Gracious

Chapter 24

A/N - acc feel like I waffled in this chapter 😭😭

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"You're like a grumpy old man trapped in a child's body", I leaned back in my chair and watched Alexander scowl at Caleb, "you're proving my point". Prescott chuckled, shaking his head slightly as he sat next to Chase, ruffling his hair.

"You wonder why I'm so angry all the time, but I have to live with you", he scowled, "you're like a fly that won't go away".

"I'm flattered", Caleb flashed the twelve year old a fake smile and I rolled my eyes, not being able to recall a time when there wasn't any form of conflict under this roof.

"I'm flattered", Alexander mimicked him, thinking he was being discreet by sticking up his middle finger in his lap.

"Alexander", I warned from behind him, having a clear view of his gesture, "let's just pick a movie, no?". Silence filled the air and I sighed contentedly, watching as Prescott flicked through the horror movies on Netflix way too quickly for us to even catch the titles.

"Slow down, I can't read them", Caleb squinted at the screen, then proceeded to snatch Chase's glasses off of his face and slip them on, "still can't read them".

"You can't read anyway", Alexander muttered from the floor, tossing some popcorn into his mouth and crunching loudly.

"I'm sick of your shit, you know that right?", the sixteen year old snapped and I rubbed my chest slowly, the slight tightness putting me on edge a little.

"I'm sick of you", I raked a hand through my hair and tried to focus on the tv screen, not having a clue as to why I was beginning to panic.

Maybe it was because Xavier wasn't here, I never did feel truly okay knowing they weren't all under one roof.

"It's weird not having Xav here right?", Chase tried to move on the topic of conversation to stop the others from arguing but all it did was put me even more on edge- what if something had happened to him? Sure, I trusted Jake's family to look after him for a damn sleepover, but that didn't stop the 'what ifs' circling around my head over and over again.

He could be grabbed while they're trick or treating, someone could put something in the candy and-

"Hey", a hand squeezed my shoulder and I jumped, my gaze fixing on the concerned blue eyes belonging to Prescott, "follow me".

I didn't realise how shaky I was until I stood, the living room now entirely silent as the remainder of our brothers watched worriedly; the last thing I wanted was for them to be concerned about me. I followed Prescott into my office where he closed the door behind us and approached me slowly.

"I'm sorry", I breathed out, eyes searching the dimly lit room as I rubbed my chest slowly- I needed to get my shit together.

"Nothing to apologise for", the seventeen year old shook his head and took another step towards me, "what can I do?". It should be me looking after him, not vice versa.

"Xavier", was all I said, closing my eyes momentarily- he's fine Zane, sort yourself out.

"You want me to pick him up?", as much as every fibre of my being wanted to say yes, I'd hate myself even more if I ruined his fun.

"No, I-", I swallowed, trying to catch my breath, "call him". It was at a time like this that I was thankful for buying the twins phones for their twelfth birthday, maybe I had some sense after all.

Prescott pulled his phone out of his pocket almost immediately, holding it to his ear as I listened to the faint ringing that came from it, then watched as my brother's face lit up when he answered.