Leave Me Alone, Big Brothers! [BL]-Chapter 163: Unforgiven

Nathan walked to the center of the room and stood there, his chest heaving. His hands were clenched into tight fists. He lifted his right foot and stomped hard on the floor. The impact sent a dull thud through the floor, but it didn’t make him feel any better.

He wanted to break something. He looked at the porcelain vase on the mantelpiece, then at the glass desk. He reached out, his fingers twitching, but he stopped.

He couldn’t do it. He clenched his fingers around it, but he ended up putting the vase back in its place.

He didn’t want to destroy things just because he was in pain.

Hah...! he sighed in frustration.

Nathan walked over to his desk and sat down in the leather chair. He squeezed his eyes shut and gripped his head.

"Nath, you’ve had worse days than this," he whispered to the empty room. "This is nothing. It’s nothing... Please calm down... Just breathe..."

He repeated the words like a mantra, over and over. He kept his eyes closed until the tension in his jaw started to fade and his fingers finally relaxed.

He took a deep, shaky breath.

Even though his body was becoming still, his mind was not. He could not forget the look on Alexander’s face in the alleyway. He could not forget the way they had lied about the kidnapping.

His brothers were monsters. They were liars. All of them!

Nathan reached out and grabbed a thick textbook on advanced mathematics. Since he was a child, he had used studying as a distraction. It was the only way to make the noise in his head stop.

He opened the book to a section on complex variables and began to read, forcing his brain to focus on the formula instead of his anger.

But then, a memory of the park flashed in his mind.

Zane...

He saw the boy sitting on the swing, struggling to catch his breath. He remembered the sound of the inhaler and the way Zane’s face had looked under the dim streetlights.

And Zane had run through the streets to get him.

Nathan felt a surge of panic. What if Zane had lost consciousness on the way home? What if his asthma had gotten worse because of the stress and the freezing air?

"Damn it..."

"Damn..." Nathan muttered.

He didn’t want to care. He wanted to be angry. But he cared anyway, and the worry was making his heart race again.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket. He stared at the screen, his thumb hovering over Zane’s name in his contacts.

"Hell no."

His pride stopped him.

He didn’t want to be the one to reach out. He didn’t want Zane to think he was forgiven. But the image of Zane wheezing in the cold was too much to ignore.

He sat there for several minutes, staring at the phone, before he finally decided to press the call button.

"Whatever! I just need to know if he’s okay."

Just as his finger moved toward the screen, the phone vibrated. A message appeared. It was from Zane.

Nathan’s hand trembled as he tried to stop the call immediately.

Then he opened the text.

Zane: Hi Nath, are you okay? I’m sorry I couldn’t help more tonight. I hope you got home safely.

Nathan felt a massive wave of relief. The message meant Zane was home. He was okay. The knot of fear in Nathan’s stomach loosened.

Then Nathan pressed the ’Block’ button on Zane’s profile without hesitation. He threw the phone onto the middle of his bed and turned back to his desk.

"Focus, Nathan!" he snapped at himself. "You have to graduate soon! Please! Just focus!!"

He grabbed a practice test book that Zane’s tutor had given him. It felt like a slap in the face to use it, but he needed the challenge to stay distracted.

He spent the next hour solving complex equations and writing out proofs. He worked with frantic energy, his pen flying across the paper.

Meanwhile...

Outside Nathan’s room, the living room was crowded. Alexander sat on the sofa, his face still looking tired. Malvin leaned against the sofa, his face full of anxiety. Lucas, Roger, and Leo were also there, standing in a loose circle.

Everyone was anxious and worried that Nathan might do something he shouldn’t.

"I hope he isn’t doing anything to hurt himself," Malvin said. He looked upstairs. "He was so angry when Jack brought him up."

"What if he tries to climb out of the balcony?" Lucas asked.

"No, he won’t," Alexander said. His voice was firm. "I’ve added extra guards. I’ll make sure he doesn’t run away again."

"Should we talk to him?" Roger asked. He looked impatient. He wanted to explain things, to use his charm to smooth over the situation. "We could go in there and try to make him laugh."

"Not now," Alexander replied. "He’s still in the middle of a tantrum. If we go in there now, he’ll just shout and throw things. It won’t solve anything. He needs time to calm down."

"We should speak to Nael first," Leo suggested. He looked at the group with his usual analytical expression. "Nael is more gentle. He’s easier to persuade. If Nael forgives us, Nathan might follow his lead."

The brothers agreed. Nael had been with them since he was a baby, they shared so much. Their approach with both of them would be different. He didn’t have the same rebellious streak that Nathan had developed while living away from them.

They walked to Nael’s room. The younger boy had fallen asleep. Malvin walked over to the bed and gently shook Nael’s shoulder. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Nael groaned and rubbed his eyes. He sat up slowly, looking confused. "What?"

Malvin ruffled his hair. "Wake up a bit. We need to talk."

Nael frowned. "What happened? Is someone dying?"

Alexander sat down on the sofa across from the bed. "Come here, Nael. We need to speak to you."

Nael climbed out of bed, still half-asleep. Roger reached out and playfully pulled him to his feet, guiding him toward the sofa. Nael sat down, his eyes half-closed, facing his older brothers.

"What is it?" Nael asked, his voice thick with sleep.

"First of all," Alexander began. He kept his voice low and calm. "We need to apologize for what happened. We admit that we staged the kidnapping. It was fake."

Nael’s eyes widened. The sleepiness vanished instantly. He remembered he should be angry right now.

He immediately pouted, his lower lip sticking out.

"How could you do that to us?" Nael asked. He looked at Alexander with a deep frown. "It was cruel! So cruel! I thought we were going to be killed!"

"We are truly sorry about that," Alexander said. "But you have to understand. Things like that can happen at any time. We wanted you to understand that you aren’t safe when you run away. I didn’t want to risk your life by letting you think you can do whatever you want. You have to make calculated decisions, not do stupid things like running away."

Nael remained silent for a moment, his arms crossed over his chest. "You don’t think I’ll just forgive you, do you? I was crying like a madman that night."

"You can take your time to be angry," Alexander said. "You can curse at us if you want. But you know me, Nael. You know I would never actually let anything hurt you. Right?"

Nael looked at Alexander. He didn’t say anything, but his expression softened slightly.

"I was the mastermind," Alexander continued. "The others were just following my instructions. If you want to hate someone, hate me. But please, forgive them."

Nael stared at his brothers. He looked at Malvin, then Leo, then Roger, and Lucas. He noticed that Alexander had used the word "please." It was a word Alexander almost never used.

Alexander didn’t ask for things, he commanded them. Hearing him say "please" made Nael feel the weight of the moment.

"I don’t know," Nael said quietly.

"As an apology," Alexander said, "you can ask for anything you want. Whatever it is, I will make it happen."

Nael was silent for a long time. He looked at each of his brothers in turn. He thought about the night of the kidnapping. He remembered how much he had cried.

"You have to forget what happened that night," Nael finally said. "I don’t want anyone to talk about it ever again."

He was too embarrassed to remember how much he had panicked. He didn’t want his older brothers to tease him about being a "crybaby" in the future.

Malvin looked down at the floor, a small smile tugging at his lips. He almost laughed, but he kept his face serious. He looked at Nael. "Well, Nael, I should be the one who is ashamed. I had to act like I was a dead man on the floor. I think I am more embarrassed than you are. I was the one who looked ridiculous."

Nael remembered seeing Malvin lying still and thinking he was dead. "I hate you," he said, but the anger was gone from his voice.

"I am truly sorry," Malvin said.

"We’ll never mention that night again," Alexander promised. "It’s over."

Nael looked at the floor, trying to hide a small smile. He liked the feeling of having the upper hand for once. "I’ll forgive you... if we can all go camping together. After the final exams are over. Everyone... and Mom and Dad. And Nathan too. Everyone has to go."

Alexander looked at Nael with a surprised expression. He hesitated for a few seconds. The idea of a family camping trip with their parents was a logistical nightmare and something he couldn’t easily explain. But he saw the hope in Nael’s eyes.

"Fine," Alexander said, nodding. "We’ll do it. We’ll go camping as a family."

Nael couldn’t hide the smile anymore.

Roger let out a long sigh of relief. At least one of them is easy to talk to.

Alexander looked a bit relieved. He knew that Nathan wouldn’t be as easy to win over as Nael. For Nathan, it wasn’t just about a simple apology.

Actually, he didn’t know what he should do to gain Nathan’s forgiveness.