Help Me (sequel to Save Me)

Chapter 110

Thanks Cece_Di_Chiaro for this idea :)

TRIGGER WARNING

Sebastian is coming home today. His brothers are so ready for a hug from him, and are looking forward to being able to talk to him whenever they like. Remington wakes in a good mood, and accepts breakfast from Andy without complaining, which is a rare occurrence.

"Today is a good day," he says to Andy cheerfully.

The man smiles. "Have you had enough?" He asks, eyeing the bowl of porridge.

Remington nods, pushes the bowl towards Andy. "I had more than half."

"I know. You've been doing so well. I'm proud of you." He stands up and takes their bowls with him to the sink.

"I still hate eating," Remington says, pouting. "I need your hoodie, please."

"I get a please this time? Wow, you must be in a good mood."

The boy grins. "You know it. Hoodie?"

"In the wardrobe."

Remington disappears to find the hoodie, and Andy washes the bowls and the pan, and looks through posts he's been tagged in recently. Lots of them are screenshots of the stories Remington made, with captions like 'their relationship is goal,' and, 'Get yourself someone who looks at you the way Andy looks at Remington.' He smiles and likes a few of them, checking the most recent story Remington made, just half an hour ago. It's a picture of him rolling his eyes, with the words 'according to Andy, I slept like a baby. Jokes on him. I am a baby.'

Andy chuckles, and looks up when his husband returns, hoodie on. "Smile," he says, and takes a picture of Remington. "This is my new home screen."

"But I like the one you have now," Remington whines, "I don't look ugly in that one."

"Shush, you. You're in a good mood, remember? We don't need any bad thoughts changing that. You're beautiful."

Glaring at Andy, Remington shakes his head. "Nope."

Andy approaches the younger. "Yep. Beautiful."

"Don't touch me, I'm mad."

"And what are you mad at, kitten?"

Remington tries not to smile. "You, 'cause you're not giving me a hug."

Andy chuckles. "I do believe you just told me not to touch you."

"Yes, don't touch me, but give me a hug." He looks up at Andy innocently.

"What you just said makes no sense, sweetheart."

"Hug."

Again, Andy chuckles, and wraps Remington in a hug. "What're you really mad at, princess?"

Remington sighs. "Emerson. He texted again."

"Don't you think you two should sort things out? It's been more than a week and you haven't spoken to him."

The boy shakes his head. "No. He hurt me."

Andy knows there's no point talking about it. "When's Sebastian coming home? What time?"

"Two o'clock. I'm not in a good mood anymore."

After the morning hug, the two go for a walk in an attempt to bring Remington's mood back up, and after, play with their cat, Jenny, until she gets bored and goes to sleep on the sofa.

The doorbell rings and Emerson is there, and Remington answers it before realising it's his little brother. "Oh, fantastic," he mumbles under his breath, "what?"

The drummer sighs heavily. "It's nice to see you too. I'm going to get Sebastian. Are you coming?"

Remington shrugs. "I don't know. Are you gonna leave me on the side of the road?"

"For fucks sake, Remington. If you want to come and pick up your brother from jail, then come now."

The boy looks anywhere but Emerson. "I'll stay here, thanks. I don't want to get hit by a bus today."

Emerson throws his arms up. "Maybe you'd be doing everyone a favour," he retorts, without thinking, and shoves Remington back hard.

The words and the harsh shove bring way too many memories to the surface, and he stumbles, shielding his face with his hands. "Andy!" He shouts, desperate.

The man soon appears. "What's wro-Remington, hey, look at me." He ignores Emerson, and waits for Remington to put his hands down. "You're safe. Deep breath."

"He-he-" his voice seems to stop working. He falls into Andy.

"It's okay," Andy whispers, "it's alright. You're safe."

Emerson leaves. Andy guides Remington into a chair and assures him over and over that he's safe, and Remington slowly calms down, horrified of the fact that his own brother just did that.

Despite now being terrified of Emerson, he goes to see Sebastian later on, and is not happy to find Emerson is there. He stays close to Andy for safety and hugs his big brother, who can tell that something is wrong.

"Hiya, bub, it's good to see you." He looks at Andy, asking for answers as to why Remington is trembling. Andy shakes his head, motions to Emerson subtly.

They all sit in Sebastian's living room, Emerson and Sebastian on one sofa, and Remington and Andy on another. "Okay, what is going on?" Sebastian asks, after a really awkward silence.

"He's not eating," Emerson replies, jabbing a finger towards the fragile boy, who doesn't understand why Emerson keeps saying that when he really is eating.

The singer clenches his jaw. "I am! What the fuck is wrong with you? You keep saying that I'm not eating and I am!"

"Because you're lying!"

"No, I'm not!"

Sebastian interjects. "Emerson, stop going on about him eating, for the love of God. He's not collapsed again so stop acting like he has."

The youngest in the room talks again, rather loudly. "How do you know? You've been locked up for half a fucking year because of him! This is his fault!"

"Emerson! Shut up! Clearly you're not fucking helping. Say something nice or just shut up."

Remington moves closer to Andy. He doesn't feel comfortable with his brothers shouting like this. "You're scaring me," he mumbles.

"Oh, be quiet!" Emerson shouts, "everything scares you."

"Shut your mouth, Emerson. You've already terrified him once today. Let's not make it twice." It's Andy who tries to diffuse the situation this time, though it doesn't exactly work.

The drummer slams a mug down on the table and Remington jumps. "See!"

"What the fuck is going on with you?" Sebastian asks, "you two have never fought like this before."

Remington is holding Andy's hand. "He keeps getting mad at me for not eating, even though I am!" His voice becomes aggressive. "And I'm so sick of it, Emerson, I'm so fucking sick of it! You make me wanna not eat and it fucking sucks because I don't wanna be like this! Okay? I don't! I hate it. I fucking hate it. But you make it so hard to recover when all you do is criticize me, even though I am really really trying." Abruptly, he sobs, and is immediately removed from the room in Andy's arms. He sits with Remington in the kitchen, and lets the boy cry into him, and wonders what the hell has got Emerson so angry at him.

"Whatever is going on, Em, you need to sort it out. He can't handle arguments well at all."

Emerson looks down. He feels guilty about everything he's said to Remington. "I know. I need to tell you something. It's probably why I've been so argumentative recently."

"Go on."

There's a hesitation before he says it, and Sebastian wishes he'd never asked. "I've got cancer."