Chapter Title: Arms Around Me
Series Title: Unlikely Brothers
Ages in this chapter: Tanner (13) Dashen (19)
POV: Dashen
Chapter Summary: A drugged Dashen is forced to relive Kossi's death.
I was in hell.
Drugged. An horrifying hallucinogenic spice combination. It had me in a fetal position in a corner, crying and hysterical, violently forcing me to relive the traumas of my past. Drowning in the pain that was the worst moment of my life and what was the last moment of my baby brother's life. Kossi. Dying in front of me. Again. And again. And again.
This was hell. I'd lived it before. Now. Again.
Arms were around me. Hugging me tight. Telling me it would be okay.
That was impossible though. Nothing about this would ever be okay. Kossi was gone. Forever. I'd lived his death once and then over a million times in my mind.
The drugs made it a million times more painful.
I don't remember much that was happening around me. I was cold and sick and floating in some type of fog where Kossi's death was on repeat playback.
The arms around me never let go. Not even as I fought against them, lashed out, desperate to get away from the nightmare. The arms held impossibly tight.
They were joined by others. Others that lifted me and carried me away from the cold and away from the pain and away from the torment.
"It's all right, kid. We've got you now."
That voice. Big. Familiar. Safe. It came with long blond hair and bright blue eyes. My mind was a thickly packed fog. I knew that person, but I couldn't place him.
I was off the cold floor and curled onto something soft. The arms around me returned. Small and desperate. His form, compact. Brown hair and pale eyes rimmed with water, blurry. He was crying. I was crying. I couldn't stop crying, I couldn't stop remembering.
Arms around me. "Dash, I'm right here. I'm gonna hang onto you until you're better. I love you, big brother and I'm not letting go. Not ever."
The safety of blue eyes. "We'll look after you, kid. Just hang on until the worst is over. Won't be long."
Was it long? No idea. Seemed like an eternity. When the nightmares did finally fade and reality became my own again, my eyes opened to those around me. The small arms that still held me tight. The blue eyes that still promised safety. And I was all right again. Just as they'd promised.
"That's it, kid. Come back to us. Tannerlin's here. I'm here."
"We love you, Dash. You can come back to us."
I did come back. All the way.
Tanner was there. Colton was there. The nightmare was over though I cried for a long time after.
But still, the arms around me stayed and the blue eyes held me safe.
END
