Seven Years -Dominic-

[DYLAN JAMES COLLINS]

Dylan wandered over to Dominic’s apartment, knowing he needed to be there, nervous of how he was today. The first few days were bound to be horrible and from what he had heard, Alec was taking it worse, but Alec was his lover. He couldn’t expect anyone who was that close someone to not be upset about this sort of loss. Still, when Dylan had lost his twin, he had been a mess and he knew Dominic was good at holding back emotions, but not that good. No one could be that good or perhaps they aren’t normal. Then again what was normal anymore?

Dylan simply unlocked the door, having gotten an extra key, mostly just going to stay with him lately. He looked around, simply setting the keys on the counter, having brought some food, putting it away in the fridge. “Honey?” He called out, looking around for him around the corner, seeing light coming from Dimitri’s room. He sighed softly and simply stared at the door for a moment, wondering if he wanted to just stay alone. He moved towards the door then, slipping inside, looking at some boxes of things packed up. Dylan tried not to think of how he had boxed all of Owen’s things, but more and more their situation seemed exactly the same.

“This will probably help,” he said softly as he leaned against the door frame. He felt empathy for his lover because it was a great loss, it was like you lost a part of yourself. Having a twin was different. Even though Dominic hadn’t had a twin, he had a brother that had been really close with him. “Have you eaten and slept decent at all?” He asked, knowing he hadn’t when Owen died, which is why he was worried that the male wasn’t now.

[DOMINIC LUCIAN AVERIN]

dominic had gotten back from burying dimitri only a few days ago. he hadn't allowed himself to show emotion, using the demon in him to push it all back, but that hadn't lasted long. alongside drey, dominic had flown across the world to where dimitri's body was, destroyed by the very man he called a father, and buried him along with the rest of his family. somewhere in there, dominic had lost track of drey, but he knew she could take care of herself. what dom had focused on was how little he had left, how everything was slowly leaving or being taken from him.

now, back in manuka, it really hit dom that he only had two things left in this world. he had dylan, his boyfriend and lover, and drey, the one person left that he can call family. as he lay in dimitri's bed, curled up and surrounded by his old things packed away in boxes, he didn't knew where drey was, but he really wished she was there with him. he couldn't hold back his emotions for very long, and he wanted someone with him for when the dam broke. even if drey couldn't be there, he at least wanted dylan to be . . . he just needed someone, one of the two someones he had left now.

the hybrid didn't move when he heard dylan come in. the werewolf would find him eventually, he knew. when dylan came into the room, dominic raised his face out from the pillows and looked at him with a blank expression. the more he looked at the werewolf, though, the more expression formed, and eventually, he started to cry. dominic shook his head. " drey's made me eat, when she's here, but . . . i can't sleep. he's in my dreams, dyl. both of them. all of them. everyone, they're there, and they blame me. " he didn't know if dylan would even understand what he was talking about, but the nightmares kept happening.

[DYLAN JAMES COLLINS]

Dylan had tried not to think about his twin’s death as he watched Dominic when he first came in, wondering if it had been worse or been easier, and he knew the answer was no because he knew exactly how the man before him felt. He loved him and wanted to make the pain go away, but unfortunately, it stuck with you for a while and probably would never fully go away. He wasn’t sure he really had to tell Dominic that because Dominic had already lost his sisters and well, he already knew what it was like to lose them. Dylan still had Aiden even though he was barely around and Dylan knew that he was probably not going to really talk to him. That’s how most of his family was because he was the spitting image of Owen. At least he had a family though, where as… Dominic only had him and Drey. Which of course, these two people are all great to have, better than nothing, but there is something about losing your biological family that is stronger sometimes. He had a feeling that’s how he felt about his brother, although he never really knew until now how much. You never really know what it’s like until you’re in ruins.

Dylan watched him turn his head, watching Dominic’s face contort slowly and steadily as tears began to fall down his face, his eyebrows furrowing as he heard his words. He shook his head and felt it hurt to see him cry like this. “It’s not baby, it’s not your fault,” he said as he moved to sit on the bed next to him, wrapping his arms around him. “None of this is your fault and you can’t blame yourself for this, not ever,” he murmured quietly into his ear, wanting to take this pain from him so badly. He tried to keep his head clear of thoughts of when Owen died now, needing to be strong for Dominic. “Dimitri would not blame you for something like this happening. Your brother loved you and you loved him. You’ve stuck together for so long,” he said, his voice getting shaky, feeling the emotions in him rise slightly.

[DOMINIC LUCIAN AVERIN]

somewhere between the airplane landing and returning home to curl in dimitri's bed, dominic had gone into what seemed like a trance. actually, the entire thing seemed too surreal . . . it felt like, ever since burying his brother, nothing was real. he was just wandering around like a zombie. he had doubted it was real until he felt the needle pressing into his chest repeatedly, leaving tingles on his skin as it left new ink over his chest. somehow, he'd managed to find his way to the tattoo parlor he'd always gone to, the one that knew that this was his way of self - harm. the usual guy that did it typically tried talking him out of re-inking or new tattoos, but dominic figured he must have looked like absolute shit to not get any resistance.

even with the guns and rose on his chest completely re-inked and still in the healing phase, dominic didn't care about the pain. it was nice, being able to feel something even when he didn't want to. the pain from the tattoo reflected what he was hiding, which he actually enjoyed. of course, as soon as dylan walked in, all the walls and dams inside of dominic's body and mind weren't enough to hide back what he was feeling. he rambled to the werewolf, getting the response he figured he was going to get. the it wasn't your fault response. if it wasn't the hybrid's fault, then whose was it? he knew that his father was really at fault, but dominic failed to protect his family. he was the oldest brother and he failed.

a humorless chuckle left dominic's throat, somewhat irritating the still - red marks on his chest. " i couldn't protect them . . . none of them. i coulda saved every last one of them, but i didn't. and my brother blamed me for what our father did to him before. i'm sure he died and blamed me with his last breath, not to mention we never made up from our fight. " dominic really didn't know how he was so upset because of dim's death; they had still been fighting about what the younger had done to dylan, about everything said in their fist - fight. maybe it was because it seemed cruel to say something mean about the recently deceased, especially when you knew they weren't having a pleasant afterlife.

[DYLAN JAMES COLLINS]

Dylan calmly listened to the way he laughed, the way he figured he might, taking note of the marks on his chest, his eyes wandering back up to dominic’s, feeling like he could see so much in them. He seemed to have a way to see through people at their worst times. Owen had managed to teach him something. He was much more empathetic since Owen found him in the woods. Dylan had been heartless, cold, and scared all at the same time. Owen had been a spitting image of himself which freaked him out. Most people often had a “twin” that looked close to them, but not identical. Dylan ended up having an actual brother and things had entirely changed from there.

He heard how Dominic was blaming himself, “But what if he doesn’t after. You know you guys often had said some things you didn’t mean, at least Dimitri had. People say things in the heat of the moment.” He stepped closer, feeling his stomach clench, remembering Dominique and Owen after the radicals attacking. He had blamed himself, but he couldn’t let Dominic believe that this was his fault. He sat down next to him, “Dominic, it’s hard to believe right now, but you’ll understand later. You’ll have to let this go and forgive yourself. I can’t say you will stop blaming yourself, but at least allow yourself to relax in time. To live again. Eventually you can see him again in the afterlife. I believe he loved you no matter how much it didn’t seem to show.”

“I’ll be here through all this time and to help you through all of this. I promise,” He said as he looked into his eyes, hoping that Dominic can heal sooner than he had. He had no other plan to be there just as much that Dom had been there for him through this past year.