885 Days [A Vikklan/Sidemen/Pack Story]

Seventy Days Home

3 November 2017

One of the best memories I had of Lachlan's coming home, of the tour I gave him of the house, was his reaction to the pool. One of the doctors had suggested hydrotherapy to get him walking again but it had never come to fruition, more pressing things on our minds. Gaining weight was one of them.

He had been barely 48 kilograms when he had been found, on the verge of his body shutting down from starvation, and over the last two and a bit months, he had gained 3 kilograms. 51 kilos was still painfully skinny and nowhere near healthy but it was a huge improvement, especially since he was only eating the equivalent of one meal a day. I believed he had been a little under 80 kilos, maybe closer to 75, before he went missing. It was mostly just padding, the extra weight, not muscle, but given that he was able to stand, it was certainly better than it was.

Lachlan's reaction to the pool was amazing and I was glad that Mitch and Jerome had been there to see it. We had been walking the house just to get Lachlan moving, my arm around his waist for stability, and had shown him where each person's bedroom was, the kitchen, the living room, the entertainment room, the garden. But his face when I showed him the pool house was the best.

We had walked past the fountain with the little pool of water, turning green because no one used it, with Lachlan hobbling a little. He was visibly growing tired after walking through almost the whole house. And then his eyes widened. He was able to see the pool through the glass door and he looked down at me, so surprised that I couldn't help but laugh.

"You have a pool?!" His voice rose in excitement. Mitch chuckled, leaning against Jerome. If I was honest I suspected something was going on between the two and had been for quite a while now but due to everything, namely Lachlan, it hadn't been my main focus.

"Yeah, we have a pool." I said through a smile. "We can go for a dip later if you want."

To keep the house quiet Harry and Ethan were staying in their apartments for the time being and were hosting Simon and JJ as well, leaving on the six Pack members and the two quietest Sidemen, Josh and Tobi. They were also the best for emotional support because the rest of us were emotional wrecks.

I had to help Lachlan up onto the barstool in the kitchen because he couldn't lift him but once he was up there he was quite content to swing his legs and sip on a hot chocolate through a straw- he couldn't lift the mug. For once he looked so peaceful, happy, content despite the scars, both the physical and mental. The feeding tube didn't help the picture, but he was smiling.

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My first experience with his nightmares on my own came on the second night. The first night had been peaceful, no nightmare, no nothing, and both of us slept in the next morning. The second night was awful.

Lachlan had tired himself out from the touring the house and the boys talking to him all day and had fallen asleep with no problem, but his tired mind had let down his defences and allowed that man to creep in. I had woken at the first disturbance, a low whimper and he tossed his head a bit, so I gently removed his arms from around me. He tossed his head again, body tensing, a groan exiting his mouth.

"Lachy?" I whispered, ever so gently shaking his shoulder. "Wake up Lachy, it's okay."

And that was when he screamed. It was piercing and it was a scream of utter terror and pain, echoing through the room so loudly that I felt my eardrums might shatter. Still he didn't wake. He continued to thrash, another scream echoing through the room. I shook him harder this time, desperate to reach him wherever he was, stuck deep inside his head.

Mitch and Jerome burst into the room at the same time, followed closely by all four of the others in the house. He had screamed so loudly that it must have woken all of them. None of them knew what to do, neither did I, and it was Rob who snapped into action first.

Rob practically threw himself onto the bed and pulled Lachlan up into a sitting position, leaning the boy against his chest. The younger boy still had his eyes screwed closed but the screaming had stopped, fading into painful and desperate whimpers, yet he still didn't wake.

"Vikk!" Rob cried out, gesturing for me. "Help me, please!"

I did so. Without direction, seemingly just following instinct, I cupped his hands and leaned forward, my voice hardly above a whisper.

"Lachy?" I breathed. "Lachy, it's okay, it's Vikk. Please, you're safe, you're at home, remember?"

The whimpers trailed off, his eyes fluttered. Tears crept down his cheeks. I waved the others out of the room, not wanting to overwhelm the poor boy. They left, but not without worried looks.

"I'll update you later." I mouthed, turning back just as Lachlan's eyes opened and, after a moment of blankness, he faded back to reality. Rob's arms stayed around his waist, holding him upright. "Hey Lachy, hey, it's okay." I reached out and caressed his face, relaxing as he leaned into the touch. Good. He recognised me, at least. "You see me? Can you feel my hand?"

He nodded, turning his head so he could see Rob. Rob managed to smile at him, but flickered out the second the blonde boy turned away.

It took a few minutes but eventually his eyes began to flickered closed and not long after that he fell asleep against Rob, never letting go of my hands. The older man looked at me, still cradling Lachlan, before letting out a deep sigh.

"This is going to be difficult." He said, moving out from behind Lachlan to lay him down. I lay down beside him, letting Rob tuck the both of us in like we were children. I didn't really care because god, I needed to be comforted. "You okay to sleep?" I nodded.

"I should be." I breathed, glancing over at Lachlan.

"Alright. I'll see you in the morning. Call me or Preston if you need anything, yeah? We're only in the next room."

"I will."

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It was on day 70 that Officer Davis, the man now in charge of Lachlan's case, came to the house to visit us. He was very pleased that Lachlan was at home and seemingly doing well after a little over a week despite the near constant nightmares and sleepless night, but he had some painful news.

"The trial is heading into its first stages in the next few weeks, and we need to know a few very important details." He sighed. "We need to know if you are able to testify. We don't need the answer now, but we will be sending a court ordered therapist to talk to you, then one of the lawyers for your case and a victim advocate who will examine your case to determine you as a vulnerable witness. That way, if you do testify, it can be done via a camera."

Lachlan looked away from the man, his entire body trembling. I hugged him.

"I can't, I can't, I can't face him." He whispered, his voice shaking.

"You won't have to. You will never have to be in a court toom, you won't have to see his face. Please understand that this is to get this man placed behind bars for as long as we can sentence him and feasibly the only way that will happen is if you testify." His voice was gently, reassuring. "Please, just think about it."

I nodded, answering when Lachlan couldn't. He had drifted off again as he often did, and was now staring blankly at his lap.

"I- we'll try." I said. "But I don't want it to be a set back. We're already so far back."

"I know, and I understand, but I just want the best for Lachlan's future. We want him behind bars for life."

I only nodded and I gently steered Lachlan towards my bedroom, the one place he seemed to feel safe. It was the only place that he was consistently able to come back to reality, because of what I didn't know.

"It's going to be okay Lachlan." I whispered. "I promise."