Family

TWENTY-FOUR

When you starve yourself you feed your demons.

Present || Leonardo

A string of coughs left me as I gasped for breath. My chest tightened in fear upon seeing three of my brothers towering over me.

Giovanni sat next to me, his hands on my chest, his tensed body relaxing when we made eye contact. Alfonzo stood with a grim expression as Luca stared angrily at him.

"He can't swim you idiot," Luca scolded and smacked the back of his head.

Alfonzo scowled at him, "How was I supposed to know? It's not my fault he never learnt how to swim."

Giovanni flinched at his words and looked down at me with a sombre expression before his eyes went cold and his entire demeanour changed.

"Can you walk?" He stood up to his full height, narrowing his eyes at me.

Shakily, I stood up, water dripping down my body and I took a few steps forward before my legs collapsed on me.

Closing my eyes, I waited for the impact to come but instead was enveloped in a pair of familiar arms.

Giovanni glared at me, "Useless." He muttered.

He hooked his arms under my legs and lifted me into his hold, walking back into the house. My throat burned as more coughs left me and Giovanni's jaw clenched. His speed-walked towards my room, barging into the bathroom and gently lowering me onto the tiled-floor.

"Take a warm shower, I'll get you some warm clothes. You're to stay in bed until you're better. Understood?" His icy-blue eyes pierced into mine.

I coughed, nodding slightly.

"Good," He muttered before slamming my door closed.

Another cough bubbled in my throat as I stripped off my wet clothing and stood in the shower. The warm water rained down on me yet it did nothing to calm the fever brewing. My lip trembled, the memory of what they did to me resurfacing again.

Stepping out of the shower, I sneezed and reached for a towel, wrapping it around me before heading into my bedroom.

My body froze seeing Giovanni sitting down on my bed, his jaw still clenched tightly. Panicking internally, I hid my arms behind the towel and slowly inched back to the bathroom, hoping he didn't see me.

"Where are you going?" He glared at me and stood up.

I held myself back from flinching," N-Nowhere."

He tilted his head, a thin line forming on his lips," Change and then get into bed. I'll have soup sent up and some medicine."

My brows furrowed, was he trying to help me?

It's all just an act don't fall for it, a voice hissed.

I nodded and waited for him to leave but he stood still, analysing me with his eyes. Noticing my hesitance he sighed," I'm not leaving in case you faint, your body's going through shock."

His words surprised me, the person who pushed me down the stairs without a care was now worrying over my health. It really is just an act.

Slowly inching towards the clothes laid out on my bed, I picked them up with my back turned and walked towards my bathroom.

"Leo." His hard voice resonated throughout the room, sending shivers down my spine.

"Turn. Around."

Heavy footsteps walked towards me and forcefully turned me around. Another sneeze left me and I coughed, covering my mouth with my hand.

Giovanni's eyes hardened and he took hold of my hand, pulling it towards him and inspecting my arm, rather the cuts littering it.

"Did you do this?" His voice dropped, venom coating his tone.

My eyes were wide in terror, the clothes falling from my arms onto the floor. No this wasn't happening. This can't be happening.

My heart thumped harshly in my chest, each beatresounding like a loud drum further jolting my nerves. My chest tightened, tears welled in my eyes and I looked down in disgust. He's going to think I'm such a freak, what if he tells the others?

They'll send me away again. I can't I can't.

"I-I don't w-wanna go," I mumbled, digging my nails into my palm.

The walls started to cave in around me and it got harder to breathe by the minute. They're going to send me away, please no. Please.

"Please," I muttered over and over again.

"Leo!" A familiar voice shouted, shoving Giovanni away and hugging me tightly.

"You're okay," Alonzo whispered, gently stroking my hair.

My harsh breaths slowly came to a halt as he continued to whisper words of comfort into my ear. Somewhere in-between, he managed to change me, encasing my body with one of the oversized hoodies we had bought together. The towel lay  firmly wrapped against my lower half and he made no move to remove it.

"Leo," Alonzo called softly," You need to put on some trousers. Look we have some woollen ones here for you." He gave me a pained smile and handed the sweatpants over to me.

My hands clenched tightly on the material, a calmness overcame me as my fingers clasped the softness of the trousers. A small giggle escaped my lips as my fingers roamed over the fluffy material.

My head snapped up in worry but to my relief, Giovanni had left the room and it was just me and Alonzo. His back was facing me and I quickly changed into the sweatpants before climbing into bed.

Alonzo turned around at the sound of me fussing with the bedsheets and he gave me a small smile before climbing into bed with me.

Finding a comfortable position, I snuggled into his chest as he wrapped an arm around my head, I felt safe.

"I'm sorry Leo, dad called and I had to go. If only I'd known," His voice was quiet and he shut his eyes tight.

When he opened them, tears fell down his cheeks," I'm such a bad brother and your hurt again. Because of me," He whispered, his voice cracking.

"It's n-not your fault bubby," I whispered back, guilt creeping inside me. It wasn't his fault, he didn't know.

"Leo-"

I cut him off with a whine," Bubby p-please, n-not now."

"Fine," He sighed," After you've woken up we're going to have a long talk."

I nodded into his chest, my heart swelled when I felt a kiss being pressed to the crown of my forehead," I love you Leo. I'm going to try my best to protect you, I promise."

The tears had dried on his cheeks as he tightly hugged me, as if he was afraid I'd vanish any second. His warm embrace and the steady rhythm of his heartbeat gently lulled me to sleep. If only I knew what was awaiting for me in the land of dreams.

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