The Ones Who Failed Us

Chapter 41

Avalee's POV

I opened my mouth but no words came out, stunned by what my little brother had just said. Looking at Teddy, I saw a hard glare that was present on his face, and it only further confused me.

Brushing his hair from his face, I asked, "What are you talking about, Teds? Why are you mad at Elijah?"

"Elijah was the one who brought Peyton into our family," he huffed. "And if he hadn't, then you would never have been kidnapped."

The words that were coming out of Teddy's mouth were angering me, confusing me. Teddy was never one to hold grudges, and he would never blame Elijah for something that wasn't even his fault. So why was he so insistent that Elijah should be punished for this when all our older brother did was trust the wrong person? I was the one who was hurt by this, and not a single part of me was angry at Elijah or even blamed him, no matter how much I paid for his mistake.

I could only imagine how much Elijah had been hurt by Teddy's words. All I wanted was to comfort my older brother and reassure him that none of this was his fault, that I would be okay. Maybe not now, but one day I would be.

Maybe then I would be less of a burden to my family.

Turning to the rest of my brothers, I said, "Can we have a few minutes alone? I need to talk to Teddy."

"Of course, Aves," Alessandro said, kissing my forehead. "We'll be outside if you need us."

Once my older brothers left the room, I faced Teddy and pulled him into a hug. "Teds, you know I'm so proud of you for helping our brothers find me, but please don't blame Elijah. He loves us so much, and if he knew who Peyton really was, he never would have dated her."

Teddy looked up at me, wiping his tears away. "Okay," he said as he got up from my bed.

"Just like that?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowed. "Teddy, what's wrong?"

"Y-You don't understand, Ava," Teddy said as he walked towards the door.

"Theodore Russo!" I exclaimed. "If you walk out that door before this conversation is over, I will get up and drag you back here, even if it opens my stitches up."

Teddy walked back to my bed with his head hanging low. I gently lifted his chin up to meet my eyes, and a small whimper left his mouth. Pulling him down next to me, I held my little brother close to me as he cried into my shoulder

"Teddy, please," I said as I combed through his hair. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."

Teddy latched his arms around my neck with his head lying on my shoulder. "When I s-saw you like that in the videos, all beat up and in pain, it reminded me of when we lived with Sir. I don't like seeing you like that. It really hurts me," he said, his voice cracking as he tried to hold back his sobs.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm okay. Let it out, Teds. You'll feel better, trust me," I said as I rubbed circles on his back. A few moments passed before Teddy released his arms from my neck and sat down in front of me. I wiped his remaining tears away with my thumbs and kissed his forehead. "Buddy, none of this was Elijah's fault."

"But if he hadn't brought Peyton-"

"Stop it," I said, rubbing my forehead in frustration.

What would make him understand?

Realization dawned on me as I remembered something. This same thing happened to Mom, except she never realized how wrong she was by putting her trust in Sir.

"Teds, you remember how Mom was when she met Sir? She thought he was the one who would take care of us, love us, but she was wrong. That mistake caused us a lot of pain, but do you hate Mom as well for what she did?"