's room and refused to let anyone enter.
He paced around the mansion , poking around and muttering to himself, but Grian couldn't see what he was doing, since the remaining hermits were told to stay in the living room. Still, Zed passed by with Impulse following him, looking worried. Every so often, Zedaph would ask something of Impulse and he would run off and return seconds later.

Grian tugged his sweater closer around him, trying to avoid everyones gazes. The hermits all sat in their own groups of those they trusted, but everyone was still cautious.
Grian inched closer to Iskall, who sat on the armrest of the chair. It was obvious that some of the hermits suspected him, judging the way that Beef was glaring at him. It sent shivers down his spine.

Impulse ran into the room again, glanced at everyone and was about to run back to Zedaph, when Hypno called out.

"Hey, speedster! Mind telling us what's going on?"

Impulse rocked on his feet, tapping his fingers together. "Zed's trying to figure this out," he stated, backing up. "Just... wait." Then he was off, barely a blur.

"Easy for him to say, we've been here for how long? Thirty minutes, at least," he muttered.

"Shut it. As long as we get out of here, I'll wait," Beef replied, scowling at the floor.

Grian tucked his knees to his chest. He hated seeing his friends so frustrated. He hated how this war was tearing apart years of friendships.

"He could hurry up, though." That's ironic, considering Impulse is helping.

Keralis, who was chilling on the ceiling, spoke up. "Why are we still here? I mean, it's not like Zedaph's going to waltz in here , claiming to know who did it. Either way, I'm done waiting," he said, floating down to everyone else's level, and walking away.

"I- uh, we're supposed to wait here," Grian said, metally kicking himself. God, I sound like a kid, no one's going to take me seriously.
And they didn't.

"Oh? You want us to stay? To make it easier for you to kill us?" Beef said, rounding on him. 

"We'll wait here, like we were told," Iskall cut in. "Unless you want to wander off, and end up like Etho?"

"Is that a threat?" Beef asked, taking a step forward.

"Guys, just stop," Scar said, trying to intervene.

"We aren't going to wait around here, like kindergarteners, waiting to get murdered," Hypno said, as Iskall and Beef continued to glare at each other.

"We were told to wait here, though!" Grian protested, standing up and trying to not lose his patience.

"Not listening to a killer."

But, of course, Beef was making to very hard. "Seriously, I'm not the murderer! Why the hell would I kill anyone? Least of all, my friends?" he almost shouted. He felt tears threaten to fall, thinking about the deaths. "Can't you have, at least, a smidgen of faith?"

"I do have faith, but not in people I don't trust," Beef continued. "Which, by the way, is you.
"As for the why, you're the last leader left and you probably took out everyone else, so you could win this war. And you and Iskall were the last to see Mumbo, and to know where he was going."

Everyone who wasn't part of the dispute, looked very uncomfortable, torn between their friends.

Grian bit his lip, trying to hold back his outburst, but he just couldn't. He couldn't take the stress. "Do you really think that I'd kill my boyfriend?!" he screamed, tears now streaming down his face. "Nevermind," he mumbled, pushing past the hermits and trudging up the stairs. He turned the corner, out of sight, and collapsed against the hallway wall. Resting his head on his knees, Grian didn't try to stop the tears from flowing.
Who knows how long he stayed their for, but there were still shouts being heard from downstairs.
It was too much. All the loses, the deaths and the distrust.

Great. Absolutely perfect. Now because of me not thinking, everyone knows I'm gay... They probably hate me now, if they didn't know before, like Doc thought...

A hand rested on his shoulder and he jerked away, looking up to see Impulse.

"Hey man," he said softly, offering a hand. Grian took it and stood up shakily. "Are you okay?"

Grian shakes his head, looking down.

"Do you want to come back down?"

"No."

"Do you want to talk?"

"...no."

"To Iskall?"

"I- yes, sure, thanks."

Impulse raced back down the stairs, and a minute later, he heard footsteps coming back up. Iskall sat down beside him, with a mix of anger and sympathy in his eyes. "Grian, I'm sorry... that that happened."

"What- what if they hate me? For liking a guy?"

"Don't worry, Gri. You know the hermits, we're like one big family. Of idiots," he scoffs, and continues talking. "Impulse said you wanted to talk to me?"

"I guess..." he sighs, then starts rambling off all his worries and possibilities, unintentionally saying whatever came into his head. He's surprised that Iskall managed to keep up, let along stay awake. And all it took was a small voice crack to stop the flow of thoughts.
"I just... don't know what to do with these stupid feelings.
"It's just when I was a part of Evo... I had to leave and my friends hated me after all that happened... I can't have that feeling of loss and loneliness again." He sighs, leaving out a few key points. But he didn't want to be kicked out of Hermitcraft. He shook his head, trying to get rid of those memories that he hated.

"So... do you want to come downstairs now?" Iskall asked, waiting for the right moment when Grian finished talking.

"I don't know. I just don't want to see Beef. Or anyone right now." Take a hint. He sighs and puts his head on his knees again.

"Grian... I get that you want to be alone... but I can't loose you, too. So either come down, or we stay here."

Damn it, Iskall. "Okay. Honestly, I'm not sure whether to be mad that you aren't letting me be alone, or glad that you care about me," Grian tried to joke, but sounding way to sincere.

Iskall wrapped his arms around Grian and comforted him. "So, I assume you want to stay here?"

"Mhm," he replied, slowly drowning out everything around them. He was glad that they kept to their own thoughts now.

It was only when Impulse came running, that interrupted his spiralling, and got them to move.

"What's wrong?" Iskall said, jumping up. "What?"

"Zedaph knows who the murderer is."

1100 words and nows the last chance to guess who the murderer is! Take a guess...
Thanks for reading Meerkats!
Also thanks for 1000 reads and all the support <3