(Part 2 to Don't Leave.)
(Word count- 2585)
TW: Self harm, talk of suicide.
(Emira's POV)
Emira sat at the dining table next to her twin brother. She had noticed Edric's shift in behavior, and it only worsened after Hunter's funeral a few days ago.
Emira had gone with him. She wanted to be there to comfort her brother... but, seeing the way he seemed so broken absolutely broke her heart. She could recall every detail Edric had that day. Ed had put in little to no effort on his appearance, telling Emira that Hunter had always liked how he naturally had curls in his hair, and how much Hunter loved his glasses, and how Hunter adored Edric's squishy cheeks, and so much more. Edric had broken down on the way back home, he had so much he wanted to say, but he had expressed to Emira that he just couldn't bring himself to speak these words.
Now, the twins were eating dinner on a Tuesday night. Amity sat across from them, while their mother sat at the end of the table, their father nowhere in sight. Alador was always busy in the basement, working.
Despite Edric not wanting to eat, Odalia had insisted that he sit at the table and not be allowed up until his plate was cleared. Emira hated that. Yes, Edric should be eating, but he shouldn't be forced to.
Emira cleared her throat and rose from her seat, taking her empty plate along with Edric's full plate of food. Her brother was zoned out, he wasn't going to eat.
Odalia narrowed her eyes, "Emira, put his plate back down."
Emira huffed and looked to Odalia, "Mom, Ed isn't going to eat. He just lost someone important to him, he'll eat when he feels well enough."
Odalia stood from her seat, "He will eat the food that was given to him. He needs to learn how to push events to the side in order to live in the present."
Emira rolled her eyes, walking to the kitchen and placing Edric's food in a Tupperware bowl. She took the bowl and put it into the fridge, then taking her empty plate and setting it into the sink. When she left the kitchen, she saw that Edric had left the table. She assumed that he had gone into his bedroom, like every other night.
Odalia, of course, demanded that Emira go up to her room. With that, Emira happily obliged. As she was passing by Edric's room, she could hear his muffled sobs. She slowly made her way over to Ed's door, which was decorated with smiley face and heart stickers. In the middle, there was a soft purple sign that was slightly tilted to right, which read "Edric Blight's room". She had to admit, the dorkiness of his decorating did fit his personality.
She placed her hand on the door handle, gently pushing it open just enough so that she could look into the room. She saw Edric sitting at his vanity, covering his mouth as tears were falling down his face in the mirror. She blinked, noticing the thick red liquid trailing down his arm that covered his mouth. She shoved the door open fully and went over to Ed, immediately taking his wrist and tracing a spell circle in the air. "Ed! I thought that you stopped doing this..." Emira murmured, gently wiping away the blood from his arm.
Edric just hummed in response, tears still slowly trailing down his cheeks.
Emira exhaled, locking eyes with Edric, "Ed, why did you do that..." She drawled, wanting to keep her voice soft.
Edric awkwardly shifted, breaking eye contact, his gaze now fixed on the reflection of himself. "I can't move on without him. He's gone because of me..." He whispered, his voice quivering under his breath.
Emira huffed, gently pushing Edric's face to look at her. "Ed. It is not your fault. He wanted to protect you, yes. But that was not your fault. He pushed you onto your staff, and your staff simply took you away from a dangerous situation."
Edric whimpered, his ears flattening against his skin. "I can't move on, Em... One day, you're not going to be around me anymore, and then who am I going to have? Hunter was supposed to be around me forever, but now he's gone because of me..." He cried, warm tears streaming down his face and falling from his chin, landing on his pants.
Emira blinked, her eyes growing wide. She didn't think that Edric's fear of being alone went that deep. She sighed and gently took his face in her hands, knowing that was something that Edric liked. "Ed, you're going to be okay. This isn't how you're going to feel forever. I'm still going to be around you in the future, just not as much. You don't need to hurt yourself... You don't need to try to end your life... Edric, you mean so much to me and Mittens. You're important."
Edric whined, his eyes slowly fluttering shut. The wound on his wrist was now no longer bleeding, but it was starting to scab. "Can we just... sweep this under the rug?"
Emira shook her head, "No. Ed, you cut your wrist. I'm not just going to put this off. You're going to do it again if we don't talk about this." She let out a small exhale, "This happened before, Ed. Don't think that I've forgotten that... Everything that happened before your transition..."
Edric slowly shrank down, "Please, Em. I can't talk about this right now." He muttered, his voice still shaky.
Emira gently ran a hand through Edric's hair, seeing how tired he seemed. "Fine... But I'm camping out in your room tonight. Like how we used to do when we were little after our nightmares. You remember that?" She asked softly, a smile slowly spreading across her face.
Edric let out a small chuckle, "Mhm... I remember putting a blanket on the floor of your room late at night and in the morning, you would always accidentally step on me."
Emira giggled and rolled her eyes, "I'll be right back, I'm going to get a blanket from my room. Do you want me to get my crystal ball too? We can watch some of your nerdy shows." She teased her brother.
Edric hummed, a quivering smile slowly spreading across his face. "Sure."
Emira nodded, leaving the room.
(Edric's POV)
Edric sighed, getting up from the chair in front of his vanity, plopping down face-first into the mattress of his bed. He just missed his boyfriend... he wanted to cuddle with him, to kiss him, to just hold his hand. He missed the comfort. He had adored and put all his energy into him and Hunter's relationship.
He rolled onto his side, facing the wall as he gently took a plushie of a Selkidomus that Hunter had gotten for him. Hunter had gotten it as an apology gift for missing one of their dates. Edric smiled to himself, nuzzling his face into the plush. It had meant so much to him... He would never get rid of it.
Edric slowly shut his eyes, quietly taking in a deep breath. His favorite memory that he had with Hunter was when they had gone on a picnic date late at night, earlier on in their relationship.
(Flashback, bc why not? Still in Ed's POV)
Edric quietly laid on his back over a blanket he had set down. He had been admiring the stars while he waited for Hunter. Of course, he had his concealment stone on his wrist. He had brought a small picnic basket filled with snacks, mainly just bread rolls and cake. Edric wasn't allowed to eat certain things, so he was rather limited on what to bring, and those were the most appetizing foods to him.
He slowly took in a deep breath and sat himself up, looking around. Hunter was supposed to be here already... Maybe he was simply just running late due to work. That had happened a lot, and Ed was okay with it. He figured that it would be stressful to be the Golden Guard, so he wasn't going to push Hunter for more attention.
Edric took a quick glance around, not noticing the guard gently landing on the soft grass behind him, putting his staff away.
Hunter quietly made his way over to Edric, he had stopped by the palace to drop off his mask but other than that, he was still in uniform. He gently placed a hand under Edric's chin, lifting his face up and leaving a gentle kiss on the tip of his nose. "Sorry I'm late, Eddie." The guard purred, gently cupping Edric's face in his hands. He had grown to be quite affectionate toward the Blight.
Edric giggled, a bright pink growing on his cheeks as he wrapped his arms around the blonde's neck, "I'm just glad that you made it, Hun! I know that you have to work a lot."
Hunter chuckled as he gently moved beside Edric, sitting down. "How was your day today?"
Edric gently took Hunter's hand in his, gently tracing hearts with his thumb on the back of the guard's hand. "My day was good! I went to the library with Em to drop off Mittens' lunch, and met a human named Luz! A few hours ago, we snuck into the library again because we wanted to see what the Wailing Star was gonna do. Did you know that it made the books come to life?"
Hunter nodded, gently leaning onto Edric's shoulder. "It's quite fascinating. Unfortunately, I missed this rare event."
Edric looked to him, his smile softening, "Well, you and I can go together next time."
Hunter hummed, placing a gentle kiss on the taller male's cheek, "I would love that."
Edric giggled and gently squeezed the blonde's hand as he laid on his back, gently pulling Hunter back with him.
Hunter smiled, his gaze focused on Edric's face, he absolutely adored his boyfriend. He loved the mole he had under his right eye, he loved the golden color of his eyes, he loved his emerald green hair, he loved his pale skin, he loved his laugh, he loved his cheesy poems, he loved his dorky personality. He loved everything about this Blight.
Hunter gently placed a hand on Edric's cheek, catching his attention. "Hey, Eddie, what do you think our future is going to be like?" The guard murmured, admiring the taller male's eyes.
Edric hummed as a light pink dusted his cheeks, a big smile spreading across his face. "I think that we're going to end up married, and I know that I want kids. So, if that's something you want too... I think that two or three kids would be nice. We could adopt and all of that."
Hunter chuckled as he gently rubbed Edric's cheek with his gloved hand, "I think that sounds lovely, Eddie."
Edric rolled onto his side, now fully facing Hunter. "What do you think our future is going to be like?"
Hunter moved a little closer to the taller boy, a smile spreading across his face. "I don't care what it's like as long as we're together and safe. You mean the world to me."
Edric giggled and gently pressed his forehead against Hunter's, "You're so sweet." The emerald haired boy teased, secretly enjoying how close he had managed to get his face to Hunter's.
Hunter rolled his eyes and chuckled, gently placing his hands on both of Edric's cheeks and squishing his face. "And you're squishy." He teased back. That was another thing he loved, the softness of Edric's face. It made the taller male's face easy to squish.
Edric huffed and stuck out his tongue, "You know that I don't like the extra fat on my face." He mumbled; he was incredibly insecure about his face. That was just how he had been.
Hunter smiled and left a gentle kiss on the tip of the taller male's nose, "But it's so cute on you. You have a little baby face!" He continued to tease.
Edric let out a low chuckle and gently ran a hand through Hunter's ash blonde hair, "Whatever you say, Hun."
Hunter gently nuzzled his head into Edric's hand and slowly took in a deep breath as he shut his eyes, he liked it when Edric would play with his hair. It was soothing.
As a smile slowly spread across his face, Edric continued to play with the smaller male's hair. "Hun?"
Hunter hummed in response, hinting for Edric to continue.
Edric nervously bit his lower lip, "You know how couples normally kiss and all that? Like, on the lips." He mumbled, fidgeting with his concealment stone with his free hand. Him and Hunter technically hadn't had their first kiss yet.
To this, Hunter's eyes fluttered open as a smirk spread across his face. "Does Eddie want a kiss?" The smaller boy teased, placing his hands on Edric's chest. He could feel Edric's heartbeat increase slightly.
Edric cleared his throat, sputtering out; "Well- I'd like one. But- if you're not ready for one- I'm not going to rush you- "
Hunter rolled his eyes, pressing his lips against Edric's as his way to make Edric hush.
Edric's eyes widened, then quickly fluttered shut as he melted into the gentle kiss. He slowly wrapped his arms around Hunter's waist, gently pulling the smaller boy closer to him. He liked the way Hunter's lips felt against his. Hunter's were soft and thin, while Edric's were slightly thicker but just as soft.
A moment later, both boys pulled apart from the kiss. They both had enjoyed the warmth that they gave each other, and both had pink cheeks.
Edric was the first to speak, a quiet whisper of a simple three-word sentence. "I love you."
Hunter chuckled, gently cupping Edric's face in his hands. "I love you too, Eddie."
(The end of the flashback)
Edric now had his face pressed firmly into his pillow. Emira was asleep on the floor beside his bed with an air mattress underneath her, so Edric was currently the only twin awake.
Batric had managed to open his cage on his own around an hour ago and Edric hadn't bothered to try to put the stubborn bat back into the cage. Batric was now just curled up, pressed against the boy's neck.
Edric let out a frustrated groan and sat himself upright, gently taking the small bat in his hands. "I miss him." He whispered to his little friend.
Batric spread his wings, squeaking back at Edric. He had essentially just told the boy that he needed to get over him eventually.
Edric let out a low whine, "But I can't. He meant everything to me..."
Batric huffed, annoyedly butting his head into Edric's hand and squeaking at him, pretty much just telling the boy that he needed to shut up and listen to him.
Edric let out a low chuckle, gently placing a kiss on the bat's head. The bat responded to this by pushing his ears back and curling into a little ball in the boy's hands.
Edric chuckled, "You're so sassy sometimes." The boy mumbled, shifting his gaze over to the window on his wall.
His eyes happened to land on a star that seemed brighter than the rest, making a gentle smile spread across his face. It was nice to think that Hunter could be watching over him...
(Lemme know if I made any mistakes!! Love y'all! Sleep well tonight, and hope ya have sweet dreams! <3)