Our little brother

Chapter 52

No one's POV:

Atlas brings Noah a bowl with noodles, "yummy!" he says immediately picking out a noodle with his hands and slurping it into his mouth. "I didn't add any sauce because it'll be too messy to eat here, but if you want you can eat some plain pasta here and eat some with the sauce later at the table." He tells Noah, who nods, deciding to share his noodles with Reid, since he didn't eat at the table either. Hunter let's both Noah and Reid know that he'll be right back, but Reid doesn't let go, still not wanting to be far from him right now.

Nicholas POV:

That went terrible, as expected. When I finish eating, I go to check on Reid again, and hear Hunter saying he'll be back. Reid however doesn't let go, giving him a pleading look. "I'll stay, he'll be back in a few minutes right?" I say, startling Reid. Hunter kneels down and whispers something to Reid who reluctantly let's go, and immediately looks anxious as fuck as soon as Hunter leaves the room. I slowly walk over to him, and see the tears forming in his eyes.

Noah watches me closely as I gently pull Reid into a hug. Settling into the spot that Hunter was sitting in, Reid curls into me and his eyes begin to droop. "H-have be gen-tle." Noah tells me quietly and I nod. He nods back and then looks at Reid. "Nicky n-no hurt. N-noah keep s-safe o-kay?" He whispers and the guilt comes back the second he says that. I fucked up so badly that he thinks I'm not only going to hurt him, but Reid too. I don't say anything, because even if I did, it wouldn't mean anything to either of them.

Hunters POV:

I splash water on my face and then watch it drip off in the mirror. I try to think of how mom and dad would've dealt with this, but then I think of how this would've never happened if they were still here. Wiping my face, I decide to check in on Sebastian, he's probably quarantining himself in his room. I text Atlas to bring me up a plate of plain noodles to give him to eat. Todays an orange fruit/vegetable day, so I text him again to grab a tangerine and bring it up too.

Instead of Atlas, Liam brings up the food. "This family just as crazy as you remember it?" I ask and he laughs. "I'm gonna say it's crazier, but only because you're raising 4 teenagers, and a 12 year old." He says and I sigh. "They'd know how to handle this, they knew how to handle everything." I say. "You know it too, after all you learned it from them." He says resting a hand in my shoulder. "Thanks for being here." I say.

I knock on Sebastian's door and call out for him. He slowly opens the door. "Would you like me to stay out here while we talk?" I ask him, in case he wanted or needed the space. "Please." He says in a pleading tone. "Please talk, about literally anything." He says when I don't start talking immediately. "Dinner was shit show." I say and I manage to get him to crack a smile. "I heard the doors slamming, and their stomping footsteps, so I imagine it didn't go well. Was it Nick?" He says. He's distracting himself, but I'll go with it for now.

"Yeah, him being here doesn't really sit well with them. How do you feel about it?" I ask wanting to hear his perspective, it's usually the most logical. He stops making eye contact, a sign he's about to lie. "This is his home as much as it is ours. I don't mind that he's back, but I'm not happy with how he's handled himself lately." He says before making eye contact again. "Right, well I know they're still angry about what happened between him and Reid. On top of that, Noah and Sophie and—" I say but he cracks. "Tell me you're not gonna allow her here just because he's home? You know what, get Sarah. She'll tell us what happened when they were away to make Sophie act like an absolute fucking nightmare." He says, and I'm speechless. "Language?" Is all I manage to say before processing what he actually said.

I— uh sorry? Sorry, I'm sorry, I—" he starts but sighs. "She's just, she's not always this crazy. She's tolerable, and even loveable most of the time, but then there are times when she's done something wrong and goes absolutely batshit crazy, like now. So what did she do?" He says and then apologizes for the language. "Honestly, I don't know. She's not allowed here still even though he's back, and I actually will be asking Sarah, if she doesn't know then I'll ask Sophie herself. If she wants to be welcomed here again she can tell me what's going on, if not, she's gonna have a rude awakening." I say and he nods. "Good. I'm fine by the way, I just—, I need to clean my room." He says and I nod, asking if he needs any cleaning supplies from downstairs. He says no and I let him know I'll check on him in a bit, and to eat the food before I get back.