Two Weeks Without Drew (Emblem3 Fanfiction)

Chapter 11

Day Eleven:

Wesley clicked through his inbox as he shrugged on his jacket, smiling at the fact that almost every single text was from Drew. The conversations they had were generally long but not in-depth, as they reserved that kind of thing for phone calls or skyping. But he still felt a little buzz of happiness every time he scrolled past a text that said I love you. It was still a new and exciting thing for them, and they tended to treat it like a shiny new toy, constantly saying it to each other as if to affirm that it was real and that they did indeed love one another.

He turned when Keaton tapped on the doorframe, grinning at his brother who was raising his eyebrows in question. "You ready to go?"

"Sure thing," Wesley tapped out a quick text (Heading off now, time to go kick some ass. Love you.) before slipping his phone into his pocket and grabbing his wallet. They made it to the front door before he stopped and grabbed Keaton's shoulder. "Let me see your arms first."

The light brunet frowned at him, drawing away and self consciously rubbing at his wrists. "Why?"

Wesley narrowed his eyes, taking in his brother's expression before looking down at the long sleeves coupled with a few bracelets and arm bands. They were inconspicuous to anyone who didn't know about the scars. "Because you watched me like a hawk throughout breakfast and lunch, and I just want to know that you're holding up your end of the deal. So let me see your arms."

Keaton pressed his lips together but did as he was told, pushing his sleeves up to his elbows and holding out his arms. Wesley pushed a few of the bracelets and armbands out of the way to make sure they weren't hiding anything, and was satisfied to see that none of the marks on his brother's skin were recent. Brushing a thumb along one of the scars, he smiled down at Keaton. "I'm proud of you."

The younger boy flushed and pulled away, tugging his sleeves down and rearranging his bracelets, avoiding eye contact. It seemed he was still awkward and embarrassed about his self harm problem. "Proud of you too. Can we go now?"

"Sure thing, Keat," Wesley pushed open the door and let his brother out first, glad to see that Kyle's car was waiting for them on the street outside their house. It was starting to get colder now and the wind was far too chilly for them to be waiting outside too long.

When they climbed into the car, Wesley grinned widely at Kyle and Kenny, who took up the driver and passenger seats, and then at Tracy, who was the girl who served them on his and Kyle's horror of a date. The Miner boy had ended up seeing her again and now they were dating, much to Drew's obvious amusement.

"Hey Wes, hey Keaton," Kyle greeted them, pulling out into traffic as soon as the doors were firmly closed. "You guys ready?"

"Sure," Wesley replied for the both of them, knowing Keaton wouldn't answer anyway. "I still feel a little bad about performing without Drew, though."

"Relax," Kenny chimed, twisting in his seat to fix Wesley with a huge grin and somehow the brunet thought the other teen might be high. "He'll perform with us as soon as he gets back and then we'll be even better!"

He clapped his hands together and made a 'pow!' noise as he turned back around, causing Kyle to glance over at him worriedly before looking back at the road. "Kenny, did you smoke something before I picked you up? You know you shouldn't be doing that shit, especially not today."

"I'm not drugged up!" the other boy protested glumly, smile fading. "God, I can't even be a little weird without you guys thinking I'm high as a fucking kite."

Keaton snorted quietly from the middle of the backseat. Tracy said nothing, staring out the window and ignoring all of them. Wesley took the opportunity to pull out his phone, smiling to see he'd gotten a reply from Drew.