#ibvs posts

Sorry it took literally 2 months. My lore has gotten so crazy lately.)

TW: FOR MENTIONED PET DEATH! (It's not in detail by any means. But the story is centered around Barry losing an animal. So if that's sensitive for you, I'd recommend not reading any further.)

"Blue?.." Ed's voice called out from the sliding glass door. It was soft, gentle... like he was afraid Barry would shatter if he spoke any louder. He wasn't sure why his first insinct upon finding Lily had been to call Ed... and not bury her. Maybe because he knew he couldn't do it by himself?... or at all. Ed had buried Mavis, and Emmie and Figaro... and clover, after all. Barry had simply stood there and watched him do it. He didn't even have it in him to bury them. Another way he failed those poor babies.

Ed had found his way to where Barry was hiding. Tucked against a tree staring into the window of the little house he kept the animals in. It was a shed he's fixed up, with a little fenced-in area to play outside in... painted bright colors that right now felt mocking. Ed's face was downcast, eyes somber and eyebrows furrowed with sorrow. He knelt down beside him and reached out to brush hair out of the other boys face. "Hey.. look at me...please?"

It took more effort than it should have to force his eyes up to meet those of his best friend. "There we go." Ed forced a smile, but it was twinged with a sadness they'd both grown pretty used to. That was the downside of this... the loss it came with.

"I'm sorry..." he managed to choke out, leaning forward to rest his head on the taller teens' shoulder. Edward was quick to wrap his arms around him. "And why in the world are ya sorry?" He whispered, rubbing his thumb over the stitching at the hem of his best friends shirt. Always fidgeting with something, it almost made Barry laugh... almost. "For making you do this every time... I know you hate it just as much as I do, and I sti-"

"That's my job, man." He laughed, pushing the shorter boy back a bit so that he could look over his friend, who was now looking very puzzled. Though that was nothing new, Edward Quinton was an enigma, and Barry was positive regardless of the length of their friendship. Edward was never EVER going to stop confusing him. "What do you mean your job?"

"I'm your best friend Barry, I do what you can't do for yourself." And maybe Barry preferred it that way... after all, what was Eddie if not confusing? "You're such a dork.."

"Hey, that says more about you than it does me! You're the one who keeps me around Bluebell." He huffed, shoving the other back with much less force than he normally would and getting quickly to his feet. "Now, where's the shovel at? Let's get this done so we can have a nice memorial and go watch a movie."

"Garage." And off Ed was, grabbing the shovel from the garage and beginning a task he'd grown somewhat used to over the years. Adding another tiny grave to the little cemetery. It wasn't a large cemetery, and Barry prided himself on that. He was able to patch up and nurse most animals back to health. The majority of the pets buried there had simply passed of old age or terminal illness... but a few of them hadn't, and that fact would never bother him. But Ed was there, and Ed always made things a little easier. Picking up the slack and helping with the heaviness of it all. Before he even knew it, they were both standing in front of a tiny little grave. Ed wrapped his arm around him, and they both gave their best wishes to little Lily before once again, making the somber walk back up to the back door and on inside.

(Sorry it took so long for me to write something new. I started a new job! And then my mom died, and then I graduated yesterday! So yeah, it's been a pretty busy month.)

Isaac couldn't quite place what it was. But something was different about Edward. He'd been staring for a while now, trying to figure out what exactly it was. Ed had seemed a bit bothered by the staring, giving him weird looks back every time he'd catch him. and now here they were in the last period. Isaac seated in front of the taller boy, who was trying to focus on his work despite the holes being drilled into his head as Isaac, who'd turned around in his chair to study him. (much to Ed's dismay) stared daggers into him.

And that's when he saw finally noticed them, little red studs in his ears. Isaac's hands shot forward on impulse, grabbing the older teen by the face and yanking him forward, tilting his face side to side as he inspected his ears in awe. "You got your ears pierced!" he blurted out after a long moment of consideration. Ed looked startled, and as he processed the closeness, his face quickly started to turn red. He squirmed a little but didn't really try to escape very hard. He'd long since gotten used to Isaac being close. It didn't freak him out like it used to. "Uhm... yeah?" He mumbled, confused by the sudden interest.

"When did you get it done?" He asked, finally letting go of the others' faces. Ed's hands came up to rub away the soreness the others' death grip had left. "Saturday..." he admitted. "Dez wanted to go get a piercing and talked me into it while we were there. I kinda always liked the idea of it, but I was too nervous to ever get it done before." he frowned, twirling his pencil as he leaned back forward. "Save any nasty comments, please. I'd rather not hear em right now." he rolled his eyes.

"They're cute." Isaac blurted out, as usual, not really thinking much about the things that came out of his big mouth. However, he was met with one of his favorite things as of late. Watching as Ed's expression went blank for a moment. The gears in his head slowly turned as he processed what had just been said. His eyes slowly widened as his face began to turn red. "You- I- SHUT UP!" he huffed, covering his ears with his hands as his face scrunched up. A flustered Ed would never be amusing.

(GLADLY, he's my favorite to torture, actually. Aside from Nevin! It's my love language ❤️)

Pain, burning piercing pain in his stomach. It hurt... it hurt really fucking bad. It was so bad that he couldn't hold in the pained cry that the force of the blade drew out of him. His gaze slowly drifted down to stare at the blade embedded deeply into his stomach before it shot back up to the perpetrator of said action. "James..." he choked out. The boy looked mortified, in as much shock as Ed was. They'd been arguing again in the midst of yet another supernatural mishap in the kitchen of the home ec room when James had angrily drawn a knife. Ed had assumed it was a bluff as James had never dared to get physically violent with him. He'd threatened, sure, but it had only ever been just that, a threat. So when James had gotten angrier and angrier and approached closer and closer with said weapon, Edward had not been afraid. Why would he be scared of his friend? Perhaps he should have been...

As James seemed to finally register the depth of what he'd just done, he panicked. Yanking the blade back out of his 'boss', which resulted in another pained noise and Ed's legs giving out on him as he pressed his hands to the wound to try and slow the bleeding. "james.." he wheezed again. "I didn't..boss.. I didn't mean.. I-" His long stammering session was quickly interrupted by a horrified shout. "ED!?" Dez, Cody and Isaac, they'd gotten separated during the commotion, and the trio had finally managed to find them again, only to stumble upon quite the scene. James turned to face them, dropping the bloody knife in his hands as he stumbled back. "holy...shit.." Isaac whispered before they were all surrounding him. He was still processing what was happening as Dez gently pushed him back to lean back against the counter behind him. "Shit shit shit.. oh god..." Dez stuttered out as she brushed Ed's hands away to put pressure on the wound.

"I'm okay.." he croaked out, and the glare Isaac shot at him made him shrink a little. "You are literally bleeding out." he hissed, though Edward was pretty sure it was because he was worried and stressed. Isaac got pissy when he was stressed, so he chose not to take it personally. He coughed a bit. He was starting to feel really tired and woozy. Figures, they always seemed to need Drew anytime he wasn't with them. His senses felt dulled, his vision was blurry, and his head felt heavy and fuzzy. He knew he was losing blood pretty fast and partially registered the sound of Dez frantically chattering with someone on her phone, her hand reaching out to squeeze his in an attempt to keep him present. He didn't understand. He'd been so certain James wouldn't hurt him. Where was he anyway? Ed couldn't see him anywhere nearby, nor hear his rambling anymore either. He started to sink into his thoughts more and more until those thoughts started to fizzle out halfway through. His eye lids started to get heavy as he began to feel a bit chilly, shivering as he let his head fall back fully against the counter wall behind him.

"Hey, look at me." Isaac's voice drew him out of his dazed half thoughts. He forced himself to look up at the blonde hovering beside him. "Mn lookin.." he mumbled, Isaac's form looked hazy in his blurry vision, but he could still make out the boy's worry. Isaac tended to always look annoyed. He had an awful case of resting bitch face. But Edward had always found that to be an odd concept because he personally didn't think anyone looked very friendly when their expressions were blank. But maybe it was just him, Ed tended to think differently than everyone else, it seemed. "Ed..." A harsh grip on his arm startled him back to reality yet again. He'd hardly noticed his eyes starting to drift shut as his mind spiraled. "Mn here." he croaked out, his voice didn't sound like him... at least he didn't think so. It sounded weak, barely there. He'd have been embarrassed if he wasn't so out of it. Isaac looked somewhat panicked like he was scrambling for the answer to a question. He could hear Dez still talking and registered that at some point, Isaac's Flannel had been taken and tied against his wound to hold stop the bleeding. It didn't look to be working well, but neither were hands... Speaking of hands... Isaac had one on his face now, drawing his attention back to him as his own blood was subsequently wiped across his cheek. "Hey..uh.. uhm.. Stars!" he blurted out, and Ed couldn't help but wheeze out a laugh at the randomness of it. Laughter hurt, and his head hurt really bad, too. "Stars?"

"Yeah, stars.. tell me about them." he insisted like talking about stars was the most important thing ever. And in that moment, it was. God, as long as Ed kept talking, it was. Isaac had never ever thought he'd be praying for Edward Quinton to keep talking, but here he was... Ed winced as a shiver and a cough racked through him again, before speaking finally. "Well...There are about 9,096 stars visible to the naked eye in the entire sky... and.." he trailed off for a second. "The color of... stars can range from red to white to blue. But... I... know the colors are usually the... the opposite... but... Red is actually the coldest, and Blue is the ...the hottest." He continued on, and when he'd start to trail off between words or slur them around a little too much, He'd feel Isaac's grip tighten and try with all his might to will himself to keep talking. He talked.. and talked... until talking started to get really hard. His head was practically resting against Isaac at this point. He wasn't sure when he'd ended up like that. He could feel hands in his hair, too. "Ed.. cmon... you're almost there... stars?" he whispered, he sounded.. strained? Kind of... But his head was too foggy to piece together why. "Stars ...a..re..." he tried, but his eyes were nearly shut by this point, and staying awake sounded like such a pain. His head felt like it was full of static, and he couldn't move anymore. He just wanted to go to sleep. He knew Isaac was talking to him, telling him to stay awake. He could faintly register the sound of sirens.. and the hands on his face again, but that was it as he blacked out, finally.

The next thing he heard was the slow and steady beeping of a heart monitor. His eyes slowly fluttered open, and everything still felt kind of hazy. Not quite the same as before, though. He squinted, trying to take in his surroundings in the dim room. It took a moment for him to register he in a hospital room. And even longer to register, there was a hand holding his. His eyes trailed over to find Isaac. Resting against the bed holding his hand as he slept. Dez was across the room and passed out in an armchair. They both looked like wrecks, and Edward felt a pang of guilt as he realized it was because of him...His shifting seemed to wake Isaac. "Hey.." his voice sounded so soft it almost felt wrong coming from him. Not that Edward disliked it... "You gave us a real scare, Asshole." he grumbled, and that sounded a lot more like Isaac. He frowned, wincing in guilt and glancing away. "I'm... sorry.." he whispered. "How long.. have I been out?" He added after a short pause of silence. "About a day... everyone's been to visit. Your brother and Janet went for food. They'll be back soon..." he hadn't let go of his hand. Their fingers still laced together. "Fuck... haha.. guess I'm gonna get quite a few lectures huh?" He wheezed out a laugh. He smiled but was definitely not looking forward to that. "I don't think they'll be super hard on you..." Isaac assured quietly, which was followed by another long pause.

(Hello, sorry I've been gone. I died of ailment and still am, though I'm a lot better now. So back to work! I was really in the mood for Ed angst. And naturally, I made it gay too.)

"Are you okay?..."

The question caught him off guard, and he wasn't sure exactly how to answer it. Because no one ever really asked him that. Aside from Blue, no one ever seemed to worry over him. Not that Edward blamed them. Why would they worry? He was Edward Quinton, school king! He was always okay. Nothing bad ever happened to him. He was perfect. He wanted it to look that way. He didn't want anyone to worry for him, so he took no offense when no one did. But he was tired, he was drained and overwhelmed. His schedule was far too packed, and he barely had time to think anymore. With sports, school, family issues, friend issues, his status, and all the supernatural stuff he had lately, he was starting to crack.

It would appear he'd slipped up somewhere in his little act because now Isaac was looking at him with that look, that look that said he knew something was wrong with him and God did Ed hate it. He hadn't gotten that look since middle school. Sitting alone in the office covered in bruises cause kids were mean. Adults and children alike looking at him as if he were a poor pathetic stray puppy kicked to the curb.

"I'm fine." it came out harsher than he meant for it to. He hadn't meant to sound so snippy, but it was an instinctual reaction he hadn't yet figured out how to stop. Isaac didn't seem to take offense fortunately, unfortunately, though he didn't seem to buy into his answer either.

"Are you sure..? You look really tired. When's the last time you slept?" The blonde pressed further. He couldn't really remember. He hadn't slept hardly at all this week. He wasn't sure what exactly was causing it, but he just couldn't seem to sleep at night. And it appeared that his prolonged silence had answered whatever questions Isaac had. The little shit had clearly come to his own conclusion, so Ed didn't bother to try answering. There was a long moment of quiet before Ed felt hands on his chest. "Lay down."

"Huh..? why?.." his face scrunched up a bit, but he let his boyfriend push him down and let out a soft oof sound as the smaller boy draped himself over Ed, tucking his face into the crook of his neck and sighing. "You need to sleep, so we're taking a nap." Edward could shove him off if he wanted. He was stronger, and Isaac weighed the equivalent of nothing to him. He was heavy against his chest but not unbearably so... actually, it felt kinda nice. The weight was grounding... in a way he hadn't realized he'd needed until now.

Nothing mattered. This was a sentiment Isaac knew very well. He'd figured it out early on in life and lived by it. That was why Isaac really didn't understand why he cared so much. Normally, he didn't care about anything. Apathy was his default state, and yet watching Chris drift away hurt. He'd known the first time Chris ever flaked on him. he hadn't registered it yet, but he'd felt it. The beginning of the end. He knew it was partially his fault. He could have tried to keep Chris, but Isaac, as much as he'd never admit it, was just as Stubborn and prideful as Edward Quinton at times. He refused to beg, for Chris to stay, he wouldn't ask for his attention... and so it had ended the same way every relationship had for him since 1st grade. He felt the strain and then bit and clawed at the string until it snapped. He'd sink his teeth into the person until they got sick of his venomous nature and left... He always managed to ruin things... He could see him across the lunchroom. Sitting at a table with Nevin, chatting and laughing and smiling. He'd never smiled like that with him... he could feel his throat tightening and his eyes sting. But he wouldn't cry.

"Isaac?" A quiet voice had called out. He didn't need to look at Drew to know the boy had a concerned look painted across his face. "Mn." his response was a half-hearted attempt to show he'd heard him. He already knew the question that would follow. It'd become a routine by this point. "Are you okay?" There it was. "You've been staring at them for a while now.." he whispered. "I'm fine." he shot back, and it came off far harsher than he'd meant for it to. But that was just how Isaac was, harsh.

He knew he was lying, and he knew Drew knew he was lying. But the boy didn't press. he just folded his hands in his lap and nodded. "Okay..." he whispered. The burning got worse and worse as he watched them as they remained entirely unconcerned with him. He wished he didn't care... Breathing felt hard, and he flinched when he felt a warm hand grab his own and squeeze. He spared Drew a quick glare but couldn't find it in him pull away... he knew Drew felt like he needed to help somehow. So he let him as he did his best to force the tears back. He wouldn't cry.

Again, her dad was in the hospital again. It had gotten to where he was there more than home, and that was scary and awful in its own right. But now, because of the sudden dip in his health. He can't take her to their yearly concert! They've gone to one every year since she was four, and it was her favorite part of the summer. They'd already bought their tickets and everything... and then he started getting sick again. Bad enough to land him in the hospital two days before they were supposed to leave... Dez was angry, to say the least. NOT at her dad. She knew better than anyone that the last thing the man ever wanted was to break his little girl's heart. She was mad at life for making this happen. Mad at the cancer for making her poor dad so sick and weak. He didn't deserve this. She felt so lost, so out of control. She didn't know what to do, she had to do something. She was SO tired of feeling powerless. She didn't even think about it as she grabbed the scissors from the counter.

Horror, she felt true horror as she looked in the mirror. Her hair, her pretty hair, was all over the floor and the sink. Oh god, what had she done... her knees buckled, and she sank to the ground, scissors long abandoned on the counter as she cried and wiped at her face. Her eyes were sore, and her throat was raw. She wanted her dad, but he was not there. And someday, probably soon, he'd never be there again, and that thought just made her cry harder. Dez was an independent person generally. She didn't like being genuinely reliant on anyone, but right now, she'd throw her pride aside for some comfort. Her head shot up at the sound of the almost totally open door, creaking the rest of the way open and a startled gasp following it. Someone stood in the doorway, eyes wide, and God did that make her crumble even further. But this time, there were arms wrapping around her, pulling her close and nails, raking through what remained of her hair. She buried her face into their chest and just let herself cry. She cried and cried until she couldn't seem to muster any more tears.

"Dez..." Ed's quiet response came after a moment or two of prolonged silence. "Desiree, talk to me." he insisted when he got nothing but a sniffle in response, pulling her back by the shoulders to get a good look at her. He frowned a bit and brushed some hair off of her cheek. "I..." She choked out. "Oh god, what did I do... my hair..." She sniffled, trying not to cry again. "Hey, hey..." he hushed "Cmon tell me what's up." he reminded as he pulled her with him to rest against the sink cabnit. Still supporting her with an arm around the shoulder. "I... Dad is sick again." She whispered, and he seemed to understand almost immediately. "Yeah..he is..." he nodded solemly.

"I miss him.." She added, closing her eyes and resting against the strong weight beside her. "I know ya do... he misses ya, too." he reminded, and she couldn't help but smile sadly at that. "He's not coming home anytime soon... and this week was.. supposed to be our concert week." She struggled to get her words out with that feeling bubbling up in her throat again. The feeling that everything was falling apart, Edward just squeezed her shoulder in response. "Yeah Tiá was talking about that earlier this week... you guys go every year..."

"Yeah... and now we can't... " she choked harshly but pushed on. "I know it's dumb. I know he can't help it. It's not that big a deal it just.. it kinda made me realize that there's a good chance that we won't get to do a lot of stuff together, and I don't know... I just cracked, and now my hair is a mess, and I'm a mess.. everything's a mess..." She wiped at her eyes furiously as she spoke. "That's alright." He seemed to have decided. "It's okay to be a little bit of a mess sometimes..." And Dez briefly caught herself thinking about how Ed should probably take that sentiment to heart as well. "And I wouldn't say your hair is a mess..." he laughed a little, moving a bit to get a better look. "it's a bit choppy, yeah... but I don't think it looks bad on ya!" she seemed rather skeptical as she glanced up at the older boy. "Really?"

"Yeah! Just needs a bit of touch up, here..." he insisted, pulling her up and directing her to the mirror as he grabbed the scissors that had been discarded on the counter and immediately started cutting away. "Hey!" she tensed a bit, "Just trust me, Dez." he sighed with a roll of his eyes, and soon he set them back down. "See..?" she was a bit scared to look up at first but slowly she opened her eyes (which she hadn't really registered squeezing shut until now) and... he was right... it wasn't awful. "It'll take a little gettin used to, it is a big change." he hummed, fluffing her hair up a bit to check the length. "But I think you might end up liking it... and if you don't... it's just hair. It'll grow back."

She wasn't sure how to feel, standing there with a boy she'd for some reason expected to be mean when first meeting him.. it was a funny thought now. She stood there studying his work, his hands resting comfortingly on her shoulder... She didn't know how to feel, but another gentle squeeze cleared her mind. "Hey..." his voice was soft. "It'll be okay... I know it doesn't feel like it right now... everything's a bit hectic, and it's hard to see it, but... You'll be okay." And somehow, when Edward said it, it sounded a lot more believable. She couldn't help but feel better with the reminder that even when her Dad was gone. Ed would still be there... he was always there... whether she wanted or not... "Hey Eddie?" She whispered after another long pause. Ed had already gotten to cleaning up the mess she'd made. He seemed to do that a lot... "Yeah?" He hummed, not looking up from his task of sweeping up hair. "Would you wanna go to a concert this weekend?" He seemed a bit confused for a moment, but the confusion was short-lived, and he seemed to understand. He smiled fondly to himself and nodded.

"Yeah, I would."

(Gladly! I had a dream that Nevin got hurt and ended up with a scar that looks a lot like Drew's, and the idea was cute to me, so here ya go!)

-

How did Nevin end up in a situation like this, AGAIN? He had no fucking clue, but here he was running and dodging for his life from another freaky ass monster. There were about a million thoughts flying through his head. Where the fuck was Drew? What the fuck was the thing chasing them? Why the fuck was it here? And how the fuck did it get there?

Well, the last question wasn't too hard to figure out. It was certainly one of Drew's friends messing around with shit they shouldn't be again. And as for the why, it seemed pretty obvious the creature was out for blood, so its motive was clear. Now, what it was? That was a little trickier. It definitely wasn't normal. It was big and loud and looked like it could crush him easily. And lastly, Drew, he had no clue where that boy was now... not lately anyway. Running was clearly not going to cut it for much longer. They'd tried hiding several times, but that thing always managed to find them... He let out a startled noise as Chris grabbed his arm and dragged him into the science lab, hoping to slow the thundering beast off by confusing it among the rows of counters.

However, this only worked about two minutes before the beast figured out it could jump over the counters, and Nevin found himself being snatched up by the large beast. " HEY ! LET ME GO!!!" He growled, scratching at the vice grip around his waist. when he said to let him go, he'd meant he wanted to be put down, not thrown down... but clearly, there was a miscommunication. His head connected with the counter, and everything went dark...

The next thing he registered was fantic mumbling and something soft being pressed against his head. He was leaned against something sturdy yet warm. "N..v.. nev...Nevin? oh god.. oh God..." Chris, it was Chris talking. It took far more effort than it normally did for him to open his eyes, though he didn't have the energy to be concerned about that. The first thing he saw was Chris. His face was distraught, to say the least, tears threatening to spill as he tried desperately to slow the blood that was running down his face. Blood...he was bleeding. Why was he bleeding? "Nevin?! oh, oh, thank God! I was... I thought.." he was choking over his words, and the waves of distress that were radiating off of him were not helping the ever growing headache that was emerging within him as he slowly started to come to his senses.

"A..are you o..kay?" he managed to croak out, and the worry on Chris's face quickly turned to utter shock. "You've gotta be kidding, man! I'm not the one with a gash in my head!" he sputtered. "I need to get you to Drew. " he mumbled, gently adjusting the boy he already had cradled in his arms so he could pick him up properly. Normally, Nevin would try and insist he was fine, that there was no sense worrying over a little scratch. But he was so tired and his head really hurt and it felt nice to be held when he didn't feel well... even if he'd never admit that out loud. So he provided no protest as his vision started to blur, and he started to drift back into darkness... "Nevin.. hey.. no stay awa-... " He could feel the spike of panic, his drifting concious evoked from the boy, but it wasn't enough to keep him awake, and he promptly fell back into unconsciousness

There were voices again, panicked and loud. "How did this happen?!" Drew... "I, i dont know!" Chris... His eyes slowly cracked open. He was lying in a nurses bed. His head was in his brothers lap, and a cool rag was pressed to his head. "Nev?.." Drew was staring down at him... at least he was pretty sure he was. his vision had gotten hazier. He couldn't make out his brothers face, but he knew Drew, he knew it was him. "Jesus, there's so much blood. Can you hear me.? Nevin?..." He could, but he could hardly keep his eyes open, let alone form words. "Can you heal him?"

"I.. I think? I should be able to." he felt his head being gently moved a bit as the rag pressed against the wound was pulled away, he could hear Drew take in a deep breath and gently place his hands over the still bleeding gash. Drew shut his eyes and focused all his energy. Branches started to sprout from his head as he (literally) worked his magic. Nevin found his eyes falling shut as he felt the pounding pain in his head slowly die down. When he opened them again, his vision had cleared, and the fuzzy feeling he'd had started to fade. The moment he was able to truly comprehend everything, he shot up and yanked away from his twins healing touch, his breathing quick and panicky.

He swayed backward, immediately regretting his decision as a wave of dizziness hit him. Hands on his back steadied him holding him up, Chris. "Easy Nev..." Drew chided, grabbing his wrists to help ground him as the boy slowly forced himself to relax. "Sorry..sorry what.. What happened?" He croaked out, a guilty look crossed Chris's face when the other turned his head to look back at the boy sitting on his other side. "I... couldn't get to you in time, He grabbed you, and I tried to stop it, but..." he tripped over his words in a panic, trembling slightly at the memory. "Shit, dude.. I really thought you weren't gonna wake up for a minute there." he laughed nervously and tensed for a moment as Nevin squeezed his hand. "I'm fine.. he didn't hurt you, too, did he?" He asked, looking the boy over. "Oh no, no! I got rid of him pretty fast after you were out." he assured, and Nevin could tell he didn't want to elaborate, so he did not push. "Drew..?" He whispered, turning his attention back to his very silent twin.

Drew looked upset, and Nevin couldn't help but feel drained at the prospect of yet another lecture about getting himself hurt, though instead he was startled by arms wrapping tightly around him. Despite his obvious confusion, he returned the embrace and let his head rest against Drew's shoulder. "You scared me." his voice sounded slightly shaky, and the wave of guilt that struck the darker twin made his stomach flip. "I'm sorry..." After a few moments of silence, Drew pulled back, wiping at his eyes and taking a hold of Nevins face as he inspected the healed injury... a faint scar was left over his eyebrow, and Drew giggled to himself. "What? what's so funny?" Chris asked as he leaned in a little to look, Nevin raised his newly scared eyebrow in equal confusion. Drew couldn't help but grin.

(OMG? COULD IT BE? MIRA WRITING SOMETHING OTHER THAN ANGST? The world has truly gone mad. 0.0 )

Nevin had grown quite used to this routine, He fell asleep first and woke up first. It was always the way they'd been. He'd wake up and walk quietly down the stairs to avoid waking up the kids. Slip into the kitchen and start making breakfast, and after about an hour had passed, he'd feel arms wrap around his waist. Then, a warm mess of a boy would would press his face into his shoulder with a mumbled greeting that barely qualified as English. "Mrnnginn..." Chris had always been slow to wake up. "Morning Hermoso, sleep well?" He hummed as he turned away from his previous task to face the other, wedged comfortably between the counter and his husband.

"Mnhm.." he hummed his arms still wrapped around him, his face still tucked away in the crook of the shorter boys neck. Chris was clingy in general. He liked physical contact, and he liked being close but especially when he was sleepy or sick. "You should stay in bed longer..." he mumbled, and Nevin couldn't help but roll his eyes fondly at the complaint. "Mmhmmm, after breakfast. It's the most important meal of the day, you know." he reminded, gently pushing the boy back so he could press a kiss to his lips. "Could you wake the girls up for me?" He asked, turning back to his previous task of mixing up pancake batter. "Yes, sir!" The older boy snorted, turning on his heel and making his way out of the kitchen so Nevin could work his magic in peace for a few minutes.

It wasn't long before Nevin heard two sets of little feet quickly scampering down the hall and into the kitchen. It was the same order every day, first came Maya waddling in with all the grace a toddler could have, next was Amara chasing after her little sister with far too much energy for 10 in the morning and lastly, Chris, making his way in after them to start setting the table for breakfast.

Saturdays were always slow for the small family. It was usually spent lazing around since the rest of the week was typically so busy. With running a restaurant and taking care of two children under 6, life was typically good but busy. Weekends, though? Weekends were their break time, time to relax. Nevin was barely registering what the characters on the screen were saying. He was too busy thinking, thinking about how in the world he'd managed to get here. On a nice comfy couch, pressed against a pretty boy with two adorable kids playing together without a care in the world... He was happy, happy that his kids' world was far brighter than his had been at their age... But it was hard to believe sometimes that it was real. Nevin always tried his best to stay optimistic, to not give up. That mindset had been born out of pure spite. A decision made of stubbornness, a refusal to let himself be broken. And somehow, it had carried him 25 years, to here of all places. To a nice warm house, with a nice warm boy that he'd let in from the cold when they were just teenagers.