Page 23 of Escape into the Night

Muffled voices and the scuff and scrape of the lock disengaging brought him back from the floating calm and slammed him back into reality. Disoriented, he blinked and then scowled at Theo’s frame looming in the door. It shut with a firm bang that caused him to flinch and tense and draw himself tighter, his back pressed to the crumbling concrete beneath the rusted metal shelves bowing under the weight of old bleach bottles and abandoned boxes of powder detergent gone solid with age.

“Seriously, fuck off.” Taz clutched the knife tighter, holding it flat to his chest with the opposite arm to hide the shameful evidence of how fucked up he was from the one person who knew it best.

“Taz,” came the soft, firm response.

“Go away, Theo.”

“Give me the knife.” Soft-soled shoes barely made a sound as the distance between them shrank. Theo crouched, his face clearer now, his expression strangely serene and painfully comforting—no pity, no shock, no judgment.

A manic laugh slipped from Taz’ lips as he resorted to his well-honed defense mechanism. The sound was bitter and filled with derision. “Why, so you can play the hero? Again?”

Not rising to the bait, Theo exhaled a quiet breath and shifted his stance, pivoting on the soles of his feet to land beside Taz with a grunt. He drew his knees up to rest his elbows atop them, one palm outstretched in a silent request. After a beat, his voice broke through the quiet.

“You always ran here.”

Taz’ fingers loosened just a fraction, easing his death grip on the knife handle. “Didn’t think you remembered.”

A nearly imperceptible shift brought their shoulders into contact. It was a simple press, a gentle pressure, an innocent touch that soothed the swirling chaos just a little bit more.

“T, I remember everything. I promised.” His fingertips gave a little flutter and Taz relented with a weighted exhalation. He tried to keep his hand from shaking as he placed the knife in Theo’s outstretched palm, but it was impossible. He calmly folded it closed and shifted to tuck it into the pocket of his jeans before relaxing back against the wall. There was another beat of silence before Theo’s quiet voice rose above the perpetual drip-drip-dripping background noise.

“There’s better ways to make it stop. You just gotta talk to someone. If not Luke or Birdie, talk to me. Promise?”

He let his head fall to rest temple to temple with Theo’s. “Yeah, whatever.”

“Promise me, Taz.”

“Fuck, you're so annoying.”

“T,” he warned in a low tone.

“Yeah, fine. I promise.”

“Thank—”

The strange peace around them disappeared amid a cacophony of loud, banging, aggressive knocks. Mere seconds later, the door all but fell off its hinges, slamming open to crash into the wall and reveal a pair of muscle-bound jocks wearingwide-eyed expressions. Theo and Taz both recoiled in shock, instinctively clinging to one another in a moment of fear.

“What the actual fuck?!” Taz recovered first, his temper flaring as it always did when he was confronted by things that go bump in the night.

“We got a problem,” Connor croaked, his movements jerky as he manhandled the door before physically lifting it back into the frame it no longer fit in.

“Huge problem. DEFCON Five level problem.”

Theo’s trembling was evident in the touch points between them as Taz impulsively tightened his embrace. The brief respite from his chaotic thoughts disappeared into the ether as a fresh wave of emotion crashed over him.

“What? Are the kids—”

“Kids are fine. I already called Ma.” Connor strode across the room, his long legs eating up the distance before he crouched down in front of them. “Listen, Teddy. We need to get you out of here.”

Taz’ arms squeezed even tighter.

“What do you mean?” Theo’s tension sloughed off him in palpable waves. Taz could taste the fear in the back of his throat.

“You're being framed.” Luke stepped forward and turned his phone toward them. Taz recoiled. Theo deflated. On the screen was an FBI bulletin with Theo’s face front and center. Cybercrimes, espionage, domestic terrorism. Taz nearly choked on his tongue before rage boiled up to overwhelm every other emotion.

“No, fuck that. That’s bullshit!”

“Shh, I know. Shh, baby.” Luke extended his hand to brush his fingertips under the hood of Taz’ sweatshirt and through his hair.

---