A/N - I'm here, I'm here
TW - This chapter contains scenes depicting attempted suicide and scenes some may find upsetting - THIS CHAPTER IS COMPLETELY SKIPPABLE IF YOU WISH <3
I'd say enjoy but yeah....
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Isabella
12 days later
"You have an addiction", I frowned at my brother, knowing damn well he wasn't talking; Chase looked identical to me right now. Coffee in his right hand, book in the other - he was one to talk.
"So do you", I placed my book back on the shelf and glanced around, "we've been in here for like an hour".
"Your point is?", he pushed his glasses back up his nose with his coffee cup and sniffed, "plenty of time to keep looking". He kept the book he was holding in his hand and cocked his head, leading me to yet another section; I admired his inability to get bored.
Not that book shops were boring.
"We're so indecisive Chase", I groaned, "I've picked up like thirty books and put them all back".
"And you know I'd buy you every single one, like I keep telling you", he rolled his eyes, "money is no problem Izzy". I knew that, but no way in hell was I putting a dent in his bank account and walking out of this place with thirty books in my possession.
"I know", I muttered, "can we get food soon? I didn't eat breakfast". You would've thought someone had died at the rate his face dropped, overreacting for what?
"Why would you do that? It's the most important meal of the day", his facial expression displayed one of shock and I laughed.
"Calm down, I'm not about to faint from hunger Chase", I assured him, "but my stomach will start to sound like an engine in a minute". That made him chuckle; he peered around the shop and adjusted his glasses once more, this time with the book he was holding instead.
"I'll buy this and we'll go, you sure you don't wanna keep looking?", he clarified and I shook my head.
"I've got millions I need to read at home anyway", I took his coffee from his hand as he pulled out his wallet and approached the till. Once he'd paid we headed towards the food court- it was loud today and all I could think about was what Zane had told me just over a week ago.
He's the reason why Chase wears hearing aids.
I watched my brother for any signs of discomfort as we navigated through all the people, ending up at McDonald's as per usual.
Now I felt guilty as hell, I could've just waited until we got home to eat instead of dragging him up here.
"Stop looking at me like that", he grumbled, snapping me out of my thoughts, "my head's not gonna explode Izzy, I'm fine". Damn it.
"Just checking", I hummed, attracting my attention to the menu and narrowing my eyes at it.
"He told you", he stated and I bit my tongue, facing him once again, "I didn't want him to do that".
"How come?", I asked and he scratched his head, peering around before his gaze landed back on me.
"I made peace with what happened years ago, nothing I can do to change it", he shrugged, "I want it put behind me".
"Then we'll never speak of it again", I shrugged back, "can I have a cheeseburger?".
"You're something else", he chuckled, "something else Izzy". I'll gladly take that title.
~
"So, do you know any sign language?", Chase and I were on our walk home, we'd gotten ice creams along the way so we were eating them on our journey.
"I know enough", he nodded, "definitely not everything, but enough".
"When do you use it? Do the guys know any?", I asked and he smirked, taking a bite of his ice cream.
"I use it when I take these out", he pointed to his hearing aids and I nodded, "Cub probably knows just as much as me, we learned a lot together while growing up - Zane and Scott know a fair amount, and the twins...they try".
"I mean I think it's amazing, you're basically trilingual", I grinned and he chuckled, his cheeks turning a rosy colour.
"I wouldn't go that far Izzy", he muttered, "it's cool though, y'know, having another way of communicating".
"Well I'd be willing to learn anything", I told him and he smiled, ruffling my hair as we approached our house, "I'm sleeping when we get in, you made us leave out too early".
"Oh please", he scoffed, "don't blame me for wanting a productive day".
"Productive my ass", I walked ahead of him and to the doorstep, "we stared at books and drank coffee".
"Don't act like that isn't your idea of a perfect day", he rolled his eyes and my mouth snapped shut, yeah he had me there.
~~
The rest of the day consisted of more eating, and having a debate with Cay, Theo and Chase on whether horror movies were better than Marvel - I'd never had such a heated discussion in my life.
I checked up on Xav before I went to bed, the guy was completely knocked out with Xander beside him so I snapped a picture and left them to it; I'd hang out with him tomorrow instead.
~
By the time I'd woken up after one of the best sleeps of my life, I headed down into the kitchen for breakfast. Zane, Xander and Chase were in there; I didn't expect to see Scott for a while this morning seeing as he'd been sleeping really well recently, and it was only ten in the morning. Caleb on the other hand...he just slept for the sake of sleeping most of the time.
"Isabella, do you mind taking this up to Xavier?", Zane asked, sticking a plate of French toast in front of me.
"Course", I agreed, "is there any more?".
"I'll make you some yeah?", Xander offered and I nodded with a smile, even he'd been doing a bit better recently; although tensions were still running high between him and Cay after their fight. The evidence of said fight was also still present on Xander's face- he set himself up with that one.
"I'll be back, Chase make me a coffee please", I scurried off, suddenly desperate for french toast as soon as possible.
"Yes ma'am", he muttered, their voices gradually drowning out as I reached Xav's room and tapped on the door. No reply.
I opened it a little and saw that he was still sleeping- thank god he was finally getting some well deserved rest. I guess I could eat his breakfast if he showed no signs of getting up any time soon, better tell Xander though.
~
"He's still asleep?", the frown on his face made me a little worried, shouldn't he be asleep?, "weird, he's been struggling for weeks and now he can sleep for over 12 hours?".
"He's probably exhausted", Chase shrugged, "he needs the rest".
"I'm gonna check on him", Xander announced, "eat his food Izzy, I'll make him something when he wakes up".
He didn't have to tell me twice. I munched on the food while talking to Zane about school, yes it was a Tuesday and I'd missed the past two days but that was solely because of cramps; I'd go back tomorrow...or maybe Thursday.
Or just next week.
Xander came back into the room, looking slightly more distressed than he did when he left the kitchen, what was wrong with him?
"Can you come check on him? He's fucking freezing, and he's breathing slow", he directed what he was saying to Zane but Chase and I were watching him too, "I think it's just a flu or some shit but-".
"I'll come and check", Zane set down his coffee and followed, "painkillers Isabella, if you can't find your hot water bottle I'll buy one later". As much as I wanted to protest and say I needed that damn bottle now because it felt like my stomach was being turned inside out, I knew Xav was the priority right now, so I nodded and kept my mouth shut as he left the room hastily.
"Wanna bake something today?", Chase spoke up and I turned to him with a slight frown.
"Isn't that Scott's thing?", I asked and he pressed a hand to his chest, fixing his glasses with the other.
"I'm offended", he scoffed, "it's not just Scott's thing, I make great brownies".
"I could kill for chocolate", I groaned, pressing my forehead against the counter, that and the damn hot water bottle.
"Then it's settled, I'm gonna wake up Cub", he announced.
"Why Cay?", I frowned.
"Because he'll complain later on saying we didn't wake him up to participate", he explained, "two secs". I think it took a bit more than two seconds to wake up Caleb, but I never doubted Chase to be honest.
~~
"Can you stop eating the mixture?", I swatted Caleb's hand with the wooden spoon I was holding and he hissed, licking the remainder of the brownie batter from his fingers before stepping aside, "Chase, is the tin ready?".
"Uh huh", he slid it across the counter and I began pouring the mixture in carefully, "Cub, set the oven to 120".
"Is that all I'm good for?", he grumbled his complaint while complying anyway, "sifting the flour and setting the oven?".
"Apparently so", I muttered, licking the spoon after spreading out the batter and humming in satisfaction, "okay, this cooks for how long?".
"Half an hour", Chase replied, "did you wanna put chocolate on top?".
"As long as it's not white chocolate, I don't-", I was cut off by the most blood-curdling scream I'd ever heard in my life; Xander screamed Zane's name repeatedly and I followed Chase and Cay as they broke into a sprint up the stairs.
What the fuck was going on?
It didn't take long for me to realise the commotion was coming from Xav's room where everyone now was, before I could even take a step in there I was blocked by the frame of my second eldest brother.
"He's not breathing, fucking do something", Xander's comment made my heart drop to my stomach, what was happening to Xav?, "his lips are fucking blue, what's happening?".
"He's overdosed, looks like opioids", Caleb, "someone check his bathroom, call an ambulance - now, one of you go to my bathroom and find the naloxone and a syringe". I didn't know what any of that meant, I couldn't register what any of that meant; I felt fucking sick- what had he done?
"I need an ambulance", Zane's voice filled my ears but was drowned out just as quickly as Chase bolted past me and into Cay's room.
"Hey, Isabella- breathe", a hand on the back of my head snapped me back to reality, "I need you to focus bebita - I need to check Xav's bathroom and I need you to stay put, he wouldn't want you to see him like this".
I didn't miss the crack in his voice or the way his eyes were welling with tears, I managed a small nod as I stayed exactly where I was, barely registering Chase rushing back into the room- come on Xav.
Xander
He promised he wouldn't leave me.
He fucking promised he wouldn't leave me, and now I was watching them stick fucking needles into his pale body while he just lay there, unconscious.
Why?
All I wanted to know was why. Why didn't he think he could speak to me? Why didn't he come to me?
It was only now I realised just what Caleb had been through four years ago, and I had the audacity to call him out on it. I might as well die if Xav did. We came into this fucking world six minutes apart, and I sure as hell wasn't about to watch him leave it.
"The fuck have you done man?", I cried, my forehead pressing against his as my tears poured onto his face, "what have you done?".
"He's still not breathing", Caleb muttered, filling the syringe once again, "I'm giving him another dose, where the fuck is this ambulance Zane?". I didn't know how he knew what to do right now, how he recognised what Xav had taken- opioids, prescribed medication, that could've come from any of us- but I was so fucking thankful he was here right now.
"They're one minute out", he said, crouching down next to the bed and pushing some of Xav's hair out of his face, "vamos hijo, mierda".
"What's he done Zane?", I gasped to take in some fucking air, "what's he fucking done?".
"Hey", Caleb's voice made me snap my head towards him, "he's done what he thought was the only solution, I'm uh- I need to take a minute outside".
"He's breathing", Zane's words made me nearly break my fucking neck as I looked at my twin, the barely noticeable rise and fall of his chest making me cry harder, "mierda".
"I'm gonna wait for the ambulance", Caleb stepped back, nearly tripping over something in the process; when he opened the door and I saw the terrified expression on my sister's face my heart dropped even fucking further- fucking hell Isabella.
"Bella, you can't-", she didn't listen, she was at our brother's bedside within a split second, just staring down at him in shock. Tears slid down her cheeks as she glanced from me, to Zane, to Chase, then to Scott and finally back down at Xav.
"Xav?", she cried, "come on, you gotta wake up- why isn't he waking up?". I nearly fucking flinched when paramedics appeared in the doorway, when did they get in here?
"Izzy", Chase all but tugged our sister away from our brother and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest as she sobbed, "vale, he's gonna be okay, you know he's strong". I knew more than anyone how strong my twin was...but I didn't know how much more he could take at this point- I didn't know if he'd be able to take anymore after this.
Caleb
I'd barely survived losing my best friend after he took his life, but watching my brother tried to do the exact same thing?
That had fucking killed me.
Ended me.
I couldn't even breathe right now as I thought about what could've been happening right now if I didn't know what to do.
We could've just received the worst news of our lives- but we hadn't, after sitting in the hospital's private waiting room for three hours we finally got the news that all the shit had been flushed from Xav's system and the effects were wearing off.
But, because he'd been without oxygen for longer than he should've been, we had to wait and see if there would be permanent damage, so in the meantime they'd put him in an induced coma.
Permanent fucking damage.
The only permanent damage that should be associated with Xav is the kind you get when your eardrums burst from hearing him talk too much. Isabella stirred against me, after crying until her eyes were dry for practically forty-five minutes, she'd completely passed out against me.
The pair of us had been sitting in here since, I wasn't ready to see him like that.
"Cay?", her voice was hoarse, her tone quiet, and I bit my tongue in an attempt to keep myself in check.
"Right here princesa", I kissed the side of her head, "I'm right here".
"Where's Xav? Is he okay? Is-", I shushed her gently and pulled her back into me after she'd shot up, "please tell me he's okay?".
"He's stable", I nodded, "they've put him in a coma to monitor him yeah? We've gotta wait".
"I thought he was gone Cay- and I thought nothing of it when he randomly told me he loved me yesterday", I had to glance away for a moment when she started crying again- keep your shit together Caleb-, "I really thought he'd-".
"Hey", I said sternly, "don't think like that, not now okay? He's in the best hands right now, and the others aren't leaving his bedside, he's gonna be okay".
"And you?", she glanced at me, "nobody's asked how you feel right now". Damn her for being so considerate.
"How I feel doesn't matter right now", I muttered.
"Yeah and I'm six-foot-five", she rolled her eyes, "this hits close to home for you Cay, it's okay if you're not okay".
"I'll be okay Isabella", I promised, "let's just focus on Xav yeah? He's got a long road to recovery, he's gonna need all of us more than ever".
"Yeah", she nodded and I hugged her closer; that boy was gonna need us more than anything.
~~~
A/N - I'm sick.
Okay uploads are gonna slow I literally have the most important exams of my life in 3 weeks and yeah I know nothing 💪
We've almost hit 8k in 24hours STOP❤️