The hours crawled by as Stephen wandered through the house slowly, as if he was a tourist visiting, seemingly aimlessly opening doors and wandering up and down staircases. Now and then he would stop and touch an object or a piece of furniture, but he never stayed anywhere for long. He knew by now he was being watched, but it did not seem that whoever was watching him thought him a danger or object of any greater interest, since he had not seen or heard anything paranormal in the time he had been there. He knew it was only a matter of time, but he thought of Nick and felt his resolve strengthened. He would do this, and not run like a frightened little boy. If he did, he would forfeit any and all chances of ever seeing Nick again.
The rest of this chapter has been removed due to explicit sexual content. If you want to read it, please look up the story on archiveofourown. (See my profile for link)