Chapter 27
Chapter twenty-seven
Scott hadn’t expected the welcome party when they’d got back at one in the morning, but Tim, Carly, Jay and Janice were all waiting for him in the entrance hall of the mansion.
Their cars must’ve been parked up outside, but when they’d stopped, Scott’s focus had remained on the hand over his on his thigh.
Thomas’s hand.
He only removed it when he needed to change gears, then it returned, covering Scott’s.
They didn’t talk the whole drive back.
The small connection with Thomas’s hand always returning to his had been enough.
Tim, Carly, Jay and Janice plastered reassuring smiles to their faces, and Scott got wrenched out of Thomas’s arms and hugged by Janice and Carly before Thomas reclaimed him and pinned Scott to his side.
Scott suspected it was half to keep him on his feet, and half because as traumatic as it had been for him, walking in on the situation had affected Thomas too and he hadn’t yet spoken about it.
“There, you’ve seen him,” Thomas hissed. “Now you can go home.”
Janice slapped his arm. “Don’t be like that…you probably need my help cleaning up anyway.”
It was then that Scott noticed she was wearing washing up gloves.
Carly gestured to Scott. “And I doubt he had much to eat at the hospital.”
“Last I saw, he was emptying his stomach rather than filling it,” Tim said. “I hope you didn’t tip it away.”
Thomas sighed. “It’s in the back of the car as per your instructions.”
Tim went to tip his hat before remembering he no longer had it on his head.
“We’ll warm up some food for Scott,” Jay suggested.
“I’m not a pet,” Scott murmured.
Janice leaned in to pinch his cheek. “We know.”
She stood back, joining the line of staff, all waiting on Thomas. Thomas seemed torn, glancing between them and Scott.
“I am kind of hungry,” Scott whispered.
“Fine, you can help,” Thomas huffed, before keeping Scott glued to his side and taking the stairs.
Scott set the pace, limping along while the others followed behind. Thomas managed to let go of Scott on the spiral staircase but wrapped an arm around him again once they were at the top.
He opened the door, then hesitated outside the snake room.
“Is there much of a mess?” Janice asked.
Scott wasn’t sure how much Thomas had told them, but they all seemed fine with the fact that one of Thomas’s snakes had eaten someone.
“A bit,” Thomas admitted. He squeezed Scott’s side. “I’ll get you set up in the kitchen while me, Janice and Tim sort out the snakes.”
Scott swallowed, then nodded.
Thomas didn’t release him again until he was sat at the kitchen table with Jay and Carly doting on him, warming up soup and making him coffee, which was a strange combination, but Scott didn’t argue.
His gaze held Thomas’s all the way to the door, then Thomas left the room.
His sudden absence, despite knowing it was coming, landed like a punch to the chest. He hoped his shaky breath was unnoticeable, but Jay and Carly both stared.
Jay looked him over. “Do you want me to get you some fresh clothes?”
Scott looked down at himself. The hospital had given him some paper-feeling trousers to change into, but his shirt remained the same, bloody at the hem where he’d wrapped up his hand.
“Please,” he whispered.
Jay shot out of the room, leaving Scott with Carly, who padded over with a bowl of soup and placed it in front of him. He breathed it in, feeling slightly better.
“Thank you.”
She squeezed his shoulder. “You’re welcome. Don’t worry if you can’t manage much.”
Scott slurped his soup to fill the silence, hoping Thomas would return to him. As much as everybody was being lovely, he preferred a brooding Thomas over being the target of everyone’s concern.
Jay returned and threw a T-shirt his way. It held the heavy scent of Thomas, and Scott raised a questioning eyebrow. “This isn’t mine.”
“Put it on, you’ll see. It’ll make you feel better.”
Scott undid his shirt, fumbling with the buttons. Carly looked like she wanted to dive in and help, but Jay subtly blocked her path. Scott’s shirt slipped from his arms to the floor, and Carly snatched it up, grimacing at the stain.
The T-shirt Jay had thrown at him didn’t appear to be clean, with its wrinkled appearance and the lack of fabric conditioner scent, but Jay kept nodding encouragingly until Scott slipped it over his head.
“Oh…”
He got it then. Thomas’s T-shirt was nothing special, no logo or print, just plain navy cotton, but it was soft, loose and smelled like Thomas. He curled one hand in the fabric pooling in his lap and closed his eyes as he exhaled.
“I doubt they’ll be long,” Carly whispered.
“Why are you so calm?” Scott asked, opening his eyes. “They’re getting rid of the evidence of a murder in the other room, and you’re stood here, smiling at me.”
“From what we heard, the guy deserved it,” Jay said.
Carly nodded. “In fact, he got off lightly after what he did to you.”
Scott ducked his head, wishing Jay had brought his hoodie instead so he could’ve hidden his face. One deep breath of `Thomas and he changed his mind; the T-shirt had been a great call.
“We’re all accessories to murder.”
Carly pouted. “I’m nobody’s accessory.”
“We’ve had many conversations on the group chat about what we’d do if we murdered someone,” Jay explained. “We’d stick together whoever it was.”
“Of course we were hoping it would be Thomas’s parents,” Carly added. “And we didn’t factor in John, but it’s perfect. Once John shits out the remains, Tim can use it to fertilise the flowers. He’s going to turn something ugly into something beautiful, isn’t that nice?”
Scott gaped down at his soup, wondering whether Carly had added something extra and he was currently hallucinating.
Tim popped his head into the room. “How is he?”
“If by he you mean me, I’m fine. Thank you.” Scott tangled his fingers in Thomas’s T-shirt. “How’s the clean-up going?”
“John slithered back into his tank and has curled up, looking rather full but satisfied. Thomas located Penelope and put her in a temporary tank, and Janice is clearing up the blood and glass.” Tim adjusted the hat on his head.
“I got this back” – he lifted the safari jacket he was wearing – “this too.” He hesitated. “I’m…I’m sorry, Scott.”
“What are you sorry for?”
“He stopped my van. I thought he needed help, then next thing I know, he’s dragging me into the back, securing my wrists –”
“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.” He went to stand, but Carly pushed him back onto the seat.
“Once he had me tied and gagged, I assumed he was a burglar. I didn’t know he was specifically after you, and I couldn’t do anything.” Tim took his hat off and held it in front of his chest. He throttled it, twisting it one way, then the other. “I’m sorry –”
“It’s me who should be sorry,” Scott blurted. “I came here knowing some psychopath was stalking me.” He glanced at Carly, then Jay. “I put you all in danger. He could’ve targeted any one of you.” He turned his attention back to Tim. “You got hurt because of me.”
“I’m fine, lad,” Tim said, lifting his arms. The sleeves of his jacket rolled down to reveal his wrists. “Only scratches. I get worse wounds from the rose bushes outside.”
Tim stumbled into the room with a yelp, having been pushed by Janice, who snapped off the gloves she was wearing.
“All done,” she declared, tipping her head in Scott’s direction “Most of the mess came from you. Snakes, as scary as they look, are clean eaters, and John left little trace.”
“Speaking of snakes…” Carly began. “Where’s Thomas?”
“He’s whispering sweet nothings to Penelope for protecting, Scott.” Janice waved a flippant hand at Tim. “There’s a bag of clothes by the door. It’ll be too suspicious to burn them tonight, but we can have a bonfire tomorrow.”
“What about a bonfire and a BBQ?” Jay suggested.
Carly bobbed up and down. “Yes, we’ll do steaks, chicken thighs and vegetables kebabs.”
Janice nodded. “We’ll check with Thomas, but it sounds good. We can make an afternoon of it. What do you think, Scott?”
“I think… I think you’re all crazy,” he replied, before yawning into the back of his hand.
“That’s your cue to leave.” Thomas mumbled from the doorway.
He pushed the door wide, then stepped to one side to let everyone out. They didn’t linger. Tim and Janice were first out, followed by Jay, who shot Scott a smile. Carly squeezed Scott’s shoulder before heading to the door. She paused to squeeze Thomas’s hand.
Thomas didn’t move until the front door closed with a loud thump.
“You’re wearing my T-shirt…”
“Oh.” Scott looked down at himself. He still had his good hand tangled in the fabric. “Jay got it for me. Said it would make me feel better.”
Thomas cocked his head. “And does it?”
Scott lifted a shoulder and tucked his nose down to breathe the scent. “Yes,” he admitted. “In your absence, it’s helped.”
“Good. Did you eat?”
“A little.” He pushed his bowl towards Thomas’s place at the table. “Some left for you, though.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You didn’t eat anything at the hospital.” Scott bit his lip. “Or before that.”
Thomas sighed and came over to the table. He reached a hand out, and Scott gave up his grip on the T-shirt to take it. They held hands while Thomas sat down to finish the rest of the soup.
He frowned at the half drunk coffee in front of Scott.
“Yeah, tomato soup and black coffee are not my idea of a match made in heaven.” Scott snorted.
“Scott…” Thomas tightened his grip. “I owe you an apology.”
“No, you don’t. I’m sick of people apologising when it was me who–”
“I left you outside Brixton.” Thomas closed his eyes. “I didn’t even say goodbye. We’d been together for three years, and you were so excited that we were being released on the same day, and that was how I chose to end it, by driving away and leaving you there as a memory.”
Scott tried to pull his hand away, but Thomas didn’t give it up.