Possible TW for Self-Harm, Suicidal Thought, Alcoholism, etc.

"Kaeya, it's time to get up." Diluc gently shook his shoulder in order to wake up his sleeping brother. The motion got Kaeya to slightly stir only for him to curl up further in his royal blue comforter. Diluc had to snort at the blue blanket burrito that was his brother. Smiling, he quickly snagged a few photos of his brother. One because it was amusingly cute, and two for blackmail purposes. He gently tossed his phone back on his bed and grabbed onto Kaeya's comforter, pulled it away and off of his brother. "Wha- Diluc? I was sleeping" Kaeya said before yawning and rubbing his eye. He tossed a pair of black jeans, a light blue T-shirt, and his old beaten up grayish-blue hoodie. "Get ready. You have group therapy in forty minutes." After hearing what his brother said, Kaeya sighed and went into the bathroom, leaving the door unlocked due to Diluc's "Lock the door and it will be promptly removed." After he got changed he caught sight of himself in the mirror. He quickly diverted his attention and left the bathroom. "Diluc, do you have my phone?" Kaeya asked only to receive a grunt in reply and his brother pushed his phone into his hand. "I kept it on a charge for you. C'mon we need to get going or you will be late." Kaeya followed his brother out and once he was comfortable in the passenger's seat, Kaeya opened his phone to see he had several text messages on it. He opened up the conversations oldest to newest.

Childe: Hey! Thank your brother for the ride home for me! Also did you come up with the answer to problem number 6? I keep getting stuck on it.

Childe: Well you must have fallen asleep. See you in homeroom tomorrow. Get a good nights rest!

Childe: Dude, you okay? Both of you aren't in school? You okay?

Childe: I just heard the news that you're in the hospital. I hope you get well soon. Once you feel better, we should hang out.

Kaeya felt like he kicked a puppy after reading the texts from Childe. He knew he would ask about why he was in the hospital. He didn't want to tell him just how messed up he was. Drinking was one thing, but self-harm was another. He knew if Childe knew that Kaeya hurt himself, he would march him straight to Diluc. Kaeya thinks that it would have been worse if Diluc found out that way. He knew that at some point Diluc and him would have to sit down and talk about it, but if someone told Diluc, that would make that chat happen way sooner than Kaeya was prepared for. Shaking his head he went into the next conversation.

Amber: Hey Kaeya! I heard you were in the hospital. I hope you get better soon. Remember, if you need anything-or even if you need someone to talk to, I am here for you. Hope to hear from you soon!

P.S, I have all of your work and made notes for you and Lumi! I hope they'll help!

Kaeya let himself smile at Amber's messages. She reminded him of a bunny at times, but she genuinely had a good heart and would always look out for her friends, or anyone really. She was always there to offer a helping hand. He glanced over the few that were acquaintances wishing him "Get well soon". He scrolled up until he only had two conversations left.

Albedo: Hey Kaeya, I heard the news that you were in the hospital. When you get better, we should talk and hang out if possible. I'll help you catch up on what you missed in your classes. Kaeya, if anything is bothering you please let me know. I've been worried about you.

Kaeya inwardly cursed as of course Albedo would notice something off with him. He was the observant person and could be caught sparing Kaeya worried glances and notices when Kaeya had a bad night. He sighed and opened his newest conversation, one he didn't mind replying to before going to his first group therapy.

Lumine: This hospital sucks. Why'd my roomie have to be discharged. Aether, Xiao and the rest of the hospital staff are being so obnoxious. I just want to get out of here. When I get out I have to go to some stupid group therapy thing and have even more solo therapy than I already do.

Kaeya: Diluc's taking me to my group therapy now. Maybe we'll be in the same one so we can at least suffer together. Glad to see you're talking again and that you're not dead. Also, Aether is likely going to be extra clingy to you now.

Lumine: Don't remind me. He's asleep right now. He's barely left my side. I can't blame him though... if it was reversed, I don't know how I'd be able to handle it. I just, y'know broke. I can't pretend that I'm perfectly fine anymore. The nurse is making me eat too.

Kaeya: I know how you feel. Also, please eat. You need to. I'm surprised Aether or Xiao haven't force fed you yet.

Lumine: You don't know. I got a lecture from Dain over the phone, from Aether and from Xiao... Xiao actually will try to force me to eat. Aether will try then get scared he's going to hurt me... so yeah, the hospital food stinks btw.

Kaeya: I know all too well. Anyways pulling up to where group therapy takes place. ttyl.

Lumine: Lates.

After ending the conversation with Lumine, Diluc found a parking spot. After parking the car, Diluc and Kaeya walked to Mondstadt Counseling Group. After walking in they were greeted quite kindly by the receptionist. "Hi, checking in for Group Therapy for Kaeya Alberich- Ragnvindr" Diluc said politely to the receptionist who only smiled and directed where to go. "Once therapy is over, text me and I'll check you out." Diluc said before turning and heading back out. Kaeya sighed in slight relief realizing that Diluc wouldn't be insistent on sitting in on his therapy sessions. He was worried about talking about his issues in front of others but just took a deep breath and walked into the room. There Kaeya scanned the room and saw quite a few people, some he didn't realize and others he did. His eyes widened upon falling on Amber, Childe Razor, Bennett, and Eula. He noticed quite a few others but not too many. They all looked up to the new person and Childe returned a small sad smile to Kaeya. He noticed a scowling blueish-purple haired kid looking up and glaring at Childe with purple- blue eyes then at him.

"Hello everyone! I see we have our new patient joining today. You all know the drill. Introductions, why you're here if you're comfortable sharing that information, and a fun fact." The man turned to Kaeya. Kaeya took in the man's golden eyes, brown hair and orange-brown suit blazer with black trousers. Kaeya quickly shook his head no, he didn't want to be the first to introduce himself. The man only nodded and guided him to a seat between Venti and Childe. "Well then, I am Zhongli and the therapist overseeing this group appointment. Who would like to go next?" He said as he looked around the circle. "Hi, I'm Amber! I suffer from ADHD and I am mainly here for my anxiety. I make plushies!" After she went the few that introduced themselves were Scaramouch, Beidou, and Sucrose. Beidou was extremely similar to him in many aspects. Especially in their issues. Sucrose seemed to be timid and nervous, but that was just a few of the reasons she was there. Scaramouch was just a dick. There was no other way to describe him in Kaeya's opinion. Then Childe went next. "Hi, I'm Childe, but depending on several factors I am also Ajax and Tartaglia. I have DID. I am here due to my anger issues, alcoholism, self-harm and depression." Kaeya's eyes widened at hearing Childe self harms. Childe mouthed I'll tell you later. Kaeya only nodded. Bennett and Razor went next followed by Eula. After they went, it was Kaeya's turn. "Hi, I'm Kaeya... I'm here because..." he trailed off playing with his hands. He doesn't know what to say and he starts to close up. "Kaeya, it's okay. You can tell us when you're ready. For now, we'll talk about what's bothering us." Zhongli said in a comforting tone to Kaeya. They all began to talk about what was going on in their lives and what would bother them. Towards the end Kaeya talked about some of his feelings with everyone just listening. After the session was over, Beidou gave him his number and said it was because they had the same vibe to them. Kaeya nodded and texted Diluc.

Kaeya: The session is over, would you please check me out?

Diluc: Omw. Wait at the receptionist's desk.

Kaeya did exactly as he was told when he saw the red head entering the building going to talk to the receptionist. There he booked Kaeya for solo therapy as well. "Ah! Young Kaeya! I'm glad to see you before you head off" Kaeya heard Zhongli call. Diluc turned his head watching the interaction catching Zhongli's eye. "Ah, you must be Diluc, Kaeya's older brother. I am the therapist who runs the group sessions. I have also learned that I will be your solo therapist as well. I wanted to give you my business card in case you needed to reach me at any point of time. I will see you in our next session." He said gently to Kaeya as he handed his business card to Diluc. After the talk with Zhongli, they went out to the parking lot to the car. "Kaeya... we need to talk about everything soon." Kaeya tensed up and looked out the window ignoring his brother. Diluc sighed and continued "Kaeya, I'm worried about you. After our father died... you and I are all we have left of each other. I can't lose you too." Kaeya looked to his brother who took a moment to spare him a glance before returning his focus to the road ahead. "I mean it, Kaeya." At this Kaeya could feel tears rolling down his face surprised at this brother's words. He knew Diluc cared for him, and was in a state of shock when he found him. After a few minutes of riding in silence and Kaeya attempting to quietly sob, they arrived home. Diluc got out and quickly went over to his brother's side. Opening the car door and unbuckling Kaeya's seat belt he pulled him out of the car and hugged him. Kaeya's eyes widened in shock but after a few moments he returned the hug. "Kaeya, let's get inside. You look exhausted" Diluc guided his younger brother inside their home, to their now shared room and watched as almost instantly Kaeya fell asleep nestled in his comforter. Diluc went back to his desk to finalize his work. 'Maybe this weekend we should go on a trip. Might help with everything.' Diluc thought glancing at Kaeya as he slept comfortably.

After he finished the work he was required to do, Diluc heard a knock at the door. He heard one of the maids run to answer the door and heard a very familiar voice. He got up and made his way to the door. "Good evening, Amber. What brings you here?" Diluc inquired kindly and curiously. "Hi! I have Kaeya's notes and classwork for him to do from the teachers. I tried to give it to him at the therapy group but I got... distracted." She smiled at him as she handed him a bag with everything for Kaeya. "Albedo has already offered to assist Kaeya if he needs any help with the subjects. Childe also threw in his notes as well, just in case he doesn't understand what I wrote." Diluc gave a small smile towards the girl. Her kindness was extremely warm and genuine. "Thank you, Amber. I really appreciate it. I'm glad that he can rely on you." Amber seemed to smile even brighter. "I don't mind at all! I hope he gets well soon." After that short conversation Amber turned and promptly started to walk back towards her home. After he brought the bag up with him to his study, he quickly checked on Kaeya. Once he was sure his brother was still sleeping he took out the notes and organized them along with the classwork. He'd go over the work with Kaeya in a day or two as they both needed rest. Besides, Kaeya was truly a bright kid. He was a fast learner and when needed would bury himself in books to study. After a few moments of shuffling papers, he went to his bed and took a small nap as well.

Lumine was staring out of the window of her hospital room. It was a view she was all too familiar with the past week. She sighed as she missed her room and her house. She hated it here, but she knew that it wouldn't be the same at home either. Aether, Dain, and Xiao have all been extremely on alert, although she couldn't blame them. Dain had finally been able to fly home and he had agreed to the treatment plan that was recommended for her. All she wanted now was to disappear. Too much attention would be on her now. She couldn't hide alone anywhere anymore. Dain had set Xiao up to be her Para at school, and pulled a few more strings to the point where he would be accompanying her to even lunch. She sighed for the umpteenth time and sat up. She was tired but she was tired of sleeping, lying down doing nothing. She pulled out her phone and texted the only one who probably could relate to her the most at the moment.

Lumine: You up?

She waited a few moments to get a response. After waiting for what seemed like ten minutes she sighed about to put her phone back down. That's when she felt it go off.

Kaeya: Yeah, what's up? It's not usual for you to be up this late.

Lumine: Just tired of being tired and in this damn hospital. I can't sleep and Dain, Xiao and Aether are going to be hovering around me 24/7. ARGH.

Kaeya: I feel that. Diluc has barely let me out of his sight. He even moved my bed into his room. I hate to say it but it's not even like I can argue with him. It does feel a bit suffocating though.

Lumine: Yikes, if Diluc's like that... I don't wanna know how those three will be. Oh, fyi when we're both back in school, Xiao will likely even be in homeroom and lunch now. Dain literally refuses for me to be alone at any point.

Kaeya: Honestly though, at least we have people who care about us. Sometimes though, I feel like it's only for appearances but I know he does care.

Lumine: True.

Kaeya: When do you think you'll be released?

Lumine: I think within the next three days. Now that Dain's here, they seem to be getting ready to release me soon.

Kaeya: That's goo-

Lumine: ?

Kaeya: *good. Diluc threw a pillow at me

Lumine: lol, why?

Kaeya: If I wake up and he's still asleep he wants me to wake him up. That, and the phone light woke him up. I'm going to go now cause he has the slight glare he gives me when he's seconds from taking my phone away.

Lumine: Later. Night.

After that conversation, which made her feel normal she smiled slightly letting out a small laugh. She was able to relax slightly and let herself sleep blissfully for the first time in a week.

"Kaeya, get off of your phone and go back to sleep before I take it away for the rest of the night" Diluc spoke up having to take away his phone several times before when his brother was too invested in a game but nodding off or just causing general chaos with his friends. "Chill. I was talking to Lumine. We just said night. Also, I'm not tired." Kaeya said as he sat up and stretched. "Well then, Amber dropped off your notes, classwork, and homework earlier. Since you're not going back to sleep, go through your notes. I won't expect you to do any classwork or homework, just go through the notes." Diluc said as he also sat up and guided his brother towards his work desk. "Let me know if you don't understand something or need it explained in another way." Kaeya took a seat in his brother's chair while Diluc took some papers from his desk reading them. Kaeya looked down and pulled out the neat stack of notes on Diluc's desk. By how organized it was he knew that his brother likely organized it for him so he wouldn't feel overwhelmed by piles of work and notes. He pulled the first notes that were on the pile and read through a few of them. After going through a few sets he felt himself getting tired again. "Kae, think you can stay awake long enough to eat dinner?" Diluc said realizing that neither of them had actually had anything to eat. "No, I'm not hungry." To this Diluc let out a disappointed grunt. "Adeline is likely already home and asleep as well. I'm not cooking and the thought of you cooking scares me." Kaeya continued resting his head on the desk. "Which is why we're just going to get take-out, or something." Kaeya sighed knowing that he'd be dragged along. Kaeya got up and followed his brother as they went to get food. Kaeya looked out his brother's car window for what seemed like the millionth time today. After a short ride they pulled up to Good Hunter. Kaeya let out a small smile at the nostalgia of the restaurant. "Do you want to wait in the car for me, or would you like to join me in ordering?" Diluc asked Kaeya. The blue-haired brother looked up towards Diluc then at the restaurant. "I'll stay in the car." Kaeya said. The car was comfortable and wasn't crowded. Diluc nodded heading towards the restaurant.

A knock at the car's window attracted Kaeya's attention. Blue eyes were looking at him with a ginger mop on top of his head. "Hey Childe." Kaeya said after opening the car door for him to speak to his friend. "Hey, Kaeya. Are you okay?" Childe's voice held concern for his friend. Kaeya softly smiled "Better than I was the other day. I went a bit too far on doing something and got my ass dragged to the hospital." Childe looked anxious for a moment before taking a breath and calmly asked "Do you mean you overdid it when you were cutting yourself, Kaeya?" To this Kaeya looked up in genuine surprise. He never told Childe of his... habit. Childe gave a small smile "I saw the scars and I saw recent cuts... I wanted to respect your privacy but I was worried when you stopped responding and didn't show up, I was worried..." He trailed off as Kaeya stared at him then averted his gaze. "Childe. What a pleasure to see you! Unfortunately, we have to head straight home. I assume you are here with your family, as I saw your siblings inside." Diluc called over to him as he got into the car and handed the to-go boxes to Kaeya to hold onto during their ride home. Childe bids the brothers goodbye as he goes into the restaurant. Once they are both buckled in and on the road there's silence resting over the car for the first few moments. "How much did you hear?" Kaeya asks in a whisper. "Most of it. Kaeya, we need to really talk about stuff. Putting it off will only make you more scared and anxious. You're also going to have to talk about it with Dr. Zhongli. "It's hard to tell you. I don't know how to explain it but I... it's like even though I know you know, I'm scared, no, terrified that you'd push me away or not want me as a brother anymore." Kaeya realized he started to cry and decided to stop talking and curl up a bit as he waited for Diluc's reply. "I will never not want you as a brother. It doesn't matter the means but you are my baby brother. That will never change. You are the only family I have left now. If anything, you're going to be stuck with me more than ever before. I am not going to leave you alone in this, okay?" Diluc finished as they arrived at their home and looked at Kaeya. His younger brother was still crying. Diluc quickly ran over to the passenger's side of the car and wrapped Kaeya in a hug. "It's going to be alright. You're going to be alright. Here, let's go inside." Diluc grabbed the food from Good Hunter and gathered Kaeya on his other side. They quickly made their way inside heading into Diluc's room. Once they were in the room, Diluc placed the food on his desk and gathered Kaeya into a hug. After a while Kaeya calmed down and was ready to fall asleep when Diluc got up prompting him to look up before Diluc plopped a take-home container on his lap. "Eat. Then we can sleep." Diluc sat next to him starting to eat his meal. Shortly after, Kaeya followed Diluc's lead. After a few moments, they finished their meals and Kaeya leaned into Diluc's side. Thankfully a maid saw that they had came home and took their now empty food containers away. Diluc softly patted Kaeya's hair, it was a motion that calmed both of the brothers. After a few moments, Kaeya started to fall into a deep sleep. Diluc made sure that Kaeya had a blanket over him and went to retire into bed as well.

The next morning, Diluc woke up first and checked the time. He sighed as he rolled out of bed and made his way over to Kaeya. He gently shook the blue-haired boy awake. Kaeya looked up to see Diluc waking him up and gently signaled that he wanted to be hugged. Diluc happily obliged his younger brother's request. Kaeya buried his head in the crook of his neck and essentially latched himself onto Diluc. The crimson haired boy was no stranger to Kaeya wanting to be clingy for a while but he was getting worried. Diluc could feel the warmth radiating off of Kaeya's forehead and cheeks. The slight blush that his cheeks had along with him sweating confirmed that Kaeya likely had a fever. He wondered what could have made the blue haired boy sick. He had been giving Kaeya his medicine, a mix of antidepressants, a tranquilizer, and a medicine to curb any type of infection that may have started due to his cuts. He's been changing Kaeya's bandages and making sure that the cuts were cleaned as well. He decided to let his brother rest for a while longer and reached out to Kaeya's therapist. After rescheduling Kaeya's appointment, Diluc came back with a thermometer to check on Kaeya's temperature. "Shit, Kaeya. Do you know what could be causing this? Have you been ill?" Diluc questioned his brother gently in concern. Kaeya quickly looked down seemingly contemplating telling him something. "Before... you found me" Kaeya rasps out and stopped talking to quickly take a few sips of water before continuing "I cut my thighs two or three days before and didn't clean them..." Kaeya looked back down after answering his brother. He knew that his brother had his ways and would find out what he wanted to. "Go change into shorts. I'll grab stuff to clean them just in case it is them." Diluc stepped out of the room for a moment and went to get the first aid kit while Kaeya quickly changed into a pair of shorts. He didn't look at the cuts but there was quite a pungent smell to them. He sat back down on the bed with a sigh. 'You can always add more. After all, Diluc's not here right now. It'll make you feel so much better' A voice in his head said and he snapped out of his thought when he felt a plop of a case next to him. Suddenly he was quickly engulfed in a hug from his brother again. After a moment Diluc let go of him and put a stress ball in his hands. "If it stings or starts to hurt just squeeze that." Kaeya could only nod as Diluc began to gingerly and gently clean the cuts on Kaeya's legs. After a bit Diluc wrapped Kaeya's legs in rolled gauze. "Hopefully we can curb any infection." Diluc reaches up and feels Kaeya's head. "You still have quite the fever it seems." Diluc frowned and he pushed Kaeya to lie down. Kaeya rolled into his blanket burrito and started to fall asleep. "I want you to take some fever reducers first." Diluc placed them along with Kaeya's other medications on the table next to him with a glass of water. Kaeya quickly took them and drifted into a light sleep.