𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐂, 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘰𝘯ᴬᵁ

[ 030 ] - It All Fell Down.

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Trigger Warnings for this chapter -
Implied child death, Implied murder, depression, ptsd, implied the grabber, survivors guilt, implied eating disorder..

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"Do not start calling our group that, that's a horrible name" Steve spoke in slight discomfort.

All five boys fell silent for a moment in response to Steve's words, all clearly somewhat surprised by the statement.

After a long moment though, Billy was the first to speak, his tone soft but confused as he pointed out quietly, "Finney.. That's what we are though, isn't it? we're Grabber kids. We were all taken by that fucking monster"

"Yeah.. but I don't want it to like.. define us, you know?" Steve asked slowly, focusing on trying to get his words out correctly.

The boys fell silent for a moment, thinking about that and then Griffin was the first to speak, "Finn, do you not want to be a Grabber kid?"

"I do, I mean.. I want to be in the group with you all, just.. not that name, not his name.." Steve explained quietly, even the thought of that person was already setting back into Steve's mind as he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in.

All five boys suddenly look completely heartbroken now at that, all of them going utterly silent for a moment as they digested the words, they all completely understood Steve's reasoning.

They all knew that saying that name, associating with the word that place and that man could bring up some upsetting memories and none of the boys would ever want Steve to be uncomfortable, let alone traumatized..

or by each other either for that matter.

After a long moment, Griffin suddenly spoke up, his tone soft and quiet now, "I can't believe we never thought of that..", Billy then spoke up quietly, "Finney.. can- can you ever forgive me?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it" Steve says with a chuckle making the boys suddenly freeze in place at Steve's laugh. They all looked utterly devastated, utterly heartbroken as they heard Finney laugh...

None of them spoke, but their looks clearly said what they were thinking- that they would never be okay with Finney brushing off their mistakes, that they wouldn't be okay with Steve just forgiving and forgetting, even though he clearly thought what they'd done was okay..

Robin immediately shook his head at that, immediately rejecting the idea, the other four boys quickly nodded in agreement, all five boys all looking up at him with desperately pleading expressions as robin said urgently, "Cariño. No way. Do not forgive us. We don't deserve it. You deserve better. We should've realized how this would make you feel, just because we're comfortable enough now to call our group that doesn't automatically make you okay with it.. we're horrible friends.."

"I'm not the only one who went through that stuff, you know. If you guys are okay then I will be okay too" Steve spoke quietly as he looked at them all looking back at him as they all suddenly went silent at that, all of them staring at Steve in horrified silence, completely utterly shocked at the casual way Steve had just brushed it off.

It was just so casual, it was like he thought it didn't matter, like he didn't think the boys cared or they didn't care enough about him for it to be an issue that he'd gone though it as well and that was horrifying to them for several reasons...

All of them suddenly felt utterly horrified at the idea of Steve feeling that way, none of them wanted that, especially from their Finney... none of them wanted a world where he felt less loved than any of them.

None of them wanted their Finn to be unhappy or feel unloved.

All five boys suddenly wrapped their arms around him again, shifting to hug Steve even tighter than before, all completely clinging to him as they didn't speak, but their actions made it clear how they were feeling,

this needed to end, right now.

"Jesus, you're all clingy shits" Steve says and chuckles but they just completely ignore his interjection, just clinging tighter to him.

All five boys refused to let their grip loosen and Robin started softly speaking to Steve in quiet voice, "you're not getting out of these cuddles any time soon, Finn. You're stuck with us forever, Cariño"

"Well, I will be in, what.. four hours? When I have to go to school but for now, sure" Steve spoke as he looked over at the living room clock.

After a moment of whispered discussion amongst themselves, that Steve opted to ignore, they finally spoke up to him again, Bruce spoke this time, "Finn, how much have you been eating..?"

".. we'll, you said you've watched me for four years so shouldn't you know that by now?" Steve asked, not wanting to talk about it anymore.

All five boys were quiet for a moment in response to that, all seeming to silently reflect on their own observations and then Vance spoke, his usual sarcasm was gone and replaced with concern, "Finney Blake, I swear to fuck, when was the last time you actually ate a full meal?"

Steve looked up at them guilty but didn't dare say anything and that seemed to be all the answer the boys needed- if he was looking that guilty just being asked the question, then it meant it had been a very, very long time since Steve had last actually eaten a full meal.

The five boys all went quiet, all of them going completely still and silent as those words sank in.

They'd been watching him for years..

if it'd been that long, how bad was it?

Steve muttered out the answer they were dreading, "Since.. before that basement.."