Declan's POV

Declan groaned as his eyes fluttered open, shutting them quickly when his vision blurred with darkness. His head pounded at the slightest movement and he can't remember the last time he drank that much, not even for his own celebration party. He chuckled, raising a hand slowly to his forehead at the ebbing pain, as he remembered the night before. Something must have happened between his little sister and his best friend for Issy to be as bold to tease Eric and for Eric to so openly show how it affected him. Not that he was surprised, in fact Declan had been waiting since the start of Stage two for something to happen between them and the wait had started to gnaw on him. Then there was the No trainer-initiate relationship rule and Declan had combined forces with Josh to see if there was a possible way around it but their search had stopped when Eric told them to. Declan was nearly giddy with glee when Eric broke the bottle in his hands when Kayden held Issy by the waist to stop her from falling. He had immediately messaged Josh about it and had got a reply minutes later with I ship it! repeated several times it capital locks. Throughout the night Dec had been giving Josh a running commentary of everything that happened their ship.

When Issy had left the Pit, leaving Luke on the dance floor and Eric still as a statue, Declan didn't quite know how to feel. On one side, he was ecstatic that what happened, happened but he was also disappointed that nothing more came of it. Whatever happened between the pair Declan wanted, no, needed to know. He knew there was no chance of worming it out of Issy, her walls have always been tightly locked, even amongst family. He may be able to guilt trip it out of Eric as his walls are never locked around Dec. And if that fails, he'll see if he can bribe Zeke into searching through the cameras for his answer.

His head feels better by the time Declan opens his eyes to a dimly lit room, which he instantly recognises as Eric's spare room. Groggily, Dec got up from the bed, staggering over to the set of drawers and opens the first draw. In the top draw are a few piles of his own clothes and in the second are fewer piles of Hugo's, like how both Dec and Hu have a drawer set aside for Eric in their own apartments for whenever either of them stayed the night. He quickly got a pile of clean clothes before wandering into the en suite, closing the door behind him. With a sigh, Declan stripped from his crinkled clothes from the night before, throwing them into the wash basket in the corner, and turning on the shower. Slowly, his senses woke up but he still felt sleepy by the time he came out of the shower. He dressed quickly when he noticed it was nearly ten o'clock before stepping out into the long corridor connecting the bedrooms to the open kitchen and living room.

"Morning sleeping beauty!" Hugo chirped happily from where he sat on the grey stool with his arms rested on the island in the middle of the kitchen. Eric was leant against the other side of the island, sipping his cup of coffee.

Declan grunted both as a thank you to Eric when he poured Dec his own cup and to Hugo in greeting. After half of the cup was drained Declan finally felt somewhat alive. "So what's the first thing on today's agenda?"

"Wake up our new members, then they'll choose their jobs and most likely go find their apartments." Eric pushed himself off of the counter when he finished his own coffee and placed it in the dishwasher. He turned back to the brothers curiously. "Do you know what Alec and Issy will choose?"
Hugo grinned. "Alec seemed interested in what I do and we had a few long conversations about that so I have a feeling Alec will choose Weapons Specialist. And Issy," Hugo shared a look with Dec and shrugged his shoulders as he got up to place his own cup with Eric's.

"Issy is Issy." Declan picked up, glancing to Eric. "She'll have overthought her options while probably keeping it to herself. In other words, we haven't the slightest clue what Issy will choose." He looked down at his cup, thinking about Issy and his face drops. She had never been the easiest with sharing her thoughts. Yes, if she disagreed with something or someone, she'd straight up say so but when it came to herself she wouldn't say anything. Alec was the only one who could get her to open up and Declan missed the days when they could just simply ask and they'd get a answer but that was before Reece died. Declan drained his cup, sighing as he made his way over to put it in the dishwasher.

"Declan?" Hugo questions softly and Dec lifts his head up to see Hugo and Eric watching him critically with equal amounts of concern.

He sighs again. "I just wish..." Dec trailed off, staring at Hugo.

Hugo grabs Declan by his shoulders, drawing him into a hug. "Me too." Hugo then reaches out to Eric and pulls him into the hug too. Without saying a word Dec knows that this is what they all needed, he doesn't know about the others but Declan feels strongest when he has Hugo and Eric by his side. Hugo rests his head on Dec's shoulder while Eric and Declan press their foreheads together and they sigh, comforting each other, drawing strength from the other until they feel strong enough to face the world outside.

xXx

They walk, side by side, with their back straight and heads held high. Declan has always found it funny when people move out of Eric's way. Now they part hilariously for Eric, Declan and Hugo as they walk through the corridors, each with a look of indifference on their faces. They meet Four, Lauren and Lynn outside the transfer dorms and when Dec glances at Hugo, the brothers burst out laughing, earning confused looks from the other instructors and a lazy smirk from Eric. As their laughter settles down, they wave off any questions before taking the lead into the dorms.

Simultaneously, they all share looks of confusion when they spot buckets at the end of each bunk. A tap shuts off in the bathrooms and a moment later Issy strides into the room with a bucket in one hand. She grins mischievously as she puts it down at the end of Noah's bunk. Declan's gaze is pulled to a bunk on his left and it takes him a moment before he realises its Alec wrapped around Lilah. He lightly slaps Hugo's chest, pointing towards to the sleeping pair and laugh quietly.

"Oh hush!" Issy hisses with a smile and the brothers shut up. "You'll wake them up."

"Isn't that what the buckets of water are for?" Lynn smirks, crouching down to test the water of a bucket nearest to her. Lynn quickly removes her hand, shaking it out. "It's a little cold Iss."

"Yeah." Issy says it in a 'duh' tone as she rolls her eyes. "Its supposed to be cold."

"You're such a bitch." Dec glances at Four, debating whether or not he imagined the teasing tone as his sister's grin widens, her eyes blazing with golden fire.

"You say that as if its something new. I know I'm a bitch." Issy places her hands on her hips. "Now are you gonna help me or not?" Declan's eyes widen as he connects the dots and shoves Hugo out of his way, ignoring Hugo's grumbles as he stands in front of Alec and Lilah. Declan grins at the others as Hugo takes Kayden's bunk and Lynn claps her hands gleefully as she moves in front of Hector's bunk. "Come on." Issy says almost pleadingly when neither Four, Eric or Lauren go to move. "Surely at one point one of these arseholes have pissed you off?" From where Dec stands he can't see Eric's face as he walks over to Sam's bunk. Eric looks back to Declan with an evil smirk as he rubs his hands together and Dec laughs. It takes another moment before Four or Lauren moved and with reluctant sighs they move to the remaining bunks.

"Ready when you're ready sis." Declan says, his hands griping the handle of the bucket.

"Okay. When you're ready."

Almost simultaneously all of the water from the buckets crashes against their unsuspecting victims. They bolt up in shock, gasping and groaning, and Dec finds himself laughing along with Hugo as Alec falls from his bunk. Those who stand dry wear an expression of smugness as glowers are cast their way.

"Not again!" Alec growls, turning his gaze to his sister.

Four and the other instructors glance warily over to Issy as she grins in a mischievous and almost feral way. "What do you mean by 'not again'?" Four asks and Declan smirks, sharing a look with Hugo. They're not surprised if something like this had happened before, this is Issy and Alec they were discussing after all.

Alec runs a hand through his hair. "It was the morning after Capture and somebody," Alec glared pointedly at Cody and Issy. "Decided it would be a great idea to chuck two buckets of water on me."

Chuckles reverberate around the room as Cody sits up suddenly. "Don't look at us like that! You wouldn't get up."

Declan shares a smirk with Eric as he looks around the room. They both remember being here, in this very room all those years ago. "Alright!" Eric calls out and everyone turns to him as he checks his watch. "It is twenty to eleven. Now that you have passed initiation –" The new members cheer and whoop and Hugo laughs in Dec's ear. "– You'll pick your jobs. You all have at least fifteen minutes to get changed and eat something before you all need to be in the conference room on the same floor as the Leader's offices, one of us will be standing in the doorway. More will be explained then." As Eric smirks at their new batch of members, Declan notices how laid back he is. Its nice to see Eric so relaxed but, Declan thinks as he and Hugo follow Eric and the rest of the instructors towards the door, the moment they walk out of this room it'll all disappear within a blink of an eye.

xXx

After Hugo and Declan had parted ways with the instructors, the brothers headed to Declan's flat. Once Declan had closed the door behind Hugo he walked to the spare bedroom opposite his own room.

"Did you notice the tension in the dorms?" Hugo questioned, sauntering behind Declan.

"What tension?" Declan shot Hugo a confused look, pushing the door open and looking around.

"The tension between Issy and Eric? I swear he didn't take his eyes off of her and Issy avoided looking in Eric's direction the whole time he was in the dorms."

Declan's face scrunched up in thought as he manoeuvred around several storage units he had made from old crates. "No, but I noticed it last night." Declan motioned to the narrow bookcase by his feet.

Hugo snorted as they picked it up and began carrying it into the living room. "You'd have to be blind or incredibly stupid to have not noticed it last night. I'm just thankful it wasn't sexual tension."

It was Declan's turn to snort as they placed the bookcase down on the ground. "At least not yet."

"Dude!" Hugo cringed and Dec laughed. "Don't get me wrong, I'm all for their relationship to actually become something but I don't want that in my head!" Hugo frowned as he stood back up. "Its always possible Issy isn't looking for a relationship yet." Hugo left the notion hanging in the air, watching as a disappointed look flashed across his brother's face.

"Honestly, I thought they'd be together the moment after the rankings went up they'd get together." Declan sighs as he avoids Hugo's gaze.

"Come on." Hugo says, deciding to change the subject. "We'll get the smaller stuff in here before we move onto the bigger stuff." Declan nods, turning back towards the spare room. "Declan?" The pause in Dec's step is the only indicator that he's listening. "Don't mention that to Eric or Issy, I know you want the best for them but it'll just pressure them into something they're probably not ready for okay?" Declan nods his head before he begins walking again. Its not long until there's a smile back on Declan's face and they begin shooting playful insults towards each other.

xXx

An hour and a half later and all of the storage units from the spare room are now sitting in the living room, ready to be carted across the compound. Hugo had been texting their friends through the group chat they have after Tris offered the idea of bringing dinner to which ever apartment the new members were in. Four took advantage of his shift and used the cameras to locate them. The group chat was taken over by a screenshot of all of them collapsed against the wall which happened to be by Issy's door. Both Dec and Hugo cracked up, saving the image to their phones.

When the door handle ratted and Eric stepped into the apartment with Josh on his heels, Hugo was just about to leave to meet Zeke and Uriah in the Pit. Declan froze, meeting Eric's unsure gaze and understood the heaviness of it.

Dec turned to Hugo. "We'll meet you later in the Pit, usual table."

Hugo nods, understanding flickering through his gaze as her glances at Eric. "Right, okay." Hugo grabs his own keys from the dish by the door. "Later!" He throws over his shoulder and the door closes behind him.

As the door clicks shut Declan turns to Josh, watching how a beaming grin slides on his face then a moment later he stops grinning like he knows he shouldn't be but he just can't help it. Declan rolls his eyes with a small smile before he looks to Eric, who shuffles uncomfortably under both Josh's and Declan's gaze. "So," Dec starts slowly as Josh goes to the cabinets and takes out three glasses. "I'm guessing this is where we find out what happened between you and Issy, yes?"

Eric groans, dropping into the chair to his left. As Dec perches on the sofa opposite him, Josh lightly snorts while digging glasses out of one of the cabinets to pull out a fake panel to reveal some of the bestest liquor the city has to offer. Josh grabs the closest opened bottle, not even glancing at the label before replacing the panel and the glasses. Josh places the bottle on the coffee table in the middle of the three of them and glasses on the table before sitting next to Dec. Eric doesn't even wait a minute before he cracks the lid off of the bottle and pours a generous helping into the glass closest to him and knocks it back. Josh and Declan glance at each other, worry mirrored in their eyes, before Josh speaks up.

"Is it really that bad?"

"It's not bad. It's just . . ." Eric's hands make circular motions, looking for the correct word. "Complicated."

Opposite him, Declan snorts, pouring himself a glass. "It's Issy. Its not gonna be a walk in the par –" Declan is cut off when Josh punches his shoulder, hard. Josh squinted at him, his eyes motioning to Eric. "Never mind, carry on." Eric hesitates, he looks down at his hands and Declan almost wants to ask if he's done something out of line, something that they'll hate him for. Protectiveness flares in Declan and he opens his mouth to ask when Eric finally found his words.

"Issy kissed me."

The glass in Josh's hands slipped but he managed to catch it before it hit the table top. "What?" "She left me hanging though." Eric added, glancing between the gaping pair.

"What?" Declan echoed. Whatever he thought was about to come out of Eric's mouth, it was not that.

Eric sighed. He leaned back into the chair while he explained how he had found Issy in her alcove by the Chasm, like Dec had said, and had congratulated her on ranking first. Eric nursed his glass in his hands as he told them how lost Eric had felt before he tried leaving until Issy called him back. "She said thank you in such a meaningful way that I just froze. It confused me even more and I just lost focus, you know. She had so many emotions running through those two words I just –" Eric's eyes lost focus while they stared down at the amber liquid as it swirled around in the glass. "And then she kissed me. I didn't even realise what was happening until she pulled away. I tried to pull her back but I couldn't grab her and she left me there, in that alcove." Eric trails off quietly and he looks up to meet Declan's eyes.

"I'm sorry." Declan whispers sincerely, for his sister's actions and for himself for not understanding why she did what she did. "I don't know why she did that."

"So what happens now?" Josh questions.

"I don't know but I'm off to the gym." Eric downs the rest of his drink as he stands up. After he placed the glass in the sink. "I'll see you later." He looks directly at Dec before turning to Josh as he stands in between the door and its frame. "I'll see you whenever. Dude you really need to sort your nights out." Eric leans on the frame, a smirk crawling onto his face. "I mean really? You work four hours a day, five days a week and then you work what, six hours a night for six nights

a week. Can't you just get someone to cover you?"

Josh grin, running his fingers through his beard. "Tori would have my ass if I put my hours down and people complain that the other announcer that used to cover me isn't fair. And plus it's closed on Sundays anyway."

Eric chuckles as he waves. "Later!"

xXx

They had been in the Pit for an hour now. It had originally been just Dec and Josh on their table. They were catching up with life in general when Four joined them after his shift had finished and it wasn't long before Hugo came in tow with Cody, Uriah, Zeke and Alec. The older members were explaining what the rules were for Dare Day and what normally would happen when Eric joined them and Josh got up to leave for his shift at the parlour. Laughter rang from their table as Zeke described a dare that he had been given the year before when a ringing cut them off. Dec watched Alec fumble through his pockets until he pulled his phone out, grinning as he answered the call.

"Hey Issy!" Alec exclaimed and his face scrunched up as Issy's voice quietly answered back. Going by the look on his face, Issy was teasing him. "Oh fuck off." He huffs but his eyes twinkle with flecks of golden amusement. "Have you heard 'bout tomorrow?" Both Declan and Hugo groan, knowing whatever she has cooked up won't be good. Alec laughs gleefully, nodding slowly to whatever Issy is saying and he laughs again. "Do I even want to know who for?" Alec pauses to titch his neck before replying. "So you just need to obtain it and then you're settled?"

"Alec!" Zeke whispered urgently, leaning over the table. "Tell us what she's planned?"

Alec leaned away from the phone and covered it. "No, I'm not telling you what she's planned. She'd kill me!" He placed the phone back against his ear as Hugo snorted.

"Yeah, he's not that stupid." Declan snickered into his hand when Hugo ducked his head Alec's glare.

Alec's face changed as mild panic flittered across his features. "What? Why?" Slowly his feature faded back into a neutral expression before a small smile crawls onto his face. "In the Pit." His smile widens into a smirk. "In a bar." The table starts snickering as Alec's grin widens even more to reveal his teeth. "Fuck you?" He says incredulously. "I'd rather not, I'm not a shipper of incest." He laughs again. "The usual table sis. See you soon." Alec quickly ends the call and looks around the table when there's numerous inquires of just what Issy has planned. A wicked grin slides onto his face as he bats off any attempts to get an answer from him.

While Alec does that Declan loses himself into his thoughts as he laughs along with whatever is being said. His laughs feel forced and Declan's surprised no one's picked up on it. His mind goes back to what Eric had said and the disappointment he had expressed to Hugo earlier came back in full force. Declan silently fumes at himself for thinking everything would work out perfectly straight after initiation had finished. He cursed himself for being the fool he is. He was ripped out of his simmering thoughts when Issy shouted her twin's name loudly from behind him and he, along with Alec and Uriah, jumped in surprise. Declan lashes out to her playfully and she dodges it with a smirk plastered on her smug face.

"Dammit Issy!" Alec shoves her back a step so he can stand up. "Bitch." He hisses and Issy rolls her eyes.

"Why do people keep telling me that like I don't know already?" Issy huffs and Dec shares a fond smile with Hugo as they watch the twins' antics go back and forth.

"Because we like to make sure you remember it." Alec snarks back, grinning when Issy sticks her tongue out in retaliation and they laugh. Declan's eyes narrow on the new stud in her tongue while Hugo chokes as the phrase clicks in his mind.

"Please tell me that didn't say what I thought it said?" Hugo groans when Issy sticks her tongue out again to clarify his statement instead of doing it verbally. Declan notices the reprimanding look Hugo gives her, as does Alec as he wraps an arm around her shoulders to guide her away.

"Come on. Let's go before Hugo gives you a lecture."

"Hey Issy!" Zeke call out to them and the twins turn back around. "What have you got planned for tomorrow?"

Her lips curl into a smirk while gold drowns out the blue in her eyes. "Wouldn't you like to know?" She spins around again and leads her brother from the Pit.

When they are no longer in sight, Hugo shakes his head and glances to Dec. "What the hell are we going to do with them?"

Declan laughs into his glass. "If you're worried now, wait until Cara comes and then we definitely will have our hands full."

xXx

Declan stands in the middle of his apartment surrounded by the storage units that were originally in his spare room. Jason comes through with a smaller unit, followed by Will and Eric carrying a longer one in.

"Why is it," Will huffs, glaring down at the unit. "That we're doing this now?"

"Because firstly, tomorrow is Dare Day, we won't have time. Secondly on Sunday I'm working and when the week starts Issy will be starting her training." Dec looks up when there's a loud crash on the other side of his door and then the door opens and Blake steps in, pointing behind him with Hugo cackling somewhere in the hallway.

"So these don't fit through the door." Blake trails off with a grin. His expression changes when he is suddenly shoved forward and Hugo cackles again as Blake turns around. "Dammit Hugo! I don't care if you won the race! Stop shoving that into me like a fucking battering ram!"

"Never!" Hugo's voice came from the hallway followed by an oomphf when Blake threw something at him. Blake turns back with a superior grin on his face.

Declan shakes his head, exchanging a glance with Eric as they watch Hugo from over pick up the object Blake had thrown. "Hugo!" Hugo freezes, shoving the object behind him when Blake turns around again, whistling innocently. "Don't even think about it. C'mon help us asswipe." Hugo's shoulder slouch forward as he walks into the flat.

Half an hour later and the storage units are now tightly packed onto two large trolleys that Intelligence would often use to cart computers around the compound. Once they were all tightly tied down Eric pushed one of the trolleys with Jason pushing the other. The walked down the hallway, past the door leading to the stairs, and all the way to the elevators at the end of the corridor. Jason backed into one of them and was joined by Will and Hugo while Eric backed into the other with Declan and Blake. It didn't take long before they were on ground level on the East side of the Pit. When they were out of the elevators, Dec turned to Hugo as he was the only one so far that knew where Issy lived.

"So where's Issy flat?"

"North block, ninth level." Hugo answered with a grin and when Declan looked back, Eric shrugged his shoulders.

They took the long route around the Pit rather than barge straight through. Once again Eric and Jason backed into an elevator each when they got to the North side of the compound and travelled up to the ninth floor. Hugo took the lead when they arrived on their designated floor and walked all the way down the corridor with Declan and Eric glancing at each other. When Hugo finally stops walking he leans against the wall next to a door. That door happened to be directly opposite Eric's apartment.

"Oh," Declan looked between the doors, surprised. "Well that makes shit easier."

"I haven't mentioned anything." Hugo says, catching Eric's gaze and Eric nods his head back. They begin to untied and unpack the units from the trolleys before Hugo knocks firmly on the door. Hugo waits for a moment, his head cocked towards the door as Declan steps closer to the door.

"What if she's asleep?" Will looks between the brothers as they throw him a small glare.

"If Issy has indeed gone to sleep, she's a light sleeper so she would have awoken." Hugo glances back to Will.

"That's if Issy has actually managed to go to sleep." Dec mutters under his breath. Declan raises his fist and pounds the door harder. He gives it another moment before he pounds against it relentlessly until they hear Issy yell from somewhere inside and Dec stops.

"Keep your fucking hair on, I'm coming!" The brothers take a step back as the lock clicks and the door swings open. Issy stands in her doorway in a large black hoodie and a pair of baggy bottoms. Dark bags hang under her eyes are proof that she wasn't sleep or hadn't been throughout the night. Her hair is pulled into a messy braid and slung over her shoulder. Her eyes narrow into slits as she gazes at them. "What the fuck are you guys doing up?"

Declan grins, choosing to lighten the mood instead. "I could ask you the same question." He watches his sister look at all of the units in front of her door. Issy glances from the units to Declan. "Now move over."

Issy turns to Eric shaking her head and Dec watches as Eric tenses up the slightest bit. "Is he high?"

"Not that I know of." As Declan stares at Eric he shakes his head. There are ways that could have gone better. Dec almost flinched at the coldness in his voice and by the way Issy is dejectedly staring at Hugo she did too. He meets Issy's eyes as his jaw clenches together. She opens the door wider and steps aside.

"Come on in then." She smiles but it doesn't reach her eyes and Jason strides through with one of the smaller shelves, not having picked anything up.

Declan stands still, almost glaring at Eric's head as Blake and Will carry another unit between them, followed by Hugo with an identical unit to the one Jason was carrying. Declan listens to Jason strike up a conversation with Issy before he turns to Eric. "What the hell Eric? What was that?"

"I –" Eric starts but Declan cut him off by quickly smacking the back of his head.

"No. You don't get to talk. Don't you dare talk to Issy like that again or I swear to god Eric, brother or not, I will castrate you." Declan quickly hisses at him, grabbing one end of a unit and Eric grabs the other, before plastering a bright smile on his face as Issy turns to them.

"What was that?" She asks as she moves to stand in the doorway. Holding the end of the unit harder than he should be, Eric glares down with his jaw clenched.

"Nothing." Dec chirps, grinning brightly until she moves.

Ten minutes later and all of the units are clustered in the middle of her flat, blocking the corridor leading what Declan gathers are the bedrooms. Blake and Will left as soon as they got everything into the flat, he knew that Blake had a short shift in the control soon and Will has an early shift testing weapons. Issy looks over the units again before looking up at Declan.

"What the hell Declan?"

"I know you prefer old furniture or something that's been remade so over the years I've been collecting old crate boxes that we get from Amity and making them into shelves and stuff."

Issy pauses, her eyes lose focus and she opens her mouth. "What if I didn't come to Dauntless?"

Simultaneously, Declan, Hugo, Eric and Jason's eyes snap to hers. Her eyes slowly close in regret before her eyes reopen. "Don't even fucking joke about that Issy!" Declan snapped and she raised her hands in her defence with wide eyes.

"Chill! I was just asking." She snaps back.

"Well don't." Declan bites out and he scowls at the idea. Of all the things she could have said. His anger spikes burning with his disappointment as his chest heaves. 'Did something else happen? Was Eric fully truthful?' "Is there something I should know? Are you not happy?"

Issy takes a step back in surprise and her eyes flare with golden fire as her body tenses up. "Declan," She says quietly and somewhere in the back of his mind is a voice shouting at him to abort. "There is nothing wrong. I'm fine –" Declan can't control the scoff that rises from his throat. When she bares her teeth at him Declan knows something inside Issy has snapped and he realises that it would be a good time to stop. "Get out." Issy snarls at him, obviously not getting the memo clear in Declan's shocked eyes. Dec glances at his friends on the side lines. Jason appears uncomfortable, glancing to the door, as does Eric and Hugo looks torn from stepping in. Declan looks back to Issy as she closes her eyes while she grits her teeth. When she reopens them, her eyes are void of anything Declan knows his sister to be. Instead stands someone who could easily rip out his spine without even batting an eyelash. In front of him stands someone that Leadership have been looking for. 'Why didn't she choose Leadership?' Dec can't help but admire her as she begins her rant. "There is absolutely no reason for you to bitch to me when you came knocking at my door at quarter past eleven. I am fucking tired but there's not much I can do! I'm already allergic to sleeping tablets from my years in Erudite and I'm fed up. I've been in bed for five hours, slept for one and that's it, I know for a fact I won't get anymore." Issy sighs and her eyes soften. "I'm not in the mood for whatever the fuck this is so just get out."

Declan ducks his head, breaking their eye contact as he sighs. "We'll just move these to the sides and then leave you be." He whispers, staring at the floor and Issy slumps into the wall.

Quietly Declan helps his friends move the units to the sides of the flat without really looking at each other. He can feel the disappointed gazes from both Hugo and Eric, and Dec winces under them even if Eric had no room to talk. With a quick bye to Issy, Jason scampers out and away from the awkward atmosphere and Issy moves to the sink busying herself.

Eric quickly signs to get Dec and Hugo to leave. When Hugo throws up his hands to say no, Eric quickly signs that he's gonna apologise and Hugo leaves without a glance in Dec's direction. Before Declan leaves, he glances to Issy one more time before looking at Eric with pain in his eyes. The door quietly clicks closed and Declan stands there with his eyes trained on his shoes as Hugo's eyes burn into his head.

"What," Hugo starts slowly, drawing out each syllable with equal amounts of anger. "The fuck was that?"

"I'm sorry." Declan mumbles softly. "All of the anxiety I felt at the beginning of initiation when I thought the twins wouldn't come and then the worry and fear that they might not make it and the anger and disappointment I felt earlier today, it just all built up. Her comment of not coming to Dauntless set me off. I know I need to apologize to Issy but I'll do that in the morning and I'm sorry." Somewhere through his tirade he had begun to ramble and tears gathered in his eyes.

Hugo pulls Declan forward into his arms. "It's okay," Hugo's voice catches and Dec allows his tears to fall on his brother's shoulder. "They made it. They made it. It's okay."