Eventually, the sound of sirens died out, and we felt safe enough to leave our hiding place. We decided to call it a day since neither of us wanted to take the risk of getting the cops on our tail. They’d almost caught us already, and we didn’t want to try our luck for the second time. But my stomach twisted unpleasantly when he told me we should go home… Because I had no home… I had nowhere to go… Even if Zach did ask his friends if they could take me in… I mean… I’d seen their looks. None of them was going to take me under their wing.

My heart grew heavier and soul colder as we headed back to Zach’s. Now that the night was ending, my brother tried to invade my head again… I wished so hard I could go back to him and share a few breadsticks with him and ask him to show me his progress on his drawing…

Had he already finished the piece for Lorenzo…? The two knights…? Or did he erase the black knight from it…?

Suddenly, the loud sound of sirens scared me out of my thoughts. I looked up and saw Zach hitting the brakes right when the buildings got painted in flashing blue and red lights. I panicked and hit the brakes as well, trying to steer to my right so I wouldn’t crash into Zach. I failed miserably at controlling the bike, and it launched me off. I tried to protect my head when I hit the tall curb hard, but thankfully, my arm took the worst of the impact. The bike crashed on top of me, pinning me down…

But all I could think of was the cop car… I pushed myself up, my arm aching, but the cop car sped through the intersection up ahead. It was chasing someone else… I breathed out, my heart racing, then crawled away from the bike.

“Shit, Josh!” Zach muttered when he hurried to help me with the bike. “You need to be careful! If this bike breaks…!”

“Sorry… I’m sorry…” I mumbled, pushing the bike, but a flash of intense burning pain went through my arm, forcing a short scream out of me, and I lost my hold on the bike.

My alpha woke up instantly to see why we were hurt, ready to protect the body. But it was too late…

“My arm…” I breathed out, getting dizzy. “Fuck, it hurts…”

“There’s no time for that! They probably saw us! We need to move! Now!” Zach hissed at me.

“I… I think…”

Holy shit, it hurt…

“Come on!”

Somehow, I managed to get back on the bike, even got it running again, but the pain was growing intense… I was able to steer the bike, but holding onto the handle made me see stars… And soon, I started feeling sick…

My arm was broken… I knew it was… My alpha was almost panicking because of the pain… It couldn’t understand why we were in so much pain…

Zach’s place wasn’t far, but those minutes were pure agonizing hell for me. My arm was moving, and nothing was sticking out, but… It hurt so bad I was on the verge of tears and throwing up. When we got to Zach’s place, I turned off the engine, then climbed off. My legs were barely able to hold my weight, and the world started to spin… I collapsed on the ground on my knees, holding my arm against my chest.

“Fuck, Josh… You good?” Zach asked, but his voice sounded muffled.

I couldn’t pass out… Not now… I couldn’t trust Zach to take me somewhere safe…

“I think I… broke my arm…” I said and lay down on the ground to catch my breath. “It hurts so much…”

“Well fuck…” Zach only said.

“Please… It hurts so much… I need help…”

“Do I look like a doctor to you?” he asked, and when I looked up at him, he was tousling his hair, looking anxious. “Fuck… Why did you fall? You should’ve been more careful!”

“I… It happened so fast…”

He shook his head, huffing and pacing. “Can you get up? You can’t stay here. You need to hide somewhere. I’m sure you can sleep it off. Alphas don’t break bones that easily.”

I could only stare at him…

“Let me see it,” he said, and leaned closer to reach for my sleeve. I suffocated a scream caused by his first touch, so he pulled back. “It can’t be that bad! You weren’t even driving fast!”

I almost fainted because of the pain… My alpha was out of its mind from fear because it still couldn’t understand why we were hurt… It’s panic almost made me panic…

“Come on! You have to get up! Maybe… You can stay the night at my place tonight. I’ll find somewhere else to sleep,” he said, grabbed me by my shoulders, and tried to hoist me up on my feet. I tried to get up, but the pain… Lord… The pain… “Come on! Man up!”

I tried to… I really did… Somehow, I was back up on my feet. I hugged my arm tighter, then realized my knee was hurting too. Not as bad as my arm, but I could barely stand…

“Hey! It’s not that bad,” he told me sternly. “You can sleep it off at my place. It’ll be better in the morning.”

I was heaving and covered in sweat. The world kept spinning, and my stomach was twisting and turning. Zach went to hide the bikes, muttering to himself in his annoyance.

“Fucking kids… Broke the bike, too…”

I felt tears landing on my cheeks. I couldn’t do this… I didn’t want to stay anywhere near him…

I wanted to go home… My alpha begged me to go home…

“It’s fine… I’ll… I’ll figure it out…” I told Zach. “You don’t have to… bother… I’ll find… I’ll find a place to stay…”

I couldn’t do this…

“Trust me. It’s not that bad. You just got scared, all right? It’ll be better in the morning,” he told me. “Get some rest. I’ll try to fix the bike for the next time.”

I nodded a little and almost threw up. I then turned around and took a wobbly step away from him. Then another… My arm was on fire, and every step sent a flash of jarring pain through my body, and my knee felt like my bones were grinding shards between them.

But I kept walking, step by step… I couldn’t stay there… I had to… Had to find a place… But I just wanted to go home… My alpha begged and begged for me to take us back home to our brother. To Alex… I wanted to see him so badly… I wanted to… I didn’t want to be all alone… I wanted to go back home, to our little grocery store and the little hut we had… I wanted my bed. I wanted my brother. I didn’t want this. I couldn’t do this. The pain was so bad, and no one was there to help me. I didn’t know what to do or where to go to find help. I didn’t know where to find a doctor. I didn’t know how to get to a hospital if there even was one close by.

“Alex…” I whispered, sniffed, and started crying harder. “I’m sorry…”

The pain was so bad… I knew I couldn’t just sleep it off… This was bad…

I was scared…

Alex… I wanted to see him… I needed to see him… My little brother… Just once. One more time. Just a little glimpse to make sure he was all right…

I was scared to go back home, but that was where my feet were taking me. I was so out of my mind from pain that I couldn’t stop myself from going back home. It was a slow, long, painful, and blurry walk back home… My arm wasn’t getting any better, and my knee was only getting worse. I cried the entire way back, and my alpha cried with me. I couldn’t stop crying even if I wanted to. I was too scared. We both were. What was going to happen to us now…? We had no one… No one we could trust…

Alex… We needed him so much right now…

Then… I stood in front of the small back door of the grocery store. I gasped for air, my fear and pain almost strangling me. Now I was almost too scared to face Alex… What if he told me to piss off…? What if he’d say worse things to me? That he… that he hated me…?

That thought almost made me turn away…

No…! my alpha cried. Brother…! Need…!

“Alex…” I whispered, sniffing hard. “Please…”

I had to see him… I missed him so, so much… So… I opened the door… and stepped in…

I heard people somewhere close to the main entrance. It was so hard to stay focused, so I couldn’t tell if I recognized any of the voices. No one was around this side door, so I carefully made my way deeper… toward our hut…

Brother… my alpha called out to him, but we got no answer. Brother…?

What if Alex wasn’t here anymore…? What if he’d returned to the group home we escaped from? What if… What if something worse had happened to him while I wasn’t here to protect him? What if… What if my stupidity had gotten him kidnapped…? Or killed…?

Oh, lord… I was suddenly more afraid than ever….

I stumbled over something in the dark and fell to my knees. I gasped loudly in pain and cried harder when the impact sent new waves of agony through my body. I tried to get up, but my feet were so numb and heavy it was almost impossible.

“Who’s there?” a voice sounded close by, and an older man, Robert, one of Helga’s friends, stepped around the corner with a flashlight in hand. “Josh? Josh! Where have you been! What happened to you?”

I could only cry at the familiar voice and the kind, worried face that approached me.

“Oh, dear boy… Hold on…” He turned around, shining his light at the silent huts. “Simon? Are you here? Simon?” he spoke loudly.

“Coming…!” he shouted back, his voice coming from near the main entrance.

“Simon…” I gasped behind my tears, but he didn’t hear me.

“He’s coming…” Robert told me, kneeling in front of me. “You’re hurt? What happened?”

“I…” I mumbled, trying to stop crying so I could speak, but then Simon walked around the corner and spotted me, so I burst out in huge sobs again.

“Josh!” he gasped and hurried to us. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“I fell…” I mumbled, reaching to him with my uninjured hand. “Please… I’m sorry…”

“It’s all right,” Simon said, looking spooked and emotional when he put his arms carefully around me. “You’re all right now… You’re all right…”

“Where’s… A-Alex…?”

“He’s right here…” Simon said soothingly. “Are you hurt? Where are you hurt?”

“My arm… And leg…” I said. “I can’t walk… It hurts so much… I think my arm is broken…”

“It’s okay. I’ll help,” he said and stood, gently helping me up as well.

I cried out loud when I put weight on my leg because of how bad it was hurting now as well…

“We’re all right,” Simon said and put his arm under my armpits. “Just a few more steps, and you can lay down.”

“Where’s Alex…?” I asked again when he and Robert started helping me walk to our hut.

“He’s right here… You get to see him once we get you back home,” Simon said reassuringly. “We’ve all been so worried about you… I’m glad you came back home… Alex has been worried sick…”

“He… has…? He doesn’t… hate me…?” I asked weakly.

“No one hates you,” Simon told me with a shivering smile. He, too, was about to cry as well. “We’ve been looking for you all over the city.”

I cried even harder, if possible… “R-really…?”

“Yes, really,” Simon said, his voice shaky. “We were so worried something happened to you.”

I couldn’t believe it… Alex… didn’t hate me…?

Our hut came to our view…

“Alex! Josh is here!” Simon shouted.

My heart froze in fear when I heard my little brother hurrying out of the hut. Then I saw him… He crawled out as fast as he could and jumped up on his feet. He saw me and froze. His eyes were wide and red, and he looked pale and skinny and sick…

I caused this…? I got him sick… Because I left…

Brother…! my alpha chirped in excitement.

“Alex… I’m so s-sorry…” I gasped.

I saw something painful flashing through his eyes right before he hurried to me, limping hard. He burst into tears only a few feet before he reached me. Simon let go of me just before my little brother jumped and wrapped his arms around me. The impact sent waves of pain through my body, but I couldn’t feel it. I even tried to hug him with one arm as tightly as I could…

Alex… I had him back in my arms…

Little brother… my alpha cooed, sounding very happy now…

“Alex…?” I whispered.

“I was so scared…! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean what I said! I don’t hate you! I’m not mad at you! I was so scared… I was so worried…!” he spoke between his gasps as he hugged me with all his might. “I’m so sorry Josh… I’m so sorry…”

I just cried against his shoulder… I cried out all the pain and fear I’d had in my heart and soul….

“I’m so sorry too,” I told him once I got my voice back. “I shouldn’t have left… I shouldn’t have said the things I said… I’m just… I’m so sorry…”

I felt so weak that I suddenly lost my balance, but Simon caught me and held me up.

“Come… You need to lie down. Robert? Can you go ask if anyone knows about broken bones? We need painkillers and, uh… some kind of splint?” he spoke.

“I’ll see what I can find,” Robert promised and left.

“Alex. Josh is injured,” Simon told my brother, who jumped back to stare at me with tears and fear in his eyes.

“I could… lie down…” I said, feeling dizzy again.

But also happy. I was so, so happy… My brother didn’t hate me… Even my alpha was happy now… Maybe… Maybe everything would be all right now? I’d never bring up True Order ever again. I’d never show my support ever again…

If I could stay with my brother… I didn’t care about this world…

“Let’s get you to bed so you can rest while we’ll deal with your arm,” Simon said gently.

I nodded, finally running out of tears. “I’m so sorry…”

“It’s okay, baby boy,” Simon told me, giving me a kind smile. “You’re back home now. That’s all that matters.”

I smiled as well, for the first time since I ran away. “Okay…”

Simon called his friends, who brought an old mattress to our hut, then covered it with blankets. It obviously didn’t fit inside the hut, but I didn’t care if I had to sleep outside. I was just happy to be back here… I felt so much better when I lay down, trying to protect my arm… I was almost smiling because of how happy I was…

Then I turned back to Alex, who was still crying and watching me.

“I’m sorry I left you,” I told him, and he came to lie down next to me.

“I’m sorry I got angry at you,” he said, and rubbed his head against my shoulder while hugging me. “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too,” I said, crying a little again. “I’m so sorry about everything.”

“We’ll talk later, okay?” he said. “Now… Now I’m just happy that you’re… that you…”

He started crying harder again, so I reached around his shoulders and pulled him close to me. My body may have been in pain, but my heart and soul were healing already. Alex settled down next to me and wrapped his arm around me while resting his head on my shoulder.

I could breathe again… I had my brother back… he was right beside me once again…

“I won’t leave you ever again,” I told him. “You’re my little brother… I won’t leave you. And I promise… I won’t do any stupid shit ever again.”

“Good… Because I need you,” Alex muttered. “You’re not allowed to leave me.”

“I won’t, I promise,” I said, then turned to Simon, who was reaching for my arm. “I fell off a bike… I hit the edge of a curb… I think it’s broken…”

“Okay,” he said and rolled my sleeve up. “We’ll fix it, don’t worry…”

I nodded and watched as he revealed my arm. It was really swollen and bruised. The pain, for some reason, was growing a little numb now…

“It’ll be all right,” Simon told me and smiled. “You just rest now, okay? We’ll take care of you guys.”

“Thank you,” I whispered.

He bowed a little. “Try to get some rest, okay?”

“Okay…” I muttered, trying to relax even with the pain.

Then I turned back to my brother. He was still sniffing against my shoulder. I smiled at him, then touched his forehead with my nose.

I was so happy… I wasn’t going to ruin this life I had with him ever again.

Not even to save this world.