Chapter 38 #2
Haas started cackling, and August imagined Niko’s blush was bright enough to light the basement more effectively than their lamps and flashlights could.
He was glad that the two youngest Vancouver players were in good enough spirits to joke around.
August had been worried that the team would fracture after losing their captain for the season in such a brutal way, but if anything, it had fueled the Bigfoots and led to one of their biggest winning streaks yet.
August hoped the magic would continue tonight after he was back on the line, but with Niko now wearing the A on his sweater, he was certain they wouldn’t be slowing down anytime soon.
“Do you have any idea what area you might have buried it?” Niko asked once he was finally brave enough to put his feet on the ground again. “You said there were two fucking rooms with dirt floors—could you at least narrow the search area down?”
August wanted to, but every time he tried to recall the dream in better detail, his head started to hurt, and his nose bled. Quinn had suggested relying on instinct once he was there, but nothing was standing out to him yet.
And August knew Quinn was probably losing his mind—and probably pacing through the floor in a worried circle, but August convinced him to stay with the girls. He didn’t want to—
“Alright, let’s find this fucking treasure box full of filth.”
Niko screamed and jumped onto August again, and this time he did fall on his ass. Quinn appeared with a shovel in his hands and a smile on his face, raising an eyebrow at Niko’s reaction.
“Quinn, what—”
“Una has the girls,” said Quinn before August could work himself into a panic. “They’re having a nap, and then they’ll be visiting Eren. I have time to spare, and I didn’t want you to do this without me.”
Niko pushed himself up and retreated next to Haas, shooting scowls at Quinn as he slammed his shovel into the earth.
“Ignore him,” said August. “I think it’s past Niko’s nap time as well.”
Niko flipped him off, and Haas chuckled, tapping Niko on the ass with the wooden part of his shovel.
Quinn smirked and offered August a hand, pulling him onto his feet with surprising strength. “How big was the object?” he asked. “Close your eyes and try to picture it.”
August did what he was told and did his best to envision himself holding it. “Not big. Maybe lunchbox-sized. My father kept weird things in those old-school tin lunch boxes, and that’s sort of what I’m picturing.”
Quinn walked past him and picked a spot near the corner. “Okay, it won’t be deep then, so let’s focus on moving about two feet of dirt from the surface so we don’t waste time. I already ordered a metal detector, and it should be here in an hour.”
Haas gasped and cupped his face, smearing dirt on his cheeks. “Oh, a metal detector…why didn’t we think of that?”
Quinn stabbed his shovel into the dirt and gave the rookie a sympathetic frown. “You know what I’m going to say, but I’ll keep my comments to myself because you’re adorable and I don’t want to hurt your feelings.”
Niko laughed. “That’s never stopped you from saying shit to me.”
August went back to digging, so he wasn’t standing in place like an idiot to prove Quinn’s point.
“Well, I’ve never said you were adorable, have I?” said Quinn. “Nollan is cute, and you’re moody, and I don’t know why he likes you, but opposites attract, I guess.”
“The cuddles are top-notch,” said Haas. “Logan and Simon only let me use them as pillows during travel time, but Neeks is always down for head scratches and handholding at the movies.”
Niko scooped up a clump of dirt and tossed it at the rookie. “Dude, shut the fuck up.”
Haas stuck his tongue out at Niko, and August had never felt so old in his life.
“You’re still mad at me for falling asleep with my head on Dax’s lap, aren’t you?”
Quinn moved closer as the two younger ones began bickering, distracting August from having to suffer through their lovers’ spat. “Does he just like…cuddle everyone? And don’t you fucking tell me that goalies are weird and not give an actual explanation.”
August shrugged because he wasn’t sure there was one. “A lot of guys are affectionate—mostly the younger generation from what I’ve seen, but there’s nothing wrong with napping on a buddy’s shoulder during a long flight.”
Quinn hummed, and August subconsciously reached for the laces that hadn’t once left his hand over the past two weeks. He didn’t know if he could keep them on during the game later that night, but he was going to try.
“Using shibari like that for stress is a really good idea,” said Haas, eyeing the black string around August’s hand. “It shows how much you trust Quinn, too. I’m envious.”
“Shi—what?” Niko said, also glancing at August’s hands. “It means something? I thought it was just a weird friendship bracelet.”
Quinn snickered while August fidgeted uncomfortably. He was not having that conversation with Niko, thank you.
“Can I ask what made you take the pictures?” Haas asked.
The topic switch made August a little dizzy, but he would rather answer questions about trauma over kinks any day.
“I don’t know for sure if I took them,” August admitted. “But if I did, I wasn’t in my right mind to remember the reason.”
In the dream, August had gone home to visit his mother upon her request, to mourn the anniversary of his father’s passing. She would light a candle for him and say a prayer, and sometimes his friends would stop by for the big dinner she made in his honour.
August had just been drafted, and even though he loathed the thought of setting foot in that house, he had done it to keep his mother happy.
He knelt and prayed with her, held her when she cried about being alone, and listened to her talk fondly about her husband, conjuring memories that August couldn’t quite remember.
And after dinner, the man who used to coach him when he was a kid showed up to offer his condolences for another hard year without the wonderful man who raised him. He had patted August on the back like he was a proud parent and said, “See? I told you I would get you into the league, didn’t I?”
And August didn’t know why, but the man made him so sick that he ended up in the bathroom, puking his mother’s fancy dinner into the toilet. And for other reasons unknown, he had gone to the attic while his mother was distracted, and found the tin lunch box that had August’s name written on it.
He didn’t open it because he already knew what was in there—even if he couldn’t remember.
August had left the moment he was back downstairs, and his shoes were on. He hid the tin in his trunk and got into the car, and then drove the hour-long trip home in silence.
He had just bought his house, and it was still under construction, but no one was there when he pulled into the driveway late that night. He had a matinée game the next day, and August was exhausted, but he still went to the basement—into the back room—picked up his shovel and then started digging.
And digging.
And digging until blood was dribbling into the dirt as fast as his tears.
Until his shoulders and arms ached from overuse, and his grip was shaky on the handle.
Until he went deep enough to hide the damn shame his father had left him with, even though the hole could never go far enough unless he struck the core of the fucking Earth.
Deeper.
“August.”
Deeper.
“Stop.”
Deeper.
A loud clang shot through him like a bullet—or a grenade.
August opened his eyes, gasping as he blinked into the dimly lit room.
He was on his knees in the dirt, bent over a hole that required the entire length of his arms and upper body to reach the bottom.
His clothes were stuck to him with sweat, and he couldn’t breathe through his nose because of all the blood, and he didn’t know where he was—
Pain in his hand made him cry out and drop the shovel, and it fell into the dirt with a dull thud.
“We got you, Gusty. We’re right here.”
That was…Nollan talking. Nollan touching him—brushing his fingers through his soaked hair.
Gentle shaking to his right told him there was another person beside him, their arms wrapped so tightly around August’s torso that his ribs were groaning. A person whose silent sobs reminded him of Niko, but it was too dark to tell.
“Harder, Niko.”
Pain flared in his hand again at the same time Niko increased his grip, and then August was back inside his body—shaking, bloody, filthy and crying, but aware.
He looked down at his burning hand and saw Quinn to his left.
He had untied the laces so he could draw them tighter, and the pain was rapidly anchoring August inside his soul once more.
When he noticed he was being watched, Quinn lifted his gaze and gave him a warm smile, like he was proud of August’s latest episode.
“You did it—you fucking found it,” he said as he relaxed the laces. “How is the pain? Is your head hurting?”
Other than an annoying throb, he felt…okay.
“Can’t—breathe—”
There was a thump, and then Niko released him, allowing August to draw in some much-needed oxygen.
“Want me to call Diana?” Quinn asked. “Tell me what you need, baby.”
Niko hadn’t let go of him, and Haas was draped over his back like a weighted blanket while he played with August’s hair. He didn’t think he needed anything because everything he wanted was within reach.
“Just sit with me for a minute,” August said through lightly chattering teeth. “I’m sorry if I scared you guys. I didn’t mean to.”
Nollan tightened his arms around August’s neck and rested his chin on his shoulder. “We weren’t scared—or maybe Niko was, but Quinn and I are fine.”
“Fuck off.”
“You take all the time you need, big guy. We won’t leave your side until you’re ready.”
August nodded and began working on his breathing techniques to calm himself, while Niko and Nollan joined in. It was a very strange form of teamwork, but between them and the feeling of Quinn tying his restraints, August eventually calmed his heart down enough to feel regulated again.
“What are we going to do about you needing this while playing tonight?” Quinn mused, mostly to himself as he tugged on the laces.
August’s dumb knee was burning from the awkward position he had put it in, but he was reluctant to move because he felt contented where he was.
“Maybe exchange the laces for silk during games,” said Nollan. “It will lie flat against his skin, and he can wrap it and tape it to keep it in place.
“I’m right here,” Niko groused. “Can you keep the shibuya talk to a minimum while I’m hugging the guy?”
“Shibuya is a town in Tokyo,” Nollan said, elbowing Niko’s cheek. “Shibari is what you meant to say, and it doesn’t always have to be for sexy times. Don’t hate on Gusty’s anxiety management.”
August moaned and wiggled his arms, and all three of them took the hint and let go. He was helped onto his feet by Niko and Nollan, while Quinn took the job of reaching into the hole to retrieve the tin from the dirt.
It took a lot of pulling to get it out, but neither of his teammates was willing to let go of him, and there wasn’t enough room for two people to remove it.
Quinn got it after he called it every bad word in the book, and August looked away before he could catch a glimpse of the dented metal. He used the excuse of stopping his nosebleed so he could tip his head back and pretend nothing was happening.
“Quinn, please don’t open it,” he begged.
The sound of Quinn dusting the tin off was loud in the silence, and August’s pulse began racing when he received no answer.
“This is going straight to the detectives,” said Quinn. “I would never look—for my own sanity, and yours.”
Nollan let out a shuddering breath and tightened his grip on August’s arm. “That sick fuck. Half of me hopes there’s nothing in there because I don’t want to think about what was done to August, but the other part hopes there’s evidence so you can put that pedophile behind bars for life.”
The jovial mood in the room was long dead now that the gravity of what they were doing had sunk in. All August wanted was to go to his room, shower, and then crash before he had to go to the arena for the game that night, but there was so much work to do.
“Hey, look at me.”
August let his head fall, and his eyes landed on Quinn’s beautiful, smiling face.
“You did so good. Do you know how many people are going to heal because you decided to take this from your parents’ attic?
I know you’re always worried about what’s real and what’s not, but I’m holding the proof of it in my hands, August. It’s the heaviest thing in the fucking world, but it exists. ”
Burning in his eyes signalled the oncoming rush of tears, and August inhaled deeply.
“Can you guys get him and yourselves in the shower and watch him until I come upstairs?” Quinn asked Nollan, obviously putting him in charge.
“I’m going to call my lawyer and have him take this from my possession and bring it in for processing.
I don’t want to let it out of my sight until I know it’s in safe hands. ”
Nollan smacked himself on the chest, making August sway against Niko. “Nothing better than a bro date in the shower to rinse off the daily trauma. But I still want the metal detector when it shows up because I bet there are some awesome coins or buttons in the dirt around here.”
Quinn turned to August, and the expression on his face was one of revelation when he said, “Goalies are fucking weird.”