CHAPTER THIRTEEN - UNREASONABLE
The light had rapidly faded from the outside world and the streets were now coated in a thick, dismal cover of dark grey which would soon give away to the filthy darkness of night. The streets were soaked from the brief rainstorm and an ugly wind was beginning to buffet the world and pull carelessly at the trees until they screamed.
Brian was shivering just by looking out of the window as he saw the dead branches of a tree being pulled about viciously by the winter wind. He stared out into the road, carefully scrutinising every shadow to check that it wasn’t anybody watching them and waiting to pounce. He pulled back the red curtains and turned back to the room, now lit only by the glowing television.
B was snuggled up on the couch with a thick blanket and several pillows Brian had brought down for him, his eyes glued to the screen as he watched the coyote chasing the roadrunner about the mountains. He had soon mastered the use of the remote control and had immediately set about looking for anything bright and colourful to watch. He wasn’t used to such good quality programs as everything he had ever seen had been on a computer screen.
The boy snuffled slightly and reached for another tissue from the box as he began to sneeze again and Brian winced as he began to cough dryly for about the tenth time in the last two minutes. He sipped on the cup of water Brian had given to him earlier and then sighed as the cartoon finished, but it was soon cut off by another cough.
“Are you all right?” Brian asked as he flicked the light on to give the room a more cheerful glow.
“I’m fine,” B said quickly as he attempted to muffle another cough.
Brian eyes the bag on the floor beside the couch and then casually sat down beside B. “You know, you could always - ”
“No.”
Brian sighed. B was too stubborn sometimes. “B, it will help you.”
“No.”
He retrieved the bag from the floor and pulled out the bottle of cough medicine. He had tried to make him take it earlier but he had refused and had moaned until Brian put it back out of sight in the bag. “B, you’ve been coughing all afternoon.”
B’s eyes swivelled away from the television as he realised the imminent threat of foul medicine and he wriggled as far away from Brian as he possible could. “I don’t care, I’m not taking it.”
“You keep coughing!”
“No I don’t,” B croaked as he vainly tried to stop another cough from erupting.
Brian undid the cap. “You are going to take this,” he instructed.
“No, I’m not,” B replied.
“B,” Brian warned.
“I’m not taking it!”
“I’ll force it down your throat myself if you won’t take it!” Brian said getting slightly annoyed by B’s immaturity. “It’s for your own good.” Wouldn’t he prefer to taste something foul than carry on coughing and coughing and tearing up his throat.
“And it’s for your shirt’s good that I won’t take it.”
“Huh?”
“You try and put that stuff down my throat and I grantee that it will come back up and stain your shirt. Trust me, don’t be like Sammy and learn the hard way,” B said before he began to cough again.
“B, take it. This is getting ridiculous. You can’t stop.”
“Would you get off my back?” He was getting annoyed now as well and he stubbornly turned away from Brian and back to the television screen.
Brian was stung slightly as B ignored him and he slowly slid up to sit beside him. “I’m just worried about you…” he said softly.
“I know,” B mumbled. “But I am sick of being babied! I’m seventeen years old not seven months and I can feed myself medicine if I need it and I don’t! I am fine!”
“All right, I was only trying to help!” Brian protested, hurt at B’s snappish tone and attitude.
B folded his arms moodily and didn’t even bother to reply. His eyes weren’t staring at the television anymore but at something more distant, like a memory.
“I’m sorry,” Brian tried as he re-capped the bottle and shoved it into the plastic bag. He glanced back at B, but he still wasn’t looking at him. “B, don’t be like this.”
B’s eyes suddenly darted towards him and Brian was alarmed to see a flash of anger there. “Like what? I’m not being like anything! Why won’t you leave me alone?”
“B, there’s no need for this! I told you, I was just trying to help but if you don’t want to take it then that’s fine!” Brian replied, trying to be reasonable. What had he done wrong to make B so angry?
“Stop shouting at me!” B screamed suddenly jumping up from the couch.
Brian was rapidly losing patience now. Shouting? He wasn’t shouting!! Why was B being like this? “I’m not shouting at you, you’re the one screaming at me!” he said, but he heard the anger in his voice and the rise in volume.
“Yes you are! You’re always shouting at me!” B yelled. His face crumpled slightly and then he was fleeing from the room, tears sparkling on his cheeks.
“B!” Brian called, but he could already here him dashing up the stairs and then there was the distinct slamming of a door.
Ouch. That had hurt. Always shouting? Hell he never even seen B, let alone had the chance to shout at him!
He stared into nothingness for a while as he felt the burning of pain in his chest. He had yelled at B, he had heard it in his voice and that was the last thing the kid needed right now. He was still recovering from what had happened to him in this time.
He sniffed slightly and suddenly realised how heavy his eyes had become with water. He didn’t have much time with B and he certainly did not want to spend it arguing with him…
He silently climbed up the stairs, taking slow steps to try and ease some of the tension that had suddenly decided to consume his body. He wasn’t himself today and it was all the fault of that accursed stranger… him and his damn messages…
He stared at the closed door along the landing and took a brief moment to clam himself. He couldn’t tell B what was bothering him, he didn’t want him to worry about the messages… He would just have to hope that B would accept a simple apology.
He took a deep breath and then tapped his knuckles gently upon the door. “B?” he said softly.
No reply, only a sullen silence.
Brian carefully pushed the door open and saw B lying on his stomach on the bed, his face buried in the pillows. Quietly Brian crossed to him and sat down on the edge of the bed. B still did not turn and acknowledge him.
Biting his lip slightly, Brian placed a hand gently on his back and began to rub it soothingly like he had used to do to Nick when he was this age and was stressing out over something.
“B, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shout at you,” he said. “I don’t want us to fight…”
“No, I’m sorry,” B whispered, his words muffled slightly by the pillows. “You just reminded me of someone for a moment there…” Slowly he raised his head, his face now red and streaked with faint tear marks.
“I hope it’s not anyone too nasty,” Brian said, trying to smile although he was tearing up himself. He shouldn’t have shouted at him… he knew B didn’t always liked to be babied. Get him on the right day and he was a complete little boy, however on others he was a complete feral rogue… typical teenager…
B turned his face to him. “He’s a lot like you,” he said sadly. “But not as nice. I had a similar argument with him back home and you said some of the exact same things that he did… It just made me remember. I’m angry with him, not you. He’s the one who’s always yelling at me.”
Brian froze as an awful, cold suspicion began to dawn on him. “Please tell me this wasn’t Sammy,” he begged. He didn’t want to think that they were at odds with each other in the future. They had been so close when he was there.
B shook his head as he wiped his eyes. “No, never Sammy. He never shouts at me.” He was silent for a moment. “I miss him.”
“Sammy?” Boy, did he know that feeling…
B nodded. “I missed you so much while I was in my time, but now I’m here I miss Sammy.”
“Hey, I know how you feel. I miss him too,” Brian said softly. “I really wish I could see you both.”
B was bound to miss Sammy, Sammy was everything to him. Half of his heart would always be there, even while he was with Brian. For him though it was a little more difficult. His heart was split three ways; B, little Sammy and the adult Sammy… It comes to something when you almost see you eldest son as two different people, but right now little Sammy was too young to show any sign of the wonderful adult he would become.
“He must be so worried,” B said. “I was going to contact him when I arrived, but then I broke my time bracelet and I couldn’t. I don’t want him to worry.”
Brian rubbed his back soothingly. “You said yourself, he’ll find you. Do you really think Sammy’s going to stop for one moment until he finds you again?”
B smiled. “No, I guess he won’t.” He hung his head again. “I’m so immature for doing this. Poor Sammy…”
“He’ll forgive you and you were confused at the time you ran away. He’ll understand that.”
“Confused?” B echoed. “I don’t know if there’s a word to describe what I was feeling at the time. A bomb had been set off in the base and someone I knew had been hurt… It was my fault and I just wanted to get away. I wanted to come and see you because you make me feel better and not even Sammy could do that while all my friends were getting hurt because of me!” He swallowed and then sniffed, but it did nothing to keep the tears in.
“Come here,” Brian said as he pulled B into his arms. “Listen up,” he whispered as the tears flowed down his own cheeks. “Everything is going to be okay because Sammy will find you and he will never let the Gerai take you.”
“Why can’t me and Sammy stay here with you? Everything is simpler here,” B said.
“You can’t stay here and you know that,” Brian replied sadly. He gently kissed him on the head. “But I wish you both could.”
“When Sammy comes, can we both stay with you for a little while? Just for a few days?” B begged.
“Sure,” Brian replied. “Like a family huh?”
B nodded and Brian held him tightly, wishing that they could be a family with him, but he would always be missing from B’s life. Time had already selected him for death and he could do nothing about it.
He gently smoothed out B’s hair and finally broke away from the embrace. “Come on, let’s get you some dinner okay?”
*******************
He watched the house from across the street pondering his next move. He doubted if walking up to the door would be the best idea… Brian was sure to argue with him. He could still hardly believe the extreme hatred he had felt from him across the car lot… and deep down he felt exactly the same thing. There was something sickening and vile about him and he had no idea why he felt that way.
He shouldn’t even be here anyway… He swore that B was going to pay for this one. Running away was one thing, but to skip to a different time was another and the extra point that infuriated him was B’s choice of lodgings. Why had he chosen to come here and to stay with him?
Now he felt like a real creep…
Tears stung his eyes as the wind pulled at his clothes, but they were caused more from sadness than from the weather. Why had everything turned out this way?
He felt another sting inside of him as he thought of B with him but he roughly pushed it away. B was happy here. He must be happy here otherwise he would have run away again.
As hard as it was, he would let him be for now. No matter how much it tore his heart up and no matter how many tears it brought to him, he would let him go. He would just sit by and watch from a distance as B, for once, had a little bit of happiness. He would let him stay here for a little while until he had to return. Then B would have to go with him of course but for now he could be happy and content. He deserved that. He was a lovely kid really…
The Gerai though could ruin everything. He knew he was here. He had saw the readings upon the time machine and knew that a second person had used it to find B and from the interrogation of the prisoner back at the base they had found out that it was a Gerai.
B was happy here and one dangerous man could ruin that. He didn’t want that happen. He wanted B to be happy. He would let him take care of B and he would take care of the Gerai.
He turned away from the house and headed back towards the tiny bed sit he was staying at, the tears still dribbling down his face as he felt a thousand feelings tugging at his poor heart.
Obviously he loved Brian more than his life in 2024.