5. I'm Home, WT.......!

If I’m honest, it was pretty much the same most days. I’d wake up, Steve would already be at work, and I’d just drift into his room, jump on his Xbox, and disappear into games for a few hours. FIFA, COD, whatever was there. If it was nice out, I’d go for a walk along the river, clear my head a bit… but other than that? Not much. Just killing time.

Evenings were either more Xbox, or we’d go out for a drink. I still had a few quid left in my bank, so we weren’t skint-skint, but we weren’t living fancy either. Mostly we just chilled round the SO! Bar / Six Poor Folk, because it’s calm in there and you can just exist without anyone asking questions.

I was still speaking to my girlfriend too. She was worried about me. She kept saying I needed to sort another job, get back on track. And she was right — I knew that — I just didn’t want to jump into the first thing and hate it. Plus… my head was a mess. She’s at uni anyway, so we weren’t seeing each other loads at the time, but the calls helped. I kept everything quiet, obviously. I stuck to the “ill, lost my apprenticeship, family stuff” version. No details. Nothing that could slip.

A couple of times, Steve started showing me bits about websites — like how to build pages, add sections, make things look cleaner. I didn’t tell him I had this site. I just acted interested, asked questions, let him waffle on. But he ended up showing me loads, Some of it made sense. Some of it went straight over my head. But I picked up enough to be useful.

And yeah… it matters. You’ll see why.

So this is the part where it all goes sideways again.

One night we were at SO! Bar. Steve’s mates came over, we’re sat round the table, just laughing, normal. And I swear — I felt someone watching me. Like that prickly feeling on the back of your neck.

I look over toward the window. For a second I thought I saw… something. Someone. But by the time my eyes actually focused, there was nobody there. So I tried to ignore it.

Around twenty to eleven, people started heading off. Steve looks at me and goes, “I’m gonna take my girlfriend home,” and gives me that little wink like you know what’s happening. I just laughed and said, “Yeah, see you later.”

So I start walking back alone — down the hill toward the river, turning onto the road where his house is. It’s dark down there anyway. Quiet. Just streetlights and shadows.

Then I feel a tap on my shoulder.

I spin round.

Evan!

Just standing there like he’d been there the whole time. Pale face. Hood. Those intense green eyes locked on me.

And I just… snapped. I lost it. All the anger I’d been holding, all the fear, all the confusion — it just poured out. I was shouting, swearing, “What the fuck?” “How did you find me?” “Get away from me,” all of it.

He didn’t even flinch.

He just looked me dead in the eyes and said, calm as anything:

“Shut the fuck up.”

And that’s… basically where my memory stops.

Next thing I know, I’m waking up on the sofa at home. Back in my house. Clock says about twenty past eleven. I just sat there staring at it like… how? How am I here? How is this even real?

And then I hear voices at the front door — Evan and Edwin.

Evan’s talking like it’s a normal little catch-up. He’s saying he’s been to see “Prof” — whoever that is — and he’s got things to look into. He says he’ll be back in a few days.

Then he says to Edwin: keep me in the house. Don’t let me run off again. Build bridges. We’re not here to hurt him, we’re here to look after him. You’ve had a lifetime together — sort it out.

Then the door shuts. He’s gone.

Edwin comes into the room. I just look at him, shake my head, and I’m like, “Right. I haven’t got a clue what’s going on… but I’m gonna need to know.”

And then I just went upstairs. My head was swimming. Like I’d been drugged or something. I don’t know what Evan did, but I felt wrong. Heavy. Foggy.

I slept.

Next morning Edwin wakes me up early. Says we should go out — “build bridges”, spend time together, because things have changed between us. And yeah… they have.

So I get dressed, we get in the car, and he takes me round places we used to go when I was a kid. Proper old memories.

We even went to Elvaston Castle — I haven’t been there in years. It’s changed. They’ve cut some big trees down. But it took me right back. Getting dirty, running about, all that.

And for a bit… it almost felt like before. Like we could pretend none of this was happening. We had a laugh. Talked about old times. Didn’t really touch the big stuff because I don’t think either of us wanted to open that door.

Later we ended up at what used to be Edwin’s local — The Nag’s Head in Mickleover. We used to go there for meals. I saw a couple of people I knew. Just nodded. Nobody came over because I was with Edwin, which… honestly, was a relief.

We just sat there chatting crap, football on the telly… and then it turned into drink after drink after drink.

Before I knew it, I was absolutely gone. Edwin wasn’t much better. We left the car there and got a taxi back. He went for the car the next day, but yeah… that’s basically that.

So that’s me caught up.

Edwin’s told me Evan’s coming round tonight.

He said I should probably have a lie-in, rest up… but I needed to get this posted while I can. I still have to do all this when it’s quiet — before Edwin’s up, when Evan’s not around — because they still don’t know about this laptop.

And now I’m sat here thinking about Evan turning up.

I’m not gonna lie… I’m anxious. Proper anxious.

Because I need answers. I need them. But I’m scared of what those answers are going to be.

I got stabbed. Evan healed me like it was nothing. He found me in Knaresborough like it was easy. And those eyes… that face… and those teeth.

I keep seeing it when I close my eyes.

So yeah. I’m gonna try and get my head down now. Try and sleep. Not sure I’ll manage.

If I can post tomorrow, I will. If not, it’ll be the day after — whenever I can do it without getting caught.

Think of me, yeah?

Bye.