❝In which two people call up a helpline in order to find someone just as broken as they are. ❞
"Does...does it bother you that my dad's in prison for murder?"
"Well, judging by the fact that I moved away from America to get away from the memory of a...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"So...how long have you and Isabella been dating?" Vaughn asked once the blonde had reversed out of the driveway and down the street. There was a mischievous glint in his eye, smile sly and knowing in the sort of way that promised endless teasing and embarrassment. He supposed that that was his role now, to be a teasing, friendly, brother-like figure. Because he loved the Davis family like his own, he always had, and if being happy for his former crush's love life meant getting back into the family of friendship, then he was all for it.
Noah laughed in response to Vaughn's question, settling into the old ways of friendship like a forgotten sweater. Warm, cosy and strangely still comfortable. He and Vaughn had once been partners in crime, and, when life had split them apart, he hadn't realized just how much he needed the stable friendship. "Isabella and Elliot aren't dating." And to this, he gave his younger brother a pointed look. Because he, just like the rest of the world, was not blind. He had quite clearly seen how Elliot had been with his fellow motorbike passenger. The smile on Elliot's face had been painful because Noah had forgotten what it looked like. The unconscious, unsuspecting smile that told everyone Elliot didn't even know he was smiling. And that was the best type of smile.
Vaughn raised his eyebrows, fixing his gaze on the youngest boy in the room, who was currently staring down at this shuffling feet with a somewhat awkward expression. "Really?" Vaughn asked with genuine shock in his voice. Because the way Elliot had looked at Isabella had reminded him of the way that he, himself, looked at his soon to be fiancee. Like that person was the one thing tethering him to shore. The one thing that he would put his life down to protect and preserve. The one thing to give a man purpose.
Elliot nodded, keeping his gaze on the gravel beneath his feet. His shoes were so thin that he could feel some of the jagged stones pressing into his soles. There was a sort of conflict within him, a sort of burning guilt that would once have had him picking up the sharp stones and hurling them around the driveway. "I...uh...I already have a girlfriend and it's not...it's not Isabella." His hands clenched into fists, the need to punch something overpowering every other emotion. It was his way of ignoring the conflict within him, creating more conflict to lose himself in. Because there was a burning fire within him, scalding him from the inside out. And he had to let some of the sparks out in order to survive for a little longer.
Vaughn recognized the sort of conflict Elliot was going through. It was something that he had experienced himself. The betrayal of loving another while shackled to someone else was not something that he was a stranger to. And, a long time ago, he had hurt a lot of the people he loved just because he couldn't bring himself to hurt them.
He placed a hand on Elliot's shoulder, smiling slightly when a pair of eyes met his. "If you feel something for Isabella, don't beat yourself up about it, buddy. You can't control your feelings. But...that girlfriend you have? Just tell her mate. I know it might feel like you're hurting her at first but...telling her now is better, trust me. If you let it go on for too long you'll just...you'll hurt her even more. And you'll hurt yourself too."
