Trauma Bond - Falling for my brothers best friend. (Hero Finnes-Tiffin)

1- Welcome Home

Lydia's POV

It didn't feel like he'd been gone a year until it got closer to him coming home for the summer; it was the days before he was due back which made it feel like a lifetime.

So much had happened since we said our goodbyes when him and my brother left for college... I had changed so much. When he last knew me, I was a shy and dorky little kid who shut herself away from the world; traumatised. Since then I've grown from the pain and discovered my confidence as my innocence faded. 

I often wondered how much he would've changed in the last year too, however when I was met with those big blue eyes and that same cheeky little grin.. I knew he was exactly the same.

That's what I was afraid of.

Hero is my brothers best friend. And even though I may play an insignificant role in his world, he used to be the centre of my entire universe.

He's been around since we were all kids and him and my older brother Archie have been practically inseparable since. Me and Hero were obviously less close, but in the months before he left we developed a strange sort of friendship through bonding over shared traumas I suppose one could say.

In simple terms, my dad died. No sugar coating it unfortunately, or dressing it up with nicer terms such as he 'passed away' or 'went to a better place'; he just died. And despite Archie suffering the same experiences from it that I did, he was always the one to hold himself together better. Which was in complete juxtaposition to my behaviour which could only be described as pure mental breakdown.

I locked myself away and barely spoke a word for months... until Hero started talking to me about it. We shared similar personality traits in that we were both the 'explosive ones' in our families. You know... the unorganised ones always involved in trouble or some form of emotional turmoil. And similarly to my situation, Hero's mum had died a few years ago, and he struggled to navigate life without her too. So when he saw the same happening to me, he reached out and became a comfort zone of mine through it all. Which obviously didn't help the fact that I'd been in love with him from before I could even remember. And in the last year I'd buried those feelings and became a new version of myself... a version who didn't need to seek his approval or attention. I no longer chased.

Although as soon as we locked eyes, I felt all those exciting memories and feelings rush back....

"Hey trouble, missed me?" He said as he extend his arms out towards me for a hug; grinning ear to ear.

*You have no idea*... was what I wanted to say. However instead I decided on a typical eye roll and a smile as we embraced.

However not even seconds after being engulfed in Hero's strong arms, I was rudely pulled away my by brother who threw me over his shoulders and wrestled me to the ground.

"Annnddd the crowd goes wild... Ahhhhhhhh" we laughed as we both collapsed onto of each other afterwards.

I'd missed him too... not that I was going to admit that either however.

"Lyd, Hero's gonna be staying with us this summer so can u help him move his stuff into the guest room please" my mum asked as she lifted what seemed to be an endless number of bags from Archie's truck.

*Shit. Shit. Shit.* I thought to myself as I internally panicked. *Surely not*....