{Ambreigns}

[17] Midnight Snack

Roman's POV

~~

The walk back to my house was quiet.

Dean had an arm wrapped around Seth's waist to support him. Of course my first intention was to rush to Seth's side, but when he flinched at the sight of me I quickly stepped back.

I was beyond relieved at the sight of Dean pulling Seth out of the house. But the feeling only lasted so long.
It was quickly replaced by the most intense anger I'd ever felt. I stared at his bruised torso and his battered face. But perhaps the most off-putting thing was his demeanour.

It was like bubbliness had been drained. His bright grin had faltered to an exhausted grimace. His warm eyes were blank and hung heavy amongst bruises and cuts which had no right to be there.
When I looked up, Dean was struggling to practically carry Seth down the empty street.

At one point a stuffed bear which Dean was carrying was dropped onto the pavement, and Seth objected for around five minutes until we agreed to retrace our steps to find it.
Eventually, we reached my house.

"Seth." I spoke to him for the first time that night. He looked up at me quietly, "You can sleep in my room, I'll crash on the couch."
Seth half-smiled at this, a notion which was enough to lift a weight off of my chest.

After Dean and Seth disappeared upstairs with much struggle, I collapsed back onto the sofa. My legs hung over the armrest by about a foot but it'd have to do. Seth deserved a comfortable, undisturbed nights sleep.

Well, he deserved a hell of a lot more than that.
I pictured him, a nervous wreck trembling in front of his parents as he confided in them. Only for them to completely disregard and attack him, beating him for something beyond his control.
I found myself clenching my fists, my knuckles white.

I relaxed my grip and rested my head back on the uncomfortable pillow.

I was unsure if I'd even managed to drift off to sleep when a loud crash roused me. My eyes squinted through the darkness as I pushed myself to my feet and stumbled drowsily into the kitchen.
When my eyes adjusted to the light I made out the outline of Seth standing at the sink. He looked moderately worried, as if I'd caught him doing something illegal.

He held up a glass of water and stuttered a reply.
"I'm sorry, I-I just needed some water."

I smiled sleepily and scratched the back of my neck before pulling my hair up into a half-hearted bun.
"Are you hungry?"
I stalked over to the cupboard and then the fridge, setting up a snack which I know Seth of all people couldn't resist.

When I glanced up, he was smiling knowingly. I placed a large glass of milk a stack of chunky, triple-chocolate cookies on the counter and pulled up a stool, which was quickly claimed by Seth.

"Thanks, Ro." He grinned appreciatively, accompanying his words with a spray of cookie crumbs.

I leaned against the counter and chuckled quietly.
"You're welcome, Sethie."

In the morning, I was yet again woken by a loud noise from kitchen. Except this time, the source of the noise found me instead.

"Where did all of my cookies go?! I know I didn't eat them all, I had five left!" Dean grumbled loudly from beside the couch where I was previously sleeping.

I looked up at him annoyed,
"Okay, number one; They're not your cookies, this is my house and I bought them. Number two; why the fuck are you wanting to eat cookies for breakfast?!"

Dean stared down at me in confusion as if I'd spoken a foreign language.
"Why wouldn't you want cookies for breakfast?"
Before I could even comprehend a reply, Seth had appeared in the doorway.

He looked better than he did last night. The open cuts on his face had healed over and the bruising had mostly settled from deep shades of blue and purple into slightly less painful looking blotches of yellow.
The marks on his torso were now covered by a clean shirt, buttoned right to the top.

I smiled at him and Dean soon followed.

"Hey, bud. How're you feeling?" Dean's gravelly morning voice tore through the quiet room.

"I'm okay, thank you." Seth answered politely, sitting in the empty arm chair and toying with his hands in his lap.

Dean nodded and watched him carefully before replying,
"Yeah, well... Your face looks slightly less like you tried to pass into platform nine and three quarters after closing time, now."

I hissed and glared at him.
"Dean!"

Seth simply bubbled with laughter and looked up at Dean, who laughed in return.
"At least my face doesn't look like that naturally." Seth sneered, to our surprise.

Dean's mouth fell open as he looked between us both, darting forward to mess up Seth's hair.
"You sly fucker!" Dean accused between laughs whilst Seth continued to giggle uncontrollably.

I watched them both, smiling before getting to my feet and stretching.
"Damn, I'm hungry. You guys wanna go out for breakfast?"

Both boys stopped immediately and snapped their heads up to look at me. Dean released Seth from a headlock and started pulling on his jacket and shoes.
"YES! Fuck, I'm gonna eat so much..."

Dean licked his lips and I found myself distracted for a second before shaking my head.
"Uh, you ready Seth?" I watched as Seth slowly got to his feet, wincing a little before composing himself.

"Yeah! Are they gonna have milkshakes here?" He followed Dean out to the car.

"Seth, I'm never going to a milkshake parlour with you again. If they sell milkshakes here we're leaving." Dean's snarky voice replied.

~~~