The Cons Of Being Me {TEAM CRAFTED} (ON HOLD)

chapter 7

"I hate you!" Adam's arms were crossed, and the seven-year-old glared daggers at his twin brother, who was mirroring his pose as the pair fumed in one another's general directions. Adam's cheeks were wet with tears as he held the snapped halves of his father's sunglasses in his right hand.

Before Tyler could manage to spit a response back at him, their father appeared, dressed in the achingly familiar camouflage. He knelt down between the two quarreling siblings and put a hand on their shoulders.

"Hey, hey." He gave each a pointed look, before his gaze shifted back to Adam. "Hates a strong word there buddy; what seems to be the problem?"

Slowly, Adam lowered his arms, hands still clenched as the anger in his gaze faded to a sad look, and he couldn't help but to sniffle a little as he raised the hand holding the halves of the glasses. "T-Tyler stepped on the g-glasses you gave m-me." Adam paused a few times throughout his sentence, a few new tears slipping down his cheeks.

"It was an accident!" Tyler piped up, trying to defend himself, however his father quickly shushed him. The man didn't look mad. Instead, he just carefully took the glasses from Adam's small hands, before rustling the little boy's mildly curly hair.

"Why don't I show you boys something?" He suggested, looking between his two sons. Their mother stood in the doorway, holding the youngest son of the family, who slumbered lazily in her arms while she watched the scene before her unfold.

Tyler nodded slowly, and Adam did too, still wiping tears from his eyes. Their father motioned for them to stay there, before straightening and exiting the room. There was a bit of rustling from the kitchen, before a moment of silence. After, their father reappeared, a roll of cheap tape in his other hand.

The twins didn't look at one another as their father kneeled down in front of them again, motioning now for them to come closer. Clearing his throat, he looked between his two sons, before his gaze returned to the glasses and the tape.

"Watch this." He instructed, before he set the two halves of the glasses on the floor. He began to pull away some of the tape, before using his teeth to rip it. After that, he picked up the two halves, and held one up to each of her sons. "Here." Both boys were rather confused, their seven-year-olds minds struggling to understand what their father was doing. Still, each twin took one half. Then, their father guided their hands until the two halves met where they'd broken, and he began to tape it while Adam and Tyler held it together.

When he was done, he carefully took the glasses from both boys, before handing them back to Adam, fixed. "There, look at that. Fixed; and we did it together." Their father looked satisfied, but neither boy looked at the other, and Mr. Dahlberg's half smile faded into a frown.

"Come here." He grunted, before moving into a sitting position and motioning for each twin to sit beside him. Adam quickly joined him, though Tyler hesitated slightly. Still, he too sat, and their father leaned in a little. "I know you guys are mad at each other right now," he paused, noting how Adam still wasn't looking at Tyler, and he had the glasses carefully grasped in his hand, "but you can't let little things like this get in the way of your relationship okay?" He waited for both Adam and Tyler to look at him and nod before continuing. "Because you know what? You two are going to be together forever. You're stuck with each other." Finally, the two twins began to glance towards one another again. "Even when Daddy and Mommy aren't here anymore, you're going to have each other. That's what having a twin is all about. You've got someone to watch your back, and you've got yourself a best friend practically attached at the hip. You're always going to be alongside each other, and there's nothing that could stop the two of you from being together."

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Sky stood frozen, unable to move, as he stared at a dead man.

He didn't know what to do, what to say. He only had one coherent thought.

How?

Suddenly, Sky found himself having difficulty breathing, and for a moment he thought he might pass out again. Rather quickly, he found himself unable to hold back the tears he had felt coming on before and he swayed slightly as his cheeks began to wet.

Tyler's eyes were wide, and he seemed to be holding back tears himself.

Ty, the poor boy, had no idea what was really going on. Still, he didn't want to leave. Whatever was going on here, he needed to see.

Finally, Sky forced himself to speak, trying to break the silence that had fallen over them.

"Tyl-"

"Where the hell did you go? Why did you leave?" Tyler cut him off, fists now clenched and anger and pain flashing in his eyes. A few tears ran down his face as he glared back at Sky.

"Tyler I..." Sky found himself unable to respond. What was he supposed to say?

Then it hit him. If Tyler had still been alive when he left, then what if someone else was too. Maybe not Ant or Alesa, but what if his mother had been alive? Maybe if he had just stayed... maybe if he'd tried to stop the bleeding...

Sky stumbled a little as the weight of that thought practically smacked him in the face; and Ty, despite the size difference, jumped forward to catch him, thinking he was about to fall.

Tears fell more freely down Sky's face and his breath began to quicken. His chest tightened and his eyes glazed over a little in panic.

Sky—Adam—had planned for practically everything that could happen. Every possible contingency.

Everything except this; and now he was having a full blown panic attack. He could feel himself shaking, and his vision began to darken as dizziness began to overtake him. He felt hot, unnaturally so considering how he'd been fine moments before. His legs were trembling, and his knees began to give out.

He barely heard the footsteps running towards him, Tyler's voice muffled when he shouted.

"Get the nurse!" He was speaking to who Sky could only assume was Ty, if the other boy was even still there.

He heard footsteps echo throughout the hall as the other boy raced off. Someone grabbed Sky under the arms, trying their best to hold him up.

"Come on Adam." Tyler grunted, starting to have difficulty holding him as Sky's legs completely gave out on him. Tyler nearly dropped him, but managed to catch himself on his knees, letting out a pained hiss as he tried to keep Sky's from hitting the floor.

Sky barely heard the footsteps or Jason's startled gasp when he saw the scene laid out before him.

"Sky!"

After a few seconds, Sky found himself unable to hear anything; to see, to move. He was numb.

Without another thought, he let his eyes drift shut, just as the nurse ran down the hall towards them.

———

Sorry for the wait, I got super busy all of a sudden.
Also, just to clarify:
Adam's dad is German (Dahlberg is a German last name). His dad is also a soldier in the army.
Adam's mother was born in Mexico, however after meeting Adam's dad, the pair moved to New Mexico.
Sorry if that deviates from what SunmayTheScattered originally said, I just think it makes sense.
Hope that's alright!