i will wait for you, c

Seth roused from his daze, blinking away tiredness as his eyes adjusted to the artificial light. When they focused, he gazed unfalteringly at Devin's familiar face.

How long had he been asleep?

"D-Devin?! You're back early," he said stupidly, not shocked but a little dumbfounded. It wasn't, Seth knew, early at all, if we were going by normal people standards, but Devin didn't have a normal job. Seth didn't know what it was, but he trusted Devin, so it didn't matter.

Every night, Seth would wait. He would cook two servings of dinner and wait for his brother to come back from work. Usually, it would get really late, and he would proceed to put the extra plate he prepared in the fridge to pass off as "leftovers" and eat for himself the next day. Then, he would go to their shared bedroom and fall asleep. Today, though, was new. Seth forgot about feeling empty and sat up.

"Did I fall asleep?" No shit, Sherlock. He didn't wait for Devin to answer. "Oh. I wasn't... waiting for you, I just, uh, ouch-" Seth winced, covering up his bruise and pushing away the ice pack he had left on the table. "I, uh, made extra dinner on accident. You probably ate already, though."

If it were anyone else, Seth would have pushed away the comforting hands. He might have listened to those little red flags (a protective measure) that popped up whenever someone tried to get close to him. But this wasn't just anyone, it was Devin.

And because it was Devin, Seth didn't flinch as his brother rustled his messy red hair, and he didn't falter as he took Seth's hand gently, revealing the ugly bruise on his face.

"It's true! I wasn't waiting. I wasn't," he protested. Devin knew him well enough to know that wasn't true, but the two didn't actually talk much, so Seth tried anyway.

Likewise, Seth was sure as hell going to lie about his injuries. Devin was not obligated to know that ever since that one time a few weeks ago, when he had visited Seth's school for some parent-teacher thing, Seth's after-school bruises had started to become a regular occurrence. It must have seemed pretty odd to have a brother for a parent. "I'm not hurt," he lied lamely. "I just got into a fistfight, that's all."

It wasn't even a total lie, because it had been a fistfight. Just a particularly one-sided fistfight.

At this point, Seth realized that Devin was still holding onto his hand. His cheeks warmed, but he didn't bother to move it.

The amount of concern his brother showed him was incredible. Seth felt so happy he could burst. It didn't show on his face, but he was happy.

Especially because Devin was never home. Sometimes Seth felt like he was a bother in the household. Maybe he was being too attached. But at the very least, he wanted to do whatever he could to make himself useful for Devin. Contributing to the monthly rent was just one way; that's why he got a part-time job. Even then, Devin made more than enough on his own.

At Devin's reaction, the color drained from Seth's face, and he looked a little disappointed. His brother was totally onto his lie, and the suspicion in his voice was impossible for Seth to unhear. It was almost uncanny how well his brother knew him, even though he was never at home these days. "Is it really that surprising?" He supposed it was, considering he'd always been the quiet type, even back when they were kids.

"Devin, please, nothing happened!" Seth was insistent. "Well, something did happen, but it wasn't important. You don't need to beat up the guys who punched me, it's not a big deal. I'm not twelve anymo- ouch!" He winced yet again, and the pain in his eyes showed otherwise. Devin's protectiveness came as no surprise to Seth, but Seth didn't want Devin to worry. In a way, it was contradictory. He liked it when his brother worried about him, but he didn't want to be a bother, either. "Really though, please don't..."

"But uh, a band-aid would be nice."

The tone in Devin's voice changed. Seth had heard it before, but he wasn't used to it, so it kind of made him want to cry- which, of course, he didn't do, especially after claiming he wasn't twelve anymore. Seth wasn't dumb; he figured his brother had a colder side, but a selfish fear inside of him never wanted to see it. He wanted Devin to be the kind, caring brother forever. He never made it obvious, but his worst fear was being rejected by his brother. It was funny. He was acting like a spoiled child who wanted his brother all for himself.

He wasn't sure what he wanted anymore.

Part of him wanted to keep being the dependent little boy. But part of him wanted to be worthy, independent, and strong, worthy of someone like his brother.

But did that mean he wanted his brother to be something more? Something that wasn't his brother?

"I'm sorry, I just..." Seth hesitated, as Devin placed the bandage on his face to hide the injury. "Never mind. Thank you for taking care of me." It sounded oddly formal. He tried again, wanting desperately for Devin to trust him. "I mean, I want to tell you, but I'm not sure if you would be happy knowing the truth."

Seth just didn't want this (whatever it was) to change. And if Devin knew that his brother complex was possibly the reason for all this bullying, "this" might go away forever.