The Double Life

Chapter nine

above: the Sivan-mellet family. from left to right- Shaun, troye, sage, laurelle, Steele, and tyde.

The words Shaun just spoke echo in my head as I look at Connor. he lets go of my hand and runs out. I tell Shaun I'm so sorry and chase after Connor. I find him sitting on a bench outside, Just looking at the sky. I go and sit next to him. he doesn't even flinch. he just starts to cry as I rub circles on his back. he looks at me and says

"W... Why..d-d-d-does this have to happen to him? to me? To his family? TELL ME FUCKING WHY" he says, yelling at the sky by the end. he goes from sad to angry. I take out my phone to call steele. he can come try to talk to Connor while I deal with tyde. shortly after I call him, he comes outside and holds out his hand to help Connor up. Connor takes it and goes with Steele to the Starbucks across the street. I head inside to talk to tyde.

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"Hi Tyde." I say, squatting down in front of him. sage is nowhere to be found, and Shaun and laurelle are watching me. I take Tydes hand and he looks at me. "want to come to my house and talk?" I ask. he nods gently and starts to cry silent tears. I hug him tightly as he stands up. he doesn't let go for about a minute. I let him have all the time he needs. I put my hand on his back and guide him out of the hospital and to my car. He gets in and I drive him Back to my house.

When we get there, I take him to the couch and we sit down. he sits there silently staring at a picture of Troye and I on my coffee table.

'"You can talk to me tyde. it's okay to talk about it. sometimes it helps." I say. he turns to look at me.

"Tell me your favorite things about my brother." he says. I look at him confusedly, wondering where this is going, but i start to talk.

"He makes any situation better just by being there. his sense of humor and smile can lighten any mood. he's always there for anyone at any time. he makes my best friend happy." I say, tearing up for the last bit. I can't believe he saved Connor.

Tyde looks at me with misty eyes and says "he can't do any of that anymore. he won't be there to prank me, to make me laugh, to make
Me food, to do things with me, or even to hold me when things go wrong and tell me everything will be okay. I'm gonna miss my brother so Damn much Natalie. who else am I gonna turn to?"

I contemplate what to say for a bit before answering.

"Tyde, you're a good kid. you know I'm always just a phone call away, and you still have sage and steele. so many people will be here for you. I know no one can replace troye, but just know people are here to do the things he did, just not as well as him. and you have enough memories with him to last a lifetime. god has a plan for everyone, and maybe Troyes plan is a bit shorter than everyone else's, but he still lived a great life."

"I just wish it didn't have to end so soon." tyde says, starting to cry harder now. "I can't live without my big brother.." he says, leaning his head on my shoulder. then his phone rings. it's shaun. troye woke up.

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"NATALIE HES GONNA BE OKAY HES GONNA BE FINE HES NOT GONNA DIE MY BOYFRIEND IS ALIVE." Connor yells, jumping into my arms as I walk into the hospital with a very happy tyde in tow. tyde runs into Troyes room while I hug connor. things are looking up.

"well let's go see him!" I say, smiling at connor. I'm so happy that Troyes going to be okay. As much as it hurts me to say this, Connor wouldn't be able to live with out him. I turn to walk into troyes room, but Connor grabs my
wrist. I turn to look at him.

"thank you, natalie. for always being here for me. I really needed someone who could handle me these past couple of days and you did amazing. thanks for calming me down and keeping me sane. I love you so much. thank you." Connor says, hugging me. I hug him back and we walk in to Troyes room. He's awake, but he has multiple iv's and a lot of cuts on his forehead and arms. he looks tired.

"hey troyeboy" I say, smiling at him.

"hey nat" he says in his cute little Australian accent. Troyes like a brother to me. we met when he moved in with his grandparents when he was 8. 9 years later, here we are. Connor goes up and hugs troye, and I can see troye wince. I'll have to hug him lightly. when Connor stands back up, I can see he was crying. happy tears this time, thank gosh. I don't know how many more tears I could handle. I go up and hug troye, more lightly than Connor. troye whispers a thank you to me for taking care of Connor. I smile and go sit next to tyde, who's sitting as close to troye as humanly possible. I'm glad everything's working out.

then I get a call.