Lovers of Freedom

Chapter 16: Truth

AN:
Uhm... yeah. You see right, another chapter one day after the last. Why? Because of the amazing response I got from you guys. You made my day! I had uploaded the chapter at 1am my time and woke up to see 16 amazing reviews! I love you guys, so here is a short chapter with Adam's POV, because some of you where wondering where he is. You don't have to worry, it's still Skyenja, but I want some Merome in this story as well, so I needed a few chapters to include it to the story! Adam not appearing fitted my plans as well, you will see why in this chapter. Nothing too special, half as long as usual, but I hope you like a little something! ;)
Thank these amazing guys for the extra chapter:
EmmoyDino_FTW, randomgeekyness, random-pink, Siempie222, Deandra62930, RuskaC, Bloxiegirl123, LynKiin, KittysStories, MaddiesMines, GVCGurl23, MoonMist55, PrincessLyoka, DatYuuki, SkylarLuvsOTPs & WrittenDarkness!

Music tip:
Linkin Park - Iridescent
(look at the beginning of the chapter!)

Lovers of Freedom

Chapter 16:
Truth

People often thought Adam to be the oblivious guy.
He rarely pointed out negative traits of others, if it wasn't for a humorous purpose entirely.
They thought him to live his life as best as he could without focusing on the problems.

Quietly he stood in the hall of the Team Crafted house and observed the rest of the guys laughing in the living room. After a while his eyes focused on one certain person with short hair and brown sparkling eyes. They were playing a race on the playstation and something funny must have happened, because they burst out laughing again and were barely able to contain themselves.

No matter how long Adam thought about it, he was unable to make head nor tail of Mitch's behavior.

It had been confusing enough for Adam to see the normally quite happy guy so conflicted, as he had stayed at Adam's house in Seattle. At first Mitch had tried his best to form some kind of connection between the two of them, then Adam's hateful reaction had destroyed every single attempt of a friendship and when Adam had tried to make up for his not very helpful behavior, Mitch had pushed him away as far as possible.

He had been even stranger around Murphy and slowly Adam had begun to suspect their new boss of being responsible for Mitch's unusual... change.
Then they had moved to LA not even a day later and he finally had the chance to talk to Jerome. Too bad that he had not a single clue about what was going on either. Together they had decided for Jerome to talk to the Canadian, because after all he was his best friend. Maybe Mitch would open up to him.

And then Adam had heard nothing.
Every time he tried to get Jerome alone, he was able to find another activity that was more important at the moment. Furthermore Jerome didn't leave Mitch's side, especially when Murphy had been around to inform them of the further plans for the team.
Something bad was going on, Adam was sure of it, and he was about to find out, no matter how many excuses Jerome tried to make again.

Not even a minute later Jerome returned from his room to get back to the others and before he had the chance to react, Adam pulled him away into the kitchen. After he had closed the door, he turned around and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Talk."
Jerome stood opposite of him at the counter and took a deep breath. He said nothing.

"What is this about? You can't tell me that his mood changes are normal-"

"They are not," Jerome interrupted him slowly and leaned back, before he looked away from Adam and continued. "Nonetheless I can't talk to you about it."

"Oh yes you can and you will, remember that we have both talked about this before and you were as worried as I am! Now you obviously know the reason and refuse to say it!" Adam talked himself into a rage and raised his voice, but Jerome stayed eerily calm.

"Because I promised Mitch to talk to no one about it. Furthermore if the wrong person gets to know about our involvement in the situation, Mitch will be in very deep trouble and I'm not willing to take that risk!"
Something strange gleamed in his eyes and for a moment Adam felt the urge to fall back a few steps. Then another thought raised his attention.

"Wait. That sounds really bad... so Murphy is really involved in whatever this is?"

With a sigh Jerome ran his fingers through his hair and hesitated for a moment, before he nodded, confirming his suspicions. With raised eyebrows Adam asked immediately, "What has he done?!"

"Don't, Adam!"

"No Jerome, tell me what the fuck is going on, because I'm confused as hell right now-"

"NO!"

Adam fell silent and stared at Jerome with wide open eyes.
"You listen to me very closely now, Adam. I'm not going to tell you what this is about, because me knowing about it is already endangering Mitch. Yes, Murphy is involved, but this is so much bigger than you can imagine at the moment. Hold yourself back, at least for the moment. I try to sort this out with Mitch together, but if things get too hot, I'll convince him to finally open up about what is going on. But until then... Please don't."

Unable to say something Adam stayed quiet and nodded.
He had wanted to erase his worries and doubts about the Canadian, but now they were even stronger. Jerome wouldn't say something like that thoughtlessly.

"And there is something else... Do you mind telling me why in the world you're so worried about Mitch? I mean, I have been there when you two... you know, and from what I've heard it hasn't been too good between Mitch and you during his stay at your house. So why are you so worried for him, Adam?"

Silently he sat down on one of the bar chairs.

A question he had tried to answer himself during the last three days.

"I..."
What was it exactly? The old feelings maybe? They had been friends once, very close ones as well. The whole group had been there for each other and somehow, now that they were all reunited again, the feelings seemed to return automatically.
"I think it's still there. The whole friendship thing between us, you know? I have been angry at Mitch for so long and when he had been at my house, I had tried to make it as bad as possible for him, but something held me back. Maybe it's harder than expected to throw all of that away."

A hand appeared on his shoulder and Jerome sat down by his side.
With an understanding smile on his lips he concluded,
"That's a good start I guess. For Team Crafted."