The Consequences of Falling In Love

21: The Consequences of Messing Up

In all Royce's eight years of life, he had never seen Wren cry — except for the times when she was a baby. He was always making sure to do everything in order to protect her, putting her above anyone else, doing silly things just to make her laugh, and basically spoiling her to his heart's content.

He was in the middle of a debate with Nathan, something about chocolate being better than vanilla when he noticed Wren walking towards him with big fat tears sliding down her cheeks and that sight alone was enough to break his heart. Royce didn't know what happened but helping her was his number one priority. He ran his fingers through her hair in a soothing manner, murmuring comforting words.

Nathan watched them curiously, eyes softened in awe as if he was supposedly a proud dad witnessing their kids' makeup and grow. Royce rolled his eyes mentally.

It took some time but when she was calm and collected, Wren explained how a boy made fun of her face and teased her for having chubby cheeks. She pointed in the direction of a certain person surrounded by other kids. Ah, there it was - the second priority. Beat those people who made his little sister cry.

Royce's feet were moving before he could think things through as he made a dash, his eyes set on the goal. He could hear Wren protesting but it was too late and Royce was slamming his body into the kid who made fun of his sister.

They collided, crashing down and tumbling against each other. Royce was still angry which made him act fast enough to straddle the other kid, yelling. "How dare you make fun of my sister's face? She's the most beautiful! Take it back right now."

His vision was blinded by rage maybe that's why he hadn't realised at first. Apparently, Wren forgot to mention that those kids weren't actually kids - they looked a year or two older than Royce! He immediately regretted his actions.

"I'm not taking anything back." The boy beneath Royce gave him a cold stare. "She's ugly and so are you."

Nevermind this jerk deserves a full beating! He might as well finish what he started.

A half-hour later Royce was sitting with an injured ankle with Nathan not too far away, his pretty face bruised up. They fought and of course ended up losing, shamelessly. Five against two wasn't exactly fair.

Seeing them hurt, Wren was sobbing, even more, feeling guilty and barely managed to speak. "I-I told you n-not to fight, Da."

Royce straightened at once, ignoring the pain on his back. "Look I'm completely fine." He flexed his skinny biceps, hoping to prove his weak point and offered a strained smile. "And I managed to punch that guy too! It's not your fault, Wren."

She glanced down at his bad foot unsurely, sniffling. "But your leg . . ."

The thing was — that jerk stomped on his ankle pretty hard, three times back to back. It really wasn't his day.

"Let me see." Nathan moved quickly, lightly pressing his fingertips on the spot where a dark blue shade had appeared. Royce bit hard on his lower lip, enduring the pain, nor making any sounds for Wren's sake. Nathan noticed him struggling and understood right away. "It's not that bad so don't worry. Your brother is going to be fine."

"Are you sure?" Wren asked, taking another peek at his leg. Royce gave him a look.

"I'm sure." Nathan's lips settled into a cool smile, the kind which was easy to convince her or anyone for the matter. Royce wondered since when he was this smooth in lying?

"Okay." Wren still had tears in her eyes as she blinked, fiddling with her dress. "I will ask mom to make you both cookies."

They grinned at each other. Nathan had to carry Royce on his back while Wren walked beside them, her steps bouncy since she was finally cheered up. The three of them joked and laughed all the way home, mostly at their brave stupidity, mostly because they were happy.

*

Y'all I've developed a soft spot for this trio!
I also found this cute art of Gon and Killua on Pinterest and thought of Nathan/Royce right away. It's adorable! Credit to: Sthfanny