Page 42 of Aftermath

Pulling his T-shirt over his head, he dropped it in the chair next to him, then fished out his smokes. Around that time, Austin joined him, too, only wearing a towel around his hips. Cam told him there was food for him in the kitchen, so Austin disappeared for a minute, only to return with his burrito.

"Thank you," Austin said quietly, kissing the top of Cam's head. Then he sat down on the other side of table, and Cam saw that his eyes were bloodshot behind his glasses. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

Cam pursed his lips and shook his head minutely. "Couldn’t sleep?"

It was Austin's turn to shake his head. "Nightmares." He unwrapped his burrito and seemed to be struggling to keep his breathing even.

"You can talk to me about it," Cam offered carefully.

"The last night," Austin whispered, looking down at his food. "I can't shake the smell of gasoline."

Cam swallowed hard and turned his gaze to the covered pool.

In many ways, the last night in captivity was the absolute worst.

Cam had pictured his final meal to be a bit more extravagant than the usual chicken soup, stale bread, and lukewarm milk. Not that it really mattered. He had no appetite what-so-fucking-ever.

The newly-added smell in the basement didn’t help. A while ago, Psycho had poured gasoline on the floor. It was slowly seeping inside the cells, and the fumes were making everyone dizzy and nauseous.

"You should eat," Austin mumbled automatically.

Cam shook his head, seated on his cot, and stared down into his bowl. After yesterday's announcement from the goddamn psycho, the only thing he could stomach was water.

"Cam…"

"He's gonna set this fucking place on fire," Cam whispered, not lifting his eyes to face his friend. "We're gonna burn alive."

So far, Psycho had followed through on every goddamn promise. He wasn’t afraid to use his gun, and he seemed to get his rocks off in torturing others. There was no reason to believe this was just a scare tactic. If anything, the heavy odor of the gasoline only proved he was planning to set it all on fire.

"I don’t want to think about that." Austin's voice was thick. "Besides—" he tried and failed to brighten his tone "—first, I have a meeting to look forward to."

Cam set down the bowl of soup. There was no fucking way he'd eat it. He felt sick to his stomach, and his body ached after these months of captivity and torture. "Do you think he'll take you and Tim at once? He only mentioned one 'meeting.' 'Cause if it is the both of you…" He was grasping at straws, but what else was he gonna do? "Maybe you can take him."

Austin's mouth twisted into a small grimace. "Didn’t work whenwetried, Cam." He sighed. "I'm not going to give up an opportunity if it presents itself, but I'm not counting on it. He's been too meticulous. He drugged us to get us here, cuffed us to slow us down…he gives out food with only enough nutrition to keep us alive, and he has that gun, which he's used more than once." His eyes met Cam's as they both looked up. "I honestly don’t know how much physical strength I have left. I'm constantly tired, and…" He trailed off and averted his eyes. "I don’t know. I don’t think there's any hope left."

Cam forced a smile. "I'm not sure how to deal with this." As had been stated countless times before, he loathed showing weakness. But Austin had proved to be someone Cam didn’t have to hide for. Austin hadn't treated him any differently just because he knew of Cam's disorders. At least not much. Maybe he'd been a bit more patient and attentive, but he didn’t treat Cam like something fragile, and he still didn’t take his bullshit.

"I only have one suggestion." Austin put his food aside. Then he stood up and motioned for Cam to stand, too. They closed the distance between them and Austin moved his cuffed hands over Cam's head, then cupped his neck and rested their foreheads together. "I think it's time for empty promises."

Cam let out a soft breath and nodded in return, reveling in the sense of comfort all while his heart ached at the obvious surrender. Was this it? Had they come so far past believing in rescue that they had to lie to one another in order to cope and keep breathing?

"We'll m-make it out alive," he rasped. "You'll see your wife and daughter again, and I'll be under the hood of some vintage car." He smiled sadly, not really meaning for Austin to see, and tilted his head. "It'll be okay." His nose and lips brushed against the inside of Austin's forearm.

The tension crackled, both men desperate for any kind of closeness. The moment left them confused, but neither moved away for a long while.

Releasing a shaky breath, Austin dropped his forehead to Cam's shoulder. Cam felt as Austin ghosted his lips over his skin. A slow but forceful shiver ran down his spine, pressing heat closer to the surface.

"I'll try—" Austin's voice was threadbare and almost inaudible. "If I see a chance, I'll fight with all I have left."

Those words both soothed and terrified Cam. "Gun or no gun?"

"Gun or no gun."

Cam squeezed his eyes shut as the "empty" promises echoed through him.

They'd made it out alive, but at that point, they really hadn't believed in an escape.

"Hey." Austin grabbed Cam's hand on the table. "I didn’t mean to push my shit onto you."

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