Home Sweet Home

Axels alarm had been set for early morning, so when it had finally went off he turned it off with a grunt. He hated mornings, why couldn't people get up at a more reasonable time? Maybe when the sun was fully up.

Half an hour later he was up, dressed and down in the kitchen with his music full blast. So what if he woke his father, he'd be out the door before he'd got himself decent enough to come running down the stairs and Eden would be going with him. So there was no one but himself or a wall to hit.

"Oh good, toast." He smiled as he sat down at the table in his usual chair. The James staff were always prepared to take care of the boys since their father never did seem to. "Is Eden up?" He asked the nearest staff member who didn't seem to know.

Eden hadn't gotten an ounce of sleep, and he had a feeling that he was slowly turning Anorexic too. It was a saddening thought - that he was so aware of what was happening to himself and had no qualms about it. He trudged from the gardens and into the kitchen, his guitar slung across his body by it's neon green strap. He had been walking the grounds for the better part of two hours, playing a song or simply strumming from time to time.

Not at all sleepy, he stepped into the room. He looked around and found that his older brother was there, and he smiled. He looked to the people who made it their responsibility to make sure that he and Axel were still alive and well. "Can I have some orange juice?" He asked politely, before grabbing a seat beside his brother.

"Good morning!" He chirped with a smile as he removed his guitar and placed it on the floor.

Axels eyes flicked up from his toast to the back door. Why was it his brother just refused to sleep? "You look like crap brother." He said throwing his toast down onto his plate so he could get his brother some. He didn't care what he said, he wasn't letting him leave till he ate something. "Eat!"

"When was the last time you slept?" He didn't mean to go all father like but Eden was literally the only person he cared about. If he lost him, he'd be alone in the world.

His drink arrived in front of him and he thanked the server with a smile and drank a small portion of it before staring blankly at his brother.

"Well that's one way to greet me good morning." Eden said dryly with a roll of his eyes. Yes, he understood and saw that he was a mess, but did Axel really have to point it out? Uh-oh. He looked down at the toast in front of him, and then to his brother's face, and then back. He was beginning to feel sick just by looking at it. He honestly didn't feel like eating. He pushed the plate away from him slightly. "No thanks. I'm not hungry."

"I slept last night." He lied, hoping that Axel would let it go. He really didn't want to worry him, but it wasn't entirely his fault that he couldn't get any shut-eye. "Why are you interrogating me?" He asked with a raised brow despite already knowing the answer.

"Oh I'm sorry, was that not happy enough. I'll try harder to welcome the walking dead shall i?" He said rolling his own eyes. How was he supposed to keep an eye on his brother if he couldn't even watch himself?

"You've got to eat something Eden, you're practically skin and bone. Father would literally break you now with one hit." Not that he'd let him get close enough to even think about touching his brother.

"You're an awful liar." He said taking a bite of his toast. "You're my brother, you need to sleep its not normal and if we need to have a chat then so be it!" He wasn't a big fan of emotions, in fact this was as close to showing he care that it got so this was going to be a nightmare for him.

So he deserved that, but Eden found himself rolling his eyes nonetheless. He understood that Axel was doing his best, but he really didn't need anyone cooing over him as if he were some disabled child. He looked down at his feet as he was reprimanded. He raised his hands, opening and closing his fists. He wasn't skin and bones! He may have lost some weight, but not as worse as as Axel probably thought.

"I'm fine, Axel." He replied. He felt better not eating than being forced to. He chanced a glance at his older brother and almost flinched at the visible concern in his eyes. He didn't want to worry anyone, but he felt as if these things were out of his control. He looked away, unused to Axel's emotions. Between the two of them, he was the openly emotional one, so it was weird to see his older brother like that.

"I've tried," said he weakly. "I've tried to do everything, but I just can't sleep." He explained, brows furrowed in frustration.

"Of course you are." He said taking no notice in his brothers obvious attempts to get him to leave him alone. He'd love to back off, he never was one for caring but he was all he had left. If he backed off now, who knew how back it was going to get later on. That was a risk Axel wasn't going to be taking.

"Why can't you sleep? Are you afraid?" He asked, he didn't blame him if he was. Even he slept with one eye open, but he had to. There was no way he was waking up trapped with a fist to the face.

Eyes focused on the empty spot in front of him, Eden stayed quiet. He never liked arguing, and it took a lot in him to even go against Axel. But forcing him to eat just wasn't going anywhere - for both of them. He's tried it before, and it only resulted in him throwing it back out. He placed his hands on the counter, tapping his fingers absentmindedly. It was a quirk of his - he had to be doing something with a beat nearly all the time.

And then there was the dreaded question. He winced. He hated thinking about it, but knew that it would be best if he answered. "I used to be." He said honestly. "But then I was alright, ever since you helped me out," at this, a small smile lit up his face. "Now, it's just... I don't know." He sighed, shoulders sagging. "I just can't sleep."

Axel eyed his brother for a while before letting out a sigh. "I'll see what i can do." He said getting up and ruffling Edens hair as he passed to get to the fridge. "For now just put the guitar down and at least try okay?" He'd go see, Nina about getting some sleeping pills if he had too. He really didn't like the thought of putting his brother to sleep but he was out of options.

"So what are your plans for today?" He asked pulling out a bottle of coke for himself and closing the fridge.

Grumbling as Axel ruined his hair, Eden pouted up at his brother. "Hey!" He scoffed, before nodding at his words. He'll try. For his brother. Taking a piece of toast he began to nibble on it halfheartedly, pulling his glass of orange juice closer to him. It felt so weird to be eating again.

"Probably go out for a run, try to get some sleep, work on some music..." Eden shrugged. It was his usual routine for weekends. And on weekdays, when he had to go to school, he worked on school stuff and then did the aforementioned things. Suffice to say, not much changed with his routine no matter what day it was. "What about you? Going out into Central?" He asked curiously after struggling a bit to swallow the food.

Axel laughed. "Oi! It's my job. Official little brothers hair messer.... uper." He added awkwardly before shrugging it off. he just liked to wind his brother up and he knew his hair was one way to do it. His own hair had been one of the targets one of the staff used to aim for when he was a child so now it was Edens turn.

Axel nodded. "Yeah there's someone i've got to speak to. You going to be okay here alone?" He asked, he was even more curious about this McKeith murder so he was going to straight to the source without being too obvious about it. "Father will probably stay in bed but he might get up." He warned.

Eden rolled his eyes, before laughing at the absurd name. Where did his brother come up with that? "What a weird name for job." He said, snickering.

With one piece of toast done, he felt full already. He took his orange juice and took a couple of gulps. That would probably last him the entire day now. His fingers rested on the counter top as he tapped the tips on the surface carelessly.

He nodded when Axel asked about leaving him alone. He had no plans of staying indoors, anyways, so he was good. "I'll be alright. Who're you going to meet up with, anyways?" He asked, before looking at Axel mischievously. "A girlfrieeeeeend...?" He taunted jokingly.

"And how'd you know that father's going to do?"

Axel shrugged and grabbed an apple out the fruit bowl. "Don't you criticise my job titles! I worked hard for those." He smirked rubbing the apple on his shirt before taking a bite. "It's about time you started paying and I don't come cheap." He said giving his brother a little wink.

He watched his brother eat in silence, if he spoke he knew it would put him off but he was happy with the one round of toast he'd had for now. He'd slowly work his appetite back up again.

Axel laughed, the feeling, feeling more freer then it had in a while. "That little brother is none of your business, unless you want all the sexy details when I get back?" He smirked teasing right back.

He sighed. "He's drunk Eden, he was out all last night getting wasted. I'm surprised you didn't hear him come in." He was actually thankful Eden was outside for once instead of sleeping because as soon as his father began shouting Axel up the stairs, he felt nothing but dread. He knew if he couldnt find him Eden would have been his next target. "So for the next few hours he's going to be out cold and I intend to leave him that way. That's hope he chokes on something."