Cooper's phone told him that it would take him a full twenty four hours to get home from where he was on foot, but he started walking anyway. Maybe it would cut down the drive time to come get him by a few minutes, and he sure wasn't going to just sit around with his thoughts and wait.
He texted Ellie to let them know that he was away from his parents and that all was as well as it could be and confirm that they were, indeed, coming to get him. Not that he'd ever really doubted it. He knew they'd be home because they had been expecting him back, and they never would have said no to coming to get him. And Sasha... as much as Sasha's anxiety held him back, he seemed like a man of his word. If he said he'd do something, he would do it.
Ellie texted him back to let him know that they were on their way and that, to Cooper's surprise, Sasha was coming with them. Cooper didn't know how to feel about that. Worried, maybe. He hoped it wasn't a situation where they'd offered to take him and he'd agreed because he felt uncomfortable saying no. He hoped Sasha was coming because he wanted to, not out of obligation.
The other overwhelming emotion he felt was gratitude. At first he'd been crying because he was upset and angry, but as he slowly walked his way down a suburban street, he started tearing up again as he thought about what Sasha had done for him. Sasha, who found it hard to talk to others, had volunteered to go next door to talk to his roommates to help Cooper. Sasha, who as far as Cooper could tell pretty much didn't leave his apartment, was coming out to see him when nobody would have blamed him for staying home.
He was grateful towards Ellie and Abra, too. They were doing no more than what he expected of them after being friends all these years, but the fact that he could rely on them like that, that he didn't have to worry for a second that they wouldn't be there for him, meant a lot.
Some guy gave him a weird look as they passed one another on the street, but Cooper didn't care that he was openly crying. He wanted to get it all out now so that by the time his friends arrived, he'd be done and maybe they could get back to smiling together.
#
The only time Sasha took his eyes off the tracker was when Ellie briefly took her phone back to exchange a few texts with Cooper to make sure everything was okay, but Cooper didn't really go anywhere. He was walking through the suburbs, vaguely in their direction, and he just kept doing that the whole time they were driving.
Sasha was a tiny bit worried Cooper would be upset about him coming along with everyone to pick him up. It didn't seem likely, but... still. Whenever he stepped outside of his comfort zone, he couldn't help worrying that anything and everything would go wrong.
Even so, he wanted to do this. Hearing Cooper's voice on the phone, how upset he'd sounded and then how grateful he'd been when Sasha had reminded him he wasn't alone... it had stuck with him. Sasha really wasn't good at social things, but just this once, he wanted to be someone who was there for someone else. He wanted to be the best friend he could be. Maybe he couldn't be that person every day, but he could be today. Just this once, he could.
Once they got closer, he handed the phone back to Ellie and let her give directions to Abra. Sasha got his lefts and his rights mixed up under pressure, and they could all do without that.
And then there Cooper was, walking down the path on the side of the road ahead of them. Sasha saw Cooper look up, saw him recognise the car. Saw him smile and knew everything was going to be okay.
As soon as they were out of the car, Ellie hugged Cooper and pressed a kiss to the side of his head. Abra was quick to follow with a hug of his own. Sasha hung back, not quite knowing how he fit into this situation. He lifted his hand in an awkward wave.
Cooper abandoned his bags and approached Sasha. He opened his arms, just slightly, an invitation that held no pressure. Sasha stepped forward and wrapped his arms around him.
Sasha liked how solid Cooper felt. They were there to rescue him, but somehow he still managed to make Sasha feel safe and protected.
"Did things go okay?" Sasha murmured when they stepped back.
"Eh..." Cooper looked away and shrugged. After a moment, he looked back at Sasha. "Maybe, actually? It wasn't fun, but I got out of there and I think the things I said needed to be said. I don't know if it'll make any difference, but maybe at this point it's just like... if it doesn't, then I'm done anyway. Like, one way or another, this can't happen again. You know?"
Sasha nodded. He was pretty sure he understood, at least as well as he could while not really being able to relate. His own parents didn't always understand him as well as he would have liked, but they'd never done anything like that. If anything, they'd pushed him to be independent and self reliant beyond what he was comfortable with or capable of.
But... maybe they'd been right, in the end. It had been a rough transition, but here he was, living alone and making friends. Or maybe that was just luck. If he hadn't just happened to be next door neighbours with such nice people and hadn't ended up getting to know them by pure chance, his situation would be very different. He would just be a man who hadn't left his single room apartment in months and had no plans to change that any time soon.
They put Cooper's stuff in the car, and then everyone got in. Abra and Ellie got back into the front seats and Cooper sat in the middle seat in the back.
"I thought everyone hated the middle car seat," Sasha commented as he got in next to Cooper.
"Ooh, called out," Ellie said.
Suddenly, Cooper looked uncomfortable. "Oh. Do you want me to move over?"
Sasha stared at him, confused, until realisation struck him. Oh. It had been a deliberate choice to sit close to Sasha.
Sasha could feel his face heating. He had felt like there was something between them for a while now, but this was more blatant, and as Ellie had pointed out, Sasha had basically just called him out on it.
Sasha shook his head, but he couldn't look at anyone.
Cooper stayed where he was as Ellie started driving, but he didn't touch Sasha. Did he want to? He'd chosen to be close. Without saying a word, Sasha reached out and took his hand.
This was something now. They'd danced around whatever was between them, but this was undeniably something. Something more than friends.
Abra glanced back at them and Sasha was sure things were about to get really awkward, but all he did was give them a smile. Sasha's heart was beating a mile a minute, but this was... nice? Yes, nice. The niceness was buried under layers of anxiety, but hey, so were most of his emotions, so that was nothing new.
"Does anyone mind if we grab some food?" Cooper asked. "I just realised I haven't eaten since lunch time yesterday, and that seems like a problem."
"We let your family have you for three days — not even that, really — and this is the state they give you back in?" Ellie shook her head. "I'm suing for sole custody."
"Sasha, you mind if we stop for food?" Cooper asked. "We can go through a drive thru near home if you want to just get back as quick as we can."
Sasha shrugged. "I don't mind. I didn't bring any money, though."
"Man, after you fucking saved me like that, I'd be treating you to dinner even if you did have money," Cooper said. "If you want to stop and get something, I mean. If you don't, no worries."
"I didn't really do anything. I just told Ellie and Abra so they could help you."
"You reminded me that there was help available and I didn't have to put up with my parent's shit and you went and talked to Ellie and Abra even though I know that probably wasn't easy with your anxiety. You helped a lot and you went outside of your comfort zone to do it. A burger's the least I can do, if you want one."
Sasha nodded. "Burger."
"You want burger now and find somewhere quiet to sit and talk for a bit, or do you want burger and go home and eat?"
Sasha knew he was playing a dangerous game with his energy levels, but Cooper was holding his hand. He didn't want to just go home and end this night here. "Somewhere quiet and talk."
"Somewhere down by the river?" Abra suggested.
Sasha nodded. Rivers were nice.
Cooper squeezed Sasha's hand. "I know this is probably a weird thing to say about eating burgers, but I can tell you're stressed and you have good reason to be, so you know. You can change your mind at any time, okay? If it gets too much, in any way, we'll take you straight home. I promise."
Sasha nodded. That just made him want to cry, but not in a bad way. He turned his face and pressed his forehead against Cooper's shoulder and Cooper brought his hand up and stroked the back of Sasha's head.
Sasha drew in a deep breath and heaved it out as a sigh. Despite all of his anxiety, this was where he wanted to be.