Dumbstruck

Chapter 22

Chapter dedicated to Crazy_freak_15 for being so sweet and giving me motivation to continue the story 😘

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"Tyvvah, you have to stop. You've been doing this for the past weeks now. If you carry on, you're muscles will breakdown and you're going to hurt yourself!" Kat said, standing in front of me.

Ignoring her, yet again, I carried on doing push ups. I need to do this. I have to.

"Are you even listening?!" She screamed. "Tyvvah!"

Irritated, I pushed myself off the ground and walked towards where the weights were placed. Laying down on the chair, I gripped both sides of the barbell.

"Tyvvah, you're only going to hurt yourself." Kat said softly.

Staring at the barbell, I thought about what happened. The way Oscar looked at me. The way the boys looked at me. They way their eyes held terror. But the way Olly looked at me.

There was something in the way he looked at me. He wasn't terrified like the others. Though he was a bit frightened, but not terrified.

Suddenly the weight was lifted off of me while I was being pulled up.

"What do you think you're doing?" Johan asked softly.

"Working out." I said, avoiding eye contact.

Arms suddenly surrounded me.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Hugging you."

To my surprise, I welcomed the hug. I felt like a weight has been lifted from my chest. I guess that's what being in the arms of your big brother feels like.It Johan and I never hugged. Well, not like this I mean. There are times I hug him when he comes home, I always greet him with a hug. Times when we send him to the airport, and times when I just hug him simply because I want to.

But this hug is different. It feels different too. It's the kind of hug, that sort of relieves the stress you're feeling. Takes away your worries. A comforting kind of hug.

"I like this hug." I said quietly which caused him to chuckle.

We stayed like that for a while, wrapped in this comforting zone called "in the arms of my brother". Basically, my brother is my comfort zone.

"So," he said as he pulled away. "What's going on inside that whirlwind of a mind of yours."

"I could've broken his hand." Looking up and meeting his eyes, he stated at me with worry. "I could've broken his arm, Johan. I could've hurt him badly."

"But you didn't. That's the only thing that matters." He smiled assuringly.

I opened my mouth, about to protest. "Yes, you could've broken his arm. Yes, you could've injured him badly. But you didn't. Okay?"

Frowning, I looked at the ground. Unconvinced even though he's trying his best to make me feel better.

"Listen, you didn't hurt him."

"But I scared him. I scared the three of them."

"Three?" He looked at me curiously.

"Yeah, three. Olly had a different look in his eyes. He wasn't as scared as the others were. I couldn't read the emotion he held, but it's like..." I trailed off.

"Like what?"

"Like...I don't know." I shook my head.

"Okay." Johan said

"Okay?" I crooked an eye. "Well, there's no use asking you since you already said you don't know." He shrugged innocently.

The car ride back to TFC's house was quiet. Not the awkward kind of quiet, but the calming, comfortable one where the both of us just enjoy the peaceful environment, though it's just in the car. I don't know how I managed to fall asleep, but when Johan woke me up, I immediately ran inside the house and apologized to Oscar, tackling him with a hug.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" My voice muffled.

"Whoooa!" Oscar said, surprised before hugging me back.

"I'm so sorry for almost breaking your hand! I swear it won't happen again. Ever!" I said, still hugging him with my eyes closed.

"Nej, it's okay." He chuckled. "I shouldn't have startled you like that."

"I shouldn't have held your hand that tight to the point of almost breaking it." I said, hugging him tighter. "Jag är ledsen. Jag är så ledsen."