Come Back To Us - 39. Chapter 39

It hurt. He didn’t know what. But it hurt. It hurt so much. Everything was nothing but pain.

At one point, he didn’t see darkness anymore, but a dull brownish colour. Where was he? He was dead, right? He couldn’t move at least. What was happening?

He swore he had just heard a faint echo, like a voice calling. Where was it coming from? Who did it belong to?

Soon enough, he wasn’t seeing brown anymore, but indistinct faces hovering over him. Wait…Could this mean…he wasn’t dead…? He needed to adjust his eyes to the sudden change. It took him quite some time to recover from the shock and his slumber, but they helped him sit up and gave him water. It felt so much like déjà vu…

Now he could see them much more clearly. There were three boys, about his age or maybe a bit younger, he couldn’t tell. One of them was wearing glasses, had wavy dark hair and brown eyes. The next one had blue eyes like his own, light brown and smooth hair and the last one had thick and curly light brown hair and brown eyes, but he was staring at him with a look that foresaw no good…

“What do we do now? Do you think he’s well enough to speak? Shouldn’t we let him rest for some more time?” The one with glasses said.

“The only way to know is trying,” the other one with blue eyes chimed in.

They had that accent that sounded like Aiden’s.

“Stan? Mind to start?”

Stan… so that was his name…

Wait.

Thinking about Aiden…He remembered the conversation they had had together before all those bad things happened. That boy he loved, whom he had wanted him to find as his last will…

Could it be…?

“Stanley…?”

They all looked at him with faces full of surprise and shock.

No one said anything for a while.

“Do you know him?” The boy with glasses asked as he looked at his supposedly friend.

“How could I? I've never seen him before."

“But it seems like he knows you?”

“How could he?”

“I dunno. I’m no seer.”

There wasn’t any time for stupid arguments.

“You know…Aiden?”

The same looks were plastered on their faces. No, it was even more accentuated, especially on the curly boy’s face.

“Who the hell are you?” He snapped. “Don’t you dare mention that name in my face anymore!”

Karl’s heart skipped a beat as the boy was getting dangerously close.

“Stan! Chill!”

He was starting to grip him as the other boy with glasses was trying to hold him back.

“He died!”

Everything stopped suddenly as he pronounced those words.

He took that chance to keep on.

“He loved you… And he was sorry for the way he acted with you. It was all because of his father…”

He was on the verge of tears as he remembered the way he had died and how useless he had been…

“He wanted to see you again, make things right…”

It was silent for a long while. The three of them were too astounded with shock to utter a single word or even move.

“Get out,” was the only thing “Stan” said after a while, his voice low and threatening.

“Get the fuck out, I said!!!”

The two other teens were quick to leave the cabin. Then, Stan looked down, but he didn’t miss the way he licked his lips. He was even shaking.

“What happened?”

Karl didn’t answer quickly enough.

“What happened for fuck’s sake?!”

“He saved me from death like you did. But we were attacked by an enemy ship. The submarine was damaged… and they all died…”

Soon enough, he looked like he couldn’t breathe anymore, and next thing he knew, he was breaking down.

Karl found enough strength to prevent him from collapsing to the floor. And then he could only cry on his shoulder for the following few minutes.

Karl’s heart was aching.

There was nothing he could do to soothe him… He bit the inside of his cheek.

He could only imagine what it’d be like if it were happening to him…

Losing someone close to him… His siblings, his parents…Mr. or Mrs. Hopkins, Paul, Emma.

Losing him… George. Like in his vision…

It was just as awful and terrifying every time he would think about it.

His jaw wouldn’t unclench and breathing became almost impossible. Fortunately, the sound of it was stifled by his sniffing and soft moans.

He got a grip on himself after a while and wiped his own tears with his sleeve.

“Sorry about that. It was so queer.”

Don’t be sorry, you loved him, you fool.

He was looking all embarrassed now.

“Erm…If we could..you know…forget about that. Like pretend nothing has ever happened, okay?”

Karl observed him with dead eyes.

He wasn’t really sure he understood everything well.

Was it just because of his friends? The way they were going to react?

Did he just want to forget because he loved another boy and that wasn’t a thing to do?

It’s what he would be tempted to think, but Kristian’s words were etched into his mind like scorching letters that could never be put out. He could have only meant them when he had said them, right?

And from his own experience, he couldn’t say otherwise. He didn’t want to be like all those people who hated and created this kind of war.

“Forget about his memory. It’s unrespectful for dead people. He wouldn’t forget about you was he still alive.”

His gaze was hard and emotionless. He pounced on him and gripped his shoulders and Karl started but remained calm and still.

“If I don’t, I’ll end up topping myself! Don’t you get it?” He let go of him brutally as he pushed him backwards but Karl leaned on his hands to avoid colliding with the wall behind. “I should’ve never fallen for him!!!”

It may have been selfish, but his own pain only made him much more eager to go back to England, end this war and see George again, apologise for leaving.

He knew there was nothing he could do about it anyway. He couldn’t bring him back from the dead. He could only watch as the wounds would probably never heal. How could they anyway? If the love between them was so deep and sincere?

“I need to go back to England. Get me back there. Please!”

It was sheer desperation from the bottom of his heart.

“Why? Why should I do that? You’re English?”

“I’m in the Royal Air Force. They mus’ think I’m all dead.”

“Yeah, well, you’ll be much more useful there than here.” He paused. “What’s your name?”

“Karl.”

“Alright, Karl. England, there we go.”

He then made his way outside.

“Guys! We’re setting sail for the old land!”

His voice died down as he didn’t move. He moaned as he tried to lie back down. He definitely needed more rest. He had to try to think about positive stuff meanwhile. How he would see Kristian and Jørgen again. He should have finished his mission by that time, if only he weren’t on another one.

No. Positive.

He thought about the Hopkins family. He couldn’t wait to go back and write to them to tell them he was alright. Well, not in the best shape, but at least he was still alive. That’s what mattered. He just hoped they wouldn’t come across other enemy ships or submarines or planes or whatever. He wasn’t ready for the same thing to happen for the third time in a row.

Couldn’t that war be more creative?

After a while, he drifted off, his eyelids getting closed against his will. He couldn’t struggle. He dreamt again meanwhile. He dreamt about him and George on that ship again, huger than any he had ever seen or been on. He saw them struggling to communicate, pretty much like when he had just arrived at the Hopkin’s and didn’t know a single word of English. The George in his dreams was just like the one in real life. But would he want him to be any other way? He wasn’t so sure about that…

He saw them kiss, hesitantly at first, but it quickly turned into a passionate and warm embrace and ended up with their bodies naked and hot, moving gracefully in sync as if they were only one, George lying on his back and caressing his back with such softness that it made him crave for his touch. There it was again, that achy feeling in his stomach. He wanted to feel his warm breath on his skin, be intoxicated by the smell of it and the taste of his lips until he didn’t know where he was anymore, forget about that damn war; get lost in his brown eyes. He had always felt safe in his arms. He wished he could never wake up and remain in that dream.

His jaw clenched as a tear rolled down his face. His eyes fluttered open. He wished he had never met him. It would have been much easier. He wished war had never existed. He wished pain didn’t either. And then he pondered again. Was that why humans were brought into this world? To know pain and overcome it? Should they have to go through the worst ordeals to deserve what the world had best to offer?

He could only assume and hope so. He wasn’t asking for much anyway. So it could be granted to him.

“Hey. It will take longer than expected to get back to the old continent. I’d rather let you know,” he saw the curly-haired boy in the door frame.

“How many time?”

He shrugged casually, looking uninteresting but as if nothing had happened earlier.

“Weeks, I guess. two, three, four.”

He sighed out of frustration as he glanced down. Anything could happen to them in that time span. It could mean death.

“Sorry, mate…” he said but not long afterwards he was nowhere in sight anymore.

He inhaled sharply as he closed his eyes.

If I come back to you, I’ll give you everything I can.

He shifted his position to lay on his side.

I’ll be all yours in this life or another.

Hello my dear readers!
Here you go with another chapter
Have a good day/evening/night and take care ❤️