Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Grian hopped out of the portal with a smile on his face. This was the first time he had jumped worlds with all of his new friends... Or rather his new family. He would have never thought he'd stick around. He had planned to stay with them for a while and then start something new again. Some other even bigger projects. Now he couldn't imagine a life without this crazy bunch of people. And well, on top of that there was one more reason he didn't want to leave ever again.

Doc stepped out of the portal, looking at his hand in annoyance, where before the jump his trident had been. Grian didn't blame him for trying to bring his weapon with him to this new world. He felt the same about leaving his Elytra behind. He already missed it dearly. Doc's eyes slowly traveled from his empty hand to Grian and a smile softened his features as he stepped forward, putting one arm around Grian and planting a soft kiss onto his forehead.

"Glad to see you again."

"We saw each other five minutes ago."

"Yeah, still. People sometimes get lost during a jump and I didn't want to lose you."

Grian giggled and returned the hug, resting his head against Doc's broad chest. This season would be perfect. No more fighting and wars between them, now that they had confessed. Grian noticed the way Doc's hands were twitching in his hair and he chuckled. Doc was like an open book. How come he had thought that Doc had no emotions when he first joined the server?

"You want to start working on your base?", he asked, leaning back a bit to look at Doc's face, smiling softly at the excited expression there. An expression he would have deemed emotionless a year ago. "You can go if you want to. I just need to wait for Scar. We planned to build in the same area after looking at the maps X gave us. I just want to make sure we aren't getting in each other's way."

"Hmm..." Doc bent over and pressed his lips gently against Grian's. "I'm gonna miss having you in my bed, you know. Maybe I should change location and settle in the jungle as well. Make sure no scary jungle monsters kidnap you."

Grian huffed in mock annoyance and punched Doc's shoulder playfully. "You choose that spot for a reason, Doc. Don't you dare put me higher on your priority list than your buildings. Also, Bdubs would have my head for that. You guys put so many sleepless nights into finding the perfect spot for the split mansion. And I'm not alone in the jungle, you know? Scar is right next to me, and then there's Stress and Mumbo and even Iskall." Grian sighed a little, pressing his body closer to Doc and looking up at him. "But I promise to get my Elytra as fast as I can and then we'll spend all the time in the world together. You better have a decent looking bedroom until then. I don't wanna sleep in a dirt hut."

"When have I ever built a dirt hut?"

Grian just shrugged and giggled, getting on his toes to give Doc another kiss, opening his mouth a little the second they touched and making a tiny noise in the back of his throat when Doc's tongue entered his mouth. They broke apart both a little out of breath when Bdubs stepped through the portal next and with a smile Grian pushed Doc away, out of the embrace.

"Go have fun with your old buddy. We have our communicators, you know? We can message every day."

Doc still looked a little hesitant and Grian rolled his eyes.

"I promise that if a jungle monster comes to kidnap me, I'll call you for help. But I can't promise not to defeat it until you get there", he said with a small playful smirk and finally Doc nodded and backed away, jogging up to Bdubs, slapping him on the shoulder. He could already hear them playfully bickering until they were out of earshot. Those two where certainly going to have an interesting time living next to each other. He just hoped him and Scar would get along just as well.

Grian had to wait quite a while as one Hermit after the other stepped through the portal, before leaving to their chosen building space. And finally, at the end of it Scar and Xisuma stepped through the portal. Grian smiled and waved, running over to them, tripping over some rock and falling right into their arms.

And while he was still apologizing profusely as they kept laughing, none of them noticed another figure stepping out of the portal and disappearing into the jungle, two white rabbit ears being the last thing to vanish into the greenery.

~*~

Grian hummed to himself, looking at the little hobbit hole he had dug into the small mountain. He was pretty happy with the results. Even if it was just supposed to be a simple starter base, he liked to live somewhere pretty. 

Besides, he wanted things to look nice just in case Doc would be coming over for a little visit. They’d have more privacy here then over at the mansion. According to Doc’s messages it was a little wild living right next to Bdubs without a wall between them.

His communicator made a beep as if on cue and Grian looked at the message.

<Docm77> He’s driving me mad, Grian! Mad! His lawn is already a mess and we’ve only been here for a few days. Why did I think this was a good idea?

Grian chuckled, a soft smile on his lips. He knew Doc complained a lot, but Grian could also see that he was enjoying himself a lot. Their dynamic had been the same. Constantly fighting, both of them enjoying themselves.

<Grian> Because you love him just the way he is. Chaotic Gremlins you get to complain about are your type.

The sun was already setting, but Grian wasn’t ready to stop working yet. He was too motivated to call it a day. He had slept the night before, so phantoms wouldn’t really be a problem and after his little zombie prank on Scar they had lit up the whole surrounding area, so mobs shouldn’t drop by. 

The communicator in his hand gave another beep and he looked down again, smiling.

<Docm77> There is only one chaotic gremlin I love. One is enough. Can’t take care of two. Speaking of which. You want to drop by tomorrow?

Grian grinned. It had been days since Doc had suggested hanging out. He had been busy with whatever crazy scheme he had come up with to get rich. Something about goats… or was it sheep? Grian wasn’t really sure about that. He should really start to pay better attention when Doc was telling him stuff like that. It was just so hard to stay focused, when Doc was running around with his damn labcoat always hanging open. It was a wonder Grian could pay any attention at all like that!

<Grian> Can’t wait to see you. I’ll be there.

Grian put the communicator away, his mood even better than before. It only made his motivation to work through the night higher, but if he was to see Doc, he really needed to stop and sleep. It would be wasted time if he was half asleep while at Doc’s place.

Grian stretched and turned around back to his base and stopped. The door was open. Had he forgotten to close it? He frowned a little, letting his gaze wander around. Nothing else out here seemed to be disturbed. He couldn’t hear anything, but the quiet sounds of Scar working on his own project in the distance.

Slowly Grian walked up to the door. Maybe he really had left it open himself. It was getting late and he had been working the whole day, going in and out of his hobbit hole constantly. It still didn’t hurt to check if any mobs had gotten in. This early in the season he could never be safe enough. He was still only wearing iron armour after all and he’d rather not die, only to respawn right in the place the mob was running wild in. He’d never make it to his date with Doc if that were to happen.

He put away his pickaxe, and after taking out his sword, he stepped inside, quietly closing the door behind himself. He stopped again, his muscles tense, trying to pick up any sounds. Everything was quiet, except for the low crackling sounds coming from his furnaces. He walked through the base, looking into every room, but found nothing suspicious. Maybe he was really getting paranoid living in this new world.

He was just about to put his sword away, when a loud crash coming from upstairs, where his bed was, made him whip around. His heart started beating faster as he slowly went up the wooden stairs to his bed, his eyes scanning the room. And there, right on the floor, was a broken potted plant, right next to…

“Oh damn it, Professor Beak. You almost gave me a heart attack”, Grian cursed quietly, putting a hand on his chest, to calm his breathing. The parrot gave a questioning noise and Grian put his sword away, looking at his pet with a smile. “I think I’m going a little crazy in the jungle. At least I‘ve got you for company.”

Grian petted the parrot’s feathers gently, his worries slowly fading away, as the small bird leant into his touch.

“You know, I got a date with Doc tomorrow… Really looking forward to that. Maybe I should surprise him with something nice. Bring him over the first diamond I found or something like that. He’d tell me he won’t need it, but he will still be happy.”

Grian giggled a little, his hands leaving the parrot as he started taking his armour off, putting it onto an armour stand right next to his bed.

“You know… Next time I’ll tell him to come over, then I can introduce you to him. You’ll like him. He’s… He’s amazing. I really don’t get how someone so perfect could fall in love with someone like me. I just… I love Doc…”

“Doooc”, the parrot squawked out and Grian giggled again, giving it another pet on the head.

“That’s right. Clever boy.”

The parrot started flapping with his wings, getting a little excited at the extra pets he was getting.

“Doc, love.”

Grian’s smile got even wider as the parrot repeated his words and he could feel his face heating up a little. “Yeah right. I love Doc… And Doc loves Grian.”

The parrot tilted his head to the side and opened his beak again. “Gree-on”

And Grian froze at the way the animal pronounced his name. That had been just his pet repeating what he had said in a weird way, right? It was just a coincidence that he had pronounced the name like that.

He chuckled, but it sounded hollow in his own ears. “No, Professor Beak. It’s Grian. Gri-an! Please don’t say my name like that. It sounds… Well it sounds weird.”

“Oh, I don’t know Gree-on… I quite like the way that sounds.” 

Grian whipped around at the sound, adrenaline rushing through his body. Right there behind him stood Sam, a smirk on his face, in full armour, a sword pointed in Grian’s direction.

“S-Sam…? But that is impossible.”

Sam’s grin only widened making his face look even more twisted. “Oh it took me a while to find you. You didn’t make it easy. But now there’s no escape, Grian. No one to protect you this time. I think it’s about time we took a little trip. Just the two of us.”

Grian tried to back away, but it only took two steps until his back hit the tall window right behind his bed. His sword was out of reach and there was no way to get around Sam without getting caught. Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement outside and turned a little. On the other side of the lake Scar was still working on his base in the dim light of the sun setting. If Grian was only able to get his attention somehow. If Scar noticed what was going on, he could help.

He just needed to keep Sam talking. He needed a little more time. 

“How did you get here? This is a private world. There’s no way somebody could get inside.”

“Oh, I had a little help with that. Let’s just say that not all of your friends are as friendly as you think. It took just a tiny tweak in the Admin’s console and I was able to get in without any troubles. You really should choose better friends than that. You used to have such a good taste in friends.”

“Well I got you as a friend, so I wouldn’t agree to that”, Grian spat back, while his mind was racing. Was Sam really telling the truth? Could any of his friends have betrayed him? Which one of them could it have been? Even if he had only spent two years with them, he trusted them all.

Sam looked at him in annoyance after the comment and Grian realised that maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to piss off the guy that had a sword pointed in his direction. But trying to be nice to Sam? After everything that had happened between them it felt like that would be impossible.

Grian glanced over his shoulders again, just a quick look, not to raise any suspicions from Sam. If it got just a little darker, Scar would definitely notice him in his brightly lit base. They weren’t that far apart after all.

“There is no way out for you. You got nothing to break that glass with. And it would be a pity if that beautiful face of yours got hurt, now wouldn’t it?”

Sam started moving forward again, stretching out his hand that wasn’t holding a sword and Grian flinched a little as it gently touched his cheek. He felt sick to the stomach at that touch and got the urge to vomit.

“What do you want here, Sam?”, he spat out and turned his head away again, relieved when Sam pulled his hand back again. He’d rather have a sword in his face than Sam’s hand.

Sam chuckled darkly at the question, shaking his head in amusement. “Oh, Grian. Isn’t that obvious? I’m here to take you back home with me. You just left without saying a word and no way to contact you. Just running off. That was very rude, you know? I had to search everywhere. Your friends in that Evo world weren’t very helpful either.”

Grian’s head snapped back at that, eyes widening. “What did you do to them? They have nothing to do with this!”

“Oh I didn’t do anything. I just asked some questions. It took some time to get them to answer, but in the end they did… It was really sad that they didn’t know where you were after all. Such a waste of time. Forced me to start my search all over again. But now I got you and that is all that matters. There is no more escaping now.”

Grian swallowed, a shiver running down his back. He really hoped his old friends were okay. It had been a while since he had gotten in contact with them and now he really regretted it. How far would Sam go to get the information he needed? Grian really didn’t dare to ask. There was also still the possibility that Sam was lying to get under Grian’s skin.

“Now, Grian… There’s one question I have as well and I hope you won’t mind answering me.” Sam raised his sword higher and rested it lightly under Grian’s chin, the threat pretty clear of what would happen if he didn’t answer. “Who is Doc?”

Grian froze. He felt like he couldn’t breathe at the question. He still vividly remembered the things that had happened, when Sam had suspected Taurtis and him had started a relationship. It had been really bad. The shape he had left Taurtis in.

Grian couldn’t let anything like that happen to Doc.

“I…” His voice was shaky and his throat felt tight. “He’s just… Just someone I know. Just… Just a friend.”

He immediately knew that had been the wrong answer. Sam’s smile disappeared and his face seemed to twist into a hateful grimace.

“Don’t lie to me, Grian. You know how much I hate liars. And you know what I like to do to them, right? Do you want to try that again? I can give you another shot at it.”

Grian just shook his head, pressing his lips together. He didn’t know what to do, what to say.

“Well if you don’t want to talk, maybe he will.” Sam smiled again and suddenly the sword was no longer pointed at Grian, but at his poor parrot sitting on the bed frame. “Say, little bird, who’s Doc”, Sam practically cooed at the bird and Grian kept shaking his head at his pet, but the bird didn’t understand those signals.

“Doc, love, Grian”, it squawked out and flapped its wings a little, expecting a treat for his reply.

“There you go. Wasn’t so hard.” The blade moved forward and Grian screamed loudly as it pierced right through the parrot’s neck. “It was still the wrong thing to say.”

Grian was shaking heavily now, staring at the bleeding body of his pet in disbelief. This couldn’t be happening. This was just a nightmare. Sam wasn’t really here. He would wake up in Doc’s arms at any moment now. This couldn’t be real.

“Look at me, Grian.”

Grian slowly turned back to Sam as tears started to slowly run down his face. Sam smiled again, his expression absolutely ecstatic. “Now that is a really good look on you. I missed seeing you like that, you know. I really did. You should have never run away from me. You should have known it was impossible.”

The blade returned to Grian and he flinched as something wet ran down his neck. It made him only shake harder, more tears running down his face.

“So, Grian, I hope you can see now how serious I am. Tell me… Is that Doc”, Sam spat the name out as if saying it alone left a bad taste in his mouth, “your boyfriend?”

Grian swallowed hard, but then nodded slowly, no longer able to hold back the truth. “Yes. He is.”

Sam clicked his tongue in disappointment, looking at Grian almost in pity. “You know that no one could really love you but me, right? He doesn’t know you the way I do. He doesn’t know the real you. What would he say if he knew what you have done? If the truth about your past got out. Do you think he’d even be able to touch you anymore, let alone kiss or love you?” Sam chuckled and the blade on Grian’s neck vibrated slightly, making his heart only race faster. Being reminded of their shared past didn’t help calm him down either. And Sam was right. If Doc ever heard about the things Grian had done when he had been young, what would he do?

“Now Grian… You and I both know where this is going, right. You are going to come back with me and when I know that you’re safe where you belong, I will come back and kill this… Doc. We’ll be together again. Just you and me. Like the good old times.”

No. Grian didn’t want to go back to the good old times. He didn’t want to leave with Sam. And while he was pretty sure that Doc was able to fend for himself, Sam had always been resourceful when confronting enemies stronger than himself.

“I…”

“Come on Grian. You’ve always loved being with me. I can give you everything you need. You just need to say yes.”

Grian’s eyes darted from Sam’s blade to the blood-stained wall next to him. Sam’s condition seemed to be even more unstable than the last time they had seen each other. And Grian wouldn’t put it past him to just put that sword through his throat. And Grian really didn’t want to go through the pain of respawning.

And suddenly something dawned on him. He was able to respawn. This wasn’t like the world he had once shared with Sam. In Hermitcraft he wouldn’t die. Where had he set his last respawn point again? He was pretty sure it was the bed right next to them… But what if it wasn’t? Maybe he’d be lucky enough to be transported over to spawn where he could get help.

And if not, there was still the possibility of his disappearance confusing Sam temporarily, giving him a chance to escape. It was just hard to be brave, when a look at Sam alone made him feel so helpless.

He just needed to take one step forward and the sword would certainly kill him, but even when it was his only chance, he just couldn’t get his legs to start moving forward.

“Grian. I’m waiting for your answer, love.”

Grian hardened his features at the pet name. “I never was and never will be your love. I’ve never hated anyone more in my life than you. If you disappeared from the universe I wouldn’t shed one tear over your death.”

Sam’s arm twitched, as if he really planned to strike through Grian’s throat, but a sudden knock at the door stopped them. They both froze and Grian turned his head slightly to look over the lake. Scar wasn’t there anymore. Could it really be him?

“Grian? You alright up there? I heard a scream”, Scar’s voice came from the door. He was just outside. Grian hesitated. He wanted to shout so badly, but his throat felt tight and no sound came out. Sam’s sword was so close, too close to his throat. Dying would really hurt, but what Sam might do when he was unhappy could be even worse.

“Grian?”, Scar called again and Grian looked up into Sam’s eyes, trembling a little at the calculating gleam.

“Tell him to come inside.”

Grian’s eyes widened and he shook his head, his heart racing at the thought of what Sam might have planned.

“Sam, please… Leave him out of it. Don’t…”

Sam just smirked, clearly enjoying himself. He had always loved hearing Grian beg. And he had done so many things in the past to force Grian to do just that.

“Oh don’t you worry, love. I’m not going to kill him. Not yet anyways.”

Grian glanced to the stairs and then his features hardened. He wouldn’t let Sam get to him again. He wouldn’t let his friends get hurt.

“SCAR! Run! Get Doc! Tell him-“

Grian stopped suddenly as blinding pain shot through him and as he looked down he saw the shining blade piercing right through his stomach. It took his brain a few seconds to process the injury, but when the shock faded Grian screamed loudly. The sword was ripped out again and Grian fell to his knees, holding his bleeding stomach.

He could hear a shout from downstairs, a door flying open. Scar wasn’t running away. Grian’s vision was fading quickly. He was bleeding too much. And then everything around him disappeared.

He felt like he was floating through an endless void. His mind was unable to form any thoughts and then, suddenly, he was back again. He gasped in the air, sitting up with a start. He hated respawning. It always hurt and left him disoriented.

“Nice of you to join us again, Grian. That’s really one lovely feature of this world. It really opens a lot of doors on how much I’m able to get away with, without losing you.”

Grian’s head snapped to the side. He was sitting on the bed in his hobbit hole and right next to the bed stood Sam, a smile on his face.

“…Scar?”, Grian asked, blinking a few times, to lose the haze that came with respawning.

Sam chuckled and moved his leg, kicking something. A pained moan came from the ground and Grian’s eyes slowly wandered down. Scar was lying face down on the floor, or rather pinned to the floor. Sam’s sword was pierced through his shoulder so far it must have been lodged into the wooden floor. And Scar’s own sword was now in Sam’s hand, pointed at the back of Scar’s neck.

“It’s cute how he thought he would be able to save you. What a weakling… If all of your friends on this server are as weak, this will be a piece of cake. I’m going to take you home and nobody can stop me.” Sam giggled in delight and Grian looked back at him, unable to keep his eyes on Scar. This was all his fault. Sam was only here because Grian fled to this place. He should have known that running from Sam was impossible. He should have seen it coming. He shouldn’t have gone to a world with people in it.

“Now, Grian… I think you’ll be far nicer to me, if I bring your little friend along, don’t you agree?”

Grian shook his head vehemently, but only a second later he realised that Sam really hadn’t wanted him to answer… or to disagree. Sam gripped the sword stuck in Scar with his free hand and twisted it around, ripping a loud scream from Scar’s throat.

“Stop it! I’m going with you! Just stop hurting him! He’s got nothing to do with this. Don’t… Don’t hurt my friends.”

Sam smiled at him, looking at him so condescending, and when he spoke again, his voice sounded as if he was talking to a little child.

“You don’t need any friends, Grian. You have me. Those people here? They aren’t really your friends. How can anyone really like you with the way you behave? You’re lucky that I put up with all of it. You’re lucky to have a friend like me.”

Grian let out a small whimper, his hands twitching as he felt the urge to just cover his ears so he didn’t have to hear Sam’s words. They stung so badly. He couldn’t listen to them. It had taken him so long to stop thinking like that after the last time he had met Sam. And Taurtis wasn’t around this time to help him recover. He couldn’t let Sam’s words get to him. Not this time.

“Now Grian. Don’t you agree that we should bring him along?”

Grian swallowed hard and then nodded. It felt like he was the one dooming Scar with just that little movement.

“Oh, love. I can’t hear you. Don’t you want him to hear it as well?”

Grian felt his chest tighten as he opened his mouth. The voice leaving him didn’t feel like his own. “I want you to take him as well.”

And finally Sam let go of the sword stuck in Scar, leaving him panting heavily on the floor.

“Well isn’t it great, how we always agree on everything, love? It’s like we were made for one another.”

Grian just nodded. He felt like all of his energy had been drained. There was no use fighting Sam. Sam always got what he wanted. And if Grian just went along with it, things might not be as bad as they could be.

“Now then let’s…” Sam stopped as a loud beeping sound came from both Grian and Scar at the same time. Sam already looked annoyed again and it made Grian feel sick.

Sam slowly bent down, taking the communicator from Scar’s pocket and looking at the screen.

“Well. This might be a problem. Interesting technology you got there, telling everyone I killed you. Your little boyfriend seems to be really worried.” Sam snorted in amusement and dropped the communicator to the floor. “Well that only means we need to hurry up a little before anybody else disturbs us. Now get up. Any wrong movement and I will kill magic boy here.”

Grian nodded, practically jumping to his feet.

“Get the sword out and pull him up, walk in front of me. And hurry along or my blade might slip.”

With shaking hands Grian bent down to Scar and grabbed the sword stuck inside the other’s body. “I’m so sorry, Scar”, he whispered and then pulled the sword out as fast as possible as not to prolong the pain. Scar still screamed loudly and Grian felt like it was all his fault. He was the reason why Scar was hurting.

“Grian…” Scar’s voice was barely above a whisper, but Grian could still hear him. “Fight him. I will respawn if he kills me.”

Grian’s gaze wandered down to the bloody blade in his hands. Right. He had a weapon now. He could defend himself. He could fight Sam. He knew he could take Sam in a fight. He could win. He could…

“Be a good boy and put that sword away, love.”

Grian felt his hand starting to shake, but he slowly rose to his feet and pointed it towards Sam. He could do this. He just needed to stay strong. He had stood up to Sam before. He had gotten away from Sam before. He could do it again.

Sam looked at him, eyes cold and unimpressed. He wasn’t phased at all by the sword pointed at him and that only made Grian’s confidence shake a little. Why wasn’t Sam worried.

“Grian. Stop wasting my time. We both know you can’t do it. Not without Taurtis there to back you up. So spare us both the drama and put that thing away before you hurt yourself. You’ve always been so clumsy.”

Grian swallowed, only tightening the grip he had on the sword. He could do this. He would fight. He’d make sure at least Scar would get away. He’d…

Sam took a step forward and Grian could feel his chest tightening, his heart racing. He could do this… Couldn’t he?

“Don’t come any closer”, he hissed, but his voice sounded just as uncertain as he felt. It was no wonder that Sam didn’t seem to be impressed by his actions.

“Look at you. Scared. Like some caged animal…” Sam took another step and reached out. Grian needed to strike him, cut his hand off, disarm him, knock him out, anything. He needed to move. He needed to do something.

Sam’s hand came to rest on his, the sword so close to his face. All Grian needed to do was push forward. Only one second of bravery. Scar needed him. He could… No. He really couldn’t do it.

With a small whimper he let go of the sword, the blade falling to the floor with a loud clang. Sam smirked, pulling Grian’s hand to his lips and planting a soft kiss to it.

“See, love, it’s easier if you cooperate.” Suddenly Sam’s eyes darkened and he twisted Grian’s hand. There was a loud snap and Grian screamed, reeling back, pain shooting from his wrist up his whole arm. “Don’t you ever dare to point a blade at me again.”

Grian held his wrist, still looking at Sam wide eyed. Tears rushed to his eyes again. He tried to move his hand a little, but immediately pain shot up his arm, making him whimper in pain.

Sam only chuckled at that and suddenly his hand was on Grian’s cheek, wiping a few tears away, touching him so gently. “You know I don’t like hurting you, love. You left me no other choice. It’s your own fault, you know that, right?”

Grian slowly nodded. He kept trying to tell himself that nothing Sam said was true. He was just nodding along, so Sam wouldn’t hurt him again. He didn’t believe what Sam was saying… right?

“Now pick him up. You wanted him to come with us after all. I‘m not carrying your pet around”, Sam said and finally he let go of Grian, already stepping away towards the portal. Grian slowly bent down, pulling Scar up. Scar seemed to be a little unbalanced and only now Grian realised that there was a bleeding wound on his forehead. Sam must have hit him badly while Grian had been respawning.

Grian put one of Scar’s arms over his shoulder, letting his friend lean on him. He was glad that Scar didn’t really resist as they moved after Sam. Grian didn’t want to think about what Sam would do to Scar if he didn’t obey. Because Grian was lucky enough that Sam loved him and held back. With Scar he wouldn’t have such qualms.

Grian stepped into the portal next to Sam, feeling his body being teleported away. He prayed that someone would wait for them on the other side. The nether was a highly frequented place. Sure, it was late and most of the Hermits would be at home already, but according to Sam the death message in chat had gotten at least Doc a bit worried. Someone might be on their way over here right now.

Their surroundings changed into the endless grey of the Nether-Roof, only a few portals here and there. Nothing moved around them. No steps echoing in the distance. They really were alone.

Sam looked at him, already annoyed again and Grian hurriedly moved from the portal frame. He should try and waste some more time. He should give the others a chance to come here, but he couldn’t find the energy to fight inside himself anymore.

So when Sam pointed in a direction somewhere in the endless grey, Grian just adjusted his grip on Scar’s arm and started moving. They walked past a few portals of the other Hermits and every time they did, Grian prayed for and dreaded someone stepping out of them. Nobody came.

His communicator gave another series of beeps. Grian didn’t know why Sam hadn’t taken it away from him, but he didn’t dare to reach for it. If he’d send a message to his friends… Things wouldn’t end well and he’d have only himself to blame. For now it would be easier to just listen to Sam’s demands.

Sam was walking behind them now, humming a cheery tune and it unnerved Grian. He had learnt to hate Sam’s good moods almost as much as his bad ones. Sam being in a good mood often meant something happening that Grian didn’t like.

They kept walking. The portals kept getting further and further away. There was no sign of the Hermits having been here anymore. Scar was struggling to keep up next to him and Grian tried to take more of his weight, pulling him a little closer.

“I’m sorry…”, he whispered. Scar just looked at him with a pained expression out of the corner of his eye.

“t’s not your fault”, he said, his words a little slurred. “Don’t listen to him, Grian. He’s-“

“Less talking, more walking!”, Sam drawled behind them, sounding almost too cheery and the threat was still perfectly clear in his voice.

Grian immediately pressed his lips together, his eyes snapping up ahead, scared of what Sam might do to Scar if they didn’t obey.

They walked in silence and Grian lost all track of time in their never changing surroundings. Everything was the same and there was no way to know how much time had passed. The only thing interrupting the silence now and again was his communicator beeping loudly as more and more messages got sent his way.

He just knew that they were pretty far away by now. There was no way one of the Hermits would stumble upon them by accident. He wondered if they had already discovered him and Scar being gone. Was Doc already at his base, looking at all of the blood there? He knew that Doc wouldn’t react well to a sight like that. He’d always been overly protective of Grian. But that really didn’t help much, when they were kilometres upon kilometres away.

And then something changed. Through the fog he saw a lone portal standing in the distance and he could practically hear the sudden bounce in Sam’s steps. Grian felt like every step became harder than the last. The closer they came to the portal, the heavier Scar seemed to be. Just before the portal he stopped, looking over his shoulder at Sam, who had an excited gleam in his eyes.

“Go on, Grian. There’s no turning back now anyways. You’d just get lost up here.”

Grian swallowed and stepped inside the purple mist with Scar. Their surroundings changed and Grian took one step out before he froze at the sight.

“Welcome back home, Grian.”

They were standing in the middle of a perfect replica of their old classroom.

Chapter Text

Sam looked at Grian, his smile wide and full of uncontained joy.

“Isn‘t this amazing? It took me a while to get it done, but I had a little help and now everything is ready.” Sam‘s eyes drifted from Grian and Scar to a corner of the room where something was off that Grian hadn‘t noticed right away. There was a bed right at the front of the classroom.

“So I‘ve been told that once you touch a bed you will wake up in it again in case you die. Can‘t have you killing yourself to go back. I mean I‘m pretty sure you wouldn‘t go through with it and leave him behind, but you can never be safe enough. Put him in the bed and then it‘s your turn as well.”

Grian nodded, heart beating high in his throat as he kept walking. Scar looked at him out of the corner of his eye, slightly shaking his head. But what was Grian to do? If he ran now and jumped out of some window he‘d respawn in his little Hobbit Hole and he was pretty sure someone would be there for him. But he couldn‘t take Scar along. He didn‘t want to imagine Scar being left back with Sam to take out his anger on.

There were no windows near the bed or he would have had the opportunity to just throw Scar out to save him. So he kept walking, stopping in front of the bed and carefully pushing Scar into a sitting position onto it. And from the pained look on Scar‘s face he knew the magic of the respawn point had activated. He had doomed Scar to stay here. It was all his fault.

“Well done, darling. Now it‘s your turn. Just a small touch.”

His hands started shaking. Scar was looking at him intensely and Grian knew Scar wanted him to run, to fight, to abandon his friend. He couldn‘t, but the thought of being trapped here, being trapped with Sam? He felt sick to his stomach. 

“Grian. Now.”

Grian shook his head slightly and took the smallest of steps back. It was enough to earn himself an annoyed noise from Sam.

“Grian!”

The warning was clear in Sam‘s voice, dark and angry, but it didn‘t make it any easier on Grian. On the contrary, it only made this harder. That voice promised pain. He took another step away, his back hitting one of the school benches. 

And somehow the hard wood touching him, the feeling of being cornered activated his fight or flight instincts and he dashed towards the door. His hand was on the doorknob when his collar was pulled back in one abrupt tug, his own hands flying up to his throat as it cut off the flow of air. He was pulled against a body and froze.

“That wasn‘t very smart, Grian.” The way Sam‘s voice purred the name into his ear made Grian shudder. Sam let go of his collar, letting Grian breathe again. Before he could even regain his breath his hand was encased in an iron hard grip, the probably broken bones sending flaring pain up his arm.

He screamed as he was pulled along, tears springing to his eyes as he was manhandled back. He could hear Scar shout something at Sam - the voice hazy through the pain - but Sam seemed to ignore him, yanking on Grian who stumbled along. And then he was thrown forward, falling onto his knees and suddenly a hand gripped his hair and smashed his head against the wooden frame of the bed hard. And even though Grian wasn‘t lying in the bed it was enough to trigger the magic, changing his respawn points. As the feeling of magic washed over his body, he felt his will to fight back dissipate.

All hope was lost now.

Grian let out a desperate sob and the painful grip left, being replaced by a hand gently caressing his head.

“You know I had to do this, darling. You should have just listened to me. I really don‘t enjoy hurting you like this.”

The hand was so soft, so gentle, making the pain slowly fade and Grian hated himself for leaning into the touch slightly as it was giving him relief. His eyes closed and he gave a little sigh. He could hear Sam chuckle softly, contently and a smile made its way onto his features.

Sam was happy.

Sam wouldn't hurt him.

He opened his eyes again only to look at Scar‘s horrified face, eyes locked onto Grian‘s face and the smile fell, his whole body tensing up again.

How had he let himself fall into old habits already?

“Don‘t worry, Grian. Magic Boy doesn‘t understand what we have.” The hand kept moving through Grian‘s hair, but it no longer felt gentle. Sam hadn’t changed the way he caressed Grian, but it was no longer calming and Grian started shaking in fear again. When Sam spoke next he could hear in his voice that he was no longer smiling. “Well it seems like they trained you well. No longer able to relax with the only person here who truly loves you.”

The fingers stopped and Grian expected his hair to be pulled back again for what he had done. But Sam just patted his head and stepped back.

“As much as I‘d like to stay by your side for longer now that I have you, I need to make sure we‘re safe here. I wouldn‘t want anyone stealing you away.” Sam stepped back and Grian turned a bit to look up at him, tears still in his eyes. 

“Don‘t…” Grian stopped himself. He had been about to tell Sam not to hurt anyone, not to kill Doc, but he knew that such a plea would land him in a world of pain.

He should fight. He should try to protect his friends, his family, and his lover. Just looking at Sam made him stop in fear.

Sam‘s face morphed into delight. “I know you don‘t want me to leave, love. But I can‘t stay. It‘s dangerous out there, you know that. I can‘t take you and I can‘t stay.” Sam bent forward and Grian knew what was coming next, but he still didn‘t stop it. He merely closed his eyes and let Sam kiss him, a short touch to his lips. “See you soon.”

Grian nodded, not trusting his voice right now while he watched Sam leave the room. The door fell shut and then there was the unmistakable sound of a door being locked. Only when the retreating footsteps weren‘t audible anymore did Grian allow himself to take a breath, his whole body shaking.

He was with Sam. He was back with Sam and he was trapped and there was no way to escape. Taurtis wasn‘t here. He couldn‘t do this without Taurtis. The last time he had been alone with Sam had been so horrible. How was he supposed to survive this? Noone cared. Only Taurtis. None of the other students or adults ever dared to oppose Sam. Where was Taurtis? He needed-

“Grian?”

Grian flinched, turning slightly and looking at Scar in confusion. Right. Scar was here. He wasn‘t actually back in school.

“Sorry. Didn‘t mean to startle you, lil guy. You just looked like you were on the verge of a panic attack. I…”

Scar‘s hand  twitched a little as if he wanted to touch Grian but held back and Grian was thankful for the restraint. He slowly got up from the floor, sitting right next to Scar, their shoulders just touching, but still helping Grian ground himself a little. He wasn‘t alone. There was someone else with him. For better and worse.

“It’s alright. I’m… I’m used to this”, Grian said with a tight smile, his fingers digging into the fabric of his pants to keep them from shaking. He needed to stay strong. 

“You’re… Grian, who's that guy? What does he want from you? And why did you let him-” Scar stopped, but Grian knew what he had probably meant to ask. Why did Grian let Sam touch him, caress him, kiss him… Why indeed?

“He’s an old friend.”

“Friends don’t really beat you up and kidnap you, you know.”

“He’s… Sam’s…” Grian started and then stopped again, unsure of what to say. “We met a while back. We had a mutual friend who introduced us. And I… I liked Sam. He was so charming and sweet. But I… I kept messing up stuff and he got angry. I tried leaving after the first time he hit me, you know, but… but…” Grian took in a shaky breath, his mind flashing back to Sam’s face covered in blood that was neither his nor Grian’s. “I should have just never made him angry. It was my fault. If I had just been good.”

If he had just done something different. If he hadn‘t gotten so close to- He should have done better. He could have prevented it, seen the signs and stepped back.

/”It‘s your fault, Grian. You made me do this, you know this, right? I love you so much.”/

Grian tried to ground himself in reality when he heard the voice ringing in his ears, drowning out everything else. He dug the fingernails of his good hand into his leg, but he didn‘t feel any sharp pain that should have come along with it.

/”There‘s nothing I wouldn‘t do for you. Nobody I wouldn‘t hurt to protect you.”/

Grian could hear a loud scream - scared and in pain. The smell of blood hit his nose and his hands felt weirdly wet. He slowly lowered his gaze, horror rising inside him until his gaze landed on his hands again. He turned them up and his palms were covered in blood. His hands started shaking uncontrollably. The blood ran down between his fingers onto his legs, the flow never stopping. 

/”You know what that means Grian. It basically wasn‘t me. You killed him. You killed-”/

A hand suddenly appeared in his view, gently touching Grian‘s. He heard a voice, so calm and familiar, the hand tracing patterns on his palm. No, not patterns, letters. It kept repeating, over and over again and it gave Grian something to focus on - something to keep his mind from getting lost again and after a minute of just staring at and feeling the movements he finally managed to make out the words.

N O T  R E A L

And only now did Grian realise that the blood had disappeared while he had been so focused on the letters the hand had traced. Slowly Grian let his gaze trace up the hand to an arm and then to a shoulder, finally locking eyes.

“Scar?” Grian whispered, more a question than a statement. When he got lost like that it was sometimes hard to be sure what was real and what wasn‘t. 

“Yeah. It‘s alright now. You‘re… alright. I‘m with you. Sorry I shouldn‘t have pushed you. You really don‘t need to tell me what-”

“You need to know”, Grian replied, taking a few deep breaths to steel himself, looking at Scar in worry. “You need to know so you don‘t make him angry. We can‘t make a mistake. He loves me, but you… I‘m scared of what he‘ll do to you when you do something wrong.”

Scar‘s face seemed to twist into a grimace and he looked at Grian as if those words had somehow pained him.

“Grian he doesn‘t-”

“Don‘t!”, Grian immediately interrupted, eyes darting to the door, but nobody was in sight. “He loves me. Don‘t ever question that. If you do… He‘ll hurt you. He loves me, he just… He has an unhealthy way of showing it.”

“Huge understatement there.”

Grian opted to ignore that and just went on, trying to keep his eyes focused on the myriad of freckles on Scar‘s face. Something to keep him grounded.

“We dated. Me and Sam. He was the first person to ever show any interest in me like that. It was… It was nice. Until it wasn‘t. There was that friend and we‘d hang out and then Sam... He kept telling me not to, kept telling me how I made him sad and angry. I felt like it was my fault so I tried to limit the contact. Which… kind of hard if you go to school together.“

Grian smiled a bit, but there was no joy in it.

“We just talked about a lesson my friend had missed. I was giving him my notes after class. We were all alone. We talked for a while. He was asking about Sam and what was going on. He was telling me that Sam wasn’t good for me. He told me I should break things off. He made me feel so safe. I just… I just nodded. I didn‘t even say anything. He hugged me.”

Grian swallowed and felt himself shaking as his mind tried to distance himself again from the memories, from reality, from all of this, but when Scar gently squeezed his hand he felt reassured and kept going.

“Sam was there. Sam had heard the conversation. He said I had betrayed him. He said it was all my fault. He said I was the one to blame. Taurtis was right there. Right there in my arms when Sam stabbed him. There was so much blood, so much-”

“Grian. Stop now. I get it. Don‘t…” Finally, Grian looked into Scar‘s eyes and they were so sad. “Tell me about Doc. You guys had planned to move in together later this season. What plans did you have in mind?”

Grian blinked a few times, taken aback by the question. His mind immediately went to Doc, to their nights together sitting over the Season 7 map and searching for a good spot. “I- We wanted to finish our bases first”, Grian started, voice shaking, only a whisper. “We wanted to build a small town together. With buildings for some of his redstone and a huge garden. I wanted to have a garden. He thought it was cute.” A small smile appeared on Grian‘s lips as he remembered Doc fondly rolling his eyes at Grian rambling on and on about custom trees and ponds and a tiny chicken coop. It suddenly felt like someone had put a warm blanket over him, like he had a tiny sliver of safety in this horrible situation.

“I bet he‘s gonna be here soon. You know him better than I do. He‘d move the sun and moon to be with you. No distance can stop him. We‘re still in the same world after all. Don‘t give up on that hope, okay? We need to stay strong so we can help the others fight once they get here.”

Grian just nodded and leaned his head onto Scar‘s shoulder with a soft sigh.

Doc would come.

He was going to be alright.

He wouldn‘t let Sam change him this time.