After Cyrus's parents pass away after getting into a car crash, the Sykes take him in and treat him as their own.
He grows up alongside his childhood bestfriend Rosie inside a mansion. Life seemed great.
Well, right up until he fell into a depressi...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The twins did, in fact, come for his ass. That's exactly why Cyrus laid out on the basketball court, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, forming bruises littering his body and a probably fractured rib.
For some reason, he accepted that this would be his fate hours ago. That'd he lay out somewhere on the ground, in the dark; alone. And in a way, he felt he deserved it for all the things he had done to get himself in trouble.
In his head, he was luckier than most. Because he was still alive and breathing for all the things he had done that would have ended in death for others. River had always told him to count his blessings. She'd remind him that even though he had lost so much in his lifetime, he had gained things as well. And he had to be thankful for them because he could lose them at anytime.
The thought was scary. Losing more than he had already lost, that is. So he spent so much time pushing it out of his head, ignoring that it could be a possibility. And he forgot that that was lesson that River and Hayze spent so much time drilling into his head.
But now as he laid out on the ground, that sentence "count your blessings" bounced around his head. Things could have been worse. The twins could have left him dead instead of for dead.
But there was something that bothered him in the back of his mind. Something that the pain couldn't stop him from worrying about.
And that was the fact that they knowingly left him alive and well enough to get up and get himself home. Which meant if he didn't get his act together, they'd torture him by going after people he cared about.
And he knew, that person would for sure be Rosie.
He had to get himself out of this mess before he ended up dead. Or Rosie was hurt.
___
Rosie had been complaining about the fact that Cyrus hadn't been around much spending enough time with the family. But he could tell by the way she was ranting in her cute little angry voice that she was more so complaining about the lack of attention she was getting.
Cyrus had been taking up odd jobs all over the town, legal ones, finally. River and Hayze had given him a weekly allowance, but he wanted most of his money coming in to be earned. Made by the work of his own hands. He also felt a little guilty that River and Hayze would basically be funding his.. running away.
He had gone through his options, tried to figure out what would work best for him and the safety of his second family.
Going away seemed to solve more than one problem. He needed to feel like he belonged somewhere, he needed comfort, he needed healing, he needed to not be reminded everyday of how depressed he was and how much he missed his parents. Therapy wasn't working, neither was drinking, cross fit, adrenaline sports, outrunning the police, getting involved with dangerous people. And drugs.
He thought drugs were the answer, they helped him forget for a bit. They eased the pain he felt. But then when he was sober, the weight would come crashing down on him two times harder. And he realized how sucky it was, because he knew eventually he'd be dragging down other people with him.
So, after a lot of thinking, he finally decided on travelling. It was the healthiest form of help for him, he thought it was anyway. It'd help him feel less trapped, he could clear his mind, heal. If he travelled, he wouldn't be tempted to hang out with the wrong crowd. And his second family would no longer be in the line of fire. They'd be safe. Rosie would be safe. And then he'd finally find solace in something.
And that was all he wanted.
"Rosie," he groaned as he tried to focus on his video game but she constantly poked him and nudged him with her head like a cat would.
"Cyrussss," she whined, getting up on her knees and bouncing him on his bed.
He kept a straight face as he tried to keep his eyes focused on the screen in front of him as he was bounced up and down in bed. There was silence for a second except for the clicking of the buttons from his controller before he was suddenly being tackled into the bed and smothered by Rosie herself.
He cursed as she climbed on top of him and his controller fell to the floor. She placed herself on his torso and kept smacking him over the head with a pillow.
"Rosie.." he warned in a firm, deep voice when she didn't stop hitting him even when he moved his arms to shield his face.
"Play. with. me," she said in between hits and he raised a brow at her before he quickly rolled them over, pinning her down under him. He smirked at her and laughed a little at the look on her face.
"Be careful what you ask for princess," he said lowly as he looked her in her stunning blue eyes. He bit his bottom lip and tucked a curl of her dark hair behind her ear, feeling the need to back off before he did something he knew in reality, he wouldn't regret at all.
He wanted to kiss her plump, cherry lips so bad.
He wanted Rosie. Every bit of her affection. He knew he did, but he pushed the feelings down in fear of losing his second family.
His eyes flickered over her face for a few seconds before he eased up his hold on her and sighed a little in dissapointment. "One day you're gonna be all mines. And i'll really play with you," he said under his breath and Rosie's brows pulled together in curiousity.
"Hm?" She asked, still frozen under him. His gaze followed her small hand as she reached up and ran her delicate fingers slowly over a bruise on his right cheek.
He bit down hard on his bottom lip and leaned into her hand slowly. "Nothing Princess."
