The mini reunion relocated from the driveway to inside the house. Glen strolled alongside Austin already chatting his ear off, meanwhile Hayes' head remained on a swivel as she took in her surroundings. So far she was loving it- the basketball hoop, for starters. Then there were rocking chairs on the front deck which she couldn't wait to test out, and an American flag was waving with the wind on their front lawn. That reminded her of her father. While at the police station, Stephen wasn't able to add anything more details about their father besides his death. She'll have to get Glen to ask Austin about it.
She walked through the front door, nearly falling into Glen as she tripped over something.
Looking down to see what was there, her eyes went wide. "Wow, that's a lot of shoes." The words were out before Hayes could filter herself. Righting herself, she stared at the ginormous leaning pile of shoes conveniently located right next to a practically empty shoe bin.
"Oops careful there," Austin grimaced, "sorry, I could of sworn I cleaned that up. By the way, feel free to take your shoes off. There's no rule or anything about shoes in the house so whatever's most comfortable to you."
Neither kid made a move to kick off their shoes but the offer was appreciated. Out of past experiences, they didn't remove their shoes until they felt completely comfortable with their surroundings. You never knew when you needed to make a quick escape.
"Here, leave the bags for now, we can bring them upstairs in a bit," Austin ran a hand through his hair, a nervous tick. "Can I get food or drinks for anyone?"
"No thanks," Everyone declined, having eaten an hour ago.
"Where is everyone?" Glen questioned, eager to meet more of his brothers.
"Work and school. You'll meet Dakota first, he gets home around 4. Cole and Fran have practice after school so they'll be home at 6. We usually eat dinner sometime between 6:30 and 7. Hope you're in the mood for pasta and meatballs. It's the Monday night special."
"I'm always hungry." Glen stated, rubbing his stomach for emphasis.
"Sounds like you'll fit right in. What about you Hayes?" Austin smiled at her. "Do you also have an insatiable appetite like our brothers?"
Hayes shook her head no.
"She'll eat chicken tenders." Glen offered. "And pizza. And chocolate chip cookies." He continued to list Hayes' favorite foods until she smacked his arm, feeling the need to defend herself.
"Dakota's a picky eater, too." Austin laughed lightly. "You'll have to tell me what you like when we go food shopping this week."
"I'm not picky." Hayes automatically objected. She hated that word. It was a comment that the Bear often threw at her out of frustration when she wouldn't eat the food he concocted followed by lots of yelling and cursing and usually ended with Hayes hiding under her comforter for the rest of the night. But Hayes swears, she wasn't picky. It wasn't her fault he wasn't a good cook.
Realizing just then that she back-talked Austin, Hayes took a step back creating some distance between them, a little afraid of what he would do. The Bear did not like when they argued with him and had a bad habit of throwing things that were within arms' reach. TV remotes could really hurt if you didn't duck out of the way fast enough.
It was obvious that everyone noticed her movement making Hayes feel very uncomfortable, but no one verbally called her out on it. Glen caught her eye and they stared at each other, communicating their thoughts with their eyes. Growing up, people used to confuse them as twins because their minds were so in tune with each other. Plus they looked alike, other than Glen's recent growth spurt putting him 9 inches taller than her and counting. Feeling bad that he put Hayes on the spot, he mouthed an apology to her.
Hands suddenly clapped down on Hayes' shoulders, breaking up the staring contest. Hayes flinched, instinctually putting her head down to show submission.
"Easy does it, kids." Stephen spoke up from behind her, "I don't know about you, but I want to see this house tour." Stephen gently squeezed the girl's shoulders trying to get her to loosen up.
"Me too." Glen agreed, ready to explore the house. While he already thought of this place as home as soon as he stepped out of the car, he knew Hayes wasn't at that level yet. Honestly, it wasn't even the house that he considered home, but the people who lived there. There was this saying that he heard when he was younger that he never forgot, that home is where your people are. For Hayes' and his own sakes, he was more than ready for them to be home with their brothers.
--------
Hayes learned a fair amount about her brothers during the tour. For one, they were pretty clean or at least they cleaned up the house nicely, excluding the shoe fiasco. Secondly, she and Glen would probably be spending a lot time with two of their brothers, Colton and Francis. Colton was a 4th grade teacher at the school they would be attending with Francis. He was a senior just like Patrick. Thirdly, sports was a big, big thing in the family. Colton was the high school boy's basketball coach and Francis played varsity baseball. Another one of their brothers, Emerson, was currently playing baseball in college. Dakota, who Hayes figured out was the middle brother, didn't play sports but he watched soccer on tv all the time. Lastly, their second-oldest brother was married and lived a couple minutes down the street. Austin shared that he'd be over tonight to see them.
Saying Glen was in heaven, was probably an understatement. He couldn't wait to talk with Colton about basketball or play video games with Francis, something he rarely got to do back in Florida. The kids barely had their cell phones, so there was no shot with having video games in the house.
She also learned that Dakota's hobby was taking photos as she was currently staring at the wall of pictures in the dining room. He was really good at it, too.
"That is one of my favorites." Austin walked up beside her. She glanced up at him unsure which photo he was referring to. "I never would have thought that was my last time I'd see you." He stuck his hand out and traced the outline of a photo.
She looked at where he was pointing. It was an image of a little girl being hugged by a young Austin. The best part was the ice cream that was smeared all of her face and dripping down her hands.
"I had to go back to college the next day for finals week. Boy, you were so upset." Austin explained, "You were definitely my little sidekick. And after the car accident, you were pretty much stuck to me like glue." Hayes remained silent as she wondered what car accident he was talking about, but she didn't want to disturb his reminiscing. "The only way to stop your tears was to bribe you with ice cream," Austin chuckled, "Ice cream was your favorite food ever. Mint chocolate chip with rainbow sprinkles."
Hayes grinned. That was word-for-word still her ice cream order.
Seeing even the tiniest smile on Hayes' face made Austin so happy. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. Hayes accepted the hug and let herself snuggle closer in his embrace. She could get use to this.
"I think it's time for us to head out." Stephen's voice floated over to them, interrupting the moment. He had previously been in the family room quietly talking to Glen about something.
"Already?" Hayes turned her head against Austin's chest to watch him approach.
"Yeah kiddo, I have to catch the flight home and Ms. Zora wants to beat the traffic rush."
Feeling her heart start to race, Hayes stepped back from Austin's embrace and wrapped her arms around herself. She knew she would be okay, Glen was here and she was already trusting Austin. But the nerves were still present. This would be the first time they'd truly be on their own. No mother, no Bear, no Stephen, Deja, or Patrick. Just her, Glen, Austin, and their other soon to be re-acquainted brothers. Psh, what could go wrong?
"Come walk me out," Stephen wanted her to calm down a bit before he left. Nodding, Hayes followed him to the front door, Glen and Austin shuffling after them. Ms. Zora was already waiting by the car having just got off a phone call.
Stephen pulled Hayes to a stop a couple feet down the driveway, putting both hands on her shoulders. When she looked up at him, he could see tears glistening her eyes. "Young lady, those better be happy tears," Stephen teased, wiping away some stray drops off her cheeks.
"Do you have to go?" she sniffled.
"Hayes, I wouldn't leave if I didn't think you were in the best hands. You believe that, right?"
"I guess." she muttered, she did know that.
"I know this was a quick turn around, but I did my research. I trust Austin. I trust all your brothers. You are so so lucky to be surrounded by all this love. You and Glen are going to thrive here." Stephen swiped his thumb over some more tears. "The world is yours, young lady. I can't wait to hear all about your days. Promise me you'll think about trying out for the basketball team? I can't believe Colton plays basketball. How cool is that?"
Hayes shrugged, not really participating in his pick-me-up speech.
"Okay, come here." Switching tactics, Stephen wrapped his arms around her for a bear hug. "I love you kiddo. Deja loves you. Patrick loves you. I do have one thing to ask of you. Want to hear it?" She nodded. "I ask that you allow yourself to be loved. Don't hide in the shadows, okay? Not that Glen would ever let you, but try, for me, okay?" He nudged her chin up to see her face. "I heard you used to be called Sunshine. I want to see you shine."
"I'll try."
"That's all I can ask for. I Love you." He squeezed her close for the last time.
"Love you too, Stephen."
Hayes and Glen stood on the driveway, waving goodbye until the car disappeared around the corner. He would never admit it, but Hayes saw Glen get a little teary-eyed as well. When he saw her examining his face, he punched her arm to distract her from pointing it out.
Once back inside the house, Austin helped Glen and Hayes carry their bags upstairs into their respective rooms. Colton had graciously given up his room for Hayes and moved into the guest room downstairs. Glen would be sharing a room with Francis, which displaced Emerson into Dakota's room. When Glen curiously inquired why he wasn't just sharing with Dakota since he had the open bed, Austin explained that since Emerson was currently away at college, it wasn't a big deal and Dakota kept weird hours so the two of them wouldn't have been a good match. Hayes thought it was a vague answer, figuring that really, Austin didn't want Dakota to corrupt him somehow but Glen simply shrugged, accepting the answer at face value.
Hayes was excited to have her own room, but she low-key wished she shared the room with Glen, just like they had been for the past 7 years. Glen was her protector. Though, now she guessed that she didn't really need protecting anymore since the threat was eliminated. On the upside, Glen wouldn't smell the room up with his farts anymore.
Hayes left her suitcase on the floor of her room, not bothering to unpack. She wasn't ready to be on her own quite yet so she went to bother Glen. His room was conveniently right next door. Hayes was very tempted to take a peak into the other 2 bedrooms upstairs, but before she got the chance, she heard the front door open and close.
"Austin, where you hiding at?" At the new voice, Hayes hurried into Glen's room. She wasn't ready to meet someone by herself. She narrowly missed stepping on Glen's hand who was stretched out on the floor as she made a beeline for his bed where Austin was sitting.
"Fran's room!" Austin yelled back. "That's Dakota. It must be 4pm already."
They heard footsteps stomp up the stairs.
"Want to make me a sandwich? Work was such a bitch today, didn't even have time to-" he stopped talking at the sight of the two kids. "Holy shit." Even though Dakota knew they were coming, he was still caught off guard at the blonde babies before him. Likewise, Glen and Hayes stared wordlessly back at Dakota. It was one thing to talk about meeting their brothers, but to have it happening felt like an out-of-body experience to them.
As no one made a move to speak, Austin took initiative and stood up from the bed. "Kota, these are our not so little, little siblings. Glen and Hayes, this is Dakota."
Glen was the first to react, hopping to his feet with a smile on his face. They continued to stare at each other for another moment before Dakota finally cracked a smile. "Fucking Smiley, of course. Come here dude, welcome back." He pulled him into a hug, slapping his back.
Still a tad hesitant, Hayes inched over slightly on the bed to hide behind Austin. She hoped Austin wouldn't have noticed but too bad he was already watching her. He silently stuck out his hand to help her stand up. Be brave, Hayes. Biting her lip, she linked hands with him and let Austin pull her off the bed. Now safely tucked into Austin's side, Hayes glanced back to Glen and Dakota. He didn't look too scary from where she stood and Glen wouldn't be animatedly talking to him if he thought he was a threat. So when Dakota finally looked over to where she was seeking cover, all she needed was a slight nudge of encouragement from Austin to get her moving.
"Hello Sunshine," Dakota hugged her tight. "I never want to have to miss you again."
------
Even though dinner was in less than an hour, Dakota got the sandwich he requested, Glen also jumping on the meal bandwagon. Hayes wasn't hungry so she sat quietly at the breakfast nook observing them while they ate and Austin began making the meatballs.
The adrenaline officially left her body, leaving behind a wave of exhaustion. So while the boys talked amongst themselves about anything and everything, Hayes pulled her legs to her chest and laid her head down on her arms. They could see she was about to pass out any moment so the brothers left her alone so she could doze for a while.
The sound of chairs scraping against the floor jostled her from her nap. Propping her chin up, it took her a second to comprehend what was going on. Dakota was missing but two new guys had joined Glen and Austin in the kitchen.
"Don't do it Francis," she heard Austin warn one of them.
"You're no fun," Francis pouted, halting his steps. She watched him wide-eyed, realizing that he had planned to come to her.
"He already told you to leave her alone," The other guy rolled his eyes, pulling Francis back a few steps. "You need to shower first. You smell like shit." Hayes agreed with the shower idea, seeing that Francis was wearing a baseball uniform covered in clay.
"Yeah, yeah." Francis held his hands up acting innocent. "I just wanted to say hi. Since when is that a crime?"
"Hi." Hayes peeped up, surprising herself. A wide smile appeared on Francis' face and before he could be stopped again, he practically skipped over to her and hugged her.
"Hey little Sissy!" He rocked them back and forth. "Welcome home."
She heard Glen laughing in the background at her predicament. "Don't worry, she's used to being around sweaty men."
"The fuck does that mean?" Dakota must have rejoined the party.
"Oh, nothing bad. We just played basketball at the park with the guys and yeah," Glen grimaced. He could see how they may have taken that wrong.
"Leave them alone, Dakota," Austin said. "Fran, if you're not going to shower, can you set the table please?"
Francis immediately let go of Hayes and backtracked to the doorway, "Sorry, gotta blast!" He turned and ran off towards the stairs.
"I'll do it." Colton volunteered, already taking plates out of the cabinet, "Is Baker eating with us?"
"Nah, he's stopping by after work."
"Are we sure he moved out, because he's fucking over here like every day." Dakota plopped down in the chair besides Hayes.
"So?" Colton questioned as he moved about grabbing utensils, "you're here every day and you don't see me complaining."
"Fuck you. I live here."
"Watch your mouth, Dakota." Austin had warned him several times before the kids arrived to stop cursing, but he apparently didn't listen. Not that Glen and Hayes would ever tell Austin, but they heard far worse than what Dakota could say so they weren't exactly phased by Dakota's word choices.
"Whatever. Sorry." Dakota muttered, crossing his arms as he slouched in the chair.
"Table is set. If you don't need anything else, I'm going to shower." Colton said, coming back into the kitchen. He ruffled Glen's hair as he stopped by him.
"Nope, thanks Cole. Kota will get the drinks, so you're good."
Hayes quickly covered her mouth to hide her snickers. Dakota had mumbled some colorful curse words at Austin.
"Oh, by the way, Hi Hayes, I'm Colton." Colton waved to her. She noticed he was respecting her space to not overwhelm her so she unfolded herself from the chair and went to him.
"Hi Colton." She replied, walking right into his open embrace. Good golly, it seemed like the whole family received the genes for giving the best hug. She was going to be spoiled.
-----
Their first dinner together as a family was, interesting, to say the least. Hayes' placement at the table was between Dakota and Francis. Glen sat on the other side next to Colton and Austin sat at the head of the table. Besides Dakota, all her brothers liked to talk so Hayes was able to stay under the radar while being fully entertained. She enjoyed watching Glen beam with happiness as he interacted with their brothers. It also made her a little sad to think that they have been missing out on this for so many years.
It didn't take Glen long to ask Colton if him and Hayes could attend Colton's basketball practices. Colton easily agreed. He even offered to talk to the girls' coach for Hayes to practice with them but she quickly declined, preferring to stick to what she was used to which was playing with Glen and the boys. She could tell Colton wanted to say more on the subject, but thankfully Austin changed the subject. Stephen had the chance to talk to Austin on the phone before they arrived today and mentioned a few pointers to him about the kids, one being the sensitivity of separating Glen and Hayes for extra-curriculars. Although he couldn't provide Austin with great detail, Stephen summarized that basically the kids stuck together for everything and purposefully stayed away from anything that could give them attention.
Back to dinner, Hayes realized that she liked meatballs way better than the pasta. Maybe it was Austin's cooking, or maybe she was just hungrier than she thought but the meatballs were delicious. Austin cut her off after 6, requesting that she try to eat half of the pasta on her plate. Dakota snuck her 2 more meatballs when he wasn't looking.
Hayes just finished helping Austin clear the table after dinner when the front door opened once more. Pulling her sweatshirt sleeves down to hide her trembling finger, Hayes looked at Austin for a clue on who it could be. She had enough introductions for the night.
"It's just Baker," Austin smiled at her, running a hand down her messy pony tail in a soothing nature. He could see she was ready to reach her breaking point for the night and was so proud of her for sticking with them.
"I come bearing gifts," Baker announced as he walked into the kitchen. Sure enough, swinging from his right hand Hayes spotted a plastic bag from Cold Stone. Ice cream! That was enough to lift her spirits for a tiny bit longer.
"Did I hear gifts?" Francis came flying into the kitchen and scooped the bag out of his hand. "Yo Glen, pause the game! Baker brought ice cream!"
Baker ignored Francis' antics, focused on the young girl standing before him. "Well I'll be damned, my baby Sunshine isn't a baby anymore."
"She's a teenager, B. Can you believe it?" Austin teased, pulling lightly on her ponytail.
"Absolutely not allowed. Nope, not possible." Baker shook his head in disbelief, causing Hayes to giggle at his antics. "Come here, Sunshine. I missed you." He opened his arms for a hug which Hayes walked into with no hesitation. Yep, definitely in the genes.
"I'm a teenager too, ya know." Glen joked. He stood by Francis as he scoured the bag for his ice cream.
"Oh Smiley, Smiley. Boy, how you've grown." Baker sung. He turned his attention to Glen while still holding on to Hayes.
Glen grinned and pointed a finger at him. "Better watch out, soon I'll be taller than you."
"I don't doubt that." Baker agreed. Glen was for sure on his way to being over 6 feet. Although Colton would probably hold out for being the tallest of the brothers at 6'6, Glen wouldn't be too far behind. Austin and Baker were both 6'4, Emerson claimed he was 6'3, and Francis just passed 6'1 with some growing left to do. Poor Dakota would be stuck with being the shortest at 6 foot. Hayes didn't even count at 5'2. She got their mother's height.
"Hayes, did you get mint chip?" Francis called the girl over to him, giving Glen the opportunity to greet Baker.
"It's good to see you, Buddy. Welcome home."
-------
By the end of the night, only one brother had yet to be introduced to the kids. Austin explained that Emerson had a last-minute team meeting during his usually scheduled 8pm FaceTime with Austin so they would have to wait to talk to him tomorrow. It quickly reached 9pm and Hayes was having trouble staying awake. After a rough couple of days with a lot of stress and little sleep, she was crashing hard. Glen was also caught in the act of slowly dozing off on the couch, so Austin suggested that the two of them went off to bed.
At the top of the stairs, Hayes hugged Glen tightly. For the first time in 8 years, the two of them were to say goodnight in the hallway before going into separate rooms to sleep. It was a weird feeling.
"I'm so happy Glen." Hayes muttered. "I'm happy we're here."
"Me too." He agreed. "I'm happy you're happy. Love you, HayHay"
"Love you, G."
"Nighty night, don't let the bed bugs bite."
---------
Hayes woke up with a start. She could feel her heart rapidly pounding, head spinning, and a coldness run through her. Tears were dripping down her face and her T-shirt was soaked in sweat.
Scenes from the car crash continued to run across her thoughts like a movie replay loop - the car rolling over, the blood and glass everywhere, and the screaming. So much screaming.
Hayes was going to puke.
She threw the comforter to the side and scooted off the bed. Keeping one hand covering her mouth, she stumbled in the darkness to the bedroom door. It took a second before she finally managed to open the door. Thankfully the bathroom was only 10 steps away. She blindly felt for the light switch, not caring about the light flooding the entire floor.
Trying to prevent the inevitable, Hayes hurried to turn on the sink and let the cold water run over her wrists. It was a trick that she learned when she was younger to soothe the nauseating feeling, back when nightmares were a regular occurrence.
It wasn't helping this time. Hayes felt the urge to vomit start to rise again and moved towards the toilet using the counter to support her gait. She was able to lift the toilet seat up before it was too late. Bracing herself with one hand on the counter and the other hand on the top of the toilet lid, she gagged as last night's dinner came back up.
Make it stop.
"Oh Hayes," a voice came from the darkness. Hayes felt hands on her head, her hair being gathered away from her face. Austin found a random hair tie left behind by Emerson on the counter and used it to pull her hair back into a messy bun. He looped one arm around her waist for support and flushed the toilet with the other. "I'm right here, I got you."
After another couple of never-ending moments, Hayes was done. She let her head hang down to her chest, completely spent of energy. She could feel her chest rise and fall dramatically with each breath. The tears continued to drip down her cheeks.
The toilet was flushed once more.
"Is Hayes okay?" Another voice spoke up, filling the silence.
Hearing Glen's voice, Austin looked to the door to see that all 4 of their brothers stood there. "Yeah Buddy, she's okay now." He tightened his supportive grip around her waist and guided her to the sink. "Just wasn't feeling too hot."
"Here's a washcloth." Colton walked over to the two of them and passed it over . The sink was still running so Austin ran the washcloth under the water before gently cleaning Hayes' face clear of tears, sweat, and vomit.
She forced herself to keep her eyes open even though she was beyond exhausted. But to heck with sleep, she refused to relive that nightmare again.
"I think it's starting again." Glen whispered. He was shaken up at seeing Hayes so helpless but it wasn't the first time. The first year of living with the Bear had very similar nights. Glen grew up fast learning how to take care of Hayes.
"What is?" Colton glanced at his youngest brother, concern evident on his face.
"The nightmares."
Dakota stiffened. The nightmares. "God damn-it." He clenched his fists. He was not ignorant to nightmares and to know that his little sister suffered from them too made him distraught. She shouldn't have to suffer like he did. He turned around and stormed down the stairs.
"Dakota! Hey Dakota, wait up!" Colton tried to race down the stairs after him but Dakota was too fast. He was losing control of his emotions and needed some air. Quickly slipping on some random sneakers, he didn't even risk a glance back at his siblings before slipping out the front door and into the darkness of the night. "Shit."
Austin heard the front door just as Dakota slipped out. "Cole, can you call Baker for me? See if he could find D before he gets himself in to trouble."
"Sure." Colton nodded, disappearing into his room to grab his phone.
"And you two, back to bed." Glen was positioned in the bathroom doorway whereas Francis was hanging out a couple steps back. He was a sympathetic puker and did not want to try his luck.
"Do you need anything else?" Francis asked. He felt useless just standing around when his little sister was obviously shaken up.
Austin looked down at Hayes who had turned around in his embrace and was now hanging onto him with her face shoved against his stomach. He didn't think she would let him go anytime soon. "Actually yeah, can you grab one of my shirts from my room? Her's is soaked."
Francis left for a moment before returning with the requested item. "Here you go."
"Thanks Fran, I think we're good now. Unless you want to help clean up?" Austin tried to lighten the mood. He knew Francis would puke if he came any closer.
Francis shook his head no before throwing a peace sign and retreating back to his room to savage a few more hours of sleep. 6 am came early.
Glen remained where he was. There was uncertainty on his face because he was conflicted about leaving. He was used to taking care of his sister himself. Having additional help was foreign territory to him.
Austin realized this dilemma but struggled with how to approach it. He wanted Glen to not have to worry about being Hayes' one-man team but also didn't want to appear to be pushing him to the side.
Thankfully Colton came back upstairs then. He exchanged a brief understanding glance with Austin before throwing an arm around Glen. "It's alright, Glen. Hayes is better now. Austin's just going to clean up the bathroom. It's okay to go back to bed buddy."
Glen looked around at everyone, pausing an extra second on Hayes before deeming her in good hands. He came to the conclusion that their older brothers had everything under control. "oh uh okay. Um, well come get me if you need help."
"of course, buddy. Thanks Glen." Austin and Colton waited for him to walk back into his and Francis' room, shutting the door behind him.
"Baker said he'll let us know when he finds him." Colton updated Austin.
"How cranky did he sound when you woke him up?" Baker liked his sleep and had left their house shortly after Glen and Hayes went to bed. As much as the brothers teased him about it, they understood why. The poor dude worked such a demanding schedule being on SWAT. He was constantly on-call and working long hours. But he would drop anything in a moment to take care of his family no matter the time of day.
"Like a baby who got his favorite toy taken away." Colton chuckled. He bent down to find some cleaning supplies from under the sink. It was time for them to get cleaning.
"Hayes, baby, we need to change your shirt." Austin turned his attention back to her, rubbing one of her arms. She was well on her way to falling asleep against him. Add in the nightmare and puking episode to her lack of sleep the past weekend, she was beyond exhausted now and rapidly losing the battle to her eyelids. He felt a weak nod against his chest and her grip slowly loosened from around him. "It'll be quick. And then we can get you back into bed. Here, face the wall. Hands up." Austin efficiently slipped her soaked shirt over her head, swapping it with the clean one.
Hayes was still so out of it that she didn't really comprehend what was going on. All she knew could focus on was that she needed to find a way to lock those forsaken memories away for good and to avoid whatever triggered them.
She let Austin assist her in brushing her teeth and washing her face. It was when he started to lead her back to her bedroom that she snapped out of the funk. Or more like freaked out, slightly spooking Austin and Colton. "No! I want to stay with you! Please, don't leave me!" She cried, tightening her grip on his arm.
"Okay, okay," Austin soothed, "you're alright. I got you."
After situating Hayes onto the bathroom floor propped against the wall, Austin got to cleaning the bathroom alongside Colton, making the cleanup job real quick.
Once done, Austin was a little surprised to see Hayes was still some-what awake. He pulled her to her feet and wrapped an arm around her. "Time for bed." He kissed her head. They bid Colton goodnight, him giving Hayes a quick hug and kiss of his own before they headed to their respective bedrooms, with Hayes and Austin going to her room.
His original plan was to stay until she fell asleep but realized she was serious about not being left alone. So he too got comfy in bed, Hayes curled up into a ball beside him holding onto his shirt. A glance at the clock told him it was approaching 2 am.
He was almost asleep when the door was pushed open. "Sorry, Baker just texted me. He found Kota. He'll sleep at his house tonight and will drop him off at work in the morning." Colton whispered.
"Thanks Cole. For all your help tonight. Love you."
"No problem. Love ya bro, good night." The door closed softly behind him.
Austin let out a deep sigh, feeling his muscles relax now knowing that all his brothers were accounted for again. With that, he pulled Hayes a little closer to him and let his eyes flutter close, falling into a deep sleep.