Things got out of hand, far too quickly for all of them to keep up with. Sawyer had only left them for an hour. Sixty solid minutes that he hoped would be nothing more than a cautious outing to grab them all something to eat after the solemn day they had trapped on Paperstreet, listening to whatever things Elias had to warn them over and stories they shared amongst themselves. A successful, uneventful sixty minutes he was hoping for seemed to be completely out of the question as he walked back through the door of the ruins of what might’ve at one point been a decent house.

His blue eyes fell on the puppy dog blond as he had barely walked a few feet further into the hall, sitting down on the filthy floor, tight grip on Robin’s hand who sat beside him, wincing at the excess of strength he was using to comfort himself. Blood still running down the gash in his head, just along his hairline, flowing down his face in a Carrie-esk fashion as Darek tended to the larger scrape on his arm. Holding nothing more than a wide-eyed daze in his expression as he absently looked at the decaying wall, licking his lips as they dripped with crimson. The other boys looking up at him in a panic.

He doesn’t recall exactly why he stormed away without asking any questions, storming up the dilapidated stairway to nearly kick in Elias’ door. Pulling the cigarette out of his hand from where he lounged shirtless as if nothing at all was happening, looking almost tranquil as Sawyer burst in. His brown eyes simply watching him throw it over his shoulder, the small room quiet as he scanned to see where it fell. Slowly dragging his eyes back up to the southern boy’s furious baby blues.

“You’re going to start a fire that way.” He said languidly, destroying things was his job really. 

“What the hell did you do to him while I was gone.” He gritted through clenched teeth. His methods where unpredictable, Sawyer may have known him a bit longer than anyone else here, but he wouldn’t put it past a boy who never failed to raise hell when he was around to hurt a kid to do what he needed.

“What makes you think it’s my fault?” He stood up, standing toe to toe with him as his brows furrowed. Without even thinking, the other boy taking a step back.

"Don't act so innocent as if everything in Rosedale never happened." Sawyer poked a finger at his chest. "You might've asked me to trust you though this but you only make it harder and harder-"

"I didn't fucking touch him." Elias almost growled. Not taking to kindly to the accusations, or the finger pointing as he slapped it away. Sawyer to clenched his fist and teeth in a way that might've maybe hurt if he wasn't so pissed.

“I was gone for ‘this’ long, Durden. The first thing I come back to is seeing is the happiest kid here look like he was hit by a car. If you didn’t do something to him, why the fuck didn’t you stop it from happening.” He pressed. “Wasn’t it you who said we have to keep them safe?” 

He watched his expression change, no longer carelessly irked at being accused, but genuinely peeved. Irritated at the way he stormed in here wildly like he knew everything that happened and should have happened to the Daniels kid. Sawyer wasn’t here because he knew anything about these kids or how to help them, he was just as clueless and useless as they were. And as always, for trying to help Elias seemed to get the shit end of the stick even now.

“I didn’t promise them, or you anything. I barely promised to help keep them alive, Hewitt. What that dumbass did to himself? Is not my fault, or problem, he’s lucky I went back to get him after he did what I told them the fuck not to.” He took another step forward, eye’s narrowing as he watched him seeth. “They can figure that much out themselves, but no one's listening to the fact that their own demise is breathing down their necks.” 

Elias was about to sit back down in his busted loveseat he was so peacefully smoking in earlier. Expecting Sawyer to go burn off by fretting over Maddox who he felt was probably sitting back downstairs the same way he left him. Pulling another cigarette out and putting it past his lips as he turned his back on him wanting it to end where he left it.

Robin looked up, listening to their voices, loud, angry, and very clear thanks to the hole in the ceiling they seemed to fail to notice. Darek didn’t seem to want to acknowledge them as he cursed under his breath. Aiden finally making his way in with the extra bandages they needed with how badly Darek seemed to be cutting them up for the blond boy's gash. The three of them quietly tending to Maddox as he zoned far out into space. None of them quite sure what happened when Mads went outside, trying to go home for something while no one was paying much attention. All they saw was Elias running after him when he did a headcount. Bringing him back like this as he just failed to tell them anything they asked.

“I didn’t think they’d ever argue about anything…” Aiden muttered quietly. Scratching at his head as Robin took one of the butchered bandages and tried to wipe away at the blood on Maddox’s face, shrugging as their argument continued to drift down.

"They barely liked each other to begin with." Darek muttered as he finally got a decently done bandage. Already lifting up another alcohol swab to start wiping down his bloody face.

"I thought they liked each other a lot." Robin said quietly. Still not able to move at how tightly he was held in Maddox's hand.

"ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID-"

The three looked up with a similar grimace on their faces. Maddox faintly letting out a quiet "Ouch."

"Elias I swear Satan, God, or whatever fucked up person that put us up to this that I'm going to fucking punch you if you don't understand this-" The southern boy wheeled him around, both hands on his shoulders as the anger simply radiated off of him as he looked into his dull blue eyes. "We might be pawns in this fucked up game, just like then like we are now. But these kids don't have to suffer like we did. They don't need to know what this feels like. We can't let them know what this feels like-"

His voice cracked. Clutching onto Elias tightly as his eyes seemed to glimmer.

"They don't have to be us. They don't need to suffer like we have, I don't want anyone else suffering like you or me. To know that not even death might save us from this pain-"

"Y-you can't act like this is okay... After everything w-we've seen... done... He's a kid. J-Just..." Elias watched in fascination as his eyes fell to the ground. Watching him clench them shut to stop the tears from spilling out. The anger that radiated between them falling cold and shattering to the ground like glass. He took the hand that was on he shoulder. Holding it for a moment before letting go.

~

(This is kinda cruddy by my own standards I'm sorry :( )

parabellums