“Welcome home, Master Jason,” Robyn says, sweeping her arm to the side and bowing the second I step out of the truck. Every injury on my body aches and the pain knocks me to the ground, tears stabbing the corners of my eyes.

“I- could you grab my stuff from my truck, please?” I ask quietly, staring at a wall. Robyn nods and I hear a bell ring, then rustling from behind me.

“Robyn, you rang?”

“Sarah needs to get out to the garage,” Robyn orders. “Jason collapsed.”

“I’ll be right out.”

“Do you want your stuff in your room?”

I nod, pressing my cheek against the cold floor. Robyn’s footsteps fade away and are soon replaced by Sarah’s rapid ones.

“Jason, what happened?”

“I- some guys jumped me,” I fib. “They surprised me.”

“Come on, let’s get you to the infirmary-”

Sarah’s sentence is cut short by me grunting in pain when she attempts to get me to my feet. The bell rings again.

“Could someone bring down a wheelchair? His injuries are worse than we thought.”

“I’ll grab it now,” Robyn responds, the walkie-talkie clipped onto Sarah’s shoulder crackling.

“Tell me the truth, Jason,” Sarah whispers. “You’re not like this because someone jumped you. These injuries were caused deliberately, and you were attacked at two different times today. And let’s not forget that this isn’t the first time that you’ve collapsed out here.”

“It’s nothing,” I mumble, turning my head to face away from Sarah. I hear her sigh and her clothes move before an ice pack is pressed against my back.

“Don’t move,” she commands. I nod and we sit in silence, Sarah examining my back.

“I come bearing gifts!” Robyn exclaims. I lift my head for long enough to see the glint of light on the metal parts of the wheelchair before dropping my head back to the floor. Robyn and Sarah roll me onto my back, then ease me into a sitting position despite me hissing in pain the entire time.

“Jason, I know this hurts, but we need to get you to my office,” Sarah murmurs. “You can sleep in there, and it goes without saying that you’re going to miss school for at least the next four days.”

My mind jumps to Xael faster than you can say her name. If I’m gone from school, she’s the one that suffers. Conner’ll beat her because he can’t beat me, and he’ll be even more merciless.

“No, I can’t stay home!” I protest, slowly getting put into the wheelchair. Sarah starts rolling me before responding.

“You have too, or else you’re going to sustain some permanent damage, Jason.”

“You don’t understand, Sarah-”

“I don’t care who you want to going to school for, it isn’t happening!”

I cross my arms angrily and immediately regret the motion as my arms yell at me for betraying them.

“What happened, Jason?” Robyn asks, walking alongside the wheelchair and tapping frantically on her phone.

“Some guys jumped-”

“He won’t say,” Sarah sighs. She hits a button and the front doors swing open, a pair of butlers bowing as I’m wheeled through the doors.

“How many times do I have to say stop it with the formalities?” I groan, throwing my head back. Cray and Lukas laugh at me before coughing.

“We’re sorry, Master Jason-”

“Lukas.”

“Sorry, Jason, but it’s only you that’s dismissed the formalities,” Cray explains. I look at him before shaking my head, my neck aching with each twist.

“My brother’s a dick,” I grumble. “Anyways, I guess I’m staying home for the next few days.”

“Well, your injuries do seem to require extensive care again,” Lukas states, pushing open a door by the stairs. Sarah wheels me inside, and everyone else follows, immediately crowding the room.

“Lukas, Cray, mind bringing him over to the bed?” Sarah asks, more of a command than anything else. I’m lifted out of the wheelchair and set down on the bed, each hand touching me pressing on a different bruise.

“Ow,” I say dryly once I’m on the bed. “I think I’m injured.”

Lukas and Cray glare at me in unison, causing me to burst into laughter and immediately regret doing so.

“Okay, that actually hurt,” I groan, clutching my side. “Fuck that hurts!”

“You two are making it worse!” Sarah exclaims. “I appreciate your help, but I would really like it if you would go wait in the hall.”

Lukas and Cray nod and exit the room. Once their footsteps stop, the only noise in the room is Sarah searching through cabinets.

“So, any chance that-”

Sarah’s sentence is cut off by a loud thunderclap. I immediately throw my arms over my head, ignoring the amount of pain the movement brings me.

“Jason?”

A second thunderclap sounds and I scramble off of the bed, diving under it with my hands clasped tightly over my ears.

As a rumble moves through the house tears begin streaming down my cheeks. I can’t breathe, can’t move, my entire body is shuddering and I can’t do anything about it.

Thunder sounds a third time. My hands do nothing to block the sound. I curl into a tight ball. Bile rises in my throat and I barely manage to swallow it before my throat completely closes up.

My hands are pried away from my ears and music fills my ears, drowning out everything happening around me.

Despite the music I hear thunder for a fourth time. I nearly vomit again.

I feel myself being pulled out from underneath the bed. Cray holds my head flush against his chest as he walks to a different part of the mansion. The earbuds in my ears finally manage to do their job and completely drown out everything, as I hear nothing the entire time Cray is carrying me.

I’m set down on a bed and wrapped up in a blanket. I curl myself into a ball and wipe at my tears, my heartbeat beginning to slow down.

Lukas bends down and says something. The music blasting in my ears pauses and I whip my head towards Cray, tears still rolling slowly down my cheeks.

“You can get through this,” I hear Lukas say. “Breathe with me.”

Cray removes one of the earbuds and quietly counts with Lukas. It takes me a few minutes, but I manage to even out my breathing with their help.

“We’re proud of you, kid,” Cray murmurs, sitting down next to me. Lukas takes a seat on the other side.

“Good job,” Lukas whispers. “Do you need anything?”

I nod and tap my throat with quivering fingers. Lukas nods at me and gets up, walking away.

“Do you need anything else?”

I shake my head. Cray wraps an arm around my shoulders, and I shake my head violently. He withdraws his arm.

“Sorry, Jace.”

Cray stands up and rifles through a cabinet before pulling out a dark gray blanket.

“Can I replace that one with this one?” Cray asks. I move the blanket to the side, letting it slip off of my body. Cray wraps me in the gray blanket, which I recognize as a weighted blanket. It drops over my head and forms a hole for me to see out of.

“I brought water,” Lukas interrupts. I jump and curl into a ball, staring at him through the hole made by the blanket.

“It’s only Lukas, okay?” Cray moves part of the blanket away from my face. “He brought something for you to drink.”

I move the blanket completely away from my face and accept the offered cup with trembling hands. I manage to take a few sips of water before spilling some.

“I brought paper towels as well.” Lukas soaks up the water and tosses the paper towel into a small garbage can. Cray helps steady the cup as I take a longer drink.

“I’m sorry,” I manage to choke out, handing the cup back to Lukas.

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Cray assures me.

“Never apologize for having a panic attack,” Lukas says. “There is nothing to apologize for.”

“But I wasted-”

“Jason, you will never waste our time.” Lukas looks deep into my eyes, keeping my attention. “You have never wasted our time before, and you never will.”

“We care about you, kid,” Cray jumps in, smiling softly at me. “That will never change.”

I nod silently.

I love you guys too.