Real-ish

Meet The Family

Damian~

The idiots release us once Cora is asleep for certain. Her head is leaning against my shoulder and her arms are just barely around me, having gone slack just minutes ago.

I move gently and slowly as I lay my Beloved down on the couch. I take note of her red and puffy eyes. She mentioned that she had an emotional talk with her mom, I assume that is how this happened.

I walk on silent feet to the kitchen, grabbing a glass and filling it with water. Crying dehydrates and Cora will probably be very thirsty when she wakes up. I set the glass on the coffee table so she can see it when she opens her eyes.

I grab Todd and Grayson by the arms and drag them upstairs. Any conversation is better had away from my very stressed sleeping beauty. I drag them into the guest room that I inhabited with Grayson a few weeks ago.

"Okay, so we all agree that she's not okay right now?" Todd says quietly.

"No shit, Sherlock. She's just had so many shocks and emotions crash into her I'm surprised she didn't crack in half." I speak aggravated. I hate thinking of how much pain she's been in.

"Well, I'm gonna say something else happened besides the moving in permanently thing. Do you have any ideas Damian?" Grayson asks. I can hear his concern clearly.

"A lot of it isn't your business," I grumble. I don't want to have to tell them what Destiny tried to do, or how scared Cora was over her parent's fight.

"We just want to help Demon brat. Cora is important to us and it's obvious she's going through a lot." Todd says, matching my aggression.

I consider it. The more people that know, the more people who can help her, even when I'm not there. Todd doesn't have a day job, and Grayson knows a bit about consolation. I let out a huff.

"Fine. She started with just being stressed about homework." I start grudgingly. I get a nod to continue.

"Then I had to tell her that Destiny tried to kiss me. I thought I almost cheated on her and I can't imagine how much stress hearing that would have put onto her." I explain. I get a shocked gasp from Grayson.

"She did what?! I'm gonna kill that little bitch!" Todd threatens lowly.

"No complaints here. I assume that's one of the things Cora said she needed to take care of." I respond.

"I feel like that's not all there is. Cora seemed frantic while you guys were leaving. What else happened?" Grayson questions. I sigh.

"Cora got a call from her mother not too long after that. She said her parents got into a fight and her mother was returning early. I believed that it was the fact that she would have to go back unexpectedly that was bugging her but that wasn't it." I say with a small sigh.

"According to Cora, her parents almost never fight. So this must have been big. As far as I know this hasn't been addressed but it could have been during their talk." I continue.

"It wasn't." A voice says from behind me. Turning around I see Cora's mother leaning against the door frame. I stiffen. How much of that conversation had she heard?

"I didn't want to scare her by telling her what we fought about. The worst part is, I think a new arrangement for Cora would fix it." She says bitterly. I'm unsure of how to respond.

"Do you mean her living with us? How would that fix a marital spat?" Todd asks. I shoot him a warning glare. This woman has the power to take Cora away at any moment.

"I hate to say that we fought about her. My husband suggested we start staying away even longer. Cora has been flourishing, we knew she was making new friends and she seemed happier the last time we saw her." Mrs. Sanchez admits sadly.