New chapter yayyy!

Before we start, we have a new story posted in the My Babysitter's a Vampire archive. It's titled 1800 273-8255, and it is very much based on the song by Logic (which I advise everyone watch the music video). If anyone is interested in reading please go check it out (it's rated M so in order to see it you'll have to change the Filter settings. Or you can just go to our profile. Whichever makes you comfortable).

UPDATE! We made a change to some details in the story, and thus we had to make a change in this chapter so it could all make sense. The change is in the beginning and it's sorta important (at least to us). Anyway, proceed.

Anyway, chapter 10!

Disclaimer: We do not own Jessie.

Chapter 10: Bond

Ravi's first therapy session was surprisingly not as horrible as he anticipated. The hour passed faster than expected as well. Dr. Phillips was warm and welcoming, and not stiff and stuffy like Ravi imagined in his head. His office was big, but not too big. It wasn't intimidating, but it was big enough to show people how successful he is in his practice. Ravi felt somewhat comfortable during the session, or at least comfortable enough to disclose to Dr. Phillips some of his internal turmoil. The doctor didn't force him or push him to talk. He allowed Ravi to share at his own pace, however he was comfortable.

Ravi told him about his anxiety/panic attacks, and how prominent they are. He told him how they consume him completely, and the symptoms he gets. Dr. Phillips asked him what he thought was triggering them. Ravi wasn't sure, but he assumed it was stressful situations. But honestly, he couldn't quite name what kept triggering the attacks.

Dr. Phillips gave Ravi a "daily journal" as he called it. Something to write down his thoughts or feelings in if they came up. He had the freedom of writing whatever he wanted in it. He also had the freedom to write nothing in it. It's all up to him what he writes, and if he wants to share what he writes during therapy. Ravi watched as the doctor slid the navy-blue composition notebook over to him. He tried to picture it: writing down his daily thoughts in there like a blonde 16-year-old girl in some teenaged rom-com. It really didn't seem like something he would do.

Yet, he took it anyway.

He was given an appointment to start seeing a psychiatrist for the following week. Something about CBT and testing or whatever (most of the information was giving to Christina. Ravi is just going with the flow to be honest). Dr. Phillips said a few more words to Christina and before Ravi knew it, he was in the limo on his way him.

If he's being honest, it all felt like a blur.

"Yay, you're home!" Jessie enthusiastically greets Ravi and Christina as soon as they walk out of the elevator. She's smiling. Something Ravi hasn't seen her do since… you know. "How was the first session?" The question is directed to Ravi.

He shrugs. "Not entirely terrible." He's still unsure of how to feel about the whole ordeal. Does he like the idea of therapy? No. Even though the session went well, he still felt increasingly awkward upon answering certain questions, especially since he's expected to be vulnerable and talk about everything he's feeling (it's bad enough he has to think about his feelings. Voicing them seems like an unnecessary stress). But he knows that he has to endure it, and that it's possibly supposed to help him get through everything. Plus, it gives his family peace of mind to know he's getting help, or whatever you want to call it. Whatever it takes, he concludes.

Jessie nods. "Great. I'm glad it went well." She wraps an arm around Ravi's shoulders and walks him in the direction of the stairs. "I want to hear all about it, but I need to talk to your mom. Why don't you go upstairs for a while." It isn't really a question. More of a soft command. Ravi nods and heads up to his room.

Once he's gone and out of earshot, Jessie turns to Christina, the once happy expression replaced with a serious one. "We need to have a serious discussion about Luke and what happened at the school today."

Christina reluctantly nods. She almost forgot about the call she received earlier, the one telling her Luke had gotten into some trouble at the school. She cannot even come to describe the extent to her stress, and how overwhelmed she felt upon answering that phone. Her first fear was receiving dreadful news about Ravi again (every time she answers the phone she gets flash backs of that phone call in Berlin. Probably PTSD). Hearing Luke's name instead was both relieving and utterly frightening. Relieving because Ravi was okay and made it through the school day without any serious hitches, and frightening because of the million different scenarios that ran through her mind pertaining to Luke. Christina is honestly not sure how she would be able to handle any of this if Jessie wasn't here. She is remarkably strong, physically and emotionally. She somehow manages to keep a level head despite what's going on. She's been the rock that has been holding everyone together, including Christina. She's broken down several times already, and each time Jessie was the shoulder she cried on. Each time, Jessie allowed her to let out her emotions in thick, ugly tears. And Jessie stayed strong through it all. So, in a way, she was not surprised when Jessie offered to handle Luke's situation at school.

She really needs to pay her more.

The two women sit on the couch. Jessie immediately hands Christina a pink slip of paper which she scans curiously. Her brows furrow at the words she reads, but she eventually gasps when she understands what the slip is telling her. Luke is suspended? She looks to Jessie in alarm. "What is this?! Why did he get suspended?"

Jessie sighs, and for the first time, Christina notices the dark circles under Jessie's eyes that have been poorly covered with cheap, drugstore concealer. "He got into a fight today." Jessie can basically feel Christina's astonishment. "The other boy provoked it, but Luke ultimately throw the first punch."

Christina shakes her head in bewilderment. She reads the pink slip over and over, still trying to make sense of it. "Luke isn't violent. He's not a violent child. Yes, he's done some questionable things in the past, but never has he put his hands on other people."

"That's what I needed to talk to you about." Jessie states, getting Christina to look up. Jessie notices how tired she looks, as if the past few days have aged her significantly. Jessie doesn't blame her. She can barely even sleep at night without images of a dead Ravi plaguing her, so she can only imagine Christina's chaos.

"Luke didn't just get into a fight for the fun of it." Jessie continues. "As I said before, he was provoked. And from what I understand, some kid named Evan Carter was taunting him about Ravi." Christina's heart sinks, and Jessie can see it in her eyes. "And Luke tried to ignore, but…" She takes a deep breath because the next part is hard for her to verbalize without feeling her gut wrench. "He told Luke that it would be better for everyone if Ravi had died." Jessie braces for Christina's reaching.

For one, she looks completely blank, which is probably more frightening than anything. She looks like she's still digesting the information Jessie just gave her. Jessie contemplates saying something to make sure Christina is still coherent, but she suddenly explodes out of her seat, making Jessie jump back.

Christina starts to pace and rant in a heated, haphazard manner. "How dare that ignorant insensitive brat say that about my son?! My Ravi! What kind of school allows students to completely disrespect other kids like that?!" She paces, and goes on to use words Jessie has never heard her use before. Jessie is sure she hears some French in there as well. Finally Jessie jumps up to stop her.

"Christina, Christina!" She abruptly stops once Jessie is suddenly in her path, the anger boiling deep within her core. She is disgusted at the audacity of the students at that school, and she can not believe a person could ever stoop as low as to insult someone who attempted suicide. What kind of heartless peasant…

She continues to fume as Jessie places her hands on her shoulders, attempting to calm her down. And to think that she and Morgan are so generous to Walden Academy in their donations and support. To think that they had been considering funding for a new bigger and better, state of the art gymnasium. Not from my check book!

"I swear if that school thinks for a second I'm going to let this fly by without a fight—" Christina stops herself as she feels her face burning hot red. She is more enraged than she's ever been in her life, and she just wants to breathe fire on anyone who has ever hurt her Ravi.

"Christina!" Jessie finally seems to snap her out of her angered trance, and bring her back to the present. Her eyes finally focus on Jessies, which is startling due to the way the screamed MURDER. She continues to breathe heavily, the fury still at an all-time high. She does her best to pay attention Jessies next words. "I already started taking care of things."

Christina's anger mixes with confusion, still not focusing fully on Jessie. "W-what?" She breathes. "What are you talking about?"

"I sort of told of Principal Baker for trying to brush off the actions of the other student." Jessie explains, making sure that Christina is paying close attention. "And… I might have also threatened him. But only a little bit!" She quickly adds, seeing that threatening a Principal is not something one wants to see on a resume.

As the seconds pass and Christina clings on to Jessie's every word, her heart rate falls back to a normal human speed, and she slowly calms down enough to have a decent conversation about the matter at hand. Finally, she nods in approval because Jessie did exactly what Christina would have done had she gone to the school instead (except she might have torn open Principal Bakers throat and fed it to him). "Good. I would have down the same thing."

Jessie breathes out a laugh. The two finally sit down again, before Christina shakes her head, finally understanding everything. "You really threatened him?" She asks, more curious than anything.

"Well," Jessie's voice rises several octaves nervously, "I told him that we're not going to sit around and do nothing during circumstances like this." She explains. "And I said he has one hell of a storm coming his way."

All Christina can do is laugh at Jessies definition of a threat. "Oh Jessie, that's hardly even a threat." She has said and heard far worse in the past. But she still applauds the red head for standing her guard and sticking up for the Ross family.

Jessie doesn't find anything amusing but chuckles along with her nonetheless. "But I really think we need to do something Christina." She turns the conversation back to a serious note, and Christina follows. "There needs to be some sort of consequence for the students who bullied Ravi. It really irks me that the school does nothing about it, and something desperately needs to be done."

"You mean, legally?" Christina questions uncertainly, unsure if she wants the added stress of a lawsuit, even if she's the plaintiff.

"If that's what it takes." Jessie sighs.

Luke has successfully spent the last hour or so hiding away from everyone; his sisters, Jessie, Bertram, everyone else in the world. He's hidden in the dark confines of his room, a new bag of ice resting against his bruised eye, praying for the throbbing to stop. He's acquired a decent sized headache due to the injury, and the Advil he took has yet to help. The only thing making the pain less prominent is the absence of light and sound in his room. And the ointment Jessie put on the black and blue blemish.

He's spent his time staring at the ceiling fan, his gaze firmly fixated on it's slow oscillation. He's disappointed in himself for losing control like that. The anger he felt because of Carters words is something he's never experienced before. Luke is generally a happy person, preferring to smile and laugh rather than be angry all the time. It's in his character. Everyone knows it. He's more so surprised that he's even capable of anger like that. Of course, he's human so he's been upset before, but never to the point where he blacks out. He's never full on attacked someone to the point where he almost breaks his hand.

He examines his right knuckles which have been cleaned and bandaged. He's gotta say, for someone as small as him, he's got a hell of a lot of force behind his punch. It shocks Luke. He's not one to work out or anything like that. He maybe does some push-ups here and there, and sit-ups to keep his body lean, but nothing over the top. He didn't realize how strong he really was until he saw Carters face after the pummeling.

Not to seem narcissistic, but Luke's impressed with himself.

As if on cue, he felt a pang in his head, his headache suddenly worsening. He winces at the pain and groans in exasperation. Right, he's supposed to work on not being conceited. And his headache just reminded him of that.

And now he's back to brooding.

Why is he celebrating? So what if he has an impressive right hook? He's suspended for a week! In all honesty, Luke has been trying his hardest to stay out of trouble so he can avoid excess detentions, suspensions, and possible expulsion. It might seem farfetched, but Luke doesn't want to spend his whole life in high school. He has goals and dreams he plans on reaching too! He wants to go to college (even if his grades tell him otherwise). He wants to pursue a career in the professional dance world and one day become a choreography. He wants to have an amazing future, and he can't have that if he spends all his time getting in to trouble in school. He wants to graduate and prove to himself that he's worth it.

He needs to prove to himself that he's worth it, even if his birth mother didn't believe so.

Luke's train of thought is interrupted by the knock at his door. He chooses to ignore it. He doesn't feel like having another talk with Jessie, nor does the idea of recounting the day's events to Emma and Zuri sound appealing. He doesn't move from his position on his bed, but the second round of knocks causes him to growl in annoyance before finally getting off his bed. He flings his door open, ready to tell whoever the intruder is to get lost.

But he sees Ravi standing in front of him, and his whole demeanor softens.

"H-hey Ravi." He stutters in the most anxious and awkward way.

Ravi responds with a small smile. "Can I come in?"

Luke opens the door wider for the smaller boy to enter his room. Ravi flicks on the light, making Luke squint a bit so his eyes can adjust to the light. Luke closes the door behind him, shutting out the rest of the world (i.e. the rest of his apartment). "I didn't hear you and mom come home."

"We just came." Ravi sits on Luke's bed, making himself comfortable. "She's talking to Jessie about something right about now." Luke knows exactly what Jessie is talking to his mom about. He also knows exactly why Ravi is in his room. And it's not because Luke's room is pretty.

Luke does his best to keep the conversation far away from the fight he had. "How, uh, how was the therapy session?" He asks in hope the Ravi takes the bait. He presses the ice against his eye harder attempting to conceal his eye.

Ravi doesn't take the bait. "You do know why I'm in here, right?" He crosses his arm and raises an eyebrow.

Welp, there's no way around it now.

Luke rubs the back of his neck in defeat. "Yeah. Yeah I know why." He mumbles sheepishly.

Ravi gets up and walks toward Luke who's been standing the whole time. "Let me see." He nods his head towards Luke's eye. It's not a question.

Luke suddenly feels anxious. Something about showing Ravi his black eye makes a pit grow in his stomach. He knows exactly how Ravi is going to react, and he's not looking forward to the disappointment Ravi is going to have in him. Of all the things Ravi has had to go through, the last thing he needs is to feel disappointed in his brother.

"Um, I really don't think you want to." Luke pleads, wishing that Ravi will change his mind and decide he doesn't care about the fight or Luke's eye anymore.

No such luck.

Without hesitation, Ravi grabs Luke's left wrist and lowers his hand from his eye, taking the ice with it. Luke doesn't resist. There's no use anyway. Ravi's going to want an explanation, and he deserves one.

Ravi's eyes grow wide in shock and he gasps once he sees the ugly bruise that now takes over Luke's eye. It's a mix of colors: black, blue, red, and purple. His eyelid is swollen, and Ravi can see a small cut mixed in the bruising that seems to be in the process of healing. Over all, it looks bad, and Ravi can only imagine what Luke's knuckles look like underneath the bandages.

"Jesus Christ Luke!" Luke can hear the alarm in Ravi's voice, and flinches in shame. "What the hell?! How did this happened?!"

"I-It's not as bad as it looks!" Luke quickly tries to explain, tries to make Ravi less concerned. Ravi scuffs at that. His face screams that's complete bullshit. "I took some Advil and Jessie put some 'thing' on it. Bengay I think. And now, y'know, I can barely feel it!" He's lying throw his teeth.

Ravi's upcoming rant is paused when he finally gets to see the look in Luke's eyes. He wills himself to relax. It didn't occur to him how Luke might feel after the fight; he just assumed that Luke was getting into trouble for doing stupid things like he normally does. But the way Luke's dark orbs resemble shame and misery, Ravi starts to reevaluate his whole approach to this.

His tone is now gentler when he speaks. "Luke, please tell me what happened."

Luke places the ice bag on his dresser (it really wasn't helping anyway) and trudges over to his bed where he flops onto his previous spot with an oomph. "It's a long story bro…"

Ravi sits next to him. "I'm listening." His persistence annoys Luke, but he can't blame the 15-year-old for caring.

Luke exhales heavily as he sits up. He's not going to enjoy explaining this, especially since living it wasn't great. "Evan Carter was just being annoying." Luke notices Ravi's slight flinch at the name, but continues. "He started saying a bunch of crap and, I don't know. I kind of just lost it."

Ravi all too well knows of Evan Carter. Evan Carter is one of those guys with a notorious reputation of sleeping with multiple girls, bullying other innocent, weaker souls, always getting his way, and being a complete meathead. Ravi especially knows him for his bullying and torment. He used to spend his school days afraid of running into Carter, afraid of what he'll do or say to humiliate him. And without a doubt, every time they crossed paths in the halls, Carter didn't hesitate to say something cruel, or put his hands' on Ravi. He left school with a bruised abdomen on one too many occasions, and he can only imagine the pain Luke's in.

"Well, what kind of crap did he say?" Ravi's curiosity got the best of him, even though he is completely dreading the answer.

"Trust me," Luke shakes his head and looks at Ravi, "you don't want to know."

"Luke whatever it is he said, you can tell me." Ravi pleads. "Whatever it is, I can handle it."

Luke opens and closes his month, trying to decide on what to say and how to say it. How is he supposed to tell his brother what Carter said? The same brother who was almost dead a little over a week ago. How was he supposed to repeat Carters words? It's better for everyone if the little shit would have just died anyway…

"He… was just saying some stuff about you." Luke says hoping Ravi will be satisfied with the very vague answer. He can tell by the look on his face that he's not, and Luke dreads having to recite the words again. He can already feel the golf ball sized lump forming in his throat. "He, he told me that—" he has to pause to clear his throat when his voice cracks. "He said that it would be better for everyone… it would be better for everyone if you had died." Luke squeezes his eyes shut and turns his head away so Ravi doesn't see the tears rolling down his cheeks.

Oh…

Ravi feels a pang at his heart. He's heard a truck load of harsh things about himself, and they've all did their damage. But this was probably the worst of them all.

People have told him that he should die before. Nothing new really. They've suggested he jump of a bridge, swallow some pills, throw himself in front of oncoming traffic, etc. He's heard all the unpleasant, graphic scenarios. But the fact that Evan Carter can make a mockery out of suicide, no matter the person, is despicable and sickening.

And yet, surprisingly, the comment has no effect on him. It hurts to know someone would say something like that, but the comment doesn't seem to feed the seemingly infinite darkness Ravi has been attached to. It doesn't make him feel anything but sorry. Sorry for Luke who didn't deserve to go through that. Sorry for Evan who obviously has some inner issues to work out if he's low enough to say something like that. Just sorry in general. He supposes he's heard it so many times that it simply sounds like wind to him, or maybe he's learned to ignore it. No, it can't be that simple. It doesn't matter. Nevertheless, he's less concerned about Carters words, and more concerned about his intentions, and what it made Luke do.

The last time Luke stood up for Ravi was when he first started American school when he was around 10 years old, and Ravi was getting bullied by Finch. Ravi was grateful for his brother's chivalry at the time, but it hasn't happened since then. This time around, Luke put his hands on the bully, most likely shutting him up for good.

It warms his heart that Luke cares so much, but at the same time, he cannot condone violence despite the reasoning behind it.

"Luke," Ravi starts after a moment, "I appreciate you sticking up for me, and I'm glad you gave Evan Carter what he deserves." He stops when he hears Luke sniff. "But you don't have to beat up everyone who has something mean to say about me. It's going to happen, and it probably won't stop. But all I really want is to know that my siblings are there for me when it does."

"But it's just…" Luke finally faces forward. Ravi can see the tear streaks on his face, but doesn't comment on it. "It's unfair that bastards like Carter can say things like that about you, and he doesn't get shit for it!" The shakiness in his voice is very present, but he finds a way to speak around it.

"He gets to say and do what he wants without ever getting in trouble, and ever facing the consequences, and I'm just sick of it." Luke feels his anger growing the more he thinks about it.

Ravi understands where Luke is coming from. He's already been down that road, wanting desperately for his bullies to be brought to justice. He's wished for so long that someone would catch a bully in the act, or someone would be kind enough to speak up and do something. It's never happened and Ravi has been forced to suffer because of it.

Until now when his brother all but willingly pummeled the bully, giving him a taste of his own medicine.

In a way justice was serviced he supposes.

"You know," Ravi starts with a lightness in his voice, "he did get to face the consequences." Luke looks at him questioningly. "Today. When you beat him up. Showed him what it feels like. Those are consequences too."

Luke smiles at his lap as he plays with the bandage on his knuckles. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess you're right. He got what was coming for him." He finally dries his tears before looking up at Ravi. "You think this," he points at his eye, "is bad? You showed see Carters face. He's pretty much unrecognizable."

Ravi lets out a small laugh at the idea of someone messing up Carters face. "I guess you got him good, huh?" They sit in a comfortable silence for a few seconds, enjoying the lightness in the mood. Finally, Ravi puts a hand on Luke's shoulder, drawing his attention. "You're a good brother, you know?" Luke's face falls slightly in doubt of that. The compliment falls short on his ears because all he can think about is that day when everything went to hell. He still considers himself far from a goof brother, and hearing Ravi say that really does nothing to change his opinion on that.

Ravi already knows what Luke is think about as soon as his expression changes. He squeezes the freckled boys shoulder in comfort. "Despite everything that happened, I still think you're a good brother." Luke turns his head but won't meet Ravi's eye. His indignity won't allow him to. "And I appreciate everything. But please, no more fights. No more fighting people just because they say something about me. That's all I really want."

Luke nods. He definitely was not thinking straight earlier, and was not thinking of what Ravi wants when he let his temper get the best of him. He owes it to Ravi to at least try to stay calm. "Okay. No more fighting."

Ravi smiles an actual, genuine smile. It's still small, but hey, it's genuine. "Thank you." He wraps his arm around Luke's shoulder in a one-armed hug and Luke leans in, resting his head on Ravi's shoulder. It seems backwards. With all that Ravi has gone through, it should be the other way around. Luke should be the one embracing Ravi. Nonetheless, it's comforting and relaxing to know that after everything, Ravi is still a shoulder he can cry on, and vice versa. They rarely ever spent 'bro time' like this (Luke was never will to in the past), but is grateful for this moment they have together. It makes him feel closer to Ravi, more like a brother to him. He feels like they're finally bonding in a positive way. Maybe everything that happened will bring Luke and Ravi closer, and make their relationship stronger.

Maybe.

They enjoy the closeness and comfort for a while. It's not weird or awkward. Would they mention this moment to anyone? Probably not. But still. It's nice.

"Did you really want to know how my therapy session went?" Ravi breaks the silence, suddenly remembering the question Luke initially asked.

"Honestly no." Luke retorts without missing a beat.

"Good, because I wasn't going to tell you."

Luke laughs as he sits up, and Ravi laughs along with him. They stay in Luke's room for another hour or so, talking and laughing and just being two normal teenagers for once. Two normal teenagers who didn't experience the most traumatizing thing only a week ago. Ravi is able to forget about the dark room, and the panic he keeps feeling. Luke is able to forget about how quickly his world came crashing down around him. And once Ravi finally lives (homework is still a priority), they both feel a bit stronger and secure with each other.

Maybe…

We didn't reread the last part because laziness is a thing.

Before anyone asks THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE AN INCEST STORY! RAVI AND LUKE WILL NOT BE A PAIRING BECAUSE NO! THEY ARE JUST 2 BROTHERS WHO HAVE BEEN THROUGH A LOT AND ARE IN NEED OF A BETTER RELATIONSHIP!

Anyway…

Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews. They are real motivators when it comes to writing this story. It wasn't supposed to end here, but we feel this is a decent place to end. We promise things will start picking up after here, and we're super excited to continue this story and show you guys exactly what we have in store.

Thank you guys so much for reading. Remember if you're interested in MBAV we have a story up and we would love for you all to read it.

-Bye Felicia