A Wall Between

Chapter 23

Cooper's phone told him that it would take him a full twenty four hours to get home from where he was on foot, but he started walking anyway. Maybe it would cut down the drive time to come get him by a few minutes, and he sure wasn't going to just sit around with his thoughts and wait.

He texted Ellie to let them know that he was away from his parents and that all was as well as it could be and confirm that they were, indeed, coming to get him. Not that he'd ever really doubted it. He knew they'd be home because they had been expecting him back, and they never would have said no to coming to get him. And Sasha... as much as Sasha's anxiety held him back, he seemed like a man of his word. If he said he'd do something, he would do it.

Ellie texted him back to let him know that they were on their way and that, to Cooper's surprise, Sasha was coming with them. Cooper didn't know how to feel about that. Worried, maybe. He hoped it wasn't a situation where they'd offered to take him and he'd agreed because he felt uncomfortable saying no. He hoped Sasha was coming because he wanted to, not out of obligation.

The other overwhelming emotion he felt was gratitude. At first he'd been crying because he was upset and angry, but as he slowly walked his way down a suburban street, he started tearing up again as he thought about what Sasha had done for him. Sasha, who found it hard to talk to others, had volunteered to go next door to talk to his roommates to help Cooper. Sasha, who as far as Cooper could tell pretty much didn't leave his apartment, was coming out to see him when nobody would have blamed him for staying home.

He was grateful towards Ellie and Abra, too. They were doing no more than what he expected of them after being friends all these years, but the fact that he could rely on them like that, that he didn't have to worry for a second that they wouldn't be there for him, meant a lot.

Some guy gave him a weird look as they passed one another on the street, but Cooper didn't care that he was openly crying. He wanted to get it all out now so that by the time his friends arrived, he'd be done and maybe they could get back to smiling together.

#

The only time Sasha took his eyes off the tracker was when Ellie briefly took her phone back to exchange a few texts with Cooper to make sure everything was okay, but Cooper didn't really go anywhere. He was walking through the suburbs, vaguely in their direction, and he just kept doing that the whole time they were driving.

Sasha was a tiny bit worried Cooper would be upset about him coming along with everyone to pick him up. It didn't seem likely, but... still. Whenever he stepped outside of his comfort zone, he couldn't help worrying that anything and everything would go wrong.

Even so, he wanted to do this. Hearing Cooper's voice on the phone, how upset he'd sounded and then how grateful he'd been when Sasha had reminded him he wasn't alone... it had stuck with him. Sasha really wasn't good at social things, but just this once, he wanted to be someone who was there for someone else. He wanted to be the best friend he could be. Maybe he couldn't be that person every day, but he could be today. Just this once, he could.

Once they got closer, he handed the phone back to Ellie and let her give directions to Abra. Sasha got his lefts and his rights mixed up under pressure, and they could all do without that.

And then there Cooper was, walking down the path on the side of the road ahead of them. Sasha saw Cooper look up, saw him recognise the car. Saw him smile and knew everything was going to be okay.

As soon as they were out of the car, Ellie hugged Cooper and pressed a kiss to the side of his head. Abra was quick to follow with a hug of his own. Sasha hung back, not quite knowing how he fit into this situation. He lifted his hand in an awkward wave.