Reviews :

chuckiboo : Yes absolutely! And, you're entirely right about Callum. Not to give any major spoilers, but I've wrangled enough of the saga's plot that I'm comfortable revealing that Callum gets his own story down the line :D So you'll definitely be seeing all of this drama from his angle, and what this all means for him and Flint as time goes on, even if it is much further on. Way more to come! Thank you so much for keeping up and such, that means a lot!

Snake557 : The review section is slowly only being dedicated to you, my friend. Thank you for keeping at it with me, that genuinely means a lot to me. Much like Gideon, I often feel forgotten about and left behind, so even just one soul palling along with me brings tears to my eyes. Truly, thank you. And, Elley is super cute! She like adores Gideon, she's a good buffer for him in times where he may get flack from a certain Mr. Title of this Story lmao!


Song Listened To :

My Whole Life for This (Alternate Version) by CHPTRS


*Chapter 180*

Underneath the glow of a million code boxes, the splay of Sugar Rush's gorgeous stars, the code room sat in a pristine lay of warm, humbled love. During the day, Tessa had done incredible work to make the code room a cozy, temporary abode for all three of her siblings, and herself, to live in for the next week. Adamant to not leave Gideon alone due to his conditions, for everyone's greater good, Tessa skillfully made the code room a lovely escape. Fervently leaning into Gideon's needs, needs he hadn't been brave enough to express until right now, Tessa made sure house lights inside of the code room were low, no amount of noise pollution could get in and interfere, thus providing Gideon with a safe place to not feel overstimulated. In true sleepover fashion, Tessa made one end of this massive, round room a place where she sprawled four huge mattresses together in a conglomerate of one giant bed filled with the fluffiest pillows and downs. Another area had low seating and a table to gather around, so to eat and properly talk. Another area had a temporary kitchen setup, and the last section of their massive, round, dome of a code room had a private bathroom area that was properly closed off with temporary walls. The code room eagerly watched over the four as they melted into a new beginning with one another.

Gideon, Tessa, Oliver and Koko had spent the whole afternoon talking, hashing out issues, revisiting painful scars, tearing them open and dumping them with healing potions, it was enough to make Gideon feel a world of renewal in just twelve simple hours. Although he sat in the comfort of Tessa's and Oliver's bickering, lay slumped in the cozy, cushiony chair he cutely shared with Koko, all snuggled into the smoosh of each other's shoulders, Gideon understood that even though all four siblings had made massive headway, he knew this week would likely uncover more scars, especially if Vanellope, Ralph or Lash came back to visit. He was glad the rest of the individuals, that knew Gideon was home, left the four well enough alone. There was nothing he wanted, outside of Kepa, than to just melt into this new breed of familiarity with his siblings. The redo he was absolutely certain would never present itself. Gideon sat and patiently allowed himself to disassociate, his eyes looked off in a mild haze, though as conversation went on, Gideon felt his skin tighten as Oliver flagged his hand with a warm little giggle and tried to get Gideon's attention.

"Commme to Earth, Gideon," Oliver mused, and though his tone was light and friendly, Gideon stiffened a little and revisited with the harsh memories of Oliver blatantly making fun of Gideon for spacing out; with this, Gideon mildly erupted.

"Stop saying that, STOP doing that, seriously, that stops here, STOP," Gideon suddenly snapped, his deep voice sharply croaked in meanness as he tensed and aggressively gestured his tattooed hands, and though Oliver flinched and peered to Gideon in apology, Koko bugged her eyes and simply let loose a shaky giggle as she was tightly smushed to Gideon's side, someone who was now due to becoming animated. Gideon heaved a shaky breath, sagged in apology, glanced to Koko and shook his head with a shrug, "S-Sorry... Please stop, that hurts my feelings. I disassociate sometimes, just let me space out, don't tell me to come back to Earth, that really hurts. I'm HERE. Sometimes I space out."

"You're right Gid, I'm really sorry," Oliver stated in tender warmth; from the very beginning of this week-long hang out, the group of four made clear that this was a safe place to loudly speak up if something hurt their feelings, a place to make clear of boundaries without taking things personally, it was something Tessa now leaned back in smiling glee about. The raw idea that Gideon was now comfortable blurting out needs, it was improvement on everyone's end. Oliver huffed a shaky chuckle as everyone, excluding Gideon, roused into sweet, understanding laughter, "Thanks for telling me... My intention is to be playful, when I say that, I never meant to hurt your feelings."

"Yeah, in the past you'd do it meanly, and I KNEW you weren't being playful, you were showing that you were annoyed of me and that sucked," Gideon's deep voice grunted.

Koko sweetly peered to the side of her baby brother's face, and due to being nearly in his lap, due to their snuggled positioning on the huge, cozy chair they shared, she silently assessed him in a respectful amount of awestruck fear. A hardened version of himself, it was clear he was struggling with withdrawals with just how incredibly irritable he was. Although they studied up on these side effects and were prepared for Gideon to lose his cool a lot easier, it still wasn't easy for any of them to endure. Even still, Koko lovingly reached her hand for Gideon's and allowed her grip to fall into his. His hands and arms continued to tremble, he furrowed his brow and peered down to Koko, and with the sharper angle of his neck, his head continued to jostle with mild tremors. A chiseled, darkened exterior housed in bold tattoos, intimidating piercings, his golden eyes held the world of sunlight anyone could hope for. Still as loving and as innocent as the day he left, Koko huffed another giggle and lovingly squeezed Gideon's hands.

"Can you explain to us maybe why you space out like that? We don't usually catch ourselves doing that, so we just don't understand," Koko eased with a world of empathy, such tender deliverance that had Gideon's big, bare shoulders sagging. Due to him having a tight, glowing-white tether merged with his spinal cord, between his shoulder blades, he was temporarily more comfortable remaining shirtless so no clothes interfered with his fresh connection to the code room, the ongoing code-cycling he was now going though. Draped in a cozy blanket, due to any potential to get cold, he exhaled a long, trembling breath and allowed his core to relax, once and for all, as Koko kept his hands gripped in hers, as if to prove she wasn't about to let him go until this little hiccup got solved, "When we're talking and having conversation, sometimes it's frustrating to find that you haven't been listening."

"I-I don't do it on purpose, I mean, I'm HERE, just..." Gideon huffed a nervous breath and shyly glanced to Tessa before peering into Oliver's eyes with a world of refreshed apology, "I truly don't know, sometimes I get mentally exhausted being in conversation so I just escape into my imagination, temporarily... Sort of like a mini-recharge. I can't stay fully dug in all the time, like you guys can."

"What do you think about?" Oliver pressed warmly.

Gideon sagged even further and felt the wall of patient, steady camaraderie continue to promise him that this was all reborn, everything inside this code room was a promise for permanence in his future, and though he knew he needed this week to truly believe it, once and for all, he shyly glanced into Koko's eyes and finally gave her hands the return squeeze she was looking for. She eased a chirp of a kind giggle that had Gideon peaking a shy smile from his handsome face, the stretch of his mouth piercings went along with it. He inhaled a huge breath and finally allowed a sag of a sigh to have him properly melting back into the chair he shared with Koko, once and for all. A place he was previously sagged to but riled out of it in stiffened fight or flight, thankfully due to discovering ways to quell it all.

"Well... Prior to leaving and returning, I'd... Think about Kepa," Gideon started patiently with a nod, "I taught her how to fly. I often revisit that moment she let go of Novus's saddle, for the first time."

"That's beautiful, Giddy," Tessa mused lovingly, they patiently let Gideon continue.

"Just... Stuff like that, sometimes the past, sometimes our future," Gideon tenderly carried on, a bare of his heart he was scared to do, though with the way all three pairs of eyes held to him in still warmth, Gideon nodded and felt safe, "After Game Over, though... I did everything I could to not, well... Remember."

"That makes sense," Oliver tenderly agreed with a nod, "I can see how you'd maybe want to... Go numb."

"Yeah, it... Sucked," Gideon stifled a thick inhale and looked down to his and Koko's conjoined hands. He furrowed his brow in a grimace that sprawled his face in crumpling, teeth-gritting despair as huge tears welled in his eyes, "I can anticipate this only getting harder... Y-You guys have no idea how badly I want to use, right now, it's... Really hard being sober, this sucks."

"It's okay, Giddy, we're right here," Tessa stated in a swing of full warmth and a nod, and due to sitting closest to him, besides Koko, she reached her arm out and offered her hand, to which Gideon lovingly and tearfully took.

"I can totally relate," Oliver muttered in a playful show of sadness, a desperation to lighten the mood, though Tessa sharply furrowed her brow and shot Oliver a grinning look of floored, bewildered sarcasm.

"...Interesting development down here in the studio, we're finding out things about ourselves that aren't even true," Tessa tightly rattled with the lilt of uplift, and due to her words, Koko wildly erupted into hearty laughter that had Gideon immediately grinning through his tears.

"You don't know me," Oliver pretended to show grief, though quickly knocked it off and gave Gideon a wide, loving grin. He chuckled and shook his head as Gideon now shyly smiled down to his and Koko's conjoined hands, "It's so good to see you smiling, Gid... We're so glad you're home."

"Me too," Gideon sighed with a nod, he blurt a remnant chuckle and eyed Tessa, "That was good."

"I try," Tessa mumbled as she warmly released Gideon's hand and tidied her bangs. She shot Oliver a sarcastic side-eye and gave him a snide smile, "Gotta keep both you boys in check, apparently."

"You say that, but tomorrow morning, ALL you jerks are gunna be snuggling me," Oliver gestured to his chest, "Wanna know why? Cause I'm a furnace."

"Uh, no, I'll be escaping you as fast as I can, I like to sleep cold," Koko muttered, though as his siblings continued to cutely bicker, Gideon heaved a trembling sigh and wiped his tears.

Listening to all three continue to warmly hum their happy bickering in his ears had him lulling his eyes closed in dreamy disbelief. He remembered where he was over twenty four hours ago, and though he definitely felt the huge loss in leaving Ora, Jukkit and Albar, he sagged and knew he would take this over the Game Over house any single day. What he thought was greener grass was simply the same dead patch, and the only solution was to stick to one camp and aggressively water the lawn wherever his feet were. His tired, teary eyes peered up to Sugar Rush's glass dome, the starry night sky was beautifully kissed by the adorable, colorful code boxes over his head, a sight he could've sworn he'd never see, ever again. His heart ached for the incredible beings he left behind, he silently sent a wish out to Sugar Rush's stars and knew, no matter what happened of his brand new life, no matter how long it took to recover and reconvene with Kepa, to get his head around the old life he now had to renew, he promised he'd somehow return to help aid his friends to a better life. Although it felt incredibly far off, he knew this was his chance to just be still and to take life one day at a time. He knew the week ahead of him was going to be long, full of laughs, tears, pain, withdrawal, outbursts of both laughter and yelling, he dragged his eyes back to his siblings and felt his heart ache with the molt of renewal he was gifted. He looked back down to his and Koko's lovingly conjoined grip, a grip she didn't waver in, he sighed and understood that he was likely the luckiest little speckle of stardust in the whole universe.

"Hey guys," Tessa called as the sound of the teleport pad buzzed, and as Gideon was gently popped out of his dreamy thoughts, he looked over his shoulder and noticed his mother and father crossing their dimly lit, cozy abode.

"Wow, you guys made a whole like... Unit in here," Vanellope giggled, though as Gideon took note that Ralph was joining in on this family pow-wow, he stiffened and began to show signs of frustration, as if en-route to panicking; this was something Oliver eagerly caught onto.

"Yeah! We all pitched in our ideas," Tessa mused lovingly as Ralph and Vanellope slowly approached from across the stretch, to which Gideon rubbed his temple and looked away from his parent's figures, "Gideon suggested low lightning. The high lights over head are overstimulating for him, so we're taking it easy."

"I have to agree, though, these low lights make everything nice and cozy," Koko chirped, though she furrowed her brow and took note that Gideon was beginning to shake a bit harder in silent panic, through squeezed-shut eyes, "Giddy, what's... Wrong? What happened?"

"I-I fought dad TWICE now and it's just... Triggering," Gideon whimpered as he firmly rubbed his forehead and began to do absolutely everything to self soothe, and though Gideon began to panic, Ralph heaved a defeated sigh and approached him anyways.

"Bud, please lookit me," Ralph eased warmly as Oliver cautiously made room for Ralph to press into the center of their group. Ralph got to one knee, before the chair Koko and Gideon sat slouched on, and though Koko had Gideon's left hand gripped in hers, Ralph patiently rested his much bigger hand in Gideon's curled-up tuck of his lap and legs and kindly offered an olive branch, the offer of hand-holding he left up to Gideon. Gideon darkly gave Ralph a side-eye of terror, though it was easily laced with panting frustration as huge tears welled in his golden eyes, "Buddy... I'm really sorry for earlier. I'm sorry for everything. Every last ounce of your desire to fit in and be noticed is rooted in my own issues and I've failed to notice that, in you."

"Aw, dad," Koko mused tenderly as she gripped Gideon's hand, Vanellope heaved an equally as teary sigh and lovingly came about and behind Gideon, to his other side, in between his and Tessa's sat figures.

"All four of you are incredibly important to me, all four of you need a vastly different version of my love and support," Ralph's voice crackled, it was an obvious thing that everyone looked to have been crying all day long due to swollen eye-bags, red eyes and stuffed up noses. Ralph kept his patient, opened hand gently rested in Gideon's lap, awaiting his return-grip in his own timing. Ralph shook his head as Gideon's chest heaved gently, he shakily panted through his nose and desperately tried to calm himself down, though with Vanellope's soothing touch to the tops of his broad shoulders, big tears cascaded down his cheeks, "I need you to know just how sorry I am... Just how aware I am that I've failed you. I promise I will not let it happen again, son. Please... I'm begging your forgiveness."

Gideon nodded a little, long-blinked more tears down his cheeks and finally sagged his trembling hand into Ralph's with a huge grip and squeeze of their palms. Gideon crumpled and looked off in the frustration that this whole day was just dedicated to continuous weeping, though he managed to squeak the words out.

"You're forgiven," Gideon delivered tenderly, and with this, Ralph gently tugged Gideon to a stiffer sit and was floored to see Gideon unravel from his seat, with Koko, and press into Ralph's knelt body with a huge hug about Ralph's neck.

Koko and Tessa loudly cooed sweet notions of warm relief as Ralph raveled his huge arms about Gideon's body in a massive squeeze of desperation. Gideon huffed a shaky breath into the top of Ralph's shoulder as he clung onto his father for dear life. Ralph choked a teary laugh into Gideon's shoulder as Gideon's squeeze on Ralph got tighter and tighter, the hug about his neck and head was coupled with silent huffs of cries into his father's strong embrace, it was everything he needed, the hugest embrace the whole universe could ever gift him. Gideon choked a small, louder cry over Ralph's shoulder and was desperate to get the words out.

"Killing you in that arena was the hardest thing I ever had to do," Gideon loudly wept out into the warm code room, to which Oliver covered his face and sagged in on himself, the whole group began to come unglued, an easy feat, as of today.

"It's not emotion you should sweep under the rug, I know you certainly want to," Ralph murmured tearfully into Gideon's shoulder, to which Gideon squeezed him tighter.

"I love you, dad, I'm so sorry," Gideon wept, to which now Tessa and Koko grunted to stands, so to envelope the two in a group hug; Vanellope and Oliver eagerly followed suit as the whole of them glommed in on each other.

"I love you too, Gid, it's okay, buddy," Ralph huffed warmly as his whole family glued to him, a complete bubble of love he was honored to have in tact, once and for all, "I speak for everyone when I say... I'm just glad it truly wasn't ME. Some poor, other Ralph out there endured your wrath, though... I'm sure your deliverance was meant for me, huh."

"Yeah," Gideon weakly admitted, scared to do so, though he swiftly rode off of his father's words and knew stuffing all of this, any longer, wasn't good.

"It's okay, I don't blame you," Ralph blurt a teary chuckle as everyone else also erupted into cute, sniffling giggling, "I'd lay into me, too, if I was treated the way I was all through my childhood, like you were... I know you've been through a whole world of emotion, these past few months."

"It's overwhelming," Gideon whimpered as everyone began to sag out of the group hug, though they remained close as Ralph lovingly gripped Gideon's upper left arm and kept him closer.

"You're gunna get through... You have us, you have every shred of our undivided attention," Ralph fervently assured, "This reset is an ultimate gift, and shouldn't be taken for granted."

"It's not every day a broken family gets to hit the reset button," Vanellope whimpered as she firmly rubbed her eyes and stood close.

"I still can't believe I'm home," Gideon sighed a nasally sigh and bobbed a nod as he and Ralph lovingly held eyes, to which Ralph narrowed his in enchanted wonder and shook his head.

"Me neither... We've got an uphill battle upon all of us, but..." Ralph bobbed a nod and cutely glanced about his whole family unit, a return of fervent eye contact from each of his sharp, loving kin, "We're gunna make it... I don't have a single doubt in my mind."