Chapter 23

Liam sat inside of Gabriel's front shirt pocket, the flannels pattern creating an interesting lighting from the warm hammock of a seating arrangement. The strawberry blonde had assured Liam that he would go unseen in this place, and so far as Gabriel made his way out of his dorm there had been no interruptions.

Gabriel wasn't exactly handling having Liam this close very well. He was a flustered mess despite his external calm. He knew it was stupid, Liam was only hanging around him in order to get his brother back, but something about the tiny blunette made his heart skip a beat.

Gabriel face palmed himself as he sighed, he needed to focus on the task at hand, talking to Isaac.

As they approached Isaac's dormitory Liam felt his palms sweat with nerves. He made sure to be extra subtle about his movements despite how small he was already.

The borrower hears the loud thudding of the humans hand on the solid wood of a door and Liam quickly silenced himself.

Gabriel exhaled calming his racing heart as the door to Isaac's dormitory, number 205, opened.

A young adult opened the door, his green eyes seeming more dull and lifeless than the previous time Gabriel had seen him.

"Oh. Gabe... what brings you here?" Isaac spoke, his voice nearing monotone with the quiet sadness it was tinged with.

"H-hi Isaac. Can I come in? We-we need to talk" the humans voice reverberated around Liam who was still hidden in the flannel pocket of his jacket.

The dark haired human nodded timidly and held the door wider open so that Gabriel could enter. The two humans sat on the couch.

Gabriel looked around Isaac's dormitory sadly. His Curran's were shut, there was an uncomfortable amount of clutter around the floor and counters, and the overall room itself had a depressing aura.

Isaac cleared his throat and Gabriel snapped to attention "so...why the sudden visit?" He said tiredly.

Gabriel gulped "I-I'm concerned for you bro. You-you seem different, are you taking care of yourself?" He said his voice full of concern.

Isaac sighed and leaned back against the couch "I don't know. I just-it's-I'm still trying to process it. He-he just disappeared Gabe. Just when we were finally getting somewhere- he just-" Isaac's voice cracked with emotion and when Gabriel met his gaze he saw that Isaac's eyes had become glossy with tears.

The strawberry blonde set his hand on the ravinette's shoulder comfortingly "hey man it's okay-"

Isaac interrupted him "no-no it's not- Gabe, di you understand!? H-he's gone, and I can't help but think that somehow it's my fault, did-did I do something that made him want to leave? Or was it something worse than that!? He disappeared and I have no idea why. Gabe I'm going insane trying to figure out what happened to him!" Isaac was melting down. Gabe had never seen his best friend like this before, so vulnerable, so-so broken over someone.

Liam shifted in the  pocket deciding to intervene. He pulled himself up so his head and arms were poking out from the massive pocket.

"I might know-" he said, his tiny voice ringing out like a bell in the midst of the humans breakdown.

Isaac paused, his green eyes widening with alarm and suddenly he looked up at Gabriel, his eyes catching on the tiny form nestled in his best friends chest pocket

"G-Gabe....?" His voice trembled "is-is that a-"

"Yes I'm a borrower" Liam said crawling out from the locked and beginning to scale the humans torso until he found himself perched into the mountain of a man's shoulder "but more importantly- I know Oliver"

Isaac was dumbfounded, awestruck, and quite frankly emotional. "You-you do?" He said too scared to believe "wait...can-can you tell me where he is?! Why did he leave me? Is he okay? He's not hurt is he!? Oh gods if he got hurt-" the human was rambling now and Liam had to interrupt him

"Isaac- please just listen..." he said.

Isaac looked up "how do you know my name?" He said his lip trembling with emotion. Then he realized that Gabriel had likely told the borrower.

"I'm Liam... and I'm also Oliver's brother." He said softly "to answer all your questions... well, I don't know. I only found out that Oliver was in the-er" he paused. Should he really reveal the existence of the borrower empire to these humans? They were a threat but what choice did he have if he needed to get his brother back? "The empire...."

Isaac and Gabriel both paused and looked at the borrower confused "empire?" Gabriel asked "you never mentioned an-"

Liam interrupted "it's a really long thing to explain and I can't get into it now. Basically it's a group of borrowers. So anyway, I'm sure that Oliver mentioned specific rules that we borrowers must follow correct?" Isaac nodded.

"Well the emitter basically enforces those rules. So anyway, my girlfriend was one of the borrowers who took care of him when he first arrived, thats how I know he's alive and well. But before I could meet up with him, I got stick in a trap and well...I met Gabriel."

Isaac sat his eyes wide and glistening with tears "he-he's alive. Oh thank the gods-I-I was so scared-you have no idea-I-" he rubbed at his eyes to rid them of the waterfall of tears that fell from his eyes. Liam was bad when it came to comforting people, so he just decide to continue his explication of the plan.

"But anyways, I know the empire has....less than pleasant ways of dealing with borrowers who break the rules. So I'm afraid that Oliver might be in danger."  Liam said, his voice taking a more serious tone.

Isaac looked up and Gabriel nodded chiming in "from what Liam told me, we need to somehow get Oliver back to you before anything happens to him."

Isaac nodded "I'll do anything- so what is your plan?"