The Sugar Thief (G/T) (Completed)

3 - Uncertainty

Carter works up the courage to speak. In hindsight it probably wasn't the best plan, but he wasn't known for making safe choices.

Eric tries hard to make the other feel at home.

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Work had been pretty uneventful, going by rather quickly. Unsurprisingly not many people liked to visit streetside businesses in the rain, especially to get paper products or pick up their printing. It was a quiet, easy job at the stationary store, and he liked it.

Driving home had been equally as boring, his only company being the endless rain that pelted against his windshield, and the darkening sky above. They were in for quite a storm tonight, the weatherman had said. He had the radio on for a bit, but that too just eventually became noise in the back of his mind. It was hard to focus on anything lately.

The house greeted Eric with the familiar groan of the wooden steps beneath his tired feet, the door letting out a long ominous creak as it opened and shut behind him. The lingering smell of his grandparents immediately put him at ease; even though it was mostly his belongings in there now for the past year, he still liked to imagine that he was a kid again, coming in to eat dinner from playing in the yard.

But instead of smelling sizzling food and seeing the soft glow from the tv in the living room where his grandpa always sat, there was silence. The place was dead quiet, and Eric let out a long sigh as the loneliness began to creep in slowly.

He made his way past the kitchen and towards his room to drop off his work bag, not bothering to check the loose tile on his way by to see if it had been moved. It was time he accepted the fact that his little houseguest was gone, and that it was foolish to spend so much time and energy wishing for something that wouldn't come back.

Eric threw his phone and bag down onto his bed, rubbing his eyes before returning to the kitchen for some water. He stood there for a minute at the sink as he drank, staring out the window lost in thought.

And that's when he heard it.

"You let me go.."

The voice was there. It was impossibly small and a little hard to hear, but it was definitely there. But where was it coming from? Eric frantically looked around, gasping lightly when his eyes landed on the slightly adjacent kitchen tile that he'd inspected earlier. It was pushed aside enough for someone only a few inches big to crawl through.

"You're still here?" he said incredulously, voice dripping in awe. The counters were empty though, with no signs of life hiding anywhere on them. Eric wanted to search for the little guy but chose to remain still, worried that he'd stop talking again if he got too scared.

"I don't know where else to go.." Carter answered under his breath before he could stop himself. He clamped a hand over his mouth as if he could somehow shove the words back in, but it didn't seem to matter. They were too quiet for the giant to hear.

"So why?" Carter pushed on before he lost all of his bravery. "Why did you let me run?" The question that had been burning him inside for days finally slipped out.

"Why..?" Eric repeated, his head swiveling towards the sink. Where was this voice coming from? Had he really risked being seen again just to talk to him?

"I don't know.." He continued, bringing a hand up to anxiously rub the back of his neck. "What did you expect me to do? You looked scared, and I kind of interrupted you in the middle of what you were doing."