Thank you to FrankElza, SuperGuardianNinja, Beth, Angel2021, and S.H for reviewing, your support for this story honestly means so much :)

Would also like to apologise for the delay in updating, I've recently had exams at school which have had to take priority

Would also like to point out updates may be a bit slow however I fully intend on finishing this story and showing Casey's journey :)

TRIGGER: this chapter contains mentions of eating disorders and self harm if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read

Chapter 26:

What the hell had Casey done?

Bianca doesn't know what to do. She'd never been faced with a situation like this and doesn't want to say anything in case it makes it worse. Should she confront Casey? Ask him about it now? Should she wait until they get home? Speak to Brax and the others? But then may be Casey will do it again.

"Look why don't we go back home?" Bianca suggested, seeing it as the best option. "No" Casey replied as he shook his head. He could not go home. "Why not Case?' Bianca asked, trying to pull her eyes away from Casey's upper arm.

"Because I can't" Casey replied, focusing intently on the sea and the crashing of the waves. "There's no one stopping you" Bianca said, trying to desperately to stay calm knowing that was the best chance she had of getting through to Casey.

Casey sighed, Bianca was starting to irritate him now and he wasn't sure how much longer he could put up with her questions. But he knew he couldn't run away. If he ran again, he'd only it bump into another member of his family; a one more irritating than Bianca.

In the silence Bianca remembered she hadn't actually told the others she'd found Casey. She pulled out her phone and tested Brax. Letting him know she'd found Casey, that he was okay and that she was going to try and persuade him to come home.

"I think you should come home with me Case" Bianca said, ignoring the fact Casey was becoming more irritated by the second.."I don't" Casey replied, keeping his replies short and quick, hoping Bianca wounded reply. He was wrong.

Bianca realised that she wasn't getting anywhere with Casey and decided to take a different approach. "Casey, do you like having people worry about?" Bianca asked. Casey frowned. "Obviously not" Casey replied, as if it was the most obvious thing.

"Then why don't you come home, we're all out looking for you; worried about you. If you come back we won't be worried about you" Bianca said, telling a slight lie as they were always worried about Casey at the moment.

Casey thought about it and couldn't make up his mind. Part of him wanted to go home. He was exhausted, confused and everything seemed a bit of a blur to him; he needed a chance to think everything through, but his thoughts were travelling too fast.

He felt like he was on a train, got off at the wrong station and was running to catch up with the train; the train full of his thoughts. Weak. Pathetic. There it was again, a voice so small but so powerful.

He felt tears prick his eyes but refused to let them fall. He wouldn't cry in front of Bianca. He wasn't going to prove them right. But who were they? Casey didn't know, but they controlled his every move.

"Casey?" Bianca questioned, breaking his train of thought. Now he'd definitely fell off the wagon. "What?" Casey asked. "Are you going to come home now or am I going to have get Heath, you've just ignored me for the last five minutes."

Wait Bianca was talking? He was so lost he didn't even hear Bianca talk. "Are you going to come home with me, or am I going to have to get Heath?" Bianca asked, this time Casey noticed, much sterner.

Casey didn't really know what happened next. He must've nodded and then followed Bianca out of the dunes and off the beach because the next thing he knew, they were meeting Heath a couple of blocks away from the house.

"Where the hell have you been!" Heath shouted as he approached the two. Bianca immediately stepped in front of Casey, telling Heath to calm down, it wasn't going to help anyone if he was angry. "Let's just get home."

Brax was sat calmly at the kitchen table when the text came through that they'd found Casey. He felt all the tension drain from his body and then the anger at what happened replace it. He couldn't even remember the last time Casey had eaten. What kind of brother was he?

He decided he needed to be calm when Casey got home; one of them had to be.

Casey silently followed Heath and Bianca up the drive and to the front door. Suddenly, he didn't feel like it was a good idea and wanted to turn round and run, but he couldn't. "Come on then" Bianca said as she followed Heath in and Casey followed.

The silence that followed in the living room of the Braxton household was one where awkward was an understatement. The four of of them stood and looked at each other, everyone waiting for the other person to say something.

Casey decided eventually that he was bored and went to make a move to his room. "Where you going?" Brax asked, blocking Casey's path to his bedroom. "To my room" Casey replied. "No you're not" Brax said, not breaking eye contact.

"Yes I am" Casey replied. "No you're not. Sit down" Brax said firmly. Casey stared into Brax's eyes, waiting for him to give out. But he didn't. "Sit down" Brax said again. "Why?" Casey challenged. "Because I don't trust you."

That struck a nerve with Casey. He stated at Brax for a few more seconds before giving out and going to sit down. "You can sit there for the rest of the day" Brax said. "What!" Casey exclaimed, turning round to face Brax.

"In case you haven't noticed, you've been gone most of the day anyways!" Brax shouted. Casey silenced and turned to face the tv, turning it on, deciding he might as well try and enjoy himself.

Casey felt like he'd been sat on the sofa for days. In reality it was just hours. Ricky and Kyle had already arrived home and Casey couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction when he saw Kyle's blsck eye; he deserved it.

Brax had tried to get him to eat something, but Casey had obviously refused. He needed to look like Brax, therefore if Brax couldn't see that he was blind. If he gave in he was weak, pathetic, he wasn't going to prove them right.

Brax felt like he was at his wits end. He had no energy left the deal with Casey and he felt rid of all emotion. He looked at his thin, frail and blind to what he was doing to himself. He knew they couldn't go on like this and it was only going to be a matter before the straw that broke the camel's back would be pulled.

"Brax can I speak to you for a second?" Bianca asked, breaking Brax from his thoughts. "Yeah" Brax replied, knowing exactly who this was about. "Is there a chance you can get Casey to clear off to his room, I need to speak to everyone."

"Yeah" Brax replied, moving through to the living room to speak to Casey. "Clear off to your room Case" Brax said. Casey didn't need to be told twice and practically bolted off the sofa and into his room as fast as his frail body would carry him.

"What's wrong?" Heath asked as he walked in through the door seeing Casey speeding off to his room. "Bianca needs to speak to us" Brax said. "Where are Ricky and Kyle?" Heath asked. "They're in the garden, Bianca's gone to get them" Brax said.

That moment Bianca came back in followed by Ricky and Kyle. Judging by Kyle's eye you could see why he didn't want to be in the same room as Casey. Everyone sat down in the living room before looking towards Bianca.

"Right you're gonna have to promise not to kick off immediately, when I tell you this, you need to be calm and rational" Bianca explained. Everyone nodded cautiously, all of them just wanting to find out what Bianca was going to tell them.

"When I was talking to Casey down in the dunes, I noticed something" Bianca said. "What was it?" Brax asked, everyone listening intently. "Casey has red lines, scars I mean, along his upper arm."

"He has what?"

Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think :)

See you next chapter when as many of you will be pleased to hear, Nate finally gets involved :)