Chapter 355: Caught in the act
Kellen and the others finished off the cheesecakes that Brent had brought. During that time, Kellen and Casper had come a little bit more out of their shaken states, but not by much. The sugar did seem to help soothe everyone though, and even Brent was a little less prickly then he had been downstairs.
Casper, looking pale and gaunt, had made his way over to Kellen’s side. He snuggled in next to Kellen under his blanket, and both of them were being taken care of by Kellen’s Dad’s gentle hand, and Brent’s rougher one. Casper leaned his head against Kellen’s shoulder, closing his eyes as he was tucked against him and Kellen was pleased that the man found so much comfort in him. Kellen was feeling exactly the same as Casper was.
Thankfully, Kellen’s Dad kept a pulse on the situation. He was working both sides, Kellen’s Mom, and the media. Brent was also keeping an eye, while Charlie made sure the t.v. was on but nothing related to the current issue at hand was playing. Something non serious like a cartoon was playing. Taylor was also letting them know that no one had shown up yet, messaging Brent, Kellen, Casper and Kellen’s Dad to keep them all in the loop.
Kellen was regretting the actions he had taken up until this point. He should have told Casper ahead of time, but there was only so much he could do now. He had thought that he wouldn’t want to know about Gunther’s plan, that he might even get in the way of it. Now? He felt like an asshole. It was clear that even if Casper had put on a brave face before, but he still had feelings for Gunther.
Kellen should have known better. He had liked Rhys, whether he was aware of it or not for the better part of 7 years, Casper probably had a similar, if not a longer time of liking Gunther. Getting rid of those kinds of feelings wasn’t anything easy. Kellen knew this, since even when he had hidden them from himself, they still influenced his actions. Casper had been aware of his feelings this whole time. Kellen could only begin to imagine what it must have been like to see the screen turn to their fight without any knowledge of it ahead of time. Seeing the two of them pummel each other probably hadn’t helped either of them.
Kellen wanted to apologise, but then again, he hadn’t been the full force behind making that decision. Everyone had thought it was the better option. Everyone. Kellen had a feeling that from a lieutenant standpoint, somewhere inside of Casper he understood why they had kept it from him. That didn’t mean he wasn’t devastated by the consequences of everyone else’s actions.
Charlie was the most awkward one here. He was watching the t.v., trying to help out where he could. Kellen’s Dad was giving him things to do, Brent was gruffly ordering him around while patting him on the shoulder, and he was making sure that Casper and Kellen had everything that they could need. He’d even managed to get himself a cup of hot chocolate. Kellen didn’t even think he had hot chocolate in the house, but he had proved him wrong.
Charlie hadn’t been put to work yet in the Guild like he had come here to do, and Kellen had no plans to let him get to work. He had spoken to Taylor, letting her know the situation privately, and so she and Kellen were working together to keep him thinking that he needed more time. Currently, Charlie was trying to bulk up to put a bit more meat on his bones, and he was working out with the normal Field Guide class so that he could be supervised.
The Guides liked it since they had someone they could show off their skills to so it motivated them, and it meant that Kellen and Brent could keep an eye on him easier as well. Currently, since classes had been cancelled today, Charlie had nowhere else to go besides his own apartment. Kellen guessed that he had been with Casper when the news broke, and had followed him up when Casper had run here.