My Brother's Best Friend -VS- My Abusive Ex.

Chapter Twenty-Six

I lay there only a few seconds before Traeh came in. He didn’t bug me for an answer or make me talk or even talk to me. He just climbed up on the side of the bed that my good side was on and held me. I didn’t cry anymore after Aiden left. I think I ran out of tears with all of the crying I’d been doing recently. The ceiling suddenly became very interesting as I stared at it. I counted the tiles at least three times and make hundreds of shapes in my mind with the grooves on them. We had been lying there for quite some time before Traeh actually said anything. “He doesn’t deserve your love Case. No one deserves your love,” he whispered as if he had just realized he didn’t deserve it either. He got up from the bed and my heart ached. I don’t know why I did it but as he was walking out the door I yelled, “Wait Traeh!”

He turned around looking at the floor and avoiding my eyes. “I don’t deserve you Case, even if it’s only as I friend. I don’t even deserve that much.”

He turned around without letting me speak so I raised my voice and asked, “Do I deserve it then?” He turned and looked at me with that adorable face he made when he was confused. “Don’t I deserve your friendship? Don’t I deserve a normal relationship with someone that actually loves me? If you don’t deserve it, I definitely am way past not deserving it. Please don’t leave me Traeh,” I begged quietly.

“I wouldn’t dare,” he said coming back over to my bed. “We don’t have to talk about it any time soon but just remember what I said earlier. I love you Case.”

The door swung open and I wanted to scream in frustration. Did we have to be interrupted every time we were getting somewhere? Come on God, I thought to myself. Can’t you cut me some slack here?

When I saw it was my dad and brother I forgot about being angry and about what was going on with Traeh. I wanted to run over and jump in my dad’s arms and if I didn’t have needles attaching me to the beeping machine next to me I would’ve. “Oh,” my dad said relieved. “My baby girl’s okay!” He ran over to me and embraced me into a tight yet cautious hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I’d lost you.” I glanced over his should and looked at my brother. He looked awful. His hair was all over the place, sticking up in the strangest places. He had dark blue circles under his eyes from not sleeping, and they were red and swollen from what I could only guess was him crying. I understood immediately. My brother and I had been our only family besides Aiden and recently Traeh for so long that if I’d lost him I don’t think I’d make it. He meant the world to me, no matter how annoying or over-protective he’d been. He was my brother, basically my father, but he was also my best friend and I knew he was hurt.

“Can I talk to Eric alone,” I asked everyone, not taking my eyes off of him. Traeh and my father nodded and left the room quietly. We just sat there once the door was closed. We didn’t move at all, barely breathing in fear of it being weird or setting the other one off into tears. “Eric,” I whispered his name.

He sucked in a deep breath and I saw the first tear that I’d ever seen him cry roll down his face. He stood there like a stone as it rolled down his face, showing and proving that I was a weakness of his. I was his weakness, and we both knew it. He might’ve loved Kim, but the bond between us was stronger than any bond I’d ever seen between a brother and sister. He slowly made his way over to the side of my bed and grabbed my hand. He was holding onto me so tightly I thought he might’ve been thinking I’d slip away and leave him. “I’m sorry Case,” he said getting rid of the stray tear and hardening again. He didn’t want me to see him hurt. He wanted me to think of him as my indestructible brother and my hero. He didn’t realize that he was not only that to me but so much more. He was my rock and I loved him more than anything. I know people might think that it’s weird to have that kind of relationship with your siblings because they normally fight all the time and bicker nonstop, and we do fight like normal siblings most of the time but if you realize at an early age that one day you’re all that each other is going to have left, you’ll get as close as my brother and I. He sat in a chair someone had pulled over to the side of my bed earlier and laid his head down on the mattress beside me. “I’m sorry,” he repeated himself. “I should’ve know about those guys and never let them near you. I should’ve protected you and been there. I kept letting my brain get all confused and kept willingly putting you in danger. I love Kim but Case, you’re my baby sister and family comes first. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad in any way or make you think you didn’t mean as much to me as she does because you’re everything to me. You mean the world to me and nothing and no one can change that. No matter what I build up with anyone else you will always be my baby sister and the girl I will always want to protect and lock away in some tower so no one can get to you and hurt you ever again,” he laughed for a moment at what he had said and then turned to me again. “I don’t know if we’ll ever be the same as we were or if you’ll ever build up that trust for me again, but I want you to know I plan to spend a long time here protecting you. I love you Case. Will you please forgive me?”