Phobia

4

james paced the living room of his shared house shakily, the rest of his friends attempting to calm him down.

"listen james," jordan started, holding his hat in his hand, "aleks is fine, he'll come home soon and we can all talk with him, calm him down and ask what happened." The youngest in the room took the talking man's hand, frowning down at the floor as he linked their fingers. Kevin jumped from his seat and winced lightly as a jolt of pain flew through his hand, the other having the same reaction.

Everyone in the room stared at them silently until seamus broke the silence, "listen, it's obvious that... something, happened the other day. after the storm everyone's freaking the fuck out and we all need to calm down, lets just talk about this." Everyone was staring at seamus instead as he stood from his seat, looking around the room and waiting for someone to say something.

Eddie sits up slowly, a hand on his chin, "he's right you guys..." he mumbled, "we just need to talk this all out."

~

Aleks walked down the road with thick, dark lines down his face and his hood covering his head, hands in his pocket as he stumbled and fell, grimacing lightly before looking up and seeing his house.

Wow, he thought sourly, I was hoping I would take longer to get home... he stood slowly and continued to walk, limping lightly as he listened to the creaking of his right leg. Aleksandr's eyes began to water as he caught sight of what was in his living room.

The rest of his friends were sat in a circle around the coffee table, save for kevin who was sat on jordan's lap, and seemed to be talking, james having slight tears in his eyes as he looked at his hands.

The Russian sighed and opened the door slowly, pausing when he heard a pair of footsteps. James appeared and tackles him into a bear hug, crying softly into his shoulder.

"you mother fucker, you scared the shit out of me." The elder sobbed softly, shaking as aleks wrapped his arms around him.

"im sorry james," aleks' tone was monotonous, "I just..." he broke down into heavy sobs and hugged james tighter, his body shaking and heaving as he kissed his shoulder lightly. "i-im sorry baby..."

"i-it's okay... w-we-we're talking thi-things out i-in the li-living room... pl-please join us..." the elder pulled away and looked into his partner's eyes, running his thumb along the slightly visible knot on his cheek.

Aleks flinched softly before nodding slowly and leaning into his touch, the corners of his lips tilting up slightly, "o-okay..."

James smiled wide and sniffed before taking his boyfriend's hand, leading him in slowly and biting his tongue from asking what happened as they entered the living room, everyone turning and smiling wide.

"aleks..." eddie stood up and walked over with a smile, hugging the Russian tight and smiling into his shoulder, "you scared the shit outta all of us..." he nodded slowly and hugged the elder back gently.

"im sorry..." aleks pulled away slowly and smiled shyly, keeping his hood up as he walked over with the both of them and sat down, distancing himself from the group slightly and causing a soft frown to grace james' face before he sighed and turned back to the others.

"anyone been dealing with some weird shit lately?" seamus sighed and nodded, biting his lip before looking up.

"Chef was talking this morning, so were the birds outside." Eddie frowned and linked his hand with the blonde's, running his thumb along the elder's knuckles before nodding slowly.

"i... on the night of the storm... I saw something behind Sea... i-it was like a ghost..." seamus lifted sly's hand to his mouth and kissed it gently, mumbling a small it's okay against the tanned skin.

"i..." kevin cleared his throat and nuzzled closer to Jordan, "I s-set my house on fire... w-with my h-hands..." Jordan looked down with a frown, kissing the youngest's head.

"I keep on zapping things... like... I shocked kev a minute before..." he nodded in agreement, whispering a tired I felt that...

"spiders..." dan sighed, "just. I can hear them. I woke up and my room was filled with them..." the bearded man jolts as he hears a small we're still here with you, don't forget about us!

James frowns heavily and shows his hand, a crack lining the inside of his palm and along his knuckles, "I punched the tree and my hand cracked, but it didn't hurt..." aleks frowns and shuffles forwards on his hands and knees, taking the hand and studying it closely before sighing.

"it's... like glass..." the others' eyes widen before they all look down in slight confusion and fear.

James looked at aleks in confusion, "d-did anything happen to y-you?" the Russian sighed before nodding and slipping off his hoodie, showing the charred wood on his marred skin, some of the wood like substance falling off like ash.

"th-this..." he sniffled, looking down, "wh-when I went into the fire," aleksandr looked up at kevin, "I-it's wood... i-I just burned..." he lifted up the trouser leg that hid the worst injury; his leg was worn away from the jeans against the charred wood, at least halfway through it, james' eyes widened as he ran a hand along it.

"a-aleks... oh my god..." he squeezed his eyes shut and sighed, biting his lip before taking the younger into his lap and cuddling him carefully. "I want you to take care of yourself... please... we don't know if any of this stuff'll leave and if it doesn't... then I want all of you..." he buried his head in the russian's shoulder and breathed in the vaguely plant like smell with a soft frown.

"why is this happening to us..?" eddie piped up, "I mean... why not someone else? And why be so specific with what we get..?" Jordan sighed and held kevin a little closer.

"I don't know... I guess we'll just have to deal with it until it goes away I guess..." aleks frowned and growled heavily.

"how the fuck am I meant to deal with this? I look like a fucking tree! How am I meant to work?!" the elder frowned softly and sighed.

"I never said it would be easy, Aleksandr. It might not even last that long. You never know, but you'll have to calm down." The Russian pulled away from james to glare at his boss, gritting his teeth.

"don't tell me to calm down, Jordan." The hatted male's eyes glazed over as he froze, staring at aleks blankly before blinking rapidly and shaking his head, looking around in confusion.

"wha.... What were you saying aleks?" the Russian scoffed before standing up and grabbing his hoodie, his leg creaking slightly as he limped to the hallway.

"fuck you, im going to bed." Everyone looked at Jordan in confusion, their eyes filled with worry.

"Jordan..." james muttered, "what just happened..?"

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Word Count: 1195