Protect You XVIII


Thomas and Beno returned to the hospital. At that point, Beno became hesitant. He was wondering if he could still go through with confronting the situation. As they neared the door to the floor Fë was on, Beno began to gradually distance himself from Thomas' side as the door's view closed in.

After a few steps, Thomas had noticed that Beno was not at his side anymore. Looking back, he found his conflicted son still on the stairs.

"Beno, are ya second guessing now?" Thomas asked.

"Is it really okay for me to actually go in there and apologize? Shouldn't I be in trouble with Daddy?" Beno frowned.

"Listen to me, you'll be fine. You just have to take a deep breath and go forward. Don't worry about being in trouble with Ryoga. I'm going to be right there with you, alright?" Thomas offered his hand.

Beno took it, nodding curtly.

"Good, now let's get this done. The sooner the better."


Thomas and Beno walked up the rest of the stairs, past the floor's entrance and neared Fë's room. A few steps in, Thomas stopped and crouched down.

"Okay, bud. Time for that deep breath. Breathe in."

Beno inhaled deeply, holding it in.

"Now breathe out," Beno slowly exhaled, smiling slightly.

"Feel better, huh?" Thomas chuckled.

"Yeah, thank you very much Papa." Beno hugged Thomas, grateful forhis assistance.

"You don't need to thank me for helping you." Thomas briefly hugged his son before standing back up.

The two walked to the entrance to Fë's room where inside, sat Aegnor, Ryoga on opposite sides off the bed.

"Leo!" Fëanor called out, spotting the boy first, making the two adults snap their head to the door.

"Uh…hey Fë, Daddy, Aegnor." Beno sheepishly looked away.

"Are you feeling better, Leon?" Ryoga asked calmly.

"I am…sorry for running off. I won't do it again." Beno apologized softly.

Awkwardness crept in whilst Beno flushed in embarrassment.

"It's okay. You just have to remember we're all trying to deal with this." Ryoga replied, rising from the chair.

"And I should apologize too, I guess I hadn't taken into account your feelings as much as I should've."

"You guess?" An incredulous look was apparent on Thomas's face, receiving a glare from Ryoga.

"Anyways, Leon, I want to keep you in mind. That being said, I won't be able to do that if you don't tell us how you feel." The tone of sincerity laced in Ryoga's words gradually eroded Beno's worry and guilt away.

"I know, I won't keep my feelings bottled up anymore. I promise." Beno replied.

"Now that we have that settled and everyone is in good graces; before it's time for visitors to leave, excluding Aegnor, Beno and Fë need to talk." Thomas shot Aegnor and Ryoga a look before leaving the entrance.

"You do?" Ryoga asked.

"Yeah. Papa suggested that I do." Beno replied with a nod.

"Alright, don't take too long now." Aegnor teased as he and Ryoga went to join Thomas.


Silence permeated the room as the boys stared at each other.

"Fë..." Beno said softly, walking to a chair.

"I'm sorry for storming out like that. Especially if it hurt your feelings."

"Leo, you don't have to apologize. I'm okay. I feel bad that your upset, but it's nothing to worry about." Fëanor said earnestly.

"But you shouldn't feel bad. This happened to you because of my family." Beno rambled.

"Leo-"

"My aunt did this and you're missing school, you can't walk—"

"Leo, Stop it!" The loudness of Fëanor's interruption snapped him out of his thoughts.

"I don't know why I have to yell to catch your attention, you said you wanted to talk and that means we have to listen to each other." Fëanor scolded, annoyed.

"I'm sorry Fë...it's just..." Beno looked away.

"Just what?" Fëanor prompted.

"I don't know. I just feel like if you weren't my friend this wouldn't have happened to you." Beno exasperated, not knowing how else to word his feelings.

"Leo, being your friend has nothing to do with this." Fëanor replied.

"How? My aunt is behind this. That's my family, Fë." Beno said incredulously.

"But she didn't do this. This was my family problems that I could've had you dragged into. An enemy of my family had this done to me, Leo." Fëanor explained.

Beno was taken aback, shocked at the new information Fëanor just gave him.

"So... you're not hurt because of us?" Beno asked, sincerity laced in his voice.

Fëanor nodded.

Beno exasperated loudly, getting onto the bed and hugging Fëanor.

Fëanor returned the hug, growing concerned as his shoulder became wet.

"Leo? Are you okay?" He asked, rubbing Beno's back.

"I'm so stupid, Fë. I'm sorry." Beno sobbed.

"You're not stupid, Leo. You just didn't know. I didn't even know until my parents told me." Fëanor said softly.

Beno pulled back, looking Fëanor in the face.

"I'm happy and relieved that we're not the cause of this...that I'm not the cause of this. But at the same time, I'm so sad that this happened and I couldn't do anything about it." Beno said earnestly, eye to eye with Fëanor.

"I know, but at least I'm okay and I have my mom and dad, Yuma and Ryoga, and most of all you here to help me. I don't know if I'd be able to go on without my best friend." Fëanor replied in kind.

The two hugged again, Beno sighing in emotional exhaustion and Fëanor simply content with the company of his closest friend. A few minutes pass by and the two become drowsy.

"I think we should get my mom and the others, huh?" Fëanor said, giggling softly.

"Yeah, you're getting sleepy and it's getting quite late." Beno replied.

"Hey~ I'm not the only one sleepy..." Fëanor said yawning.

"I'll go get them." Beno said getting up.

He walked towards the door and peered out to see them down the hall. Thomas noticed his head and smiled at him. He smiled back and took a step out to get Aegnor and Ryoga's attention. Their conversation ended quickly and the three made their way back.

"Hey bud, you two talked it out?" Thomas asked.

"Yeah, we did. We both feel better now but Fë is tired." Beno answered.

"I'm not the only one!" Fëanor said, prompting the adults to laugh.

"I'm sure today was quite taxing on us all." Aegnor quipped.

The rest agreed.

Thomas helped Beno pack up his and Fëanor's homework as Ryoga waited for them. Once they finished, Beno said bye to Aegnor and Fëanor and they walked out of the hospital.


Once outside, Beno spoke up, "Uh, Daddy, can I stay over at Papa's? I haven't been over for a few weekends."

"You sure? We were gonna go eat." Ryoga said.

"I'm sure. Plus, you and Mommy have to deal with Karu and Roru." Beno pointed out. Ryoga looked at Thomas who in turn shrugged.

"Hmm...you have a point. Okay, you can go." Ryoga smiled, ruffling Beno's hair.

"Thanks, Daddy. I love you. See you on Sunday!" Beno said, hugging Ryoga.

"Alright, Leo. Have fun." Ryoga said, hugging back. Thomas and Beno walk off as Ryoga heads to his car.

Once strapped in and ready to go, he sighed, laughing to himself a bit. "Yuma is gonna enjoy hearing about this."


A.N:

Hi again~ It's me in 2020~ I'm just mad at my younger self tfor the structure of this story, however, I won't change past chapter 17.

My previous views and disheartenment with this story is still true. I am still very much so trying my best to end this story, but I want it to be good and satisfactory for me because there will be so much I wanted to flesh out that I won't be anymore.

Anyway, be safe and well. Lots of love!

- Lucio