Ao'nung x Neteyam slow burn

Day 70 Part 5

[you kept asking me if I was still alive so there it is, a new part after what feels like years. apologies]

*

Tsireya

Lo'ak and I exchanged a quick glance after Beyral's sudden exit. "I'm going to go check on her." Then I kissed him softly and said goodbye to my three favorite boys.
Slowly I went into the direction Beyral had stormed off to. She probably went home. But why? I had a really bad feeling about the whole situation.

The deafening volume of her mother's voice made me jump.
"Where were you?"
"I met Ao'nung and Neteyam."
"You meet with those faggots??", she yelled, hysteric. My heart skipped a few too many beats.

"But Ma, they're -"
"NO! I don't want to hear another word from you! And now get out of my sight before I forget myself!"

Silence.
I had my hand clapped over my mouth to prevent me from saying anything. Whad did I just witness? But judging by the reaction of my once best friend, she was used to it.
And that made everything so much worse. I felt terrible for her. While I was thinking about what she'd said, more screaming came out of the hut.
"Get up! I can't believe you! How dare you lie in bed all day doing nothing, you brat? And don't you dare excuse this behavior with your pregnancy! Do you think I'm stupid? When I was pregnant with you I didn't lie around and cry like a baby! So get up and prepare dinner, you ungrateful girl."
At a loss for words I teared up.
How could anyone, especially a mother, talk like this to a child?
But since I was the soon-to-be - tshahìk, I had to support my friend. And of course because I still cared for her.
After bracing myself I entered the hut and cleared my throat to get her attention. Beyral jumped a little and turned towards me. She clearly relaxed as soon as she realized it was me and not her mother.
"Tsireya. What are you doing here?" Tears were pooling in her eyes. Without saying anything I just walked over and hugged the girl.
She clung on to me and sobbed quietly. In an attempt to soothe her I let my fingers run through her hair and over her back. "It's going to be fine. I promise. Calm down, Bey."
I shouldn't have said that.
Right on cue her mother's voice boomed: "Brat! Stop your crying and make the damn food!"
She came around the corner and stopped as soon as she saw me. "Tsireya." At least she made that sound somewhat respectful and did the gesture of oel ngati kameie. I simply nodded. "My mother, the tsahìk, wants to talk to Beyral and sent me to come pick her up." "But of course. Give her my best." What a fake ass bitch. "I absolutely will", I said extra friendly and forced myself to smile.
Then I wrapped my arm around the girl and went away with her.
"Thanks", she mumbled and wiped away the tears from her face. "Hey", I whispered quietly and she finally met my gaze. "Just because you and my brother broke up doesn't mean we can't be friends. And honestly you shouldn't have to spend another day in there." I didn't get an answer. "Do you want to talk about it?"
After a few seconds she nodded. "With my mother? Maybe she will be able to help you. It's kind of her duty, you know." She nodded once more and seemingly tried really hard to stop the tears already pooling in her eyes from streaming down her cheeks.

We hugged for quite some time until she'd calmed down mostly. Then I took her by the hand and together we made our way to my home.
Mother was outside and was just talking with Neytiri as we arrived. They both shot us a quick glance and stopped as they noticed the girl's mod. "What happened?", mother instantly asked.
We sat down and she told us everything about her mom and what it was like living with her. My heart was shattered into a million pieces when she finished. At a loss for words I simply put my hand on her cheek. "I am so sorry. If I hadn't been ignoring you when you two broke up, you would've told me that sooner and I -" "It's alright", she interrupted me and smiled softly. "What matters is that you do know now."
Mother nodded and then glared at me. "Is it true what she's saying?" "Yes, I swear." She exchanged a look with Neytiri and they stood up. "We have to talk. You wait here."
Together they disappeared, leaving the both of us alone. I finally broke the silence, not being able to endure it any longer. "Why didn't you tell me? I could've helped you." She just shrugged while she stared at the sand to her feet. "I thought you'd hate me. So I obviously didn't want to bother you with any of my problems." Her words shot a sharp pain through my heart and I averted my gaze. "You wouldn't have. And I'm so incredibly sorry for making you feel that way. Do -" I interrupted myself, noticing how strange it would sound, but continued: "Do you maybe want to be friends?"
Crashing my doubts she smiled. "I'd be glad." One again, we hugged it out and stayed this close until my mom came back.
"You are a grown-up and definitely old enough to decide for yourself", she stated while kneeling down in front of my new old friend. "So it's up to you. Do you want to keep living with her?" After giving a quick thought to it, the girl shook her head. "No. But I wouldn't know where I'd go." My mother barely managed to keep a straight face. "Basically you have three options. You could find a place for yourself, you could move in with us or with the Sullys."
My hand was still resting on her back and her heart was pounding enough for me to be able to feel it through my fingertips. "You're joking, right?", she asked, clearly not believing that she had a choice. Neytiri, standing behind my mom, shook her head with a warm smile and her braids flew around freely. "We wouldn't joke about this. It's up to you. But maybe you'd like to talk to Ao'nung and Neteyam first?"

Said and done.
Not even ten minutes later we sat down together at the shore. Us including dad and mom, Neytiri and Jake, Tuk, Kiri, Lo'ak, Neteyam and Ao'nung. And next to me of course Beyral.
Mom made sure to look at everyone before beginning to speak. "Beyral has come to me earlier with a grave problem. She had asked me for help and luckily, I am in the position to be able to do that. You'd have to agree in order to proceed. Beyral?" She turned to her. With a trembling voice and while she fumbled around with my hand to distract herself, she re-told the story from ehat had happened earlier and in the past few years. Ao'nung went pale and while everyone seemed to be shocked, noone dared to speak the first word.
Finally, mom took a deep breath. "Of course she could get a marui of her own, bit it would take up a lot of time and due to the importance of a quick solution, I wouldn't support it. So the only options for her would be living with us or with you", she said, looking Jake deep in his eyes. The family quickly and wordlessly decided and Jake nodded. "We'd be happy if you moved in with us.", he said, facing her. Even Ao'nung appeared to be happy with the consensus, so it was decided.
She'd live with them for as long as she wanted to.