This Should Feel Something Like Fire.

You're Thinking About the Past Again.

Vic's POV

Pulling my heart out of my chest and stomping on it in metal cleats would be less painful then hearing that sentence. My little brother could not hurt himself. Please no. I was dumbstruck, unable to speak. I sat up on my bed and dropped my face into shaking hands. "W-What?" Was the only thing I could say.

The bed dipped as Alex sat down beside me, patting my back in a comforting way. "I'm sorry I had to be the one to tell you. You needed to know though." Alex's voice is strained, almost as if he was about to cry too.

"I understand. Thank you for telling me. How'd you find out?"

"This morning when we were headed out to the car. Mike was drowsy and didn't really realize what he was doing. He accidentally pulled his sleeve up and I saw."

"Wow. I...I can't believe it."

"I don't want to upset you anymore, but Vic, they looked fresh. Like, less than a day old." That was when it hit me. He asked for alone time in the bathroom and when he came out wearing a loose hoodie. This was because of me.

"Oh my god." I couldn't control the tears spilling down my face. I was shaking uncontrollably. Within seconds I was full-on sobbing. I couldn't even find it in me to be able to hold myself up. I collapsed to the ground and Alex followed suit, sitting down beside me in between the two twin beds. He stayed silent as I sobbed, only rubbing my back for comfort. "It's my fault, it's my fucking fault." I choked out between gasping for air.

"No, it's not. Mike did this to himself. Don't you dare start blaming yourself for that." Alex commanded forcefully.

"But the reason he did it was because he knew I would die."

"But that wasn't the first time he did it. Sure, some of them were fresh, but there were tons of scars underneath them. He's been doing this to himself for awhile, Vic. It's not your fault; you have to believe me." Alex looked me straight in the eyes as he talked to me, and the sincerity in his eyes told me he believed it to be true.

"I don't know...I need to talk to him." I decided. Before I did something irrational, I had to hear his side. "Is there any way I can get some alone time with him?"

"Yeah. There's a small forest outside. I'll take Jack on a walk. Big tip for you: your partner is a huge romantic. That's just how water-powers are. Even if they don't admit it or act really shy about it, they love the big romantic gestures or even just a small picnic and a moonlight walk. I promise that being romantic will get you laid every time." He winked at me, and I could tell he was just trying to get me out of my foul mood, so I gave him a small smile, wiped the tear tracks from my eyes and sat on my bed, waiting for our food to arrive.

~~~~~

Our food arrived exactly half an hour after Jack and Mike left. We ate in tense silence. Mike was too wrapped up in his own world to notice, but Jack looked suspicious. Alex mouthed to him that he would explain later.

Directly after we finished eating, Alex pulled Jack close to him and whispered in his ears. His eyes widened as he understood the plan and stood up, pulling Alex with him to the door. "We'll be back in an hour." Was the only explanation given to us before they slammed the door behind them. Looking out the window, I saw Alex chase a giggling Jack into the forest before they disappeared from the view of our window.

Looking back at Mike, I saw he had barely touched his food. He was too busy fidgeting with his sleeves or playing on his phone. "Mikey?" I started, my voice weak. I had no idea how to talk to him about this.

He slowly lifted his face up, and I wondered how I never noticed how gaunt his face had gotten or how deeply pronounced the dark circles under his eyes had become. I guess they were more obvious now that I was looking for them. I had probably seen them before and just attributed them to busy schedules and dad being crazier than usual. "Yeah?" He almost whispered. He voice was still majorly hoarse.