Healing Hearts (Gus x Matt)

~chapter 31~

Gus's pov:

(Bro, I have to rewrite part of this because it didn't save. WHAT THE HECK BRO!!!?!?!?!?)

It had been 6 months since they had gotten stuck in the human realm.

They hadn't made too much progress on an actual portal they could walk through, however, Amity suggested that they make a portal that they could put things through, or use it like a window. The rest of the crew liked that idea and were on board with it.

All 6 teenagers were gathered in the old shack. The one where they first came out of the portal. It still made Gus shudder thinking about that night.

As Luz turned on the mini-portal, the other 5 were standing back, shielding themselves from another possible explosion.

But the portal had turned clear, almost like a window. "SEE!? FOR ONCE MY ANALOGY WAS ON POINT!" Amity exclaimed, beaming with pride. The rest of them laughed as they all clustered around to get a look through the portal.

They seemed to be... by a lake? The other 5 were confused as to where it was, but Gus knew immediately. He felt his heart pang as he saw someone walking away. It was Matt, he could tell.

Something happened in the corner of the room, causing the 5 teens to turn around. But Gus remained fixated on his little window. Something was floating towards him, it was a piece of folded up paper sotting ontop of a leaf. He instinctively reached out to grab it, not thinking about weather it was safe or not to put his hand through the portal.

Much to his surprise, it was safe! He pulled his arm out just in time, because the commotion from a few seconds ago was dismissed and the 5 were concentrated on the portal again. Gus put the folded up piece of paper in his pocket. Somewhere inside of him, he knew that Matt wrote something on this paper. And if it meant keeping another secret from his friends, he didn't care, a long as he knew Matt was okay and didn't forget about him. As long as he still has a part of Matt with him, everything is okay.

As long as we're together everything will be fine

Those words flash back to him. He clenches his hands in a fist in his pockets, trying to keep calm. One of his hands tightly clenches the paper while on his other hand, his nails dig into the skin of his palm. He doesn't even notice he's doing it until he feels a sharp piercing on his left hand. He takes his hand out of his pocket to examine it. Then he notices 4 short cuts on the palm of his hand, each gathering a small pool of blood around it.

Oh shit, what should I do?

He sighs and taps Luz's shoulder. She turns around, "Yeah Gus?" She asks.

Trying not to alarm anyone too much he just asks, "Do you happen to have a bandaid on you? I think I got a splinter-or-two. I just wanted to feel the walls and.... yeah"

Eveeyone in the group knows just how much Gus likes to feel new textures, so this was pretty normal. She stifles a small giggle and says, "Well- I don't have any on me. But I'm sure Willow will. If not though, we can get you one when we get home."

"Okay" he says, turning to Willow to ask her a out the bandaid.

"Sorry, I left them in my bag, which is back at the Noceda's house."
"Oh okay, I can just head back now. Besides, I'm kind of tired."

It was getting late now. The group had found it best to do portal experiments at night, when everyone was asleep.

Before Gus steps out of the shack, he turns in his scroll flashlight and says goodnight to his friends.

"Be careful Gus!!" Hunter calls out from the shack before Gus walk off.

When he reaches the Noceda's house he walks in and sees Camila sitting at the kitchen table, scrolling through her phone.

She sees Gus and gives him a welcoming smile. Then her smile falls and her face is flashed with concern when she realizes the rest aren't with him. "Why did you come back by yourself? Is everyone else okay?" She asks, rushing over to him.

Gus gives her a reassuring smile and says, "No Camilla, everyone's okay. I just  need a bandaid. Nobody had one on them so I came back here. That and im getting a little bit tired, I'll probably go to bed soon though." When he tells her about needing a bandaid, he holds up his hand and smiles awkwardly.

She gives him an understanding look as she moves towards the bathroom to find him a bandaid. When she returns she hands him one that will actually fit his hand and says, "If you don't mind my asking, how did that happen?"

She sits back down at the table. He starts to answer and sit down as well. "Well- I um, I have a bad habit of... I'm not sure how to explain this, so bear with me, but when I get anxious or nervous or stressed about something, I clench my hands into fists" he holds his hands up in gently clenched fists to show "most of the time I notice and stop. But sometimes I get so overwhelmed with what's going on inside my head that I don't notice.... This was kinda one of those times and I ended up piercing the skin on my palm."

Camilla smiles at Gus sadly and says, "How about you go get some sleep Gus. You've had a long 6 months and I can tell you haven't slept much."

He nods and stands up, pushing in his chair.
"Thanks Camilla, for everything, not just the bandaid."
"You don't need to thank me, just go get some sleep okay?"

Gus heads down to the basement, holding the folded up piece of paper in his left hand, the one without a bandaid.

He sits down on his sleeping bag and starts to unfold the letter. Then, all of a sudden, he hears the front door open and, through the closed door leading to the basement, hears Luz ask something along the lines of, "did Gus get home?" or something like that.

He quickly folds the letter back up and shoves it in his pocket. He doesn't even bother to change into pajamas, seeing as his current clothes were already super comfy.

He turns on his side, facing away from the entrance to the shared "room" and pretended to be asleep.

He hears Hunter say "goodnight " before closing the door and making his way down the stairs.

He seems to notice Gus "sleeping" and kneels down next to him. Then he softly says, "Gus, I know that somethings been up with you lately. I know it feels really difficult, but we're here for you. You're really strong, and i know you can get through this." Then his voice gets so quiet the Gus almost can't hear what he says, "I'm here for you little brother"

Gus can feel himself welling with tears... he knows Hunter considers him like a little brother, but he'd never actually called him 'brother'. It was nice...

Hunter walked over to his sleeping bag and fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Then Gus whispered to himself.

"I'm here you you too... brother"

(End scene)
I thought I'd end this chapter off on a cute note. I like the idea of Gus and Hunter being like siblings.

I hope you guys are doing well, and if you aren't feeling that great right now, it's okay, tomorrow's a new day. Who knows? You might feel a lot better tomorrow. I sure hope I do anyway.

(I cried twice in school today😭😭 It was embarrassing, even though only my friends saw me 1 time and the other time was during silent reading so nobody saw, but still. Crying at school sucks butt)

ANYWAYS!! Don't forget- I'm doing a Qna once I get enough questions, so if you have any let me know 'em!

Thank you such for over 1.k reads, it messes the world to me. Stay safe my wonderful readers, take good care of yourself and make sure you drink some water today!

Till next time!
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