In Our Heads

Chapter 46

*****

It was dark outside, and from what Theodore could tell, seven-thirty was later than usual for Cassian's family to eat dinner.

He had told them not to wait for him because he spent quite a while at the hospital, but they waited anyway. Now everyone sat at the dinner table eating while he listened to Cassian's parents ask about school and a meeting coming up soon that their son had to attend. They never stopped talking to him about work.

It made Theodore feel bad about what he had said to Cassian during their fight again... He was clearly running on empty, and his parents seemed to refuse to see that.

Theodore wasn't paying too much attention to the conversation, only hearing bits of it and eating absentmindedly while he thought about the exam schedule Cassian had shown him.

He had been trying to catch up with schoolwork. It was a good distraction because every day that went past made it harder for him to convince himself that Zion was going to be okay, at least working allowed him to partially ignore those thoughts and worry.

Most of the time he spent at the hospital ended with him trying to will Zion's eyes open by begging him to wake up while assuring him that everything would be okay. Other times he just repeated stories Zion liked hearing or reading before bed when he was awake.

"So... how do you feel about returning to school on Monday?"

Theodore stopped chewing, lifting his eyes from his plate to three faces around the table staring back at him.

"Um..." he drifted before nodding, "I'm okay with that."

He wasn't too excited about being surrounded by all the people and noise, and also having to wait eight hours before seeing his brother for the day, but he figured he would have to go back eventually. It had already been three weeks.

"Are you sure?"

Theodore looked at Cassian who watched him, concerned. It was... comforting... knowing that he was genuinely so worried. It was concerning seeing that his plate had lost barely any of its contents while the rest of the table was pretty much cleared.

"Yeah. Have to go back; exams are in a couple of weeks. No offence, but I can't trust your notes, considering that you're still trying to keep your spot. You'll probably sabotage me with the wrong information." He smirked at the immediate, offended scoff that came from Cassian.

"Pfft. I will keep my spot, and I don't need to sabotage you because you'll do that to yourself by making notes that aren't even legible."

"They're legible to me which is good enough."

"Probably not even notes, just demonic scripts."

"They might be," Theodore said seriously.

It made Cassian narrow his eyes as his parents laughed.

"Well, Theo. You can go to school and if it's... too much, just give Jonathan a call and he'll pick you up."

Theodore smiled looking over at Cassian's mother – or Charlotte as she had asked him to address her.

"Thank you. I think I'll be alright though. But if something happens with Zion –"

"We'll call you, of course."

He nodded looking back at his plate, his jaw tight as he wondered whether to thank them for all their help again. He did not want to become annoying, and they had said quite a few times that he didn't have to keep thanking them, but it felt odd not to.

The conversation continued without him again as he finished the rest of his food in silence while they continued to discuss their son's schedule for the next few days.