One

Chapter 5

The silence in the room was only broken by utensils clicking on plates and the sound of chewing. Brandon didn't quite know what to do to break the silence nor how to address the grumpy Beta in front of him.

Clearly he could tell that Jamie was anything but happy; a scowl twisted his features, nose turned in disgust as the Beta sipped from his coffee.

Plus, it was hard not to detect the pungent petrichor that clung to the air and stung Brandon's nostrils. Jamie's scowl deepened as he slowly sipped from his mug, making Brandon clear his throat.

"I have some sugar left over if..." Brandon trailed off, shooting a glance at the mug when Jamie's gaze found his, confused. "Or I can get more milk..."

"Huh? Oh, it's... thanks but there's no need." Stuffing another slice of crisp bacon behind his lips, Jamie finally raised his eyes off the plate to clash with Brandon's once more.

"Why are you doing this?" Jamie's eyes were cool and frosty as they observed Brandon. The Beta's expression was cold, stern. Closed off as he silently chewed on his food, scent bitter with distrust and simmering anger.

The petrichor was strong, too bitter, too chemical. It didn't bring up any warm memories, instead it was cool and clinical. Showing clearly just how annoyed the Beta was.

Brandon swallowed his mouthful of scrambled eggs and bacon before speaking "Doing what? Eating breakfast?" The glare that Jamie sent his way made Brandon smile waver before he quickly amend.

"Dad told me that you hadn't received breakfast yet, I didn't have mine, so I figured we could share." Brandon heaped more eggs and bacon on his fork, buttering a piece of bread while he chewed before he added "I figured it would be a good way to bond and grow accustomed to one another..."

Jamie hummed distractedly, using his own fork to pile bacon, eggs and a few slices of sausage on his bread before squishing it shut into an impromptu sandwich.

"So you figured it was a good idea to barge into the room?" Jamie grumbled around a mouthful of food, making Brandon sigh.

"I knocked, twice. And then Sean opened and allowed me in." The young Alpha explained, ignoring the slight provocative tone that Jamie used.

"As you know, I didn't touch Sean at any point, nor did I come anywhere near the bed. All I did was enter with the food, call for Sean when he curled back up on the bed and then you when I couldn't rouse him from his sleep."

A tense silence clung to the air as both of them chewed their food, utensils clicking while Brandon kept his eyes on his plate. He had figured that the Beta needed a moment to collect his thoughts.

Brandon didn't blame the boy for his attitude, the passive-aggressiveness that oozed from his voice. After all, there was no file to read, nothing that spoke of Jamie's background.

Except for the fact that he had DID.

Part of Brandon wondered what happened to Jamie to have triggered his development of DID. The scars on the Beta's hands were already one of the undoubtedly many small clues, if Brandon dared to look further into the situation.

Bile burned his throat, eyes widening for a split second before Brandon forced his features back to neutral. A shiver ran over his spine as a niggling thought bit as his mind, as there were only a few reasons as to why Jamie was so aggressive at finding anyone in their bedroom.

Suddenly, the mouthful of eggs was rubbery and  tasteless, hard to swallow past the bile that burned his gullet. Realization of what had very likely happened to Jamie... to Sean in their troubled past.