Chapter Text
It wasn't unusual lately for Baz and Smurf to fight but it was getting out of hand. Leaving everyone at the house tiptoeing around as if they all went back to being children. To the times when Janine would bring a new guy and they all would have to cuddle up in one room to avoid meeting him and angering them both.
She remembered those times very well. How Craig held Deran and talked to him in whispers, how Baz would tower over her and Andrew, not wanting to admit how fucked up it all was. She remembered talking to Baz, begging him to accept that the only logical thing that they could do is run away. Pope would get upset at that, Deran would cry. Julia would take Baz's side, those two always having each other's sides. Elena cried a lot at first, for years she wanted someone to take her side. For Andrew to speak up and convince his sister. But it was to no avail. No matter how much Pope liked her, Baz was his brother first and she could call herself his friend only on a good day. So at some point she just cuddled up with Deran and Craig in the corner. Waiting for the storms to be over. The worst storm was when Julia 'left the house'. Everyone knew what happened, nobody said a word to Smurf. Everyone was too afraid to speak up more than a few sentences in her defense. Andrew said more that one night than in a whole month, Baz didn't react how she thought he would. She expected more resistance but instead he acted like the obedient son he tirelessly tried to be. It made her sick. But what made her sick even more was that she just hid in the back of the garden and cried. Too much of a coward to leave with Julia, even if she always wanted to run away. Presented with the opportunity she faltered and hid. She didn't want to leave Andrew, he would not come to visit her like Deran and Craig would. The thought of never seeing him again scared her more than the thought of Julia out in the world alone. Her addiction scared her too, Julia was unpredictable and would do almost anything for drugs. Elena did not want to live like this, her parents overdosed and the image of going back to living with an addict was paralyzing her. She cried till morning, until she couldn't ignore shivering from the cold anymore. When she went to Andrew, she found him staring blankly at the wall. Before she knew it they were hugging and crying together. He was sobbing and clutching at her like she was the one thing keeping him together. She knew she wasn't, with Baz and Smurf in the picture. But it was nice to feel like he needed her as much as she needed him. They had a really complicated thing between them but he came to her when she was sad and she would do the same for him.
Andrew was not the same after that. He took risks and avoided his meds. She was afraid of him, always a coward. But she didn't run or hide when one time Smurf took off with Baz and Craig on a job and Deran pissed him off. She didn't think when he went to swing at him and she covered the younger body with hers. Deran was always smaller than any of the boys, similar to her in posture. So in blinded rage in the middle of the dark garage, Andrew hit her a few times without thinking what he was doing. There was no reasoning with him in that state. It was Deran's cries and pleading that made him snap out of it, along with the lights that he switched on, in desperate attempt to at least not go through this in the dark. Pope watched her as she spit blood and stood up on wobbly legs to stand in front of Deran, one of her arms on her stomach and the other around her brother. They were both shivering in fear, crying their eyes out as her knees finally gave up so they sat on the floor. Andrew looked at his hands with a mix of confusion, guilt and disgust. After that he started to take his meds again.
There came a time when he apologized for beating the shit out of her. A day when they both sat outside on a chilly morning and stared at the pool. He mumbled the apology to her as if it all didn't happen a few months earlier but she understood what he was apologizing for. He bought Daren a new surfing board when it was still sunny outside but he didn't know how to approach her. The faint scar on her cheek was a reminder that she needed stitches that night and that she couldn't get them. Too afraid to go to the hospital and too scared to tell Smurf about what happened. By the time she came back with the boys it was too late for stitches.
She didn't blame Andrew. He was a kid who had to take meds to live normally, it was obvious he would rebel a little. It was Smurf's fault to let him run around unmedicated. Pope didn't touch Elena for almost six months, not that he normally did that a lot, but he avoided even getting patched up by her. Flinching when their bodies touched as they squeezed in the kitchen at family dinners. It made her sad, knowing that one of the few people she called a friend was so uncomfortable with her. So she started to avoid him, sleeping at Craig's or taking long walks at night. He noticed, obviously. Pope watched everything and everyone. So he managed to get out of his comfort zone one night and went to find her. All of them had their phone localisation turned on and they all had access to them so it wasn't long before he found her sitting at the beach. She was surprised when he sat near her but didn't say anything, scanning his face till he turned it to her.
"Hi" she spoke softly.
"Hi" his voice was unsure. Not uncomfortable or awkward like in all those months but unsure. As if he didn't know if he made the right choice but did it anyway.
Her lips stretched in a warm smile when their eyes met. It was alright, they were here and nobody could take away this moment from them. His own small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. She ignored her heart beating faster, it was okay just to sit there with him. They had all the time in the world for talking. No matter what he would do or what would happen, she would always be there if he wanted her to.
She leaned to put her head on his shoulder and he sat there, taking her hand to fidget with her fingers. It was okay. Whatever they had, it didn't get crushed and she would make sure it never would.
But then Cath came into the picture. Sweet, beautiful and kind. Swooping Andrew off his feet, taking Baz's side just like Julia did before Smurf kicked her out. It started with small things. Andrew forgetting to pick her up from somewhere, sitting only with Cath when they had a party. Deran noticed the shift but hadn't said a word, just picking her up or taking her to the beach to surf instead of staying at the party. She endured, thinking maybe it's just for a moment, someone new in their lives and all that. But after a few months even she had to admit that it will stay that way. Cath as Baz's girlfriend and Andrew pining over her and looking at her as if she hung the moon. The realization came when she called Pope in the middle of the night, drunk and alone on some street she didn't even know. It was the anniversary of her grandmother's death and Andrew was the only one who always remembered the date beside her. Coming to her with white rose and sitting with her till morning as she cried. But not that year. Elena didn't even think he would forget when she heard him talking to Cath in the kitchen, promising to drive her and Baz somewhere, so she hadn't said anything. Thinking that surely he would be back after driving them to sit with her like always. But as the hours passed and she was still sitting alone, her heart broke. She went to the beach and drank her sorrows away. Still believing that maybe he just got into a really big traffic. Whatever, just not that he forgot. She drank so much she blacked out. Waking up on the sidewalk on a street in the middle of nowhere. Calling Andrew was the first thing in her mind. The phone rang three times before she heard his voice.
"What's up?"
There was a long silence after she heard that. Tears rolled on her cheeks. He forgot, he wasn't even home, she could hear music in the background, Cath's laugh and Baz talking. She cleared her throat, trying to speak with a tight throat.
"It's the-the anniversary..." She mumbled staring at the empty street, still drunk but wishing she had more booze on her to dial down everything. Blurry that shitty feeling in her chest.
Pope breath caught and she heard rustling as he probably took the phone to look at the date.
"Fuck" he gasped "I'm coming. Tell me where you are. I'm coming just wait-" he was talking frantically and she could hear him fiddling with his car keys but she couldn't get herself to pretend anymore.
"Don't bother" she pushed the red button with numb fingers. It may have been a dick move, he had the right to be in love with Cath. But it hurt that he was ignoring everything else for that girl. She thought that maybe...that maybe she was as important to him as he was to her.
She was walking around till she found a familiar neighborhood and as the sun slowly rose pushing the night away, she stumbled to get to Craig's house. Her phone buzzed a lot, with texts and calls not only from Andrew but also from Baz. Elena turned off her phone halfway through her walk so they couldn't check her location. She didn't care. Couldn't. Not in that moment, not when she knocked on Craig's door. He opened still half asleep but his eyes widened as he took in her state. Knees grazed and with some blood on them that she didn't notice. Mascara stains all over her face. Clothes rumpled and hair disheveled.
"Don't tell them I'm here" was the first thing that came from her mouth as he quickly ushered her inside to sit and take care of her.
"What is ha-" Deran's voice brought her to life a little, she wasn't aware that he spent the night at their brother's house.
They both started to ask questions and both got answers as she was too tired to care anymore. She told them about the anniversaries, about Pope choosing a party with Cath over her. Deran took care of her knees while Craig gave her some water and sat across, smoking as he tried to understand what happened.
"I don't want to go home now. I don't want to talk to him right now" she shook her head, her hair curled up a little and were now clinging to half of her neck. She didn't like them when they were long enough to sit on her shoulders so she cut them herself. Andrew did it sometimes too. She squeezed her eyes. Sleep was what she needed if she was starting to get so desperate that even her own hair reminded her of him "I'll be alright, should have seen that coming. My fault for clinging to him so much" she whispered half asleep.
Deran and Craig looked at each other with worry. It wasn't like their sister to get drunk alone and run away into the night. She was the one picking them up from places and dragging their sorry asses home. Craig put the cig away, he took her in his arms and carried her to his bed. Deran walked behind him taking her shoes off and getting some wet paper to clean her face when she finally started falling asleep.
"What are we gonna do, man?" Deran rubbed his face as they went outside to talk. They had her phone in hand. Wanted to check it but knowing that if they turned it on all of the family would know where their sister was.
"I don't know, Pope will kill us if he finds out that we are hiding her from him" Craig lit another cigarette as he paced for a moment "Call Baz and tell him that she is safe but she doesn't want to go home. She is a big girl, and Smurf won't let them drag her back if she doesn't want to. I'll stay with her until she cools off. Who knows maybe she'll wake up and decide that she wants to go to him and talk"
Deran bit his lip, foot tapping nervously on the ground as he called his brother. Baz picked up after two signals. He put him on speaker so Craig would hear everything too.
"Hey, man. Not the right time Pope's going crazy and I-"
"Elena is safe" the blond man said, making Baz stop.
"Wha-what do you mean? Is she with you-wait Pope!" There was rustling and soon Pope's voice came through "Where is she?"
Deran gulped at the cold tone, he could feel the murderous intents from across the city.
"She doesn't wanna talk but she is safe. Don't come, you will upset her even more and she needs sleep" he tried to make his voice as sure and unwavering as Pope.
"I'm coming and-"
It was time for Craig to get pissed off.
"Enough. Stop with this bullshit. You've done enough. Let her fucking sleep or I swear to God..." he was angry. So fucking angry. They put up with his bullshit but if there was ever a time for pushing back it was right now. Elena needed them to push back.
Silence stretched between them. Deran didn't know where to look, flicking his gaze from his brother to the phone. Nipping at the nails on his left hand. Soon enough it was Baz's voice to tell them that he would make sure to keep Pope away until she wanted to talk. Both brothers let out a breath they didn't know they were holding when the call ended.
"Fucking family, man"