Not long after lying down, Lance heard a slight movement in a daze, and sat up suddenly, instantly entering a state of awakeness from chaos. Looking at the darkness in his sight, his muscles tensed up. The bad memories in the depths of his soul swarmed in like a tide, swallowing him with lightning speed. He grabbed the baseball bat behind the bedside table, sat up straight, and looked at the room motionless. Although he could not see his five fingers in his sight, he still opened his eyes wide and searched the outline in the dark little by little.

Sisso's gentle sound was like the sound of a poisonous snake slowly sliding on the ground, making every hair on the surface of the skin stand up. Lance's hands were holding the baseball bat tightly. Because he held it too tightly, his muscles began to ache, but he had no time to pay attention to these things. He just held his breath, and uneasyly distinguished every sound in the air, trying to catch clues, and then launched an attack.

"Lance, you are awake." The sound that came from deep in hell slowly spread in the darkness, with the vastness of death and the vastness of prehistoric world, echoing quietly in the narrow space. Lance subconsciously retreated, leaning his back firmly against the head of the bed, cold sweat covered his entire back, and shiver after another, like countless ants slowly climbing up, but Lance could not react at all, and could only grit his teeth tightly to suppress the tremor that could not be controlled.

"It's me, Lance, it's me." The familiar and unfamiliar voice stirred up a wave of air, like dozens of crows flapping their wings at the same time, and a biting cold wind swept over. With a crisp "pop", the lights in the hall lit up, and the milky yellow light poured down like a waterfall, and the darkness faded quickly like a tide. Lance subconsciously closed his eyes, and the scorching light enveloped his eyelids. His heart stopped beating in an instant.

"Lance, it's me." There was an anxious feeling that could not be concealed in the soft voice. "Ian, I am Ian." The light footsteps walked to the door and stopped. "Sorry, I'm just thinking, maybe you haven't finished shooting yet, so come here to lie down. Sorry, I should call Lance first. I'm Ian."

Ian's voice seemed fragmented, and there was an indelible annoyance and worry between his words. He looked at Lance, who had shrunk into a ball because of fear, his pale cheeks were covered with sweat, and he held the baseball bat tightly in his hand, like a drowning man grasping the rope that maintained his life. Under his closed eyes, you could still see the eyeballs moving in panic, and the bloodless lips could clearly see the vitality disappearing bit by bit.

Ian felt as if his heart had been hit hard and curled up in a ball. So much so that he could not breathe. The memories in his mind swarmed in an instant, that afternoon, that hot summer afternoon that fell into an ice cellar.

He should protect Govin, he should protect Lance. Theo was not at home, he should be the one who protected them, but he did not do it. Frank's anger came so quickly and suddenly, and instantly overturned the table. He was overwhelmed under the table and could not move, and then watched Govin fall into a pool of blood to protect Lance. He watched Lance pick up the baseball bat that was almost taller than him and smashed it hard at Frank. He watched Frank wave his hand hard, and Lance was thrown to the corner of the wall like a sandbag.

When Theo found Lance, Lance was covered in blood, like a blood man, hiding in a corner of a simple toilet compartment, trembling all over his body, as if only a gust of wind could easily destroy him. He couldn't even tell Theo's voice, and his beautiful eyes had no focal length or focus. He was like a doll that had lost his soul, thrown into the corner in a mess, rotting little by little with lifelessness.

It's all because of him, he should protect them, he should not let them get hurt, he should stand up quickly, he should kill Frank, he should shoulder the responsibility, he should not be so fragile, he should not be knocked down so easily, he should not let go so easily

Taking a deep breath, Ian suppressed the surging memories in his mind. He had no qualifications to be sad, nor was he afraid. He should be the one who stood behind Lance and Gowen to protect them. He should be strong.

"Lance, it's me, Ian."

Hearing the familiar voice, Lance slowly opened his eyes, the blurred light fainted in the air, and then he saw Ian standing at the door of the room. Ian stood carefully at the door, with the lines on his shoulders completely tensed, and the green eyes were hidden in the shadows, but there was an unconcealable guilt.

Lance let out a long breath, but found that his finger holding the baseball bat was a little stiff because he was too hard. "I'm an'," his throat was so dry that he could hardly speak. He had to cough twice, "Why are you back on the red-eyed flight?"

Ian pulled the corners of his mouth, but his usual cool smile seemed a little restrained. Lance knew that Ian also remembered those bad memories. In fact, Lance hadn't remembered it for a long time. Even if he recalled it, he would not be excited anymore. It was an extremely distant past, but he couldn't change the habit of sleeping peacefully, especially last night, which made Lance become more sensitive tonight.

"Are you going to continue standing there or pour me a cup of hot water?" Lance smiled and looked at Ian with a naughty smile.

Ian was not in a joking mood, turned around and went to the kitchen to boil water. After a while, the boiling sound of boiling water came from afar, but Ian did not come.

Lance knew that Ian was feeling guilty. Ian tried to take all the faults of that afternoon, but Lance never blamed Ian because they were all victims.

Lance's memories of that afternoon were very vague. Later, Gao Wen said that when he knew Frank was about to hit him with a baseball bat, Ian hugged Frank's calf and asked him to escape quickly. Frank vented all his anger on Ian and smashed him wildly with the baseball bat. Finally, Ian broke three ribs and one of them inserted into his lungs. If the ambulance was ten minutes later, it would be too late.

They are all victims. More importantly, in that family, they are the only ones for each other. Without Theo, Ian, and Gowen, there would be no Lance in the literal sense. His fragile life might not have lasted that summer at all, and then there would be no Li Jin's time travel and Lancelot's rebirth.

In fact, Theo was the elder brother who silently supported the entire family, and Ian was always by his and Gao Wen, protecting them. Lance still remembers that the reason why Ian chose Stanford was because it was only thirty-seven miles and sixty kilometers away from San Francisco. He returned to San Francisco almost every weekend just to accompany him and Gao Wen. In Lance's memory, Ian never said "no" to him, never.

Lance once tried to relieve Ian, and also tried to convince Ian that what happened that afternoon was not anyone's fault, and the only man who needed to take responsibility for that afternoon had been left forever in that midsummer afternoon. Ian always smiled and said, "I didn't care anymore." But Lance knew that this was Ian's knot, and he carried this heavy cross and walked until now.

"So much sweating, should I take a hot shower?" Ian came to the room again, turned on the bedroom lights, stood on the edge of the bed, and handed over the hot water cup in his hand.

Lance took the water cup, lowered his head and took a sip. The smile on the corner of his mouth couldn't help but gently rise, and honey was added to the water. Seeing the soothing smile on the corner of Lance's mouth, Ian pursed his lips, wanting to make a joke, but his words were so dry that they didn't smell any. "Remember not to tell Theo."

Lance drank half a cup of hot water in one breath, and his tight muscles finally relaxed. When he raised his head, Lance saw Ian still standing at the end of the bed. Even if Ian didn't speak, Lance knew that Ian was still blaming himself. He wanted to turn around and leave. "I just don't like having strangers in my private space, you are not."

Ian didn't move. He knew that Lance was not sleeping soundly, and he would wake up immediately with just a little movement. He knew that Lance didn't like outsiders to appear in his private space, which would make him feel insecure, but he still came here in the early morning, which was all his fault.

Ian avoided Lance's gaze, "You'd better go take a hot shower, otherwise you'll get sick, Theo will definitely keep talking when he knows it." Ian tried hard to say in a relaxed tone, but found that he didn't get a response from Lance at all. He turned his head and glanced at Lance awkwardly, and then saw the azure blue eyes looking at him motionless, which made Ian a little embarrassed, "So, after you finish drinking, I'll pour you another cup."

Ian walked forward and wanted to take the cup from Lance's hand, but Lance shook his head, "Ian, I'm fine, at least I'm fine now, I'm not a porcelain doll. Believe me, if I'm not good, I will definitely take revenge. Do you remember what happened when Gao Wen woke me up last time?" Lance secretly adjusted Gao Wen's weight scale, making Gao Wen think that his weight was seriously over the standard and had to increase training. It was not until two weeks later that he found out that he had to tossed Gao Wen to no aura.

Lance's words made Ian smile, and Lance continued, "So, are you coming back on a Red Eye flight because of the funding issues I mentioned before?" If it weren't for his own affairs, Ian wouldn't have rushed back in such a hurry, and they wouldn't have taken a Red Eye flight. Both brothers knew that Ian was the one who knew how to enjoy the most. Red Eye flight was never an option for him.

Ian stood there, his muscles tensed up, raised his head to face Lance's calm and peaceful blue eyes, the corners of his mouth slightly relaxed, and gently outlined a slight curve.

ps: The fourth update today, nine ten thousand rewards, the eighth wave of the series
Chapter completed!