Let's just say that sometimes, when you're having an atrocious night, you need that special someone to be there for you...
“Chris!” Martin called for his brother. “Chris?!”
He was nowhere to be found.
Martin was running through a forest, unlike any other forest he’d ventured in before. He dodged branches, jumped over fallen tree trunks... It seemed as though the trail would never end.
The sun was shining through the tree leaves, making his surroundings all but beautiful. Yet, it all felt so... ominous.
Finally, he slowed to a stop. He thought he had caught a familiar shade of green from the corner of his eye.
Maybe even a hint of red.
He backed up and went to take a look.
His face dropped at the sight of his brother lying unmoving on the ground, like a marionette with no puppeteer.
“CHRIS!!!” Martin cried out as he dropped to his knees.
He quickly held his little brother in his lap, and nearly screamed at the sight of blood covering his abdomen. It didn’t take long before his shirt got stained, though it was the least of his worries at the moment as he was too busy trying to put pressure on the wound.
Chris gave a faint whimper. His eyes were closed, almost in a lifeless way…
With a bloody, shaky hand, Martin felt his brother’s pulse: it was weak. Nearly non-existent.
“No, no, no- ” In a wave of panic, Martin held his brother’s face close to his. “Chris, look at me. Look at me, I’m right here!” He begged him as he swiftly brushed his brother’s hair back. He held his hand tight, heavy tears forming in his eyes.
Only two barely audible coughs came out.
“Y-You’re gonna be just fine, I-I promise!” his voice cracked hard.
What even happened? Was it a wild animal?!
Martin gasped softly hearing his brother’s frail voice.
With the little strength he had left, Chris forced his eyes half-open, barely . He was terrifyingly pale; he had lost a lot of blood…
He met his brother’s tormented gaze and, without a word, he simply smiled bittersweetly.
No. This couldn’t be happening .
“Chris…” Martin shook his head, his little brother still smiling at him. “Don’t do this to me.”
Chris’ eyes began to close, his hand gradually losing grip on his brother’s.
Finally, his fingers were resting on the edges of his brother’s palm.
Martin was left staring at his little brother’s lifeless face, eyes wide from shocked despair.
“Christopher…” A pained cry escaped his chest. “Don’t do this to me, bro. Come on…” He gave his body a vain shake. “No, no…” His voice was feeble, nearly broken.
With trembling hands, Martin slowly cupped his little brother’s bloody face. His poor, precious little brother . His tears began to pour down harder than they ever did. He gasped silently as he buried his brother’s numb face in his shoulder. He soothingly ran his hand through his hair, his lips pressed against his forehead. His glassy eyes wandered into nothingness as he painfully processed the fact that he was no longer there, no longer with him.
“No, no, no… Please. Please, don’t do this.”
Eventually, his sobs became louder and interminable, tightly hugging his dear little brother’s limp body in his arms, his tears falling onto his hair.
He could already feel the crushing weight of grief pushing down on him, life seeming to have lost all meaning all of a sudden.
What would he do without him?!
His companion. His best friend.
The world around him began to spin, his tears blinding him from looking at his brother’s face. Then-
Martin’s head was pounding. His entire body was soaked with sweat. He was gasping for air, clenching his chest hard. His heart felt like it would burst out of his chest any moment. Tears were stinging his eyes and staining his face. Heavily disoriented, he couldn’t even make out where he was, and the darkness in the room didn’t help much.
He suddenly heard him, his eyes growing wide in the dark. That voice .
As he looked to the side, Martin found a pair of brown eyes glowing in the dark. He wanted to say something, but it almost felt like his voice had been stolen. He was paralyzed .
He sensed someone getting out of bed on the other side of the room.
A night lamp was turned on.
Chris, who looked very much alive , went over to check on his brother. As he sat on the side of his bed, Martin’s eyes remained fixated on his brother’s visage.
“Hey, are you okay?” Chris asked with concern, as his brother only stared at him like he was a ghost. “Martin, you’re kind of freaking me out,” his voice cracked a little.
Martin was pale as a sheet. His eyes scanned Chris’ abdomen: no blood.
At that moment, the image of his brother’s blood-covered body flashed before his eyes.
“ AHH! ” he let out a loud, panicked CRY .
“Martin!” Chris immediately tried to calm him down.
Martin kept screaming, hot tears flowing down his face.
“HEY! Hey, I’m here. You’re okay. Breathe. Breathe.” Chris held his brother’s hands tight, trying to look into his eyes.
“I-I can’t! I can’t!” Martin was practically gasping for air.
“I’m right here, shh…” Chris slowly leaned in for a hug. He gently rocked him back and forth, just like Martin always does to him when he’s in distress.
It took a while, but Martin finally started to calm down a bit, his eyes now bloodshot from all his tears. He held onto his little brother as if the whole world was about to fall apart.
It was a miracle that none of the crew members had woken up so far. (Although Jimmy could be cast aside for that.) It had been a long day, after all.
Chris subconsciously slid into bed, his brother’s arms locked around him as though he was a treasured possession.
Chris tried to get his brother to lie down. He could hear his heart pounding hard; he frowned. His brother’s tears had really soaked his hair. Nonetheless, he didn’t mind. The bed was shaking from his brother’s agitation.
Several minutes later, Martin let out a prolonged, heavy and shaky sigh. He sniffled as he wiped his face in his pillow before taking a deep breath.
“Sorry- I-I’m so sorry- ” his voice was terribly raspy.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Chris rubbed his back comfortingly. “I’ll go get you some water.”
As soon as he shifted to get up, Martin instinctively locked his hand on his brother’s wrist like a handcuff.
Chris nearly jumped at his reaction. He looked down at his brother’s pleading eyes, his hand tightening on his wrist so hard that he winced from the pain.
“Martin?” Chris’ brows furrowed.
“S-Stay with me,” Martin begged.
Reading his brother’s eyes, Chris understood. “Okay, then. I’ll help you get to the main room and grab a glass of water,” he suggested with a tender tone.
Martin scanned his brother’s eyes deeply, and with the soreness in his throat, it was all enough to convince him. He gave a small, quivery nod.
Carefully, Chris reached out two hands, one to hold his brother’s, and the other wrapped around him for stability.
Martin’s knees were trembling so hard, doing an incredible job at making the trip from the brothers’ room to the main room a challenge of its own. He felt weak, so close to just collapsing onto the floor right then and there. Despite the fact that his brother was heavier than him, Chris was determined to support his weight as much as he could.
When they made it to the main room, Chris led his brother to the center table where he could rest while he went over to the sink to fill him up a glass of water.
That small, insignificant distance between the sink and where Martin was sitting were enough to make him dreadful to the core. He couldn’t even swallow anymore. His shoulders were tense. He kept his drowsy eyes on his little brother, refusing to even blink , fearing that in that minuscule fraction of time, he would just vanish into thin air.
He watched as Chris brought him a glass full of refreshing water before sitting next to him. It took him a few seconds before having a good hold of the glass; his hands were still a bit shaky. But the cool liquid was all but soothing for his throat, making that small “trip” all worth it.
Putting the glass down, Martin sighed heavily. “Thanks,” he whispered.
Chris put a hand on his shoulder and, thanks to the bit of moonlight shining through the rooftop, Martin was able to see his smile. A smile he wouldn’t trade the whole world for.
“Let’s get you back to bed,” Chris finally said in a hushed tone.
Without another word, he accompanied his older brother back to their room, Martin seeming a little less shaken. Regardless of how small the change was, it made Chris feel a little at ease.
Once they made it back, Martin lay down in bed, refusing to let go of his brother who had no choice but to stay by his side. He ran his hand through Chris’ hair as a coping mechanism of some sort, cherishing each second of it. Normally, Chris would be giving him a hard time for touching his hair, but this was an exception he was more than willing to make.
“You wanna… talk about it?”
Martin’s heart skipped a beat. He shook his head hard, tightening his arms around his little brother.
Chris sighed. “You don’t have to... But it might help you feel better?” His voice was calm and soothing.
“I- ” he found it hard to talk. His eyes began to water again. “I’m just glad you’re here. With me .” He pulled Chris even closer.
Chris felt another tear fall on his hair. His brother’s words deeply perturbed him. He remained silent, snuggling deeper into the embrace.
All through the night, Martin was almost certain he’d never be able to go back to sleep. But Chris refused to fall asleep before he did. He could tell Martin was fighting to keep his eyes open.
“You need sleep, bro,” Chris finally said.
Martin didn’t say anything.
“I was running in a forest,” he suddenly started.
“And I was looking for you…” His voice was getting more shaky with each word. “And when I found you- ” A small squeak escaped his throat. “You- ” He swallowed hard. “Y-You were- ” He began to tremble again, sounding as though he would burst into tears once more.
Chris could feel his fingers digging into his shirt and arms. “Hey, it’s okay. Everything’s okay now.” He brushed his hand against his brother’s agonized face. “Whatever happened to me, just know it was never real.” He looked up to find tears already seeping through the corners of his brother’s eyes.
“But i-it felt so real ,” Martin’s lips were shaking badly. He never sounded so scared, so vulnerable.
It almost made Chris burst into tears.
“Hey, look at me.” Chris held his face and looked deep into his eyes. “I’m not going anywhere, you hear me?” His voice was comforting and reassuring. “When you wake up, you’ll find me right here.”
Martin looked down at his brother for the longest time, sensing the sincerity in his eyes. “Promise?” He gave him a longing look.
Chris caressed his hand. “I promise.”
With a tear-stained face, Martin gave him a somewhat relaxed smile. “Okay.” He seemed a little pensive.
After a while longer, Martin finally yawned. “Thanks, Chris.” He gently rubbed his face against his little brother’s hair, scooching as close as possible.
It didn’t take long before Martin gave in as he was drifting back to sleep.
Soon, Chris could hear him snoring softly. With a tired smile, he carefully pulled the blanket over them both, his brother’s arms strongly locked around him.
Chris hid his face in his brother’s shoulder and curled into a little ball, Martin now seeming at peace for the first time since he’d woken up.
At last, Chris closed his eyes, and whispered, “Good night, big bro.”
Thank you @littlecrittereli for the wonderful cover you made for this fic!
