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“You can’t honestly tell me you don’t believe in Bigfoot!”
“Do I look like I believe in Bigfoot?” Answers the blonde from the driver seat, one hand loosely on the wheel as he looks back at Gavin, who has been arguing at Ryan for the last hour. The other man will let him rant on and on while listing the many reasons as to why Bigfoot is real. When he answers is only to rile Gavin up as he laughs from the front seat.
“Who doesn’t believe in Bigfoot!? Michael are you hearing this!?” His shouts are growing louder by the minute, it makes Jeremy stir, who fell asleep about an hour into the trip. Gavin winces, he reels in his volume some as to not wake him up.
“Gav, just give it a rest already. You’re gonna make Ryan crash.” Berates the redhead from the front of the car. He doesn’t even look up from his phone, Gavin’s been going at it all week.
“I’m not gonna make him crash.” Says Gavin rather childishly, crossing his arms even if Michael doesn’t spare him a glance. “All I’m saying is you’d have to be nuts not to believe in Bigfoot.”
“Well when you find him Gavin you can rub it in his face.”
“I’ll rub your face,”Ryan counters slyly.
“Oh yeah, what else will you rub?” Says Michael, smugly looking up at Ryan catching his eyes. His phone completely forgotten, Michael smirks at Gavin spluttering in the back. Ryan meets his, eyes arching an eyebrow, neither of them look away not even Ryan, who is supposed to be driving.
“Michael! Now he’s really gonna crash!!”
Ryan and Michael ignore him in order to continue to stare at each other, an unspoken game of who will look away first begins. Considering Ryan’s going over fifty on the road you’d think he’d care more, but the need to win is visibly stronger. It amuses Michael who laughs openly at the absurdity of it and maybe a little because it makes Gavin freak.
Ryan takes it as a challenge because why wouldn’t he? He presses down on the gas making the car go well above the speed limit. Gavin screams his name again but he continues, and Ryan very pointedly stares into Michael’s whiskey colored eyes thanks to the setting sun. Not breaking eye contact, he smiles smugly at Michael, that is until the younger lad licks his lips. Ryan can’t help but track the motion and as soon as his eyes flick down, he curses internally.
“Tease.” Is all he mutters before finally taking his attention back on the road. Michael looks pleased with himself as he goes back the phone on his lap, glancing once at Gavin who just shakes his head at him as he mouths Mental. Michael smiles down at his phone, at least he gotten Gavin to quiet down for a bit.
The silence lasts about twenty minutes, in which Jeremy wakes up, thanks to a giant eighteen wheeler the zooms past them. It scares him awake just in time to hear the last of Michaels “Fuck you too, asshole.”
He took minute to blink the sleep out of his eyes; he needed to stretch, but was unwilling to move. He thought getting some sleep to the cabin would do him good, but he feels like it just fucked him up. Feeling groggy he looks at Gavin, the brit’s face lights up as he realizes Jeremy has woken up.
“Jeremy! How was your nap?” At the mention of the name Michael glances back while Ryan looks in the rearview mirror briefly. Jeremy’s response is to try and stretch his worn out limbs, with little luck as the car doesn’t give him the necessary room.
“Shit. I feel like I got hit by a truck.”
“Well a truck did almost hit us!”
“Gav, it did not.”
“Michael, It was so bloody close, Michael.” Jeremy cracks his neck, ignoring the banter as he grunts into more comfortable position. Sleeping against the window didn’t do him any favors, and he’s just ready to be able to stretch his body once they make it to their destination. He can’t feel his left buttcheek and his neck hurts like a motherfucker.
“How much longer do we have?” Jeremy asks, hoping it’s not much longer than an hour. He could really use a good stretch and a bed, emphasis on big comfy bed, where he can take a proper nap and not feel like death.
“Couple hours, maybe.”
“Ughhh why.” Rubbing at his eyes with the bottom of his palms makes those barely there stars pop behind his eyes. He was doing everything he could to feel more human once again, kindly dismissing away Gavins questioning glance.
“Well, we did leave later than planned and traffic was not on our side.”
“Sorry lads, work and all that.”
“It’s alright Gav.” Jeremy pats his leg as he leans back into the seat, throwing his head back as he closes his eyes. Willing the bad feeling in him to leave him as soon as possible, he should’ve held up on that nap until they got to the cabin.
“Where’s this Cabin at again?”
“Some shitty town Gavin found like two hundred miles out.”
“Hey we don’t know if its shitty yet.” Protests Gavin, even if he doesn’t know much about said town. The Cabin looked really nice so, he booked it quickly and that was that.
“Russel? Gavin, it sounds shitty.”
“The cabin is good though!”
“It better fucking be with how much we paid.” Grumbles Jeremy, who doesn't give a rat’s ass about the town. Or the cabin, or Bigfoot, or camping, if he’s being honest. What he does care about is making Gavin happy, which is why he’s suffering in the backseat of Ryan’s car.
“Don’t worry Jeremy. I got you.” The car’s engine roars to life as Ryan once again plunges into the gas pedal. Gavin squeaks in surprise, getting thrown back into his seat as the car lurches forward.
The cabin really is beautiful. It’s a bit on the modern side with all the big glass windows. Yet it looks so cozy that Ryan can’t wait to have a look inside, he’s honestly impressed. Gavin had showed him the pictures sure, but can anyone really trust the shit they see on the internet these days?
Jeremy groans as he finally drags himself out of the backseat, stretching every which way his body will allow him. Then first thing they all do after exiting is immediately go right into the front door, all luggage forgotten without a care.
The moment Ryan steps in he gets hit with the smell of fresh baked cookies; he hears Gavin gasp behind him as they all shuffle in. With the fireplace, the soft looking sofas, and the lights shining throughout the house make Ryan dare to think of it as homey. There’s an upstairs where he assumes the bedrooms will be, and some double glass doors that lead out to the backyard. He can’t wait to make hot chocolate and sit by the fire with his favorite people.
“I told you it wasn’t shitty!” Shouts Gavin smugly from the kitchen, already two bites into a cookie. Ryan didn’t even realize the lad went in ahead, too busy daydreaming about the fireplace.
“It’s really fucking nice.”
“Yeah it is.” Ryan looks up towards the stairs again, wondering if he can sneak up to choose the best room before the lads. Michael catches him, though; his eyes go to the stairs and back again. They both stare at each other wordlessly, neither moving a muscle, which makes Jeremy look at them questioningly, attracting Gavin back near the sofa.
“Wha-” Asks Gavin as he chews through the last of his cookie.
“Don't you do it. Don’t you dare.” Warns Jeremy, gearing up for the race he doesn’t want to take part in but probably will anyway; there’s no way he’s gonna give it up so easily. His warning makes Michael smirk as he slowly pulls his hands out of his pockets. Ryan rolls his eyes as he curses internally and prepares himself.
“On three.” Says Jeremy, as he cracks his knuckles, Gavin finally catches on. He starts to giggle like a toddler, vibrating with excitement as he bounces in place. Ryan rolls his shoulders and starts the countdown.
“One.” Michael laughs as he looks to the stairs, currently the closest giving him the highest advantage. He hopes that Gavin won't beat him, he might be gangly but the Brit has speed. The cabin is now a battleground, and the air around them is filled with anticipation.
“Two.” Gavin is still giggling away, there’s deep breathing, the smell of cookies wafting from the kitchen. The four grown men stood around waiting to race up the stairs, like a pack of unsupervised children left home alone, about to freely break the rules.
“Three!” The thundering of running feet fills the house immediately. Ryan goes right while Michael takes a left but Gavin, Gavin knows what he wants because he booked the place. He goes straight for the end of the hallway where he knows the master bedroom is, just a door away from beautiful view of the back yard.
“Oh no you don’t!” Shouts Jeremy right behind him, grabbing for the door knob along with Gavin. Gavin doesn’t even know when Jeremy caught up to him, he wonders where the other two have ended up. There’s a lot of shuffling as their hands scramble to open it first, there's a click and then a thump when both clumsily land on the hardwood floor.
With a grunt Gavin picks himself up to look around as Jeremy does the same, he takes in how beautiful the room is. Huge glass door right across the way that lead to a balcony, there’s even some chairs. Gavin can’t wait to sit out there and watch the sunset.
“Woah.” Jeremy exclaims as he walks further into the room, also caught up on the balcony. Turning to look over his shoulder to look excitedly at Gavin, he makes his way and just stares out into what Gavin knows is an amazing view.
“I know.”
“Whoa look at the bed! It’s huge! This room is huge!”
“I know!” Gavin flops on to said bed, sighing when the mattress dips around him soft as cloud. Jeremy unlocks the glass door, slides it open about to step out. When the sound of footsteps halts him in place, they both look up to find Michael and Ryan. Who grumpily eye Gavin, that is until they too start looking around the room.
“Holy shit.”
“It lovely Michael isn’t it?” Asks Gavin excitedly where he’s moved up to rest his head on three white fluffy pillows. The sight makes Michael’s indignant face soften, with Gavin looking so happy in the middle of that huge bed; his intent of demanding a race do over forgotten.
“Wow, we came in here because you cheated. But I get it, this room is nice.” Ryan’s whistle reiterates his point enough for him, he walks into the bathroom curious to see what that looks like. “There’s a jacuzzi in here!”
“Really?” Asks Jeremy and Gavin in unison, although only the shorter man goes to follow Ryan in there. Gavin makes not one single attempt to move from where he’s nestled on the pillows, the king size bed spread out under him.
Michael takes one look, mischievously smiles and starts to back up some. By the time Gavin notices it’s too late, his mouth opens to protest but Michaels body lands mostly on him. Drawing a grunt out of Gavin mostly because the red heads elbow landed directly on his shoulder, but also from the unexpected weight.
“Bloody hell Michael!”
“What? You have to share you fuck, plus that’s what you get for cheating.”
“Sod off.” Responds Gavin going to poke at Michael’s face, but the other catches his hand midway. Gavin expects for him to try and strike back, instead the lad intertwines their hands. Gavin looks up to find him already staring, he can’t help but smile at his boyfriend. Michael inevitably smiles back, it makes his dimple appear and Gavin loves it.
“You did good Gav, this place is amazing.” Then in one movement Michael closes the distance between them, kissing Gavin back into the mattress softly. When he pulls back, Gavin tries to chase after his lips whining when he can’t get to them. Michael has pinned him in place with his weight, chest hovering over the other’s.
“That’s it, we are all sleeping in here.” The moment is over but not before Michael leaves Gavin with one last chaste kiss, moving back to look at Jeremy coming out of the bathroom Ryan in tow.
“Sure.” Responds Michael as he shrugs looking over at Gavin for his opinion, the brit fake pretends to think it over even going as far as tapping his finger on his chin. He meets Michael eyes, sits up in bed and plats a kiss right on his cheek rather quickly. It makes Michael’s face scrunch up, Jeremy smiles at the sight.
“It’s a party!” Shouts Gavin excitedly, he tries to lift the duvet to cover himself up but with Michael sitting on top it proves useless.
Ryan chuckles at his failed attempt to get cozier, then his phone chimes and Ryan catches a glimpse of the current time. “Alright love birds, why don’t we go unload the car so we can settle in.”
“Don’t be mad cause I'm Michael’s favorite, Ryan.”
“Sure you are.” Says the red head getting up from their soon to be bed, cackling on his way out when Gavin starts to pout. Ryan just raises his eyebrow in such a smug way that he deserves the pillow Gavin throws his way.
“You gonna go set up the cameras?”
“Yeah, wanna come with?”
“Sure. I’ll tell the others.” Jeremy leaves the brit alone with all his electronic junk, as he likes to call it despite Gavins indignant “Not junk, Jeremy!” everytime. He walks into the kitchen where Michael seems to be raiding the pantry.
“Where’s Ryan?”
“He went to get his keys. We’re going on a store run, there’s, like, nothing here. Wanna come?”
“No. I’m going with Gav to set up his cameras and other junk.” The incredulous look Michael shoots him is expected, Jeremy could not give a rat’s ass about Bigfoot if they paid him.
“I thought you didn't give a rat’s ass about that shit.”
“I don’t. But Gav does and maybe we’ll see BigFoot you don’t know.”
“Oh yeah?” Asks Michael through a chuckle, he rounds the kitchen island leans into it as he stops in front of Jeremy. “And what will you do, you non believer. You Jeremy Dooley, if confronted with Big Foot out in the wild, in front of your very own eyes, huh?”
“Easy, I’ll punch’ em right in the face.” To illustrate his point, Jeremy flexes his right arm obnoxiously. Michael laughs, grabbing at his bicep and squeezing repeatedly as he makes his oh so popular “eeghhh” noises. It makes Jeremy burst out laughing unable to keep on flexing, which is how Ryan finds them.
“What did I miss?”
“Just this gun show!” says Jeremy who starts flexing once again, this time with sound effects. Ryan fondly rolls his eyes and smiles as he walks up to stand next to Michael, who is in a fit of giggles. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah, yeah, Christ, let’s go.”
“You coming Jeremy?” Asks the blonde as he swings the key ring around his finger repeatedly, a habit he’s had since they all met him. The jiggling of the keys makes Gavin poke his head into the kitchen.
“You’re leaving?” They all turn to look at him, Michael still holding his belly from his laughing fit is the one to answer.
“Yeah gonna pick up some shit at the store.”
“Ooh bring me back some snacks.”
“What kind of snacks?”
“I don’t know, something that looks good.” Shrugs Gavin fully coming into the kitchen doorway, a small camera in hand that he seems to be configuring. Michael scoffs at his request, shaking his head making Jeremy smile. Gavin’s always had a way to ask for things that infuriates Michael, Jeremy fucking loves it.
“Thanks for that oh so helpful request Gavin.”
“Huh?” Asks Gavin distractedly, It makes Michael roll his eyes because he knows they’ve lost him. Once Gavin gets into his tech it’s hard to get a coherent answer from him. Ryan saves them all the incoming argument by purposely shaking his keys, signaling is time to go.
“Something with chocolate, got it. We’ll be back.”
“Have fun.”
They finally get out to the backyard after a while - Gavin had to adjust several of the cameras. Setting them to different modes so they can scatter them throughout the woods, Jeremy doesn't understand how they’ll even stay on but he’s mostly going to keep his boyfriend company.
“You think we’ll see him?”
“What, Bigfoot?”
“Yeah!” Says Gavin enthusiastically as he straightens back up, just having staked a camera on a pole through the ground. The sincerity and almost childlike wonder of his questions makes Jeremy’s heart melt, and even if he doesn’t know he can’t help but reassure the brit.
“Yeah, maybe, hopefully right? We could?”
“I hope so. Hey the others are back I only have a few more if you want to head back, I can catch up.”
“Nah, I’ll go with you.” Together they set off deeper into the woods. Gavin can’t wait to look at everything back on his laptop. He’s been wanting to do this for a couple of years, and now he finally gets to search for Bigfoot and hang out with his boyfriends? He feels as if things couldn’t be better, which is when they instantly turn bad.
Jeremy walking besides him steps on a root buried through tour the ground. It makes his foot slip out from under him, making him groan as he falls on his ass.
“Jeremy, oh my god, Jeremy! Are you okay?! What happened?” Gavin kneels besides him, unsure if he should touch. All Jeremy really does is groan as he lays on dirt, trying to catch his breath. Gavins panic threatens to rise out of his chest, when finally the other man sits up.
“I’m fine Gav, just stepped wrong.” Jeremy goes to get up, the moment he tries though pain explodes in his right ankle making his attempt futile. Gavin does touch him now, softly goes to lift up his jeans but not before wordlessly asking for permission. As soon as he sees Jeremy nod, he folds them upward and reveals his very much swollen ankle.
“Damn.”
“I’m calling Ryan.”
“How far do you think they went?”
“Probably not that far, right?” muses Michael as he puts the last of the groceries away, in his left hand is a plastic bag filled with other plastic bags. Walking to Ryan where he’s looking over Gavins laptop, pausing to open a drawer at random where he shoves bags uncaringly.
“Wow, this looks…”
“Excessive?”
“Amazing. How did he get these all working?”
“Dude I don't know, aren’t you the tech guy?” Teases Michael, bumping their shoulders together as he looks over Gavin’s laptop. Whatever software he’s using displays the several cameras he has set up in form of a grid. Some are in color, some in night vision while the video quality varies from low to high. It still and impressive collection reminding Michael how cool it is to see his boyfriend be passionate about the shit he loves.
“Alright smartass, why don’t we start dinner.” Ryan takes one last look at the camera feeds, it’s mostly just trees and bushes from varying angles but still a nice set up. With that he walks back towards the kitchen, thinking about what he wants for dinner.
“Damn.”
“What?” Asks Jeremy as he scoots back a few inches to lean against a tree trunk.
“There’s no signal. I guess we’re pretty far out.”
“Great.” Sighs Jeremy, his ankle burns with pain anytime he attempts to move. Frustrated at his sudden inability to move he roughly picks up a fallen branch and starts to break it to pieces.
Gavin squats to his level as he pockets his currently useless phone. He bites his lip, thinking his next words over. “I could try to carry you?”
Jeremy stops fidgeting with the wood to look over at him. One look and he realizes the other man is serious. He starts to consider it but can't find a way it would work. “Gav, I love you, but you couldn’t lift me if you tried.”
“Jeremy I’m strong!”
“I’m not saying you’re not, I’m saying I’m heavy and then you know I had a big breakfast.” He says while rubbing his stomach, Gavin rolls his eyes at his excuse.
“Well I’m not bloody gonna carry you bridal style. You can just let me be your human crutch.”
“My human crutch.” Repeats Jeremy, still breaking small pieces of the branch into even smaller bits. “You mean you wanna help me carry my weight, like hand over your shoulder and shit?”
“Yeah, but it sounds boring when you say it like that.”
Jeremy laughs, he may not have any faith in their newly made plan but he does still have his sense of humor. Resigned but also starting to worry since the sun is going down, Jeremy flings the remains of his butchered stick. He looks back at Gavin, who’s been patiently waiting for him to agree. “I guess it couldn’t hurt, right?”
It’s nearing nine o’clock when Michael starts to really worry, by then Ryan has cooked them all dinner. When the others hadn’t come back, he’d sat down and share the meal with just Ryan. They even cleaned up the kitchen, making sure to leave enough food for when their other two boyfriends came back.
Except they hadn’t, Michael had tried calling and even though it ran it had gone all the way to voicemail. Not thinking anything of it, he’d texted them both to call when they could. He figured maybe the service was shitty in whatever part of the woods they had made it to.
As the hours ticked by his phone remained silent, and so now he really was worried. He went in search of Ryan, walking down the last few steps into the living room where Ryan was trying to turn on the fireplace.
“Hey, It’s getting dark…”
“Yeah it is, I thought I’d turn this off and we could all sit on the sofa, have some drinks, watch a movie?”
“The others still aren’t back..” Said Michael, checking his phone once again in case he’d somehow miss their call even with the volume all the way up.
“No? I thought they’d be back by now.”
“Me too, neither of them are answering their phones.”
“Well Jeremy left his in the bathroom, but Gavin should have his. There’s probably no signal out there.”
“Maybe.”
“Hey are you worried?” Asked Ryan earnestly, and now that he paid attention he could see the way Michael kept fidgeting with his phone. The way he seemed to unlock it, lock it and then unlock it again. Just to see no new messages or calls, making Ryan frown at the thought that his partners might be in trouble.
“I mean, I probably shouldn't be right? I’m sure Gavin got excited about something and is dragging Jeremy all around the forest trying to find Bigfoot.”
“Yeah probably, but if you’re worried we can go look for them.” Ryan walks closer to him, meeting his eyes with a questioning glance. When he takes a minute to think it over, Ryan starts to soothingly rub his hands up and down Michael’s arms. The gesture calms him some, but not enough to want to stay put.
“Okay.”
“Okay.” Ryan hugs him then, his body heat surrounding him in warmth makes him wish he could stay like that. But the feeling in his gut triumphs over the need for cuddles, so he looks up at the blonde and takes a deep breath.
“Yeah, can we go look? But where do we even go, I don’t know which way they went.”
“Hm. Oh let’s look at the cameras.”
The plan works for about two seconds, in which Jeremy tries to walk but all that happens is he right back down and Gavin goes with. They’re both left on their backs grunting in displeasure, a cloud of dirt that threatens to crawl into their throats and choke them.
“That, fucking sucked. We are so not doing that again.”
“You got it.” Wheezes Gavin, sitting up to try and catch his breath. He really did think they’re make it. The weight was just a little too much for him to handle, and the height difference definitely didn’t help.
“You’re gonna have to go back.” Pants Jeremy out still fully on his back, his eyes are closed as he breathes in deeply. Jeremy wishes that instead of laying on the muddy dirt he could be taking a nap.
“What?” Questions Gavin, the displeased tone is to be expected.
“You have to go back Gav, gotta go get Ryan and Michael. We can’t, I can’t, walk at all.”
“Jeremy, I’m not leaving you here Jeremy.” Says Gavin, poking the other until he opens his eyes to look at him. Gavin frowns, the idea is out of the question he can’t just up and leave Lil J in the middle of the woods. What if there’s animals, or a murderer, or, or what if Bigfoot tries to kidnap him? No, absolutely not, Gavin is not leaving him.
Jeremy sits up to grab Gavin by the shoulders, meeting his eyes for a minute as he decides his next words carefully. He knows the stubborn bastard won’t even think about leaving, Jeremy’s heart swells up twice its size. He brings his hands up to cup the brits face, bringing their foreheads together.
Gavin closes his eyes at the touch, can’t help but wish he was stronger so that he could carry Jeremy even if it was bridal style.He feels as well as hears Jeremy take one deep breath, and then their kissing. A deep kiss that makes Gavin forget where they’re at and melt into his boyfriend.
“Gav,” whispers Jeremy, then continues at his usual volume. “You have to go find help. I’m in a lot of pain.”
“Fine.”
It takes a bit of learning how to use Gavins software, but thankfully the laptop had been left unlocked. Ryan still doesn’t fully understand how he got all the cameras to work properly, but if it helps in their search he’s definitely glad about it.
Ryan eventually sees them on the cameras, it’s one of the last screens he clicks to. The image is sideways, as if the camera had been dropped and then forgotten about. Michael’s “thank fuck” doesn’t go unnoticed by him. He can’t see much just the both of them sitting on the ground, he wonders what in the hell they’re doing.
He’s about to look over to Michael to ask him just that, when one of them stands up full height. It looks to be Gavin who is talking down at Jeremy, something seems off but he can’t explain why.
“What are they doing?” Asks Michael crowding closer to get a good look at the screen. Ryan tries to make the feed full screen but can’t find where to click. Momentarily giving that up, he squints at the small rectangle hoping to see better. It does him no favors with the how low the quality is, if only he could make it bigger.
“I don’t know.”
“Jeremy’s just laying there on the goddamn mud, what the fuck, what a weirdo.”
“I-” It’s then that the software decided to takes pity on him, and Ryan is able to fullscreen the camera feed. It’s also then that Ryan sees why Jeremys just laying on the fucken ground. Gavin’s basically propping him against a tree trunk, while Jeremy’s face scrunches up as if he were in pain. “I think he’s hurt.”
“Who?”
“Jeremy, look at his face,” Ryan points at the screen a bit too hard, the pixels become distorted making a rainbow appear temporarily. “Something wrong with his leg, he winces every time he has to move it.”
Sure enough Jeremy tries to readjust, moving further up the tree kicking back using his left foot only. A face of discomfort as he drags his right one alone, the feed stutters and it makes Ryan want to die seeing him in such pain.
“Where the fuck is he going, Ryan what the fuck. Why is Gavin leaving!?” Screams Michael right up in his ear, but Ryan doesn’t even care. Because sure enough the Gavin on screen is walking away, leaving Jeremy all alone. It makes panic rise up like vile in his throat, it makes him snap the laptop shut and stalk off towards the front door.
“Ryan!” Screams Michael even louder chasing after him, a confused and worried expression blooms on his face. “Ryan! What are you doing!?”
“We have to go find them, right now.” He says without a glance back, going straight to the trunk of his car and pulling out a duffle bag. He unzips it roughly, maniacally searching through it contents.
“What are you looking for?” Asks Michael exasperated, itching at the need to go find them. Adrenaline filled veins, heart going double time at the idea of Jeremy being hurt.
“These!” Says Ryan triumphantly pulling two flashlights out, wasting no time the moment he closes the trunk with a loud thunk. He hands one to Michael and even though he doesn’t know exactly he is, Ryan promises he’ll find Jeremy if its the last thing he does.
Gavin’s been walking for what seems like ages, the night is starting to get chilly and he’s in nothing but a plain T-shirt. He glances back again, but there’s no way he can see Jeremy now. Not with how dark it is even with his phone flashlight on, at least he can use it for that since he’s still getting no signal.
He doesn’t even know if he’s going the right way, but he thinks he’s passed a couple of the spots they were in before. Hoping to see the cabin soon he picks up the pace, but if he’s being honest it’s also kind of scary out.
“Oh man.” He wishes in that moment more than ever that he could call Michael up, but not only is his phone still not getting any service no matter how much he walks. Its battery is also getting low, which doesn’t bode well for Gavin specially when Jeremy is counting on him to bring help back.
Thinking of his injured boyfriend makes everything feel even worse, if Gavin hadn’t asked him to come along. Jeremy would be fine and out of the woods, now the least he can do is try and make his way back to their cabin. God he misses the cabin, and the warmth of it, and Ryan, and Michael. Man does he miss him, Gavin thinks back to just that morning when the redhead had kissed him.
Gavin stops walking at the thought, he closes his eyes briefly at the memory making him ache to be near his boyfriend again. For a minute he thinks he can hear him, calling out his name. What Gavin would give to hug him right now, but alas he is in the woods nowhere near him. He sets off again trying to pick his way through the muddy ground, when he thinks he hears the sound of his name. It makes him halt mid step, almost losing his balance from how slippery the mud is.
Then there’s two bright lights ahead of him and this time he definitely hears his name. The lights bring guide him to that voice he’d know anywhere, Gavin almost starts running towards it before he thinks better of it. Instead he screams back as he waves his own light around.
“Michael! Michael, is that you boi!”
There’s a GAVIN! Followed by the lights coming closer and soon enough his two boyfriend come into view. Michael hugs him so tight he cant breath, but Gavin doesn’t care because he hugs him back just as fiercely. “Fuck Gavin. I called you so many times.”
“I had no signal.”
When Michael let’s go it’s Ryan’s turn to do the same hugging him equally as hard. When they finally pull away relief flows through Gavin, making him feel slightly better. But then he remember the reason he’s even standing there so he starts talking a mile a minute.
“I’m so glad you guys are here, Jeremy and I were setting up cameras when he fell and now he can’t walk. I tried to stay with him, but he convinced me to come get help, it was really hard to leave him behind and i’ve freaking out this whole time. We have to go get him, hurry!”
At the mention of Jeremy, Michaels expression changes completely and Ryan stiffens beside him. “Where is he?”
“He’s, well I- I’m not to sure. It’s really dark and i was just kind of walking with no direction. Maybe that way?” He gestures randomly at where he thinks he came from, but the others can tell of how unsure he is.
“The camera!” Shouts Michael, “There’s a camera that you guys dropped nearby, that’s how we knew to come find you. We saw that Lil J was injured and then you leaving.”
“Gavin can you get that video feed on a phone?” Asks Ryan getting his from his jeans pocket, unlocking it as well seeing that it’s now close to eleven at night.
“I can! Wait I have no signal out here.”
“You don’t?”
“No, that’s why i didn’t get any of Michael’s calls.”
“I get signal.” Ryan shows him the phone screen and sure enough he has all four bars. Gavin lets out a squawk as he turns his own on, how is it possible that he’s getting absolutely nothing when Ryan has all. Gavins going to have to change carriers when he- Oh.
“What, what did you do. I know that face what’d you do?” Asks Michael
“So I might have had my phone on airplane mode this whole time.” Responds Gavin sheepishly, shoulders going up to his ears as he tries to hide from embarrassment.
“Oh Gavin.”
“I hate you, I fucking hate you. I hate you so much. I hate you.” Chants Michael shaking his head, because of course Gavin had his phone on airplane mode!
“Why don’t we just look at the camera so we can figure out where we’re going.” Suggests Ryan, they can worry about semantics later. He just wants Lil J back.
Jeremy seriously should have taken up Ryan’s offer to teach him how to whittle, so many branches he could use to cure his boredom. Not only is he bored and lonely, he could use the distraction from the pain. As the minutes tick by without the pain subsiding, he thinks maybe he did more than just twist it like he originally thought.
He’s getting the case of the sweats despite the chilly air, his head is throbbing and he wishes he’d paid more attention where he was going. Without a phone and now Gav, he’s left to his wandering thoughts.
Never in all his life did he think he’d end up at the base of some tree, deep in the woods with an injured ankle thanks to setting up cameras to catch Bigfoot. The thought makes him laugh, It’s probably not as funny as he finds it in that moment but he can’t bring himself to care. Who’s going to hear him?
He barely hears the sound of rustling to his left, for a minute he thinks he’s imagining it. Then it happens again, it makes him perk up and wonder if there’s an animal nearby. Hopefully it doesn’t try to eat him, trying to get a better look at the bush nearby Jeremy struggles his way to an almost standing position. Grunting when he jostles his ankle a little too much.
He leans his back heavily against the tree, using mainly his left foot to hold his entire weight. The bush doesn’t move again, but then Jeremy catches a shadow in his peripheral visions. A sort of something that definitely doesn’t look to be an animal. Then the trees across from where he’s half standing start moving, it catches him by surprise.
When they move again he can’t help but start to feel a little nervous, heart hammering away in his chest. Hoping its Gavin and not a murderer, because he’d like to not die thank you very much. Tentatively he calls out, “Gav? Gav is that you?”
The second he asks the question, a giant figure comes out of the trees starling the shit out of Jeremy. It’s big and tall and big and it’s dark and Jeremy can’t see, and maybe it’s his exhausted brain but he thinks it kind of looks like Bigfoot. For a moment neither of them move, and then the figure starts walking towards him.
Jeremy doesn’t even think about it and tries to run the fuck away, most probably broken ankle an all. It hurts like a bitch and he goes down hard, the world spins for what seems like forever as he screams out from the pain. He’s landed on his back once again, the figure hovers over him as Jeremy tries to make his world right again. It’s proving difficult to focus on anything that isn’t just pain pain pain.
Two huge arms around him is the last thing he sees before his world goes black.
Gavin does get get the camera feed on his phone, they all crowd around him as he switches through them one by one.
“There!”
The image is sideways, Gavin remembers how he’d dropped the camera the moment Jeremy fell. He’d completely forgotten to pick it up, he’s kind of glad though. Seeing Jeremy on his phone screen soothes his worry. That is until Jeremy attempts to get up, and things turn from bad to terrible.
A massive dark figure comes towards Jeremy, who tries to uselessly run away. He immediately falls and Gavin winces, hearing the ghost thump since the cameras have no audio. Gavin shout his name before remember the lad also can’t hear him.
“Who the fuck is that!” Demands Ryan panic ridden voice as he shifts closer to Gavin, trying to get a better look at the screen. But with how small it is and the three of them trying to see, it proves quite difficult.
“What the fuck is that?”
They all collectively watch whatever it is pick up Jeremy, bridal style of all things. Gavin watches as he gets carried off screen, it makes him panic instantly. “No! Come back!!”
Gavin begins to furiously click the arrow in hopes of tracking where Jeremy’s being taken to, unfortunately the cameras reveal nothing. Ryan puts a hand on his top of his, slowly taking the phone from him. Gavin lets him, with teary eyes he buries his face into Ryan’s chest.
“Gav it’s okay we’ll find him.”
“We will.” Says Michael with conviction, sharing a meaningful look with Ryan. He won’t rest until Jeremy’s back with them, that’s a fact. As Ryan soothes Gavin’s worries, Michael tries to shine his flashlight around.
Trying to decide where they should go, but every which way he turns there’s nothing but trees. It’s close to midnight now, Michael can’t deny how worried he is. Not wanting to show it in front of Gavin, he’s trying to distract himself.
“Alright let’s go find out boyfriend,” Starts Ryan “Gav do your cameras have some kind of tracking location you can pull up? Maybe that way we can have a-”
“Ryan?” Questions Michael turning to look over at the blonde, Ryan’s eyes are fixated on a couple of trees over Gavin’s head. Ryan shines his light at them, the other two do the same soon illuminating the surrounding bushes.
“Ryan?” Asks Gavin this time, eyes shifting between his partner and the newly suspicious trees.
“Sorry, I thought I saw..”
That’s when a full grown man steps out and is the perfect picture of a deer caught in headlights. He’s decked out in all camouflage, camo pants, camo shirt, camo jacket, even a camo hat. Gavin jumps a little at his sudden appearance, Ryan moves him further away as he moves in front him. Shielding him from the random stranger they’ve found amongst the woods.
“Sorry, am interrupting something?” The stranger asks, Ryan frowns at the polite question but doesn’t answer. It’s Michael who does, stepping forward ready to fight if he needs to.
“Who the fuck are you?”
“Oh, My name’s Geoff.” He responds, trying to walk forward but the moment he does the others step backwards. Trying to keep him at a distance, Geoff almost laughs at the action. “I’m not here to hurt you, I’m just trying to get home.”
“Home? I didn’t know people lived out here.” Counters Ryan suspiciously, frowning even deeper. He doesn’t trust this Geoff at all, who walk around the woods this late at night. The man tries to walk closer again, Ryan moves backwards still protecting his boyfriend.
“Listen man, I just need to get home okay. I have to go help my husband, he found some poor injured guy alone in the woods. Can’t i just squeeze through?” Asks Geoff sincerely.
“Injured guy? Ryan that’s probably Jeremy!” Shouts Gavin from behind, making Geoff frown for a moment.
“So that’s who’s on my bed, you guys know him? We knew he had to be part of a group. I’ll call Jack and let him know we’ll be on our way.” Says Geoff pulling out his phone to dial.
“Woah, woah, woah, We’re not going anywhere with you. How do we know you’re not just trying to lure us somewhere so you and your so called husband can kill us, huh?” Asks Ryan aggressively, scowl forming as Geoff tries to come near them again.
Geoff simply rolls his eyes, thumbing at his phone and turning the screen towards the three of them. “Is this your friend?”
Michael uncaringly walks up to get a closer look, and sure enough it’s a picture of a sleeping Jeremy in what he can guess must be Geoff’s bed. The image squeezes at his heart, seeing him lying there in some stranger's bed with his leg propped up on a couple of pillows.
“It’s him Ryan.” He says unable to tear his eyes away from the picture, that is until Geoff takes his phone back. Michael scowls at him, he is a stranger to them after all.
“Alright, let’s get going boys.”
The walk to Geoff’s house doesn’t take them as long, specially because the older man knows the terrain. The longer they walk with him, the less hostile they become and the more they all begin to like Geoff. Michael learns that he lives with his partner Jack, and that they both walk throughout the woods daily.
Geoff tells them how they try to help the animals from getting hunted, all year around removing traps and the like. Their home is nestled in between the thickest part of the trees, Michael would be lost if Geoff wasn’t guiding them.
Jeremy had woken up a bit ago, and Jack had been kind enough to let him call them from his phone. He’s spoken briefly with them, but that had been enough to calm Gavin’s panic. Even just hearing him through the shitty speaker of Geoff’s phone. The brit couldn’t wait to finally, after what seemed like days, finally see Jeremy again.
When they arrive, Jeremy’s in what Ryan assumes is the living room. Right foot propped up on top of pillows sitting on the coffee table, a mug full of something that’s steaming cradled between his hands.
“Jeremy!” Gavin squeals, giving his boyfriend barely enough time to set the mug down. Getting an arms full of a happy and smiling brit, Jeremy hugs him as tight as he can without breaking any bones.
Michael comes after, having to try and hug him around Gavin who still hasn’t let go. Ryan comes in next, and the sudden relief that floods his face makes Jeremy’s chest ache. The blonde waits for the lads to fulfill their Jeremy needs, but once they step away he’s leaning down and kissing the shit out of his no longer missing boyfriend.
“Awwww.” Coos who Michael can guess is Jack, from the way Geoff had described him earlier. Tall, a beard and soft, Michael can kind of agree. The ginger man is holding a tray full of mugs and he hopes for it to be hot chocolate, because holy shit did it get cold on their way there.
They all settle around the living room after Geoff officially introduces them to his husband, who probably one of the nicest people any of them have ever met. They look good together Michael thinks, they compliment each other in weird sort of way.
The mugs are indeed filled with hot chocolate, and Michel’s first sip is glorious. It rushes down to his belly, making him feel warm and cozy, surrounded by his favorite people. Ryan has been sitting next to Jeremy ever since he got the opportunity, and it looks as if he won’t be getting up anytime soon.
Gavins sandwiched himself between him and Michael, content to never leave Jacks couch. They’ve been making idle chatter, thanking Jack for the drinks and Geoff for taking them to his house even after they were so rude to him.
“Wait..” Says Gavin rather loudly, catching the attention of everyone. “Where’s Bigfoot? I saw him take you Jeremy!”
“What?” Asks Geoff rather amused.
“Bigfoot? Bigfoot didn’t take me.”
“He did too! I saw him through the camera, he was big and he picked you up bloody bridal style!” Explain Gavin, even going as far as pulling up his software on his phone. Dismissing the low battery notification that pops up, about to click through the cameras. When Jack starts to giggle uncontrollably, confusing everyone in the room save Jeremy.
“Sorry, sorry. That wasn’t Bigfoot, that was me.” Jack gives lets them be confused for a minute, in which Geoff says “Ohhh.” only confusing them further. “I was wearing my ghillie suit.”
“Ah.” Says Michael, turning to look at Gavin’s shell shocked face. Michael pats his thigh looking over him to meet Jeremy’s eyes. “So much for punching Bigfoot, huh?”
“Shut up.” Says the bald man, rolling his eyes at Michael’s joke because over his dead body will he admit that for a second there, he too thought Jack was Bigfoot. The exchange makes Ryan laugh, which makes Geoff smile. He shakes his head and stands up to address them all.
“Well as fun as this is, I have to go back and bring some traps back. So I'll see you later,” He pauses to bend down and give Jack a quick peck. “You guys are welcome to stay as long as you want.”
“Wait, I'll go with you.” Says Michael surprising him, He gives them all quick pecks and pauses when he gets to Ryan who whispers something in his ear. Michael nods approvingly and then shakes Jacks hand thanking him again. Not minding one bit Geoff sets off towards the door. “Let’s find you a jacket.”
“I’m going to wash these and then maybe reheat some food, if you guys are up for it?” Asks Jack as he starts putting all the mugs back on the tray. They all nod, probably feeling hungry after the eventful night they’ve had.
“Sure. Let me help.” Says Ryan kindly getting up from where he’d been sitting, surprising both of his boyfriends. They knew how overprotective Ryan got when something happened to any of them. Following the bearded man into the kitchen glancing once backwards, he’s met with an encouraging smile from Lil J.
Gavin shuffles closer to Jeremy in order to cuddle the other man, using the last of his battery to shuffle through his cams. Jeremy’s pets his hair softly drawing a sigh from the burnett, he leans back into the couch finally feeling like he can rest for a minute.
“I’m sorry I ruined your Bigfoot search.”
“What?”
“Well I had to go and break my ankle didn’t I? If I hadn’t none of this would’ve happened.” Says Jeremy sourly.
“Lil J, you didn’t do it on purpose! How is your ankle anyways?” Asks Gavin leaning further into the side of Jeremy, so far all the camera feeds have show him are leaves and bushes.
“Much better. Jack patched me up good, did you know he was a nurse once?”
“Oh thats neat. Well it’s lucky that he found you when he did because-” Gavin’s words die in his mouth as he clicks to camera number six. Off barely visible in the distance is what looks to be a giant figure, it’s hard to see with the low quality and how much darker it is. Yet for some reason Gavin thinks, he’s looking at what he’s been looking for.
“Gav?” Asks Jeremy, sitting up to look at his suddenly silent boyfriend.
“Jeremy look- Oh sod off!” And that’s when his phone dies, leaving him staring at his shocked expression on its now black screen. Annoyed he throws the phone up on the coffee table, he’s too tired for this shit.
Burying his face into his now confused boyfriend Gavin thinks about how they’ll just have to come back another time. For now he’ll sit by the fire and cuddle his way to sleep.