It was hard to see, noting the way the sentiment registered against her younger brother’s features. But there was nothing she could say to take the pain away, even now as she sat inches from him, she wanted to shield him somehow. To return him to their childhood home, where she could easily protect him from the truths of this world. More precisely, the many sinful honors of it. “I got shot overseas, and shot at more times than you wanna think about,” Briefly her mind wandered to Tim, and a sensation that was always brought on by his memory. A gaping hole no one else could fill had been left by her late friend, and it was times like this, she wished she could see him. A steady force that she missed daily, but now wasn’t the time for such thoughts.
“Miguel is a private man,” Their entire bond had been established in the shadows, and leaving them was proving harder than either expected. Even with their time apart, many not realizing the difficulty. “–We were meant to be professional and had to prove to ourselves that it was something worth tellin’ before we did just that.” Exhaling, she shook her head. “I’ve never had something that was just that, mine. With him, it was different.” Looking over at Elijah, she offered him a sad smile. “I came here with the belief I’d be delivering divorce papers, and now I’m signing his last name as my own. It’s not really a clear path, but just know, I wish I could’ve told you sooner.” Reaching out her hand, she waited to see if he’d take it. “Can you forgive me, and him?”
He closed his eyes tightly in a desperate attempt to stop the tears as he sighed and shook his head. This wasn’t what he had wanted for his sister, laying here like this. Elijah would have given anything to be the one who had gotten shot instead of Quinn, to be the one laying there now instead of her. Even if he knew that it could have turned out much worse. No matter what Quinn said a part of Elijah knew he would always blame himself for it. For all of it. For her getting shot, for dragging her into this life, for stealing what could have been a promising future all because of his mistakes. More than anything he wished he could go back in time, back to before any of the Davis siblings had ever even heard of the Devils, before their mom got sick, before their dad ran off. There was a time when they had all been happy once. Right?
Eli knew his sister had gone through a great number of horrible things while she was serving overseas, far more than he liked to think about. But those wounds were ones that were at least easier for him to swallow. Ones that he selfishly felt removed from. Ones based on her own choices and not the ones he had forced her into. He gazed at his sister and nodded carefully, slowly “I know you have, and if I could I’d take those away too Quinn. I try not to think about that too much and honestly it’s easy for me because I’m so far removed from that part of your life. But this, this is here and now. I....” He swallowed hard avoiding eye contact with her now. “I saw it happen Quinn, I saw you go down and there was absolutely nothing I could do. I have never felt so fucking helpless in my entire life. I’m so sorry that I couldn’t have done something to help, to stop it somehow but I’m.... I’m glad that you’re going to be okay.” He choked out. By that point the tears were flowing as he gently cuddled in close to his sister careful not to disturb her injuries. “I don’t know what I’d do if we lost you.”
As Quinn continued to provide further insight into her marriage Elijah willed himself to calm down still sniffling slightly as she divulged new information. He wanted to soak up every ounce of knowledge about this revelation that he could. A development that up until a few nights ago he had been completely oblivious to. When she finished what she had to say he nodded slowly and shifted so he could look into his sisters eyes once more. “Look, am I hurt that Emerson and I had no idea that our sister had gotten married, of course I am do you really blame me? And do I wish you had been the one to tell me about it, that you felt you could trust me sooner, absolutely. But...” he took her hand gently in his and gave her a small smile. “At the end of the day none of this is about me. All I’ve ever wanted is for you to be happy Quinn, truly happy the way you deserve and if this marriage with Miguel does that then how can I do anything but support it with everything that I have? I love you Quinn, so fucking much. Nothing’s gonna change that. Not even a secret marriage.” He teased lightly. “I hope you know though that once you’re feeling better we are going to have to celebrate this properly. You do at least owe me that much.”
