'Morning Gavin!'

'Up 'n at 'em, Kiddo!'

'Rise and shine! Time to get up!'

'Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!'

'WAKE THE FUCK UP, NERD!'
Michael punctuated the final wakeup call by throwing a pillow at the British man in his bed, who was stubbornly clinging to sleep.
It landed on his stomach, earning an 'ooft!' and groan from said Brit. He propped himself up on one elbow and glared at Michael, who raised his hands in the air in mock celebration.
'Halle-fuckin-lujah! He lives! Listen Shit Head; I didn't know if you wanted to go to work today or not, but if you do then get the fuck up. If not, then you can go back to sleep, and I'll collect some work from the office and come back here to work. So what you wanna do?'
Gavin yawned and starched in a feline like fashion, running his hands through his already tussled hair in a way that Michael couldn't help but find adorable.
He waited patiently for a response as the lad chugged down the water that Michael had left on the nightstand, before finally sitting up fully and flashing a sleepy smile at the red-head.
'Did you say there was eggs and bacon?'
Michael groaned, rolling his eyes.
'Of fucking course that's the bit you heard!'

****

After breakfast (there had indeed been bacon and eggs) Gavin had decided that he did want to go to work, so Michael bundled him into his car, stating that he couldn't be bothered to walk.
When they arrived, Gavin tried to ignore the pitying looks he was receiving; waving to Kara as he walked by the front desk, and scurrying up to the Achievement Hunter office. He had to drag Michael up with him, as the Jersey boy had wanted to 'have words with' the people whispering and staring at Gavin as they passed them. He pulled the fuming man into a quick, grateful hug before entering the office, yelling a greeting to Ray and shooting a thumbs up at Ryan.
They past a reasonably normal half-hour ; Michael griping about leaving his flash drive at home, as Ray added yet more X-Ray and Vav fanart to his wall. Gavin had taken up his place from Friday and tucked himself under Ryan's arm, making his patented 'Gavin Noises' as the older man attacked him with precise pokes and tickles to the ribs.

The door to the office opened, and Ryan ceased his assault on Gavin's sides. Suddenly all eyes were on the lad as Geoff stepped tentatively into the room.
Gavin tried to appear relaxed as his eyes locked with the man he had come to see as a father, flashing him a watery smile.
'A...Alright, G-G-Geoff?' His stammer betrayed him, and pain accompanied the fear coursing through him as he saw Geoff's hopeful expression shift into sadness.

'...Yeah...Yeah I'm alright, Gav. Just came in to get some stuff. If anyone needs me, I'll be in Burnie's office. Again.' The last word was said with a resigned sigh.
All eyes in the room were still trained onto Gavin, and Ryan's hand tightened around his own as he watched Geoff collect some bits and pieces from his desk. He wanted to say something; tell him not to leave, apologise- anything! But fear and anxiety had paralysed him, his throat was dry, and his mouth remained closed as Geoff made his way towards the door.
'It was good to see you, Gavin.' Geoff all but whispered, nodding meaningfully at Ryan, before leaving.
The room was silent for several minutes, everyone still watching Gavin, who was pointedly staring at the floor.
'I'm going to the bathroom' he muttered, hurriedly exiting the room.
His legs carried to the closest toilet, and he shut the door, before leaning over the bowl and spilling his stomach into it. The taste of vomit made him gag even more, and he retched again and again, until he was spitting bile into the murky water.
He became aware of a hand on his back and fingers petting his hair, and leaned into the touch, whimpering, tears streaming down his face. Ryan had followed him. When he was certain Gavin had finished throwing up, the blond man sat back onto the cubical floor, pulling the boy onto his lap and held him until he stopped trembling.
'I dunno why this is happening, Ry. I love him; he's practically family to me! Why am I so afraid of him?'
Ryan's hand continued its ministrations in Gavin's hair, knowing that the simple contact was soothing the lad. 'I'm sorry Gavin; I don't have an answer for you. But I think-' he paused as Gavin pulled away, palming his eyes. He helped him to his feet and passed him tissues to dry his face on after he splashed himself with water. '-I think you need to talk to the guys.' Ryan continued carefully.
To his surprise, Gavin sighed and nodded.
'Yeah. I've been thinking about that actually. I don't want anyone thinking that Ge- that he did something wrong. It's all my poxy brains fault.' He sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose. 'Well, better get this over with. Will you...will you stand with me, Rye-Bread?' he turned to face Ryan, a slightly pleading look in his eyes.
Ryan smiled and pulled him into a loose hug. 'Course I will Gav.'

The room fell (suspiciously) silent as Gavin re-entered the office, shadowed very closely by Ryan. Even if he wasn't feeling paranoid lately, there was no wondering what the topic of conversation had been, judging by the awkward glances between Michael and Jack. Great.
'Um, hi guys. I have some...stuff... I wanna say. I'd like to say it to everyone at once though, so Ray? D'you mind getting Lindsay, Kerry, Caleb and Kdin for us please?'
Ray nodded, squeezing Gavin's arm supportively as he left the room.
Ryan placed a hand lightly on Gavin's back, leaning in to speak quietly in his ear. 'Should we get Geoff and Burnie in here too? It's probably best if you speak to Geoff personally; I know he's worried about you.'
Gav nodded and turned to Jack, who was still looking up at him expectantly.
'Jack, can you get Burnie and G-Geoff? They are gonna wanna be here too...'

An awkward silence filled the room once more when everyone had been rounded up. Gavin stood at the head of the room, flanked by Michael and Ryan. He looked around at the faces staring at him. Burnie and Jack were looking concerned, whereas Geoff had a hopeful smile on his face, clearly just happy that Gavin had requested him to be there. Ray had apparently guessed the reason Gav had decided to talk to them all, and had given his group a heads-up, as he, Lindsay and Caleb were smiling at him encouragingly, and Kdin and Kerry were giving him a double thumbs up.
He coughed nervously, shifting from foot to foot, unsure of how to begin.
'ACHIEVEMENT HUNTERS ASSEMBLEEEEE!' Yelled Michael from his left side, breaking the tension instantly as everybody laughed.
Gavin chuckled, turning to flash a grateful grin at his boi. 'Cheers Micool! Well, yeah-' he turned again to address the small crowd '-I guess you're all wondering why I've gathered you here today. Well no, you probably are already aware of my...err...situation, but I've always wanted to say that.' He smiled at them, trying to squash the stab of fear he felt when he caught Geoff's eye.
His self-appointed body guards apparently noticed him tense up slightly, as he felt Ryan move closer to him and Michael hand entwine with his own. Encouraged, he took a deep breath, and continued.
'Yeah, so you all know what happened to me a few nights ago' he ignored all the sympathetic murmurs 'and I've been having a bit of a tough time with a few things since then, so I just wanna go over some stuff. Just so everyone is on the same page.
Due to the nature of what happened, I'm not really comfortable with people, um, touching me.' He rubbed the back of his neck, as Michael squeezed his hand. 'The only exceptions so far, as you can see, are Ryan and my boi Michael. So yeah, I'm working on that one. The other thing hasn't actually happened, but I've been warned about it. Apparently, certain words or actions can apparently 'trigger' me. A nurse at the hospital said that hearing things that the...the attacker said or words relating to what happened might trigger a flash back or panic attack, so-' he fell silent as Ryan stepped forward to interrupt.
'I have a few things to say on that subject. If you see Gavin having a panic attack, the most important thing is to stay calm. You are useless to him if you are freaking out. Second; keep talking to him, but only touch him if he is comfortable with that. You will know instantly if he is not. If we are not present when it is happening, phone either myself or Michael. When he comes out of it, Gavin will be scared and upset, so it is important that at least one of us is there to be with him. Everybody got that?' There was a collective nod 'Okay, good. Sorry Gavin. Please continue.'
He stepped back, motioning for a blushing Gavin to carry on.
'Um, yes. Thanks Ryan, I didn't even think to talk about that. But, err, yeah. The last thing I wanted to say is about Geoff.' Michael squeezed his hand again; proud of how steady Gavin was managing to keep his voice. 'Geoff. I know you all noticed how much time he spent in Burnie's office on Friday, and that I came in with Michael this morning. I'm actually living with Michael for the time being. The truth is, Geoff...' Gavin turned to face the man in question, settling for looking slightly to the right of his face when he failed to pluck up the nerve to make eye contact.
'You...you look a bit like the man who...who...hurt me. I just wanted to...to let you know, let you all know, why I'm so bloody scared of you. I love you like my own dad, I really do, and I hate that my mind is being a mong about this. I want all of you to know that it's not his fault, okay? It's my fault, all of it. It's my bloody fault.' His voice tapered off as he began to shake, instinctively backing into Ryan and pulling Michael closer to him.
He buried his face in Michael's shoulder as the red-head motioned for everyone to leave. Lindsay and Ray was ushering everybody out, but Geoff took a step closer to Gavin, clearly wanting to comfort the lad. Ryan could see the agony and desperation on his face, tinged with something else, even as Burnie pulled the tattooed man from the room.
It wasn't until he was helping Gavin into Michael's car- both of them having decided to take a few more days off- and spied Geoff watching them from a window, that Ryan realised what emotion had flickered across his bosses face.
Guilt.
Geoff felt guilty for resembling the sick fucker who violated his friend.

If you asked him about it, Ryan would swear that he actually felt his heart break as he watched Geoff's eyes follow the car that carried his British son -the son that couldn't even look him in the eye without cowering in terror- away from him.