Author note:
Hello, everyone. English is not my first language, so be easy on me. Thank you all for your support. All feedback are appreciated.
Have a nice day.
Tani parked her car on Steve's driveway. She stared in confusion as the Red Silverado truck was not parked in its usual spot and the lights in the house were out. Her confusion turned to annoyances by the time she turned to Junior in the passenger seat.
"Really, Juns?" Tani questioned. "You nagged me to drive us back from the party that we were enjoying ourselves to what? An empty house? Steve is not at home."
Junior's eyes conveyed his silent apology to Tani. "No, Tani. I'm serious. Steve and I, we agreed to watch the game together. Danny is joining us too but he will be a bit late."
"Fine." Tani said and shrugged. "Maybe he went out."
Junior took his phone out of his pocket and checked if there were any notification, any recent message from Steve to indicate any change in their plan. "Nothing. No messages from Steve," Junior bit his lips. "If he were to leave the house to get something, he wouldn't turn all the light off and leave Eddie in the dark."
"Maybe Steve took Eddie with him." Tani smiled. "You do realize how inseparable those two is getting these days?"
"That I agree. Eddie does know how to trick Steve." Junior chuckled as he took his backpack from the back seat. "Thanks for inviting me, I had fun."
"You're welcome." Tani smiled lightly. "Hey, do you mind if I come in and use your bathroom?"
"Of course not. Come on." Junior said before he got out of the car and jogged his way to the front door, followed closely by Tani. It was drizzling.
Junior unlocked the door, was about to step in when Eddie bounded over to them. It barked like crazy for a second and settled to whimpering and whining when Junior bent down to scratch its ears. Junior gave Eddie a few scratches before he stepped inside the house and turned the lights on.
"Hey, buddy. Whatcha doin? Did Steve leave alone you at home? My poor baby…" Tani gave Eddie a few scratches before she excused herself to use the bathroom.
Junior closed the door and sat on the couch. Eddie followed and rested its head on Junior's leg, whimpering softly. Petting Eddie, Junior called Steve. He ended the call when it went to voicemail. Uneasy feeling was creeping in. Just when he was trying to assure himself from unnecessarily worrying about Steve, he heard sound coming from the front door. He turned to the door and watched it closely, hoping it would be Steve walking in but to his slight disappointment, the door swung open and Danny stepped inside.
"Yo, I'm early and I got us pizzas." He chirped in his usual tone as he closed the door. He walked further in and dropped the pizza boxes on the nearby table. He didn't miss the look on Junior's face.
"What's with the face?" Danny asked as he pet Eddie who went to greet him. "Where's Steve?"
-H50-H50-H50-
It felt like he was in a dream. At least that was what he thought. Then the hazy feeling ended abruptly, as he was shaken back into reality. Steve opened his eyes, his eyelashes faintly batting against his lids when he blinked. Everything was blurry. Steve didn't know where he was. Shadows were hovering over him. He wondered if he should be worried about his blurred vision and the unknown shadows. He could feel the soft mattress underneath him and the blanket on top of him. Wait, how did he end in that bed?
Steve panicked when he could not move his left hand. His heart started to beat fast. He was slowly being aware of the buzzing sound to his ear. He could feel the crick in his neck and the sudden increase in muscle aches and head pain. A gasp escaped his mouth.
He could hear faint voices in distances, sound of people chatting. It was getting louder as he blinked.
"It's okay, Commander. You're safe."
Steve jerked awake only to be held down by unknown pair of hands. His blurred vision somehow cleared and Steve stared at three teenagers hovering over him.
"It's okay." The boy to his left spoke. "My name is Chris." He pointed to the other two boys. "Matthew and Ethan. We found you unconscious by the river. We carried you back to our cabin."
Steve tried to process the information given to him. He slowly tried to push himself up and the boys quickly helped him to sit on the bed. His body protested against the move, every muscle of his body screamed in pain. Ethan propped a pillow behind Steve for support. When he somehow sat on the bed, Steve tried to hold himself still. He breathed slowly and deeply, hoping the pain to pass.
"Commander, are you okay?" Matthew asked, concerned. "You look pale."
"Matthew," Ethan shook his head. "That's probably the dumbest question you can ask him right now. Of course he is not okay."
Chris disappeared for a moment and came back with a glass of water. "Here, drink some. You must be thirsty."
True. He was thirsty. His throat was dry like he had swallowed sand. When he took the glass with his right hand, he realized his left hand was against his chest, trapped in makeshift shoulder sling made out of t-shirt.
Steve tried not to get greedy with the water. He just took a few sips of water to satisfy his dry throat. The last thing he wanted was to be sick. Chris quickly took the glass away from Steve's shaky hand.
"How long I have been unconscious?" Steve croaked, having a good look at the teenagers.
"We are not sure because you were already unconscious when we found you but it has been almost an hour and a half since we found you," Matthew answered.
"Commander," Chris called softly. "Is someone trying to hurt you?"
That question jogged Steve's memory and a chill shivered down Steve's spine. The boys had placed themselves in danger by saving him.
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