War

Chapter Forty-Seven

A/N - look who's back 🫶🏾🫶🏾

TW - mention of self harm this chapter

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Marco
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My life had felt like a similar cycle for almost twenty nine years.

Protect.

Worry.

Fight.

Protect.

Worry about Ezekiel.

Worry about Elijah.

Worry about Emiliano, then repeat.

Today was no different, and I was back to being terrified for the brother who terrified me the most.

Ezekiel, despite how much I believed was on the road to recovery, was improving, had issues that threatened to rise to the surface at any given moment- it was my fault for assuming he was better, or getting there at least.

"He's in bed, won't talk to me", Eli stalked into the kitchen with an unsettled expression on his face, "he looks fucking vacant, Marco, like I'm staring at a corpse". It had been eleven days since Aniyah's baby shower, and about seven days since Ezekiel had shown his face somewhere that wasn't his bedroom.

It was these moments where depression snatched my brother from right under our feet, made him a shell of the person he usually was, debilitated him- and there was nothing I could do to help, to make it easier for him.

"Is there anything we can do? When he gets like this?", Aniyah asked, rubbing her stomach slowly, "I feel so helpless".

Her and I both.

"Not really", Eli dragged his fingers through his hair and exhaled harshly, "he doesn't talk, doesn't move- he's completely shut down".

"So he's depressed? This is a depressive episode?", she turned to me specifically and I nodded slowly, clenching my jaw before sipping my peppermint tea.

"Not diagnosed", I told her, "he refuses to get help, and I thought he was getting better- you saw how happy he was the other day at your baby shower".

"He's never better, he's probably the best at hiding shit out of all of us", Eli muttered, "I'm gonna-,". He was cut off by the sound of the door knocking, a frown covering his face as he moved towards it; I stayed put in the kitchen but hovered in the doorway, my interest spiking when a familiar bleached buzz cut filled my vision.

"Lex", Eli's voice had Aniyah frowning, mouthing her best friend's name to me. I nodded, pushing off the doorframe when my wife's best friend walked into the kitchen...holding a box of chocolates.

"Niy", the man smiled warmly, my wife moving towards him and hugging him gently, my eyes narrowed when he pressed a brief kiss to her forehead, "Marco".

"Alexius", I nodded once, watching Aniyah step back and approach me, her arm sliding around my waist instantly, "what brings you here?".