Found Family

Chapter Eighteen - The Man

Hey guys I'm so sorry for not updating super scheduled I am doing my best but sometimes the adhd procrastination hits hard :| Here is another chapter and please let me know of grammar mistakes since I typically write these chapters really late and so I misread stuff!

Recap: Luca became overstimulated at school

Luca POV

I whimpered pathetically, the sight of my brothers had triggered the tears. "E-everything h-hurts. Too l-loud. Too b-bright. D-don't like it." I finished as ZoZo gently swept me into his arms, mindful of my scratchy clothing.

I cried, letting my tears soak the collar of his shirt as Sio removed the headphones and handed them back to the nurse. The twins gently calmed me down as we walked out of the office. Where to, I wasn't sure. At least, not until I heard the familiar sounds of cars, and realized we were outside the school.

"Okay bubs, Mass is here to get you, okay? Why don't you go home and take a nice nap? How does that sound bambino?" I nodded my head gently as the twins each kissed my forehead and handed me off to Massy, who had stepped out of the car in the past few seconds.

"Oh, sweet boy. It's okay. We're okay." He swayed me gently in his arms and I tucked my head in the crook of his neck to avoid the external stimulation. Before I knew it, I was sitting in Massy's lap in the back of the car, with Charlie driving.

I watched warily as Massy rummaged around in his pockets before pulling out a small round case. He popped it open and pulled out two... of something? He reached for me, but upon seeing my wary expression dropped his hands.

"These are earplugs, bubs. They're gonna make everything a bit more quiet. Does that sound good?" Quiet sounds nice. I nodded. The earplugs were blue and purple, with a soft end and a round base piece.

Massy gently fit them into my ears and I let out an involuntary sigh of relief. It was so quiet. I relaxed against Massy's chest. I could still hear him talking, but it was faint and muted, allowing me to relax fully.

"How do those feel, bambino? Better?" I gave him a thumbs up and he smiled gently down at me. We rode the rest of the way home in silence, Massy allowing me to fully calm down as we rode. I waved to Charlie in the rearview mirror when we parked in the garage, and he smiled kindly at me in return.

Massy unbuckled the both of us and gently lifted me out of the car before heading inside. The soft sway of my elder brother's walk combined with the exhaustion from the stressful day hit me full-force, and I felt myself teetering on the edge between conscious and unconsciousness...

I awoke to hushed voices and someone gently running their hands through my hair. "...don't know why yet. We can talk to him when he wakes up." Assuming they were talking about me, I drowsily peeled my eyes open and blinked a few times.

"Hey, bean. How're you feeling?" I turned towards the voice, realizing that Gio was the one playing with my hair. The three of us all sat in the living room, my head in Gio's lap and Massy in the chair across from the couch we were on.

"'M okay." I noticed that someone had taken out the earplugs at some point, probably when I fell asleep. "Is it still too loud, Luc? Do you want your earplugs back?" Mass asked from the chair, but I shook my head. I was okay now.

"What happened, bubba? Do you know why you felt so bad?" Gio questioned from above me, recommencing his playing with my hair. I shrugged, not really knowing but also not wanting to talk about it.

"C'mon buddy. Please talk to us. We want to be able to help you, and Ms. Keelan wants to be able to help you too, but we can't do that when you won't tell us what's going on." Massy leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and gave me a gentle but firm look.