⋱𓂅 𝐓𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐃.

𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫.

𑁍┊사랑병 ˎˊ˗

( xxxiv. if we have each other )

it was late in the evening, only pitch dark could be seen through the windows. bennett had been crying for the millionth time today, listening to ricky montgomery and some of venti's sad music. he hadn't seen the sun in two days. only the glimmer of light from his lamp lit up the room.

knock knock.

knock knock knock.

"bennett, please open up," came a soft voice from outside of his room door.

he knew it was one of his dads, albedo the scientist, who he jokingly nicknamed 'peepaw' (this became a habit).

and bennett wasn't one for disobeying his parents. he hadn't spoken to them about what happened the night of the party; they gave him his needed space, but it'd been two days since that night, and both peepaw albedo and his husband kaeya, the detective, thought it was time to worry.

so bennett had reluctantly opened the door to his room, with a pleading, melancholy look. there stood his dads, kaeya and albedo, both with concerned expressions— kaeya, the taller, folding his arms.

"are you ready to talk about what's bothering you?" kaeya inquired.

bennett didn't want to talk about the stupid things he did. albedo had always told him how talking about things would make him feel better— but he wasn't convinced that would be the case this time.

"not really, no," said bennett. his eyes had glowed a sickly shade of tired red— contrasting the green irises that were once bright and full of life. his blonde-white hair was more disheveled than usual, sticking up and floating within mid-air. kaeya petted bennett's head, mindlessly attempting to tame some of the stray blonde strands.

and all of a sudden, everything he'd been bottling up had spilled out, bennett broke down and hugged his dad, crying into his arms. kaeya drew circles into his back and kissed his hair— albedo soon joining in for a group hug. bennett had never felt so comforted, so loved, in his life. he abandoned himself into the arms of his kin, as if tomorrow would never come.

"it's okay, bennett," albedo whispered, "let it out."

they stayed like this for a while— when their legs got tired they sat on the floor together, limbs overlapping, heads resting near one another. albedo would comfortingly braid random sections of bennett's hair, and loosen them.

"remember how i told you guys about razor," said bennett, sniffling.

"yes, of course, how could we forget your first gay crush," said kaeya, teasingly. albedo wore a deadpanned expression, and kaeya held his hands up in surrender.

"well, i ruined everything with him— he kissed me and everything—and he even told me he liked me— but that was in seven minutes in heaven so, there's no way he meant it. especially not with my luck. i mean, it's not humanly possible for someone to like me," he rambled, wiping away his tears, "not to mention someone as cool and attractive and nice as razor."

kaeya tilted his head, and albedo squinted, deep in thought. "it's not humanly possibly for someone to like you?" the blonde scientist questioned.

"that was what i was questioning too, dearest," agreed the blue-haired detective.

"well, no, how could someone like me? i have the worst luck and i ruin everything."

"then how come we like you," kaeya followed up, "and barbara and fischl and chongyun and xingqiu and noelle and xiangling and xinyan—"

"that's different!"

"is it, really? your fans like you, too. we've just disproved your theory," albedo said smartly.

"but peepaw, that's not... romantic love. i don't think anyone could romantically like me..."

"bennett," kaeya began. bennett looked up intently, because kaeya rarely used his full first name when referring to him. "do you really think someone would kiss you if they didn't romantically like you?"

"yeah! of course someone would!"

albedo sighed. "change of question: do you think someone who is a good friend of yours, who it seems has never lied to you before, who is extremely loyal to you, would kiss you if they didn't romantically like you?"

oh.

shit.

the look on bennett's face was priceless; it was as if he made a new discovery that would change life as we knew it. he sniffled, looking up— eyes slowly drying. "no. no... he wouldn't ... he wouldn't do something like that. he wouldn't do something like that at all! he would never do something like that! so— i was wrong— i- i was wrong this whole time! i was so— oh my god, i messed up. i've literally messed everything up with everyone i love including razor—i messed up i have to fix it! i— what time is it?"

kaeya chuckled and fondly ruffled bennett's hair— albedo checked his phone for the time. "9:24," he said.

"okay, i need to do this today— i need to talk to barbara like right now," bennett got up immediately and started throwing on whatever presentable clothes he could find, "oh— sorry, permission to go fix things?"

albedo groaned, and the blue-haired only laughed. "go fix things, but be back by 11— you look terrible,"said kaeya, and bennett squealed, "and by the way, will we ever meet razor?"

"if this goes well, then yes, of course!! but... i'll be okay if he decides he doesn't wanna see me ever again— well, not really, i'll definitely cry my eyes out. but it'll be better than not knowing what could've been. and it'll definitely be better than not fighting for him," bennett declared, "oh, and by the way, thank you so much. i don't know what i would do without you guys." he ran to hug his parents, the people he loved the most, and stayed with him whenever he needed be.

"that's what we're here for," albedo said calmly, kissing bennett's forehead.

"be back by eleven, ben," the blue-haired male warned. bennett flashed a thumbs up, setting an alarm for 10:30 PM on his phone, before heading out of his room, rushing down the stairs; and fleeing out the door to find barbara.

and to his surprise, as soon as he left the house, there she was, practically fuming. cheeks puffed and tinted deep red.

"barbara!!"

"bennett, you've got a fuckton of explaining to do."

a/n:
did y'all like this chapter i really liked writing it i cried a little bit

ALBEDO = PEEPAW

BYE ZHONGLI U NOT IN THIS FIC

also i published chapter 1 of my xiaoven fic if ur interested ‼️

qotd:
what are your teams / team comps???????!!

my answer:
I LOVE MY TEAMS OK READY

team 1: big time rush
razor, bennett, xingqiu, chongyun

team 2: kaebedo family
kaeya, albedo, diluc, diona
variations include:
klee instead of diluc and/or bennett instead of diona

team 3: babysitter club
klee, venti, xingqiu, diona
variations include:
xiangling instead of xingqiu

team 4: earth, wind and fire
albedo, venti, diluc, bennett

AH AH AH GOOD STUFF RIGHT???? RIGHT THE TEAM NAMES KINDA DRIPPY TOO???