𝙡𝙫𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙮 ; TAMAKI SUOH

[promise well kept]

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"What about this bone? Is this one broken?" He playfully squeezed her right arm causing a string of laughs to fall out. Not broken, he thought to himself.

This was the easiest way of checking her body for injuries without any doctors. "What about..." He looked around and squeezed her left leg gently. A small wince alerted him but he kept a small smile on.

"Do you need an ambulance?!" He faked a shriek and she laughed once more.

"No!"

"Yep, I think you do!" He reached over and grabbed a banana that was originally going to be a late-night snack but had now turned into a telephone. "9-1-1 I think we have a little girl with a broken leg."

"I don't, I swear!" She quickly grabbed the banana out of his hand and dialled a random number on the brown spots. "1-9-1?" She asked into the fruit. He laughed silently as she got the number wrong. "I'm okay! No ambulance needed!"

"If you say soooo~" He took the banana out of her hand and helped her back into bed. "Alright, Erin, good-"

"Why did you move here?" She questioned, looking over at him with pleading eyes. He was taken aback by the sudden question but figured it was only a matter of time.

"Well, one day you're going to move out too. To your own house-"

"Will it be big?"

"It'll be giant!"

Let her have her fantasies... just for a little longer...

"And maybe you'll get a boyfriend or a girlfriend - maybe even get married-" And once again he was cut off.

"Boys are gross. I wanna marry a girl!"

"You can marry whoever you want." He hummed and watched as her eyes twinkled in delight.

"Even the twins-"

"Not the twins." He deadpanned and she laughed while snuggling further into his shirt. He gently rubbed circles on her back and continued talking. "You'll grow up and have your own family or maybe travel all across the world! But you know what?"

"What?" She popped her head up. He grazed his spare hand onto her head lightly.

"I'll always be here." He smiled.

"Pinkie promise?"

"Pinkie promise."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Goodnight, Erin." He hummed as he closed the door, making sure she was asleep. As he turned back around to his room he saw a familiar mop of blonde hair.

"What do you want, Suoh?" He grumbled in annoyance before leaning his body onto the doorframe.

"I...I don't know..."

"Look," He sighed, running a hand over his head. "I'm tired. It's been a long day and I honestly don't give two shits about what you have to say. So just-"

"Do you at least have one?"

"Do I have... one shit?" M/n snorted, from a bad joke or fatigue he didn't know.

"Well...yeah..."

There was a certain sense about Tamaki that almost made m/n want to pity him for the way he was acting. Dismissing his urge to crawl into bed, he latching his fingers around Tamaki's wrist and dragged him to a nearby table.

There was silence in the dimly lit room for a few moments before Tamaki spoke up. "Haruhi sent me. They said I should apologize."

"You should. You were a total asshole."

"But-!" He cut himself off, not wanting to disrupt anyone with his shouts. "Why did you take Erin instead of Haruhi?"

"I love Haruhi like family." M/n started while leaning back in his seat. E/c eyes trailed over the room as he continued. "But Haruhi has a family; they have you. Erin only has me. And I knew you were behind me, or at least someone was."

"Then let me ask you this: why are you so protective of her?"

"You really know how to push the right buttons, don't you, Suoh?" His laugh was so low it almost frightened the other male. He looked back at the closed door one last time before sighing. "Erin has a tumour in her brain."

Tamaki was expecting some half-assed reason like "I just am" not a brain tumour.

"It's the part of the brain that controls fear and anxiety and stuff. That's why she's always latched onto someone, she has separation anxiety." The further he explained the more confused Tamaki became. 

"You seem so... relaxed about everything.." His voice trailed off as his hand subconsciously leaned into the other male's hand.

M/n silently accepted the small gesture before returning his gaze to the wall. He hummed softly and wondered if he should keep going. The voice in his head urged him not to, it urged him not to let another person in because of the harm he could do. 

But his heart... 

His heart had another way of looking at things. 

"By the time she was diagnosed it was too late in the disease to stop anything." The weight of his words finally setting in on not only Tamaki but himself. No matter how much one could deny it, a tumor was a tumor and right now he was powerless.

"My parents didn't do much but it was at least enough to keep her alive until today." He knew this all before so why was it just now affecting him? Why was it sinking in now? Now of all times. 

Now, with him in front of a classmate, pouring his heart out. 

Why now?

"M/n?" A voice called with the addition of a small creak in the hinges. The older sibling quickly wiped the tears (that he just realized were there) and turned to the younger. 

Tamaki didn't know whether he should pity the male or look up to him for taking on such significant responsibilities. He simply watched as the two conversed about why she was awake at the late hour that it was. 

"I had a nightmare." She whined and his eyes softened. M/n slowly took her body into his arms and walked back into the guest bedroom. 

"Want to talk about it?" He inquired, tucking her back into bed with her stuffed animal. She gripped it tightly, afraid of what would happen if she let go. 

The brunette shook her head lightly and tugged on his sleeves, ushering him into the bed next to her. "Can you stay here tonight?" He smiled softly at the request and gave Tamaki one last glance before climbing into the small bed and hoping Erin would have nothing but the sweetest dreams. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

i based erin off of my little sis so this shit hits deep