"He can't stay here any longer, Grace." Gregor's dad's voice, whispered and hushed as it was, still wasn't quiet enough to not carry to the top of the stairs where Gregor sat listening. He already couldn't sleep before his parents started arguing but now his curiosity was enough to pull him out of bed.
"He's isn't going back to that place again. We agreed--" Gregor's mom tries to argue but is cut off by his father.
"You didn't see him today." His voice is worried and strained. Gregor knows how much it's hurting his parents to see him go through the blood memories. But they can't stop them, and neither can Gregor. He wonders if returning to the Underland would make it worse or better. If seeing that everything is fine in Regalia will somehow make living with the deaths bearable. If being with Luxa again will ease the pain. "Each time it's getting worse. It takes longer for him to come out of it and this time he was talking to himself too. He kept saying 'no, please make it stop' and I couldn't do anything Grace! He needs to see her again. And maybe he shouldn't come back."
A sharp gasp comes from Gregor's mother and she raises her voice to deliver the next line. "Don't you ever say that. He is not leaving." She returns to a whisper. "Not forever at least."
"You agree with me then?"
There's a moment of silence before his mother responds. "Yes." She pauses again, then sighs sadly. "He needs to at least spend some time in the Underland. Long enough to see that they're okay. Then maybe he'll be okay too." There it was. His own mother confirming the hope he almost couldn't hope for. That returning would make him alright again.
"How long do you want him to stay?" Gregor's father asks, knowing he's lucky just to have bought a short visit for his son. "A few days? A week?"
"How about two weeks? I think that'll be enough. That way he can spend some time with her without feeling like he has to say goodbye right away."
"Should we tell him now though?" Gregor hopes they will so he won't have to hide that he was eavesdropping. It would be easier than faking a reaction. The small smile that crossed his lips at their decision already came and went, the joy not enough to pierce the cloud of sadness for more than a few seconds.
"Yes. But quietly." Gregor's mom drops her voice even lower, remembering once again how late it is and that the kids are asleep. "You can tell him if you'd like."
"Thank you, dear." A moment of silence that Gregor assumes is filled by a hug and a kiss. His parents have always been affectionate, even more so now with the worry of himself on their minds.
The floor boards creak as his dad crosses the living room floor to the bottom of the stairs, then looks up to see that Gregor has already heard the news. He smiles a little and continues upwards until he is at eye level with his seated son. "You ready to go home?" He breaths. All Gregor can do is nod.
He'd been ready from the moment he left.