|Weak Hero| Reincarnated as the Villain's Big Brother!

Chapter 14

'Everything feels like a fever dream,'

"Devlin?"

'I can't believe that I'm actually dating Changhui Han,'

"Devlin!"

'I had a crush on him back in the Real World, but now that I'm in the Weak Hero World, I'm actually dating him!'

Donald grabbed the kettle from his older brother. "You were going to overflow your cup and burn your hand,"

"Sorry, I must've been distracted," Devlin apologized with a smile. "My crush actually likes me back and confessed to me last night. The two of us are officially dating now,"

Donald grabbed a shovel from a nearby closet. "When can I meet him?"

"Why do you have a shovel?" Devlin asked, confused.

"To give him the shovel talk," Donald held the shovel like a weapon.

"First off, it's supposed to be the older sibling that does that to the younger's sibling's romantic partner," Devlin told him. "And secondly, you don't need an actual shovel for the shovel talk,"

"I'm gonna attack him with the shovel," Donald bluntly stated. "If he's gonna date you, he needs to be strong enough to protect you,"

"I can protect myself," Devlin deadpanned. "And I don't think you can take him down even with a shovel at your current strength," 'Though if you become as strong as your canon counterpart, you'll definitely be able to win in a fight against him,'

"Then I'll just have to get stronger," Donald said as he put the shovel away.

Devlin turned on the TV and nearly dropped his mug upon seeing the breaking news. Rage filled him as he glared at the image of his and Donald's abuser. The news stated that the monster had been arrested for the murder of his wife.

'I may not have any emotional connection to Donald's mother, but Donald surely has at least some emotional connection,' He turned to his little brother. "Donald?"

"M...Mom..." Donald broke down into sobs. 

Devlin set his mug down on the table and hugged Donald tightly. "Go ahead and cry, Donald. Let it all out," 

Devlin silently held Donald who cried in his arms. 

"I take it that you were close with your mother?" Devlin gently asked once Donald had managed to calm down a bit.

"Y-Yeah..." Donald sniffled. "She...she did her best...She tried to protect us...me and the real Devlin....The real Devlin hated her...for not protecting us better...but she could only do so much...until her own spirit was broken..."

"Do you...wish we had brought her with us when we escaped?"

"No," Donald surprisingly answered. "I knew that even if we did ask her to come with us...she wouldn't have the courage to leave that monster. I didn't want us to stay there only to continue getting hurt," Donald bit his lower lip. "I do wish...that I was able to properly say goodbye..."

Devlin gently rubbed circled in Donald's back. 

"Dev..." Donald's voice trembled. "Are they going to take us away? Are they going to separate us?"

"No," Devlin refused. "I won't let them separate us! The police haven't cared all those years so why the fuck would they have the right to suddenly care now!?" 'I won't let anyone take my family away from me!'

XXX

Donald didn't leave his room except to use the bathroom. He barely ate meals and only ate a few bites after Devlin continuously pleaded for him to do so. There were days when he'd try to bury his emotions and hold back his tears, but Devlin told him that it wasn't a healthy coping mechanism. 

"Dev?" Donald asked. "Is it strange that I'm sad that she's dead?"

"She's your mother," Devlin reminded.

"I barely thought of her after we left that hellhole," Donald admitted. "I barely thought of her over these past couple years, but I'm such as mess after learning that she died...that the monster killed her,"

"You had some fond memories of her and you still loved your mother even after all these years," Devlin told him. "It's alright for you to feel sad, even if you hadn't seen her in so long,"

"How do you deal with it, Dev?" Donald asked. "How do you deal with grief?"

"I don't know," Devlin admitted. "Since I was never close to your mother, I don't know how you are feeling. Everyone deals with grief differently,"

"How did you deal with it when you lost your old life and everyone you knew in your old life?"

Devlin tensed up when he heard that question. "I...I just..." He looked away. "I buried it all down and tried not to think about it. I always busied myself with work so I wouldn't have time to think about my past. I wanted to force myself to only think about the present and the future," He sighed. "Donald, I don't know how to deal with grief properly. My method of coping is to just pretend the past doesn't exist because if I focus too much on the past...I might break,"

"Do you ever cry over your family and friends?"

"If I think of them long enough, I'll probably end up crying," Devlin shrugged. "But enough about me. Donald, this is about you. It's okay for you to cry, mourn, and grieve for your mother. It's okay for you to have some off days. Eventually, you will be able to grow around your grief. Your sorrow will never completely disappear, but you learn how to move on with life and continue living," 

Devlin patted Donald's back. "Sometimes, it helps to talk about the happy memories you have of your loved one. Do you want to talk about her, Donald?"

"I have a very faint memory of her baking bread," Donald recalled, leaning into Devlin's hug. "I think I was very young back then...but I remember watching her knead the dough....I remember the smell of freshly baked bread. The bread was soft like a cloud. The kitchen was very warm back then..."

"Do you remember what the bread tasted like?" Devlin softly asked.

"A little sweet, but not too sweet," Donald closed his eyes. "I think there might've been something else in it...something like chocolate swirls or maybe chocolate chips,"

"I bet that's where you got your love for chocolate from," Devlin said.

Donald smiled a bit. "Maybe,"

Word Count: 1004

Some brotherly bonding and angst.