CRUSHED

vii - how fast the night changes

"Nev!"

Nevaeh raises her head in the direction of the familiar voice, eyebrows shooting up and a grin replacing the scowl that had overtaken her features the minute her and Freedom came back into the hall to see Rebecca planting her lips on Arden's.

"Leon?" There stands Leon Cavanaugh, Nevaeh's eighteen year old cousin from her maternal side.

The older boy mirrors her grin as she practically runs towards him. Thankfully, Leon takes a step back as Nevaeh leaps onto him, squeezing him tightly, so that they don't fall. Not long after Freedom joins the two, just as energetic.

"Oh my God what are you doing here?" Freedom exclaims over the noise. Leon doesn't waste a second before he drags the girls out of the hall, away from the deafening crowd and music.

"So?" Freedom urges, ecstatic, the minute they step out. "You're not happy to see me?" Leon teases, backing away from the excited girls. "You know that's not what I meant," Freedom huffs, slapping his arm. "Nevaeh's parents didn't tell us you were coming-" "They don't tell us- me anything so that's not really a surprise." Leon keeps the mood from plummeting by laughing at Nevaeh's joke that he knows is anything but.

"Mum shipped me off here because your mum told her about what's been going on." Freedom glances at Nevaeh, a frown etched on her face. She squeezes her shoulder before walking off to find Shay, knowing this is a conversation she didn't need to be in on.

Nevaeh tilts her head back to look at the dark sky, some stars already visible as the night progresses into utter darkness. She watches just how fast the night changes, metaphorically and physically. Nevaeh gazes back at Leon to find him staring right through her. He has had always had the ability to see past people's exterior.

"When were you going to tell me that your dad was being a complete dick again? I was looking forward to seeing you when Mum told me that my aunt and uncle were coming, only because I thought you were too. Then I find out that they left you in that big ass, empty house with barely a moment's notice. Your dad didn't even try to sugarcoat it. He hasn't changed a bit." Leon mutters the last bit bitterly, almost like an afterthought voiced out loud.

"I love you Leon, I really do, you're practically my big brother, but that's why I couldn't tell you. My life's a fucking melodrama at the moment and I didn't want to go crying to you because you probably have better things to worry about than my first-world problems." Leon's features soften as he pulls Nevaeh into a tight, much-needed hug.

"How am I supposed to act like your big brother if you don't come crying to me even if they're just first-world problems." Leon chuckles into Nevaeh's hair, Nevaeh instantly feeling at ease with her ear pressed against his chest listening to his heart beat. "You're my little cousin. Even if I'm getting my fucking leg amputated I'll still sit with you and listen to you rant about everything that's wrong in your life. I don't care if you think you're not worth it because you are. Way more than you realise." "Shut up Leon. You've been here for like two minutes and you're already lecturing me." This only makes Leon's smile grow, knowing he's gotten his point across.

After a few more seconds in her cousin's embrace Nevaeh pulls away, smiling up at her 'life-support'. She could almost laugh at herself right now. He is the only one that keeps her going sometimes and instead of talking to him first she had ghosted him for weeks.

"Anyway, does this mean that you're going to stay with me for a while?" Leon grins nodding, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Leon Cavanaugh?"

Similar to Nevaeh, Leon spent the majority of his primary school days in England, due to the fact that the two were inseparable, except after year six he was dragged back to Germany by his parents because- and this might come as a shock to you- they wanted to spend time with their son while he still wanted their company. Now six years later, the boy is back, only he isn't really a boy anymore at the age of nineteen with a towering height and a smooth evidently lower voice that catches everyone's attention. In contrast to when he was a scrawny, curly-haired eleven year old.