The Price Of Love

Chapter 38

Jay's POV

I stare in the mirror, adjusting my tie.

Dressed in an all-black suit, the only colour I wore was the little daisy pin pinned to my suit jacket.

Owen loved daisies.

I fix my tie for the millionth time, a nerve habit I'm well aware I have.

The funeral starts in twenty minutes.

Although, it doesn't matter if we're late. It's happening in our back garden.

Rubbing my eyes, I groan into my hands, regretting staying up all night. But I couldn't possibly be expected to sleep.

Yesterday was the first time in six months I got to see my siblings. So last night, while they all lay fast asleep in my bed, I just watched them sleep. I needed time to take in the fact that they're okay.

I took last night to bask in the sight of them all alive, safe, and peacefully asleep. Well..most of them.

I clear my throat, staring at my tie, making sure it's straight.

It was around two a.m. when Sage woke up hyperventilating.

It was all a mess- we were surrounded by bodies on both sides, literally boxing us in. I tried to help him calm down, but it wasn't working since he was too concentrated on not waking the others up instead of focusing on breathing.

I had to hand Charlotte to Sage, then pick up Clayton, just to climb over Elijah. Sage followed, leaving Charlotte lying beside Alex.

While he left in a rush, Clayton woke up in my arms, also panicking when he forgot where he was, and who was carrying him in the dark.

So after I called him down, I put him back down, told him to sleep, and ran out after Sage.

I found him slumped down on the floor right outside my bedroom, his back leaning against the wall while he held his head in his hands, trying to calm down.

We sat out there for a while, even after he calmed down. We didn't talk- didn't do anything. I just sat with him while he got lost in his head.

He didn't want to go back to sleep after that, but he looked exhausted so you bet your ass I made him.

He got a few more hours while I spent hours researching sleeping pills, ways to help prevent nightmares and breathing techniques for when they do happen.

While I was researching how to help Sage, that was when Clayton shot awake. Mid-panic attack.

He was staring at our brothers, and it only seemed to be making it worse. It made him more fucking scared. So like before, I picked him up and carried him out while he thrashed in my arms, not at all happy to be near me.

Once outside, I held him while he punched and kicked at me, trying to get away from me, before he finally broke down, sobbing into my chest, while I tried to understand what was going on.

He then cried himself back to sleep, and I put him back to bed.

Just a normal morning in the Hendrix House.

"Jay.." I turn, seeing Elijah standing in the open doorway of my room. I shoot him a smile. "Do you know how to tie a tie?" He asks me quietly, and I nod. "I do".

Elijah then drags a scowling Ezra in. "I can do it Elijah" He mutters while Elijah pulls him over to me. "You're going to kill yourself" He scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest as they stop in front of me.

I smile, amused by the two as I grab the tie around Ezra's neck and begin to tie it, before doing Elijah's as well.

"We're leaving now. Why don't you wait downstairs? I'll go rally up the rest of the herd" I say, making them both snicker quietly.