Austin rolls over to slide his arm around his sleeping lover. But his arm is met with an empty side of the bed.

"Tim?" He calls out quietly, raising his head from his pillow.

The light was off in the bathroom and the front door was still locked. Where was he?

"Tim? Baby, where are you?" Austin whispers as he throws the covers back and gets out of bed.

As he walks around the bed, he sees his sleeping boyfriend curled up on the floor next to the bed. Chill bumps covering his arms and legs.

Austin tiptoes over, turning the air conditioner down. It was pretty chilly inside their room. Gathering the covers from the bed, he lays down on the floor behind the brunette. Covering them both and wrapping his arm around the chilled man.

Tim stirs a little to move closer to the warm body behind him.

"Are you okay?" Austin whispers close to his lover's ear.

Tim nods slightly and mumbles, "My back was hurting." He gets quiet as he dozes back off to sleep.

Austin then realizes that there were going to be a lot of things that Tim will have to get reaccustomed too. Such as sleeping in a bed.

"Goodnight, Sweetheart." Austin whispers, pulling the brunette's hair back to place a soft kiss on his cheek.

~~

Austin awakes the next morning and gets up, careful not to wake his exhausted boyfriend. He finds some paper and an ink pen and leaves Tim a note telling him he has gone to get them breakfast.

While he was out, he called his mom to tell her that they would be leaving Atlanta soon heading to Tifton.

"How's Tim doing?" She asks.

"Let's just say that he is very uncomfortable with his surroundings." Austin chuckles.

"Well, I can imagine." Betsy replies. "Being on the island for over five years then thrown back into the real world? It has to be frightening."

"Especially being dumped off in Atlanta, of all places. This place is enough to scare anybody." Austin says with a light chuckle. "Mom, can we keep this homecoming low-key? I don't think Tim can handle a big party right now."

"Don't worry about it, Sweetheart. Chance and I are the only ones that know he's back." His mom answers.

This time it is Tim that wakes up on the floor by himself. "Austin?" He calls out as he raises up and looks around. He gets up to gather the covers and tosses them back on the bed. As he heads to the bathroom to relieve himself, he sees Austin's note.

"I wonder if I still know how to use one of these things." Tim chuckles as he raises the lid to the toilet. He yawns as he looks around the bathroom as he pees. Laughing and shaking his head as he sees the roll of toilet paper. Remembering the time he used leaves on the island that broke him out.

Austin balances the carry-out containers in one hand while unlocking the door with the other. He opens the door to see a freshly showered and fully dressed Tim sitting at the small table, staring off into space.

"Goodmorning, handsome." Austin says, sitting the food on the table. "You look a little spaced out."

"I just....." Tim sighs, shaking his head.

"Honey, it's going to take time to get used to it again." Austin says, laying his hand on the brunette's.

"But what if I can't, Austin? I couldn't even sleep in the bed. It hurt the hell out of my back and gave me a pounding headache." Tim says. "The all the godawful noise." He adds, shaking his head.

"Well, the noise will die down once we leave Atlanta." Austin comforts his boyfriend while rubbing him on the arm. "You hungry?"

Soon they were back in the truck in amongst Atlanta's heavy traffic. Tim lays his head back on the headrest and closes his eyes. The traffic was just too frightening to watch. Every time Austin would step on his brakes, Tim would grab the dashboard.

The traffic begins to thin out as they get further away from the big city. Tim was finally able to open his eyes and watch the scenery as it passed by.

"I called my mom this morning. She's so excited to finally meet you." Austin smiles as he takes Tim by the hand. "She gave me the advice that I needed to know that on the island with you was where I needed to be."

"I have to remember to thank her for that." Tim replies as he continues to stare out the window. "I need to call momma when we get there to let her know where I am."

"She knows you're supposed to come home but she's afraid that it was all a sick joke and that they don't come back after you." Austin says.

"That had crossed my mind too." Tim nods.

"Well, here we are. The big town of Tifton, Georgia." Austin chuckles.

"It's a nice little laid back town." Tim nods as he looks around as they drive through town.

"Mom lives in the country so it will be nice and quiet for you." Austin says as they drive out of the town.

"Good." Tim nods. "I'm suddenly getting nervous about meeting her."

"I know how you feel. I was petrified when I went to meet your mom." Austin says as he turns onto a small black-topped road.

"I guess it was pretty scary telling a woman that her son was still alive." Tim smiles as he looks out the windshield.

"Try horrifying." Austin laughs. "Here we are."

"This is a nice place." Tim says as he gets out of the truck.

"There's a huge pond behind the house." Austin says as they get their suitcases. They would be staying at the Brown's house tonight before flying out to Nederland tomorrow. "Looks like Chance is here." He adds pointing at a blue El Camino sitting in the driveway.

Chance and Betsy were sitting on the front porch enjoying a glass of tea as Austin's truck pulls up into the yard.

"Oh, my goodness gracious." She whispers softly as she sees Tim get out of the truck.

"Welcome to America." Chance chuckles as he pats Tim on the back.

"Boy, you weren't lying when you said he was gorgeous." She giggles, sliding her arm around her son as she stares at the brunette.

"Mommm." Austin whines as Tim drops his head, clearly embarrassed.

"How are you doing, Sweetheart." Betsy says seriously as she brushes back Tim's hair.

"I'm alright, I guess. It's all just a bit .... overwhelming." Tim says with a nervous smile.

"Oh, you'll be fine." Chance says, rubbing him on the arm.

"I'm not too sure about that, Chance. I couldn't even sleep on the bed last night. I slept on the floor." Tim sighs.

"Honey, it's just going to take time." Besty smiles comfortingly. "Would you boys like some tea?"

"Yes, thank you." Tim nods, his throat was dry probably from his nerves.

Austin and Chance carried in the luggage while Tim sat on the porch with Betsy and talked.

"Austin told me that you were the one to persuade him to come back to the island. Thank you for that." Tim says with a smile.

"He was an empty shell here, Tim." Besty says taking the brunette by the hand. "Yeah, his body was here but his thoughts and his heart were left on the island with you. That's where he needed to be. He was so unhappy here. And it should be me thanking you. You saved my son's life."

*******

Until next time .... ✌️