Broken

Finally Asking

Saying that Meliodas was disoriented was an understatement. He didn't recognize the room he was in, where the source of warmth was coming from-although it was nice to have-or why he was awake.

He had heard them talking about his contract being up and something else about trying to find a way to undo the sleep spell, but he had assumed they would fail since it had never been done before.

That's part of why he was joking around when he knew he wouldn't be able to stay awake much longer. He knew how much it hurt Zeldris to lose him, and he must have been desperate to actually hit him to keep him awake. Which was why he made jokes and tried to lighten the mood a bit. It was almost an instinct at this point. He had taken care of his brother so much in the past that even as he was falling into quite possibly his last sleep, he was still trying to make him smile instead of seeing him so sad.

Which brought him back to here. The last thing he remembered was the others talking to him and trying to keep him awake before everything went black.

It made him happy hearing how much they all cared about him, but at the same time he felt guilty. He knew they wanted to help him, but he just had so much baggage that weighed him down.. If he even tried to talk about any of it, more suppressed memories and emotions would flood to the surface and threaten his composure. And all of it truly made the idea of sleeping away his life sound very appealing. Not that he should have said as much.

He was thankful for his brother's patience with him, but as his eyes laid on the sibling next to him, he knew the evasive maneuvers he had been relying on wouldn't help him much longer.

"I'm glad you're okay Meli. You really gave us a scare for awhile."

"Y-Yeah.. sorry. I guess you could say I just couldn't keep my eyes open... Hehe."

He got a small smile that he could tell helped the other's mood. However it still didn't stop the next word.

"Meli..."

He knew the meaning behind that word. It meant "we need to talk and I'm not taking no for an answer this time".

Zeldris was more deserving than anyone to know the truth, but Meliodas just... couldn't talk about it. He knew he would break down again, and this time he didn't know if he could come out of it.

"I've been trying to wait.. and I know it's only been two days since I've been here, but what you said when you almost fell asleep needs to be addressed."

The blond winced as he knew what that meant. He really didn't mean to say it. Especially not with little Tristan around, however he couldn't deny that it held some meaning..

" 'Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing.' Those were your exact words. Meli. Do- Have the things you've gone through been so bad that you would rather... that you don't even want to try to live?"

He looked down. The blond had no idea how to answer that. His first thought was no, but he knew that wasn't necessarily true. If he could sleep his life away, no pain.. no horrible flashbacks or scars to constantly look at... he might have done it. However now his baby brother was back, the only thing keeping him together for those horrific years. Could he really just leave him like that? Would he really just leave him like that? All because of the experiences he went through?

"Mel, I know it's a difficult question to answer. But I'm never gonna be able to help you get better if you don't tell me what's broken in the first place."

Once again, no reply. Not because the blond didn't want to, but because he was already getting too deep, and he had no idea how to answer such a question.

*Sigh* "Fine.. I'll ask again tomorrow. Until then, why don't we go downstairs. The Sins are worried about you, and I'm sure you're hungry too."

The blond nodded, trying to push down the emotions flooding to the surface.
_________________________________________

Zeldris stayed consistent to his word, asking the question every day and being met with the same silence every time. A week had passed with no answer. However, besides those frustrating times, they were getting along great. Meliodas was acting a bit more like himself, still timid, but now making jokes and having more consistent conversations.

The two had just finished playing with Tristan before heading inside to clean up, Zeldris taking the opportunity to ask once more his nightly question, this time, determined to get get answer.

"It's been a week Mel, I'm not letting this go until you answer."

A minute of silence, then two. However, Zeldris stood his ground. He refused to go to bed empty handed again.

"I-I don't really know how to. If I were back there... or, even just at a point of sleep already, I think I would rather just sleep until I either die of natural causes or the pod shutting down, but with you here now, and the Sins... I don't know that I could. Even though I might be tempted to, I don't think I could bring myself to do that to you all..."

Zeldris blinked, he was glad he was getting somewhere, even though he didn't expect to. However this led to another question that needed to be asked.

"Why would you want to though, Meli? I understand you can't give me all of the details.. but can you at least explain a little bit of what you went through? I want to help you.. but I don't know how without any information."

Silence, this time worrying the ravenette since he didn't was to make his brother close off again.

"I.... I can't answer that right now. I want to, but.... I-I can't talk about it."

Zeldris felt disappointed by the answer, but at the same time was at least glad that Meli told him he couldn't, instead of being silent. It showed him that his sibling was starting to open up a little, even if it wasn't getting Zeldris the answers he was looking for.

"Okay... Just promise me something."

Meliodas gave his brother a confused look, emerald staring into eyes that matched their hue.

"What do you want me to promise?"

"That you will open up when you're ready. And you won't shut me out again."

A small smile was given, although it looked a little sad.

"I'm afraid I can't promise I'll ever be ready to talk about this, but if I am I'll... I'll at least try. Is that okay?"

Zeldris wrapped his brother in a tight hug, so happy to be getting somewhere.

"That's fine by me."

Sorry it's a little short! Hope it's good though!