WARNING - MENTIONS OF SELF HARM AND SUICIDE


Getting back after the drive home from the clinic, the house was empty just like Brax had asked. He didn't want to overwhelm his brother with everyone welcoming him home, and he could see the relief on his brother's face. After settling him back in, Brax heard the front door opening, Casey walking in moments later.

"Hey!" Casey beams, hugging Kyle. "Great to see you bro! And what is this?" He asks, pointing at Bruno.

"People call them dogs." Kyle says, smirking as Casey gently whacks him on his arm.

"I meant why is he here after someone refused to let me have a dog for years?" Casey asks, staring at Brax as he folds his arms.

"Kyle needs Bruno for support, and you wanted one as a pet." Brax shrugs, smiling at Kyle who watches on in amusement, wondering how his brother would have took it once he knew.

"He can still be a pet though." Kyle says as Casey crouches down to pet Bruno.

"Anyway why aren't you at work sorting the books out?" Brax asks Casey.

"Am I not allowed to welcome my dear brother and his dog home?" Casey says as he stands tall.

"You weren't to know I was going to let Kyle adopt Bruno, unless you wanted to come and make sure I had." Brax says, trying to work out Casey's expression.

"No…" Casey trails off. "I came to get some stuff." He says, clearly thinking about what it was.

"Just admit it, Case. You had a feeling I was going to let Kyle keep the dog, which is why you were first to choose where he went." Brax says, shaking his head in disbelief.

"You were?" Kyle asks.

"Yeah. You're not really a horsey guy, whereas everyone likes dogs so it was the obvious choice." Casey says, unable to hide a smile as he hoped something like this would happen from when he read the website and saw they let their patients adopt the dogs.

"And what if I was allergic to dogs and didn't tell you?"

"You're not, and you asked Brax for a dog once as well, don't think I forgot about that." Casey smirks, glancing at his watch. "But I should really be getting back to work, I told Heath I'd cover the rest of his shift."

"Okay, see ya." Kyle says as Casey leaves again, so he joins Brax on the couch.

"You'll find your feet again in no time." Brax says, noticing Kyle sigh to himself as Bruno walks over to him.

"Yeah, I know."

"You okay?" Brax asks, sensing something was up.

"Yeah- No… I need to tell you something. My counsellors agreed it was best to let you know…" Kyle says, stroking Bruno to avoid eye contact with his brother.

"Tell me what?" Brax asks, not getting a reply. "I'm not going to need to take Bruno from you to make you talk am I?" He jokes, getting a smile from his brother.

"No." Kyle shakes his head. "I just don't know how you're going to react."

"Why?"

"Do you remember that night, about one or two weeks after Lillie was taken, I was really struggling… You came and sat with me the whole night, despite having Emilia and Ricky to look after." Kyle says.

"Yeah, I remember." Brax says, wondering what Kyle was getting at as he takes a deep breathe.

"You saved my life and you didn't even know it." Kyle says, glancing up at his brother as he remembers every detail like it was yesterday. "I couldn't see anything getting better, and then the police calling off the search, it just really got to me. I had been self harming a lot that day… And had pills in the draw next to my bed, the alcohol you saw was to…" He says, taking another deep breathe as he wipes some tears away. "I was going to take them all, to make it stop… You walked in before I could, and you told me everything was going to be okay, that I wasn't going to feel like that forever."

"Kyle…" Brax breathes out, embracing his brother tight, not having realised it was ever that serious before they found out.

"Thank you." Kyle mutters, feeling extremely grateful it happened. "I wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for you."

"I'm always going to be here for you, okay? I'm never leaving you like that again." Brax says, feeling a strange affection towards Kyle now, nothing was going to change that.

"I'm going to be okay now, it really helped there. And Bruno has as well." Kyle says, smiling down at his dog.

"That's why I couldn't let you leave him behind. But if Casey asks again, it's part of the clinics rules that you keep your dog." Brax smirks.

"Why?" Kyle asks, looking up at his brother as he pulls away.

"Cause I don't want him to start asking me if he can get a dog as well." Brax says, putting his arm around Kyle's shoulder as they watch Bruno start to roll around on the floor. "I'm sorry I never knew what you were doing. I should have realised sooner." He sighs.

"You weren't to know." Kyle mutters. "I hid it well. But I promise it won't happen again, I've got healthy ways to work through things now."

"That's great, Kyle. I'm glad they helped you, and you were able to come home without staying there longer. It's not been the same without you around." Brax says, not having thought about it before.

"Well it feels great to be back already." Kyle says. "I'm going to be fine now, I want to make sure of it."

"Well you know you can come to us whenever you need anything. No one in this house is to keep secrets again, no matter how small. I need you to know this is a safe environment for you now, and I went through your room and took everything sharp out, so there's nothing to hurt you if you did ever have an urge to do something." Brax says.

"Okay, that's fine, it's probably best for the first few weeks. It's going to take a lot of getting used to being back here." Kyle says, glancing up at Brax, noticing a change in him, and it wasn't just because of his daughter. "You know you've been great to me over the years, and just because I hid the self harming from you, it doesn't mean I don't trust you."

"Kyle-"

"No Brax, you haven't failed as a brother just because you didn't know. You've actually been more like a dad to me." Kyle mutters, looking back down at Bruno, who sits up to face him. "You taught me more in a few years than Dad did in my whole life. He doesn't even deserve to be called that, he's nothing to me any more."

"He's nothing to any of us. Casey did us all a favour when he killed him, just don't tell him that or he may start thinking it was the right way to go about it." Brax lightly smiles, not having known Kyle felt like that. "Anytime you need anything, you know where I am."

"Yeah, I know. I felt better after talking about stuff. Pete said I should start counselling sessions again if I ever feel like I need it, plus I've got other options."

"Like what?" Brax asks.

"Well someone told me that this is the place to go for a great barbie, and I thought Bruno could check it out on his first night here." Kyle grins.

"Oh yeah? Well I don't know who would tell you that!" Brax laughs, glancing over at Kyle. "I'll get it sorted. I think a family get together would be good."

"Yeah, it would." Kyle nods. "And you don't have to find a babysitter, I'll be fine having Emilia around. I've come to terms with what happened and I think it would help me to move on."

"Okay, only if you're sure?" Brax says, getting a nod in reply.