Thread: Homeward Bound [[Blink and Soul are BACK!]

Her words were assuring enough, and Chance found himself nodding slowly in silent response, his eyes holding hers for added comfort. After all, she was right, he was home, and he was safe for the time being, but there were still plenty of pages that he'd left unturned, actions he'd deliberately failed to take, and statements he'd refused to make. One of the biggest and most important of those things was the admission what had happened, where'd he'd been all that time, and why. It wasn't necessarily that he was unwilling to let it be known, but for the moment, he hadn't been asked, and unless it was specifically addressed, he was going to leave it on the back burner for as long as possible. After all, there was a time and place for everything it seemed, and then and there didn't seem to be the right fit. So, in thoughtful silence, he reached to slide his fingers through hers when she moved back to her feet and offered him to go inside. Getting back on his feet was easy, surprisingly, and he only needed to take one extra step to keep his balance, hesitating for just a brief second before he followed along behind her to go inside, his gaze immediately roving to take in the design and decor. He couldn't deny that everything about it, from the color scheme to the light scents, screamed Charlotte, and reflected her personality exactly the way he had remembered her. He found himself starting to repeat memories in mind from their high school days, the many times that they had gotten together in one of their parents' living rooms after school, completing homework while intentionally trying to distract each other, the one time that they decided to have a pillow fight with the couch cushions and the look on his mother's face when she not only walked in to the sight, but discovered that they'd accidentally broken one of her favorite vases. He remembered how much his mom loved Lotte, and nearly thought of her as an adopted addition to the family. Mostly, he remembered that look his mom always had in her eyes when he would spend time with her, the look that screamed that it didn't matter how much he denied it, she knew that it was more than just friendship. He was brought back into reality when she encouraged him to have a seat and he blinked back to reality, turning to look at her as he shook his head automatically. Fine, he murmured, meeting her eyes hesitantly. I'm fine for now. Thank you though, for the offer. Pausing, he held her gaze for a moment longer before reaching to slide his free hand into hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. In silence, he took a step backward, and then another, being slow and careful so as not to bump into anything, and after a few steps he turned to face forward, leading her along with him to her living room. In slow silence, he took up a seat on the couch, heaving a deep sigh of comfort as he leaned back into the material, being careful and mindful enough of the fact that he was in a soiled uniform and hadn't showered in he didn't even know how long. For certain though, it didn't make much difference, given the fact that whether he had gone to see his parents first or seen her, if offered to take a shower and change, he didn't have a set of fresh clothes that would be small enough to fit his malnourished frame. Waiting for her to take up seat beside him, Chance turned to face her, swallowing thickly as he tried to figure out just what to say, and how. If anything, he wanted to keep the topic of conversation off of himself for the time being. He wasn't ready to talk about it, not yet, not in his moment of pure relief from being home and being back in the comforting and loving presence of his dearest friend. Start from the beginning, he murmured softly, meeting her eyes. Start from the very beginning, and don't leave anything out. I don't know how long it's been exactly anymore... the days just all sort of blurred together and... Just tell me everything.