ʏᴇʟʟᴏᴡ ∆ ᴄᴀᴇsᴀʀ ᴢᴇᴘᴘᴇʟɪ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ∆

∆ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ-ᴇɪɢʜᴛ∆

“Caesar, come,” I said, making him look over. He sat up in bed as I walked over to him.

“What?” He asked. I took his hands and pulled him up. “What are you doing?”

“You’re laying with me. I’m cold…” I mumbled. “...and nervous.”

“Wait, why are you nervous?” Caesar asked, pulling me back against him, making me stop.

“I...just am,” I sighed. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to-”

“No, I will. I don’t want you to feel unsafe, amore,” He said.

Amore? That was a new one. Dixie sat up when she saw Caesar, wagging her tail as I climbed into my bed, patting the place beside me. Caesar slipped in beside me after petting Dixie on the head.

“I bet you slide into lots of girl’s beds,” I giggled, making Caesar glare at me. I turned on my side and faced him, pulling the blanket under my chin.

“Definitely,” He rolled his eyes sarcastically. I smiled light-heartedly. He brushed some hair from my cheek. “What’s bothering you?”

“Why do you think that?” I asked.

“You’re shaking,” He mumbled. I clutched the sheets tighter.

“I...just don’t worry about it,” I said, shaking my head. “I just get a little scared sometimes, is all. I used to crawl into bed with my dad when I was younger but, I can’t exactly do that now. Aaron used to be okay at comforting until he became a stage five asshole.”

“Guess you’ll just have to deal with me for now,” Caesar said, his lips twitching into a smile.

“Well, I’m not opposed to that,” I said, resting my head on his arm. Caesar raked a hand through my hair, brushing through the drying h/c strands from my shower.

Caesar looked at me with such kindness, such softness, it wasn’t hard for me to feel safe. In my half-asleep state, I felt him wrap an arm around my waist and pull me closer into his chest. Right before I fell asleep, I felt him press his lips against my forehead. My lips twitched up in my sleep, and then, I was out.

…

We’d only been asleep for a few hours when we heard banging on the front door. I jolted awake, which made Caesar sit up in alarm. I rolled over and turned on the floor-standing lamp, making my room illuminate with light. Dixie was at the closed door, growling lowly. I glanced at the clock, squinting to see the time. 4:37.

“What the heck?” I whispered, rubbing my eyes.

“Stay here,” Caesar said, slipping from the covers.

“Caesar, wait,” I said, following after him. “It might be my neighbor or something.”

“At 4:30 in the morning?” He asked.

“I live in New York, it’s not that surprising,” I mumbled, unlocking the door as Caesar grabbed Dixie by her collar. “Can I-”

“Open the fucking door.”

My brother stood in the doorway, one hand on the doorframe, the other holding up a boy beside him. His nose was pouring blood, staining the front of his white t-shirt.

“Daniel?” I asked, swinging the door open. He drug the boy inside, and Caesar let go of Dixie to grab him as Daniel fell onto his knees. “What the hell?”

“Y/n,” Caesar said, carefully laying the boy on the floor.

“H-Hold on,” I said, fumbling to turn on the lights, now fully awake.

“Y/n!”

“Caesar wait!”

“He’s dead!” Caesar snapped, making me whip my head towards him. With the lights on, it was easy to see that both of them were drenched in water. The boy’s red hair was stuck to his forehead, and his skin was pale.

“Move,” I breathed, dropping onto my knees beside him. Caesar backed away as I pressed my fingers to the boy’s neck, my jaw tightening when I didn’t feel a pulse. I grabbed his button-up shirt and busted it open, scanning my eyes over his pale skin to see for any bruising. When I didn’t see anything, I crossed my hands together and started pushing on his chest. I switched between this and mouth-to-mouth, trying to revive him.

His eyes suddenly shot open and he began coughing up, and I grabbed him and rolled him onto his side to help him. I looked over my shoulder at Daniel watching his chest heave up and down as he panted. He raised his head to look at me, his wet hair dangling in front of his face, e/c eyes darkened as the water rolled off the bridge of his nose and dripped onto the floor. He raised a shaking hand and wiped the blood away from his face as he sat back on his haunches. I looked back to the boy on the floor, looking at his frightened brown eyes and freckled face. I slowly stood up and walked back to my room.

“Y/n?” Caesar scrambled after me. “Y/n! Hey, stop!” He grabbed my shoulder and stopped me, pressing me against the wall in the hall. His green eyes flicked over my face, his hands reaching up to cup my cheeks. I grabbed his wrist.

“I-I’m going to ch-change,” I whispered, swallowing hard. Caesar glanced down at the nightgown I was wearing before he nodded.

I shakily pulled a sweater over my head, staring at the wall. I gathered some dry clothes Daniel had left here before and returned to the living room. Caesar crouched down in front of both boys, holding cups out towards them. Towels were draped over their shoulders, and they were both sitting in front of the heater. None of them had noticed me standing in the doorway.

“Don’t move from there,” Caesar said, standing up. “You’re both ice cold.”

“Where’s Y/n?” Daniel asked.

“Dressing,” The blonde replied. I heard the water start and a small clanging. Was he doing the leftover dishes?

“Why are you here?” Daniel asked, turning his head towards the small kitchen.

“Your sister asked me to stay with her,” He said.

“Did I scare her?” He asked softly.

“You shocked her,” He replied. “Neither of us were expecting you to come dragging in a dead boy, bloody and bruised.”

“I’m sorry,” The kid apologized. “If I had any idea-”

“You didn’t, so don’t worry about it,” Caesar replied, cutting him off. “Both of us are just a little surprised.”

I ignored the swirling feeling in my stomach and walked from the hall. Daniel raised his head, moving the icepack away from his jaw. I crouched down in front of him, grabbing his chin gently as I moved his head around, then turning to do the same for the boy.

I noticed that Daniel was slowly moving his hand from my view. I grabbed his wrist and heard him curse before I pulled his arm to the light. I felt my eyes widen when I saw two puncture wounds on his wrist. I flicked my eyes up to him before looking at Caesar, who was walking from the kitchen. He knelt beside me, and his eyes widened as well. He grabbed the second boy’s wrists and found nothing.

Daniel swallowed hard and let out a shaky breath.

“Don’t tell dad,”