BE STILL ( andrew bazzi )

viii.

"did you come see me in the hospital?" rosalia walked into zions bedroom, catching the boy off guard. "i cant remember if any of you did."

"shit, rose, you scared me." zion said, his hand over his heart. zion paused for a moment, thinking back to the day when he was called out of class for the news.

"fuck math. this shit annoying." zion rolled his eyes, tapping his pencil on his desk.

brandon nodded in agreement. "i think rose is starting to like me."

zion let out a short laugh. "b, she always liked you. what're you talking about?"

"she always messed up my name and whenever we came around, she ran to you. i didn't think she liked me."

"just because she likes me more doesn't mean she doesn't like you at all." zion grinned, hitting his best friends shoulder. "how was bringing her to school this morning?"

"i had a weird feeling dropping her off, but that's probably just me being weird." brandon shook his head slightly. "how was dropping off elom?"

"adeline cried a little, but she refused to let me or elom see her cry." zion shrugged his shoulders. "i know she misses him and ké and i feel so bad because there's nothing i can do to make it better, you know?"

"have either of you spoken to your parents?" brandon asked.

"not that i kno—" zion started, but was cut off by the teacher saying his and brandon's name.

"zion, brandon, you two are needed in the office. take your stuff. it sounded urgent."

"rose, do you know how many people you have?" zion asked the child, sitting next to her on his bed. "do you know how many people care about you like you're their own child?"

rosalia nodded her head slightly, but kept her eyes on the ground. "i cant remember any of it." she mumbled. "i cant remember seeing any of you, but adeline and daddy and a sunflower i don't even remember who brought it."

"katherine and edwin stopped by, but they couldn't stay long. katherine asked me to leave the sunflower in your room." zion put his arm around the child. "we were all there, rose, but no one could stay and see you like that. brandon felt guilty, nate and sammy and the rest of them— it hurt seeing the one thing that really brought everyone together hurt like that."

"why did brandon feel guilty?" rosalia asked in a quiet tone.

"he was the last one to see you. he thought it was his fault in a way."

"it wasn't his fault though. it was my ma— allison's."

zion nodded. "i've spent the last couple months telling him that, but i think he'll have to work through that one in his own head." rosalia nodded herself, not replying to the boy immediately. "you're a special kid, lil rose."

rosalia smiles slightly, hugging the boy. "you're my bestest friend, z. i love you."

zion was taken by surprise at the hug, it taking a moment before he hugged the child back. a smile tugged at his lips. "i love you too, rose."

MOM.
you need to stop putting false hopes
in elom's head. he's not moving with
in with you. i will not allow it like i allowed
caleb to leave. he's my son, he's staying
here with us.

READ.

"i'm sorry to inform you, miss kuwonu. we did everything we cou—" the doctor started, but was cut off by adeline backing away slightly.

tears sprung to the girls eyes, feeling arms wrap around her. "no, no, he can't— no, please no. tell me you're lying."

brandon felt his own tears brim his eyes at the way adeline broke down in his arms. he'd never seen the girl in so much pain. she was always the one with the bright smile and open arms, ready to take care of everyone. her hands gripped onto his shirt as if her life depended on it and he assumed, in the moment it did.

"i'm sorry, miss."

adeline felt the air leave her lungs, shaking her head at the thought of her little brother being gone. he couldn't be. he was supposed to graduate, start his music career, make mistakes, be one of the men to take rosalia to her first day of school and her first dance, grow up. every moment she had with the younger boy flooded her head. his bright smile when brandon and him created a new song and he would let her listen to it for the first time, the way he brightened up a room with just his presence, the dumb comments and questions he'd ask throughout the days, sitting in the kitchen together at 2am when life got hard and they reminded each other that they'd always have one another.

adeline gasped for air, the realization of her best friend leaving her. brandon shushed the girl, trying to calm her down. "adeline, you have to breathe. listen to me, breathe. please, just breathe."

brandon held the girls face in his hands, his heart breaking at the painful look she held. "i cant— he's— that's my baby brother. he can't— brandon, tell me this is a joke. please tell me my baby brother isn't gone. please."

brandon felt his own tears fall, shaking his head slightly. "i wish i could tell you that. i wish i could say i didn't just lose my best friend. i wish you weren't being put through this. adeline, i'm so fucking sorry."

"how am i supposed to tell rose? how am i supposed to tell her he's gone? how am i supposed to tell her she's losing another person she loves? i cant lose him— she cant lose him— god, you cant lose him. i need this to be a joke." adeline cried. "he's not going to be able to meet my baby. oh, my god. he won't—"

"mama? b?" rosalia's soft voice came from behind them. she had furrowed eyebrows, a sad look on her face. she'd never seen adeline so broken before and the sight terrified her. "where's z?"

andrew put his arm on his daughters shoulder, giving it a squeeze before going up to his girlfriend. "angel.."

brandon backed away, wiping at his eyes. he watched andrew wrap his arms around the girl as she broke down into his chest. rosalia stared at her family in confusion, worry building in her. "brandon, where's z? why isn't he here? what happened?"

brandon sent the child a sad smile before he walked away, causing more worry to build in the child that had so many unanswered questions. she watched brandon walk away with furrowed eyebrows. "he's hurt, isn't he? they were right, katherine's family, i mean. zion's gone, isn't he?"

adeline pulled away from andrew's chest, feeling her heartbreak all over again at the sight of the tears falling down rosalia's cheeks. "rose—"

"you guys said i wouldn't lose anyone else. he said he wasn't going anywhere. he promised to take me to the dance next week. he— he's my bestest friend." rosalia started sobbing, pulling away when adeline and andrew tried to step towards her. "he made a promise and broke it."

adeline jerked awake, hearing rosalia's words echo in her head. she felt the cold air hit her wet cheeks from the tears that slipped in her sleep. she wiped her eyes, feeling her heart race. she looked around her bedroom, seeing andrew asleep beside her. she jumped out of bed, running to her brothers room where he too was peacefully asleep. she felt her heart jump out of her chest, not stopping herself from basically jumping on the boy.

"shit, what the—" zion groaned. "adeline, what the fuck?"

adeline wrapped her arms around her brothers neck, closing her eyes to appreciate the boy being in her arms. "never leave me, okay?"

"i'm not going anywhere, adeline." zion laughed off, returning the hug. "whats wrong?"

"just a nightmare." adeline answered softly, still holding her brother tightly in her arms. "god, id die if something happened to you. i love you, caleb."

"i love you too, adeline."

AUTHORS NOTE.
okkk now i'm just debating if i
should really make that happen
😌 don't want to break everyone's
heart thO ! it's 3am, i'm not
editing this. sorry if there's a lot of
errors 😞