His hand shakily moved closer to Hudson's, his pinky finger slightly overlapping Hudson's own. The palm of Hudson's hand was rough and calloused but the top of it wasn't. It was smooth and honey-colored and sent chills down Eli's spine.
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Nick ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• "NICHOLAS!" Their mom's voice shrilled. Eli jumped and clenched his eyes tightly as he heard Nick open his door and close it.
Eli's heart was racing and seemed to only get faster after every pitter patter of Nick's feet going down the stairs.
It was quiet for a while. Too quiet. Eli was sweating bullets at this point, the tension of what was to happen was keeping him on edge.
The silence throughout the house disappeared as Nick let out a scream of pain. Eli had heard that noise before but will never get used to it.
Nick's faux toughness was shattered as well as his dignity as he yelled his throat raw. Eli felt tears come to his own eyes as he heard his brothers anguish, but he didn't dare go downstairs and try to stop it.
Times like these are when Eli feels the worst about himself. Forget all of the other factors, this is what takes the prize. This feeling of guilt and selfishness as he hides up in his room while his brother is being tortured.
Eli doesn't know how long the torture lasted or how long he was up there hiding in his room, but eventually Nick came up the stairs, slowly and whimpering like a wounded puppy.
Eli got up and slowly stuck his head out the door. Nick had gone to his room, not even bothering to close the door in his state. Eli wandered out into the hallway, the floorboards creaking with each step he took.
The warm light coming from Nick's open doorway greeted him in a bittersweet manner as he walked past the door frame.
Nick was on the floor, his shoulders shaking violently as he cried. Eli felt his chest tighten as he saw his brother in pain. Seeing his brothers tears was a rarity and he felt his own tears threatening to spill from his eyes.
Nick was always the type to hide how he felt, much like Eli. Nick had a "fake it to make it" kind of attitude, so he was always getting into trouble, just so he could feel something other than the dread of going home.
Eli crouched down, so he was next to his brother. Nick said nothing as Eli brought his hand to his back, grabbing at the shirt he was wearing.
"Nick." Eli started in a rare soft voice. "I need to look, just to make sure you don't need any medicine."
Nick stayed silent. He was too embarrassed to speak. He was embarrassed that something like this happened again and he was embarrassed that he was crying. He had lost his dignity when he was down there.
Eli lifted the shirt to reveal his back. His lower lip trembled as he looked over the fresh wounds that stained his back. The cuts were raised up and puffy, with beads of blood threatening to spill over again.
