The Youngest in the Precinct

Everyone Meets Lion

TW: mentions of rape and abuse

I felt utterly humiliated for the entire walk home, I had been indirectly called a brat, I had been babied, and I was holding the hand of a man who was leading me softly home as though I were, indeed, a small child.

"I apologise, Tessa, if I've overstepped. You seem rather embarrassed." Kevin spoke softly to me as we made it back to the end of the road that their house was on.

"It's fine." I responded quickly, I didn't want to have to talk about my feelings. That was the very last thing I would ever want. "I'm fine."

"You are not." He scoffed. "It seems that we'll have to have a chat about lying." He tutted.

"Kevin," Holt cut in, sounding amused. "I believe our sweet, Tessa is overwhelmed." He released a small chuckle to which Jake added his own. "Would I be correct?" He asked, and I knew it was directed at me.

"I guess," I began to scratch at the back of my neck with my free hand, feeling incredibly uncomfortable. "Sure, we'll go with that."

"Well, when we get back, I have my car keys with me, so you can have your soft toy, and hopefully that will help you relax a little." Holt suggested. I only nodded, Lion would help a lot. He was the only stability I had, and I desperately needed to stabilise myself.

"Sorry about the rude behaviour and bad language," I apologised. "I got issues."

We turned onto the driveway, and Holt moved to quickly swap Cheddar's leash for my hand as he removed the car keys from his pocket. He led me to his car, unlocking it and opening the rear door for me to grab Lion, I went to grab my clothes as well, but he stopped me.

"Don't worry about those. We'll collect them in the morning." He closed the door and locked the car again as I gripped Lion close to my chest. His arm wrapped around my shoulders and held me close to his chest as we followed Kevin and Jake into the house. We made our way to the sofas, Jake and Kevin sitting on one with Cheddar climbing onto Jake's lap for pets and Holt and I on the other with Holt pulling me really tight against him.

I pressed Lion against my chest and rubbed my face against the soft material of his mane, it soothed me immensely and soon I was able to forget there was anyone else in the room with me at all. I could hear myself making small noises of happiness as I dug my face into the softness of my stuffed toy.

"Tess, you're so cute," Jake broke the silence, his voice soaked in adoration, which caused me to snap out of my haze. I pulled away from Lion and sat up, as far as I could, whilst Holt was still holding me so tightly.

"I'm not cute," I denied.

"You absolutely are, dear." Kevin argued. I looked up at Holt and tilted my head to see if he agreed. He nodded down at me with a smile.

"Just like Cheddar." Holt explained.
______________________________________

It was another hour or so before Jake left, having been fed and sobered up enough to drive safely home.

"When do you usually go to bed?" Kevin asked me, "Raymond and I don't usually retire for a while, but you look exhausted, dear."

"I don't have routine, really," I confessed. I looked down when I noticed the look on both men's faces, I was gonna get scolded again.

"Well, that just won't do." Kevin shook his head.

"Is there a reason why?" Holt asked.

"I struggle to get to sleep sometimes. It's not an issue, though I've never let it affect my work." I settled Lion in my lap and leaned back to stretch my arms above my head. "Besides, I'm sure you've seen me napping on the break room couch in my lunch hour."