Gracious

Chapter 30

A/N - finallyyyyy❤️❤️

TW - scenes some may find upsetting

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"What is this, an intervention?", Caleb gazed between Delilah and I, the former on another sofa while I sat next to my brother, my left leg crossed over my right.

It'd been two days since Caleb had broken down in his drunken state in the kitchen, and after an hour long phone call with Delilah, I'd learned that Theo wasn't coping too well either.

"To an extent, yes", I replied truthfully, "we'll wait for Theo to come down, hm?".

"If this is about the other night, I already apologised to the twins", he scrunched up his face, "I said I was sorry".

"I know you did", I nodded, "this isn't just about what happened the other night".

"Well what's it about?", he frowned, his attention shifting elsewhere the second Theo entered the room, a distant look on his face as he barely regarded either of us, dropping into the sofa to Delilah's right, "you look like shit".

I would have told him to be quiet, but he wasn't far from the truth; he looked worse than Caleb did.

"Feel like it", he muttered, leaning back and looking at his mother, "what's this- what's this about?". Delilah looked at her son for a moment, not saying a word; I knew what it felt like to be able to see someone you loved literally falling apart in front of your eyes.

"I'm worried about you honey", her voice cracked and I shifted in my seat, watching Theo avert his gaze to his lap, "we're worried about both of you".

Silence filled every corner of the room for what felt like an eternity, I cleared my throat and sat up straighter when I couldn't take it any longer.

"August was-,", I swallowed, the words getting caught in my throat, "he was a constant in your lives, one of the most important people to you, we know that...and you've lost him".

"We didn't lose him, he was ripped out from right underneath us", Caleb objected, "we're allowed to grieve".

"Nobody's saying you're not", I promised, "what you've both been through is unimaginable".

"But you have to ask yourself, where does the line cross grief and become self-destruction or hurting people around you?", Delilah asked and both boys stayed quiet, "I know you're both hurting beyond belief, August was like another son to me-,". She cut herself off with a small sob and I winced, clearing my throat and scratching my head.

"What Delilah means is there are healthy ways of dealing with this, and more unhealthy ways...like drinking, acting out, saying things you don't mean", my gaze flickered over to Theo at that last bit and he clenched his jaw.

"What was that? What have you said that you didn't mean?", Caleb caught on and frowned, "you're keeping shit from me now?".

"Let's not turn against each other", Delilah shook her head, "Theo said some things that he didn't mean the other night, it's okay honey".

'Okay' was a bit of a stretch, considering what she'd told me on the phone a few days ago.

"It's not- not okay", Theo sniffed, "I told the- the twins I would've- would've preferred it if- it if- one of them-,". He cut himself off with a sob and dropped his head into his hands, Delilah rushed to comfort him in an instant, muttering quiet reassurances to him while he apologised profusely; Caleb turned to me with wider eyes, as if it had just clicked that his best friend was coping just as badly as he was.