I'm Not Leaving You

Part 7

DOM'S POV

When Brian finishes his chocolate, I wet a napkin with my water and wipe the chocolate off of Brian's face. Vince laughs as he points to Brian's nose, which somehow has chocolate on it. I chuckle as I scrub at Brian's nose. After I get all the chocolate off Brian's face, I smile as he rubs his nose.

"Did I rub too hard?" I ask, brushing his hair from his face.

"Maybe a little on my nose," he says, still rubbing. I grab his hand to stop him from rubbing.

"If you keep rubbing it, you'll look like Rudolf," Vince says, laughing.

"It's a Christmas cartoon," I say when Brian looks confused.

"It's about a reindeer that has a red nose," Vince says, frowning.

"I've never seen it," Brian says, looking between us.

"We always watch it on Christmas Eve before we all go to bed," I say, running my fingers through his hair.

"Oh," he says, suddenly looking at his lap. Vince and I trade glances as I try to get him to look back up.

"What is wrong, Bri?" I ask, getting him to look at me.

"I'm not allowed to be a part of Christmas," he says, which makes me mad.

"Damn it," Vince yells suddenly, which makes Brian flinch. When Vince slams his fist against the table, Brian bolts out of his seat and up the tree close to the table. Vince and I both exchange shocked looks at how fast he got up the tree.

"Bri, please come down," I say, getting up and going over to the tree when I see everyone from inside come running out.

"Is everything ok?" Leon asks, running over to stand beside Vince. Vince gets up and slowly walks over to stand beside me.

"Brian, please come back down," Vince says as everyone walks over to stand by the table, so they can see what is going on but aren't too close.

"Why is he up a tree?" Jesse asks, sitting at the table.

"I may have gotten mad and scared him," Vince says, walking over to the group and helping Mia sit down.

"Why are you mad?" Hector asks, looking up at Brian in the tree when he shifts. I panic when I hear the branch groan.

"Bri, please come down," I say as Vince explains what happened.

"You're pulling our chain, bro," Edwin says when Vince is done.

"I wish he was," I say, keeping an eye on Brian.

"How could someone treat him like that?" someone from Hector's pack says.

"No idea," Vince says, frowning as he looked off into the distance. I glance over at him to see Mia grab his hand and tug him down to sit next to her.

"Brian, I know you don't know us, but we really would like to get to know you. Can you please come down?" Letty says, walking over to the tree. When Brian shakes his head no, Letty shrugs before climbing up into the tree, getting close to Brian but not too close.

"Be careful, Let," Leon says, walking over.

"He won't come down, so I'm going to him," Letty said, moving closer to him. I can see Brian tense, which makes me move over so I am under where he is sitting.

"Don't go any closer, Let," I say when I see Brian tense and move like he's going to get up and move.

"Let, he said to not move any closer," Leon says when Letty doesn't stop moving. Brian moves again and I panic.

"Bri, don't move," I shout, seeing the whole branch move. Vince is beside me in a heartbeat.

"That branch is about to break," Vince says, looking up at the branch.

"Brian, will you please come back down to the ground with me?" Letty asks, stopping a few branches down from Brian.

"I can't," Brian says, glancing at Vince but keeping an eye on Letty.

"Why can't you?" Letty asks, glancing down at us.

"I made him mad," Brian replies, glancing at Vince again.

"No one is mad at you, Brian," Letty says, looking down at Vince.

"Brian, I swear to you that I am not mad at you," Vince says, stepping closer to the tree, which makes Brian move again.

"You yelled," Brian says, looking down at us.

"I yelled because I hate the way your father treated you. No one should ever be treated the way you were. Please, come down, Brian, and I swear I will never yell at you," Vince says, which surprises me at how kind and gentle he is with Brian.

"You won't?" Brian asks hope shining in his eyes.

"None of us will, Bri," I say, smiling up at him.

"Unless you do something extremely stupid that scares the shit out of us," Leon says, which makes me panic until I see Brian smile and nod.

"Be very careful as you move," Letty says, moving right below Brian. Brian shifts to get down and the branch snaps.

"Bri," I yell as he starts to fall. Letty tries to grab him but ends up slipping and falling as well. We all rush forward to break their fall. Vince and I manage to catch Brian while Leon and Hector catch Letty.

"Are you guys ok?" Jesse asks, rushing to Letty and Leon.

"I'm fine," Letty says, shaking but holding tightly to Leon as he stands her up. I keep my arms firmly around Brian as I stand him up.

"Bri?" I ask, cupping his face with my hands.

"The branch scraped my arm," he says, holding his left arm close to his chest.

"Let me see," I say, quickly letting go of his face. I gasp to see his arm covered in blood.

"You seem to be very clumsy," Mia says, walking over with a water bottle. I pour it over his arm and use my shirt to wipe the blood off.

"Your shirt," Brian says, frowning.

"It's fine, Bri," I say, relaxing when I see his skin is already healing.

"I'm sorry," he says, looking down at the ground.

"It's not your fault," Letty said, smiling from her place between Jesse and Leon. I smile and pull Brian against me when he smiles.