34B. |raylijah

40

"Thanks again, Mike." Elijah sighed as he headed towards his apartment—he'd been on the phone with the man until he made it back home. The previous night he decided to crash at Mike's place instead of driving around or potentially doing something stupid.

"It's no problem. I always get random texts from guys at like twelve in the morning saying they want to talk." Mike joked, causing him and Elijah to laugh. "But seriously, I'm glad you thought to text me. That was a lot to take in and you really did need someone to understand you in that moment." He threw an unnecessary jab towards Rayan.

"I can't thank you enough for being a shoulder to cry on, literally." He explained, now attempting to unlock his door. His eyes landed on Jacob—the teen would've normally flashed a grin in the man's direction but he seemed to be biting his nails as his eyes darted everywhere. "And I will also call you back." He took hung up, tucking his phone in his pocket before he examined Jacob.

"Jacob, are you okay?" The teen flinched and looked over at Elijah, his eyes pleading and concerned.

"Have you seen Josh?" He asked quickly, looking as if he were spaced out.

"I haven't seen much of anyone lately, to tell you the truth."

He took steady breaths at Elijah's useless answer. "I just haven't seen him in days and I'm starting to get w-" his face turned pale as he glanced towards the stairs.

Elijah soon realized what he was looking at.

It was Josh. He didn't look too well as he limped up the last step—the teen clutched his side and his bruises seemed to mirror Jacob's from the time he'd been injured. Elijah gasped at the sight of the boy visibly in pain.

Jacob nearly tackled him; he pulled his brother into a tight hug as he nuzzled closer into his chest. "Easy." Josh warned, wincing at the sudden contact.

Jacob's eyes were glossy when he pulled away. "Are you okay?" He asked, wiping away at his eyes.

"Don't cry." Josh glanced down at the floor, his hardened expression softened as he tried to avoid seeing Jacob become visibly upset.

"Josh, let me take a look." Elijah motioned the boy over. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fucking amazing." Josh looked up and his expression hardened again. "I've been having the best week of my motherfucking life so far." He added sarcastically before Elijah rolled his eyes at the snarky comment.

"Come in. I can help." He bit his tongue to keep from getting snappy. The boy was still a teenager after all.

"Go," Jacob urged him, motioning to Elijah's apartment. "He helped me before too."

Josh was visibly hesitant as he eased towards Elijah's apartment and walked inside, Jacob was practically walking on his heels.

~

"Shit." Joshua groaned, pushing Elijah's hand away. "That fucking hurts!" The man was examining what appeared to a cut and decided to put a little ointment on it—his torso seemed to be bruised a lot, as well as a mark on his jaw that was a deep, violet color.

"I'm trying to help." Elijah reminded him as he taped gauze onto the boy's side. His eyes remained focused as he moved, careful to not harm Josh.

"How do you know how to take care of injuries?" Joshua finally asked, now holding a bag of frozen peas on his cheek. He watched Elijah carefully as he examined his ribs for anymore bruises. His voice was a bit raspy but he spoke loud enough for the man to hear.

"My father was a boxer," he explained, his eyes focused on Josh. "and my mom was a nurse. You learn a lot by simply observing." He shrugged.

Jacob was looking away with his fingers lodged in his mouth as he continued to bite at his nails. He tried to focus on the strangers who loomed around on the sidewalk below as he peeked through the window—his hair was pulled into a messy bun despite a few pieces being too short to reach that high and he wore a shirt that obviously belonged to Chresanto. He looked like he hadn't left bed in a while.

"Jacob, are you okay?" Elijah asked. This was his second time asking since he didn't receive an answer earlier.

"I just don't like seeing him like this." Jacob shook his head, eyes still focused on the window. Elijah nodded, glancing towards the other twin with a look of sympathy. He seemed to remember what Rayan said about him trying to fix everything—he may have been true but Elijah didn't feel right if he wasn't trying to help anyone.

"Who did this to you?" He asked, brushing away his thoughts.

"Nobody." Josh grumbled and sat up. That quickly changed when he felt pain shoot throughout his ribs—he quickly lied back down on the sofa with a loud groan.

"Nobody can sure throw down." Elijah scoffed.

"It's not anyone of your goddamn business–."

"Stop being so rude." Jacob snapped and he spun around. He had looked like Josh in that moment—his features hardened into a glare as his lips were pulled into a frown. He looked angry and that was an emotion Elijah hadn't seen on the boy before. "He's trying to help so just-just...stop being fucking rude, alright?" And with that, he stormed out of Elijah's apartment and slammed the door behind him.

"This week just keeps getting better and better." Elijah said sarcastically.

"Tell me about it." Josh grumbled.

(A/N)
I guess this book is turning into a series because I plan on making a story about Jacob's side when this is over.

also, y'all are going IN on elijah haha! poor dude