"Eleazar, take a deep breath and start again, because you sound like a fucking lunatic right now." it was too early for this – before lunch and all – and I lay back again, folding one arm over my face to block the light out. I didn't have work today, so I'd not seen any reason to get out of bed after Carlisle left. My brother had rung me in a panic ten minutes ago, but he was so worked up I couldn't understand what he was trying to tell me. Especially when I was still half asleep.

I'd even made Carlisle late this morning, hampering him so much that he managed to miss both having a coffee and showering. It was worth it at the time, to have him in bed with me a little longer, but I wondered if he was pissed at me. He didn't seem so when he left, but I'd murder anyone who got between me and caffeine. Hopefully he loved me enough not to decapitate me.

Amazingly, Eleazar actually attempted what I told him. "Where are you right now?"

"At home." In bed.

"Can you go and get Kate? The school just called me a-and apparently she fell and they've sent her to A&E but I can't get there for another hour and Carmen's on the other side of town, a-and I don't want her to be alone-"

"Alright, alright. I'm going now, okay? Calm down. It'll take me fifteen minutes, most," I assured him, rolling out of bed to find some pants. I wedged the phone between my shoulder and my ear so I could have my hands free and still talk to my panicking brother. "Are you alright? You sound like you're going to have a heart attack."

"What kind of father does this make me? My daughter is in pain and I can't even be there for her?" he demanded, obviously on the brink of tears. "A teacher had to take her because I couldn't do it…"

"A loving father with a job to support his family. It's fine, I'm leaving now." My words were serious, but I still couldn't resist rolling my eyes.

"Call me when you get there?" he asked anxiously.

"Of course, Eleazar."

.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

.

The kid was fine. Giggling at inflated gloves and sitting on her teacher's knee. She squealed when she saw me, wriggling onto the floor and running toward me. "Uncle Garrett!"

I knelt down to catch her. "What'd you do to yourself, Miss?" Lifting her into my arms, the white plaster encasing her arm brushed against me. I swallowed thickly, only just repressing a groan; Eleazar was going to lose. his. shit.

"I broked my arm," she told me, unconcerned and just happy to see me.

"We need to call your daddy before he goes mad," I told her, sitting her on the bed and dialling him on my phone, handing it to her. I turned to the teacher as she babbled down the line at him. "Thanks for staying with her. My brother is a wreck."

"She is a sweet kid; Eleazar did tell me you were coming." She chuckled to herself, saying goodbye to me and Kate as she left.

After assuring Eleazar over and over again that she was fine and spending another hour waiting to be discharged, I was allowed to take her home. We stopped at a takeaway shop on the way, partly because I didn't have anything child-friendly for lunch, and partly because she'd had such a miserable day that the least the poor kid could have was a damn ice-cream.

I didn't really want the sticky treat in my car, so we sat in the diner while she finished her meal. How she managed to talk so much with her mouth full of chicken nuggets, I'd never be sure. She should put it on her resume. It was a relief though; not only was she unconcerned with her injury, it sounded like she was enjoying school, from what she told me.

I took her back to my apartment, switched on Disney channel and sat her in front of the TV, hoping she might stay there until one of her parents arrived. Usually, I had some activity planned to keep her busy when I babysat, but with the short notice boredom was inevitable. She was supposed to be taking it easy with her arm as well, and I hoped I wasn't in charge when the pain relief wore off; the kid had never been good with taking medicine.

As one PM rolled around, I contemplate calling Carlisle. He should have been on break by now, but I wasn't sure. With a frown, I realised that maybe that might not be a great idea while Kate was so close; our conversations were exactly 'kid friendly' sometimes. I didn't need to be the one responsible for broadening her vocabulary.

Her father rushed in not much later. He immediately had his arms around her, checking her over for injuries and fussing and flustering himself further. "I owe you one, Garrett." He didn't; he listened to my whiney ass all the time, and I told him so.

"You're in a bit of a state, El," I teased.

"She scared me," he told me meekly. His tone made me laugh, and I pulled him into a one-armed hug.

"You sounded like you were about to have a breakdown, I'm surprised you made it here without killing someone."

He rolled his eyes at me. "Was she good for you?"

"Perfect, as always," I assured him. "Although, she's been watching 'Frozen' all afternoon, so I'm sure you're going to be a rendition of 'Let it go' all the way home."

"Great," he grumbled, hesitating before letting out a sigh. "How's Carlisle holding up, after dad disembowelled him the other weekend?"

I frowned, not able to tell him much. "He's okay. A little shaken up, maybe, but I think he's over it." Whether that was true or not, I wasn't sure; he'd just buried everything for all I knew. He wouldn't let me bring the subject back up, though.

He shifted his weight, readjusting Kate to his other hip to hold her more comfortably. "I take back whatever I said about him not being right for you. I guess I just freaked out that he's my little brother's first boyfriend."

I was grinning as soon as the word 'boyfriend' came out of his mouth; Eleazar's support meant a lot to me. We did everything together growing up, and I wasn't sure I could deal with him and my father hating Carlisle.

"Carmen loves him to bits. I was sure she was going to bite dad's head off," he chuckled.

"I can't believe he was such a fucking asshole. It would have been bad enough behind his back, but doing that in front of the whole family was just cruel," I grumbled, momentarily forgetting that I probably shouldn't talk like that in front of Kate.

He just nodded, unwilling to join the war between my father and I. An awkward minute passed, and then we said our goodbyes.

The apartment was suddenly quiet as I locked the door again, and I wasn't sure if I liked it. Solitude wasn't something I sort after anymore, and it quickly led to boredom. Boredom led to vacuuming for the first time in far too long, and vacuuming led to full on spring cleaning just as an excuse to move around. It occupied my hands, at least.

But I still missed Carlisle. My phone was burning a hole in my pocket, a dead weight. I gave up and rang him, but it went straight to answer phone, souring my mood further. I didn't even know if he was staying tonight – I hoped so, or I was going to go batshit crazy.

Was this what being too clingy was? Probably. I was fucking doomed. If it was possible to love someone too much, I was halfway there. I decided I'd better lay off a bit; I couldn't fucking smother him all day, every day. It would get really weird, really quickly.

Before I even had time to finish that thought, my phone vibrated with an incoming text.

"Miss you :("

He was just as doomed as I was.