The world moves without me (Branch Angst)

Note.

John dory's pov:

I returned with some energy drinks and health bars and gum. I noticed that's only what branch eats so I bought the whole stock. It was definitely his favourite snack, I just hope it can cheer him up.

"Floyd come here!" I yelled

"What do you want!" Floyd yelled back

"I got these, give them to branch for me."  I handed Floyd the bags of snacks.

Floyd pushed the bags away and glared at me. What was his deal? Did I do something wrong again?

"I'm not your slave! I'm sure you're capable of giving your brother a gift." Floyd rolled his eyes.

"I just don't want to say the wrong thing to him and mess up. He seems a little vulnerable." I mumbled

"You can't just ignore him!" Floyd scolded

" fine I'll do it." I whispered

I looked away, avoiding eye contact. Floyd was right, I shouldn't avoid branch, it wasn't his fault. Floyd was always the peace maker in everything, He was good with all the 'feelings' type of stuff. I was good at eating, sleeping and annoying my brothers. I walked past Floyd into branch's room, he was wearing the same dull hoodie again. I had already opened the door but I knocked just in case he wanted me to leave.

"Branch I got you some stuff." I mumbled while knocking

Branch turned around and looked at me, he was still sitting up in his bed breathing heavily. Branch gestured for me to come closer, I sat next to him on the bed handing him the bag full of treats I bought. Branch searched through the bag excitedly, he pulled out one of the health bars and his eyes lit up.

"You got my favourite brand! Thanks John" branch said happily for once.

"Yeah I remembered." I scratched my head.

Branch leaned over and hugged me. It was a weird feeling, I mean we haven't been super close like this. I was always the one giving hugs, not receiving them. I hugged branch back tightly, I noticed him showing a few signs of discomfort so I became a little more gentle.

"I thought you were upset, you told me that you thought I was leaving forever." I explained.

"I don't want you to leave ever again. I don't want to loose you." Branch whispering lying face down in my lap with his arms crossed.

I jumped a little when he laid in my lap, I brought down a hand to stroke his hair slightly. I wasn't really good at comforting but I was trying my best.

"I'm not leaving though." I explained again

"But you don't know that. You might leave forever." Branch muffled into my lap.

I felt really bad. I feel like this was particularly my fault for inflicting so much trauma, but I'm a different John Dory to my brozone era. I pushed my fingers through his hair trying to provide extra comfort but my hand was slapped away.

"Don't touch my hair, I'm not your boyfriend! Don't be weird." Branch groaned

Branch was correct, I moved my hand away quickly, I guess I should just not move. It was a pretty weird situation, this was mainly Floyd's job to sit with branch.

"How long do you plan to stay here?" I giggled

"You already plan on leaving me?" Branch whined

"No- that's not what I meant branch." I said feeling bad.

I just laid back, I mean I let branch sleep in my bed once. I felt like I was being a pretty good brother. I turned my head to look at branch's nightstand, one shiny bullet. ONE OF MY BULLETS.

"Branch why do you have one of my bullets?" I growled

Branch lifted his head up looking shocked himself. I could tell something was up, I just knew it.

"Oh well I found it when we were looking for your gun! Yeah that's it." Branch word vomited

Branch's pov:

John Dory was just starring at his stolen bullet, I was worried he would find the gun next. The gun was still underneath my mattress in a very finable place. I felt very stressed out in this moment, like my whole world was crumbling down. I looked down at my hand, the black rubber bands still attached from Floyd. I never actually gave the rubber bands a shot but maybe it will work. I started to flick the rubber band against my hand to calm myself down, the sensation of the light rubber sending a wave of pain it wasn't working in any way. It was a stupid idea, i barely felt a thing.

"That seems reasonable, thanks for finding my bullet" John Dory smiled.

Thank god, today was my lucky day. I sat up fully on my bed, slowly flicking the rubber band. I guess the sound of rubber being pulled caught John dory's attention

"What are you doing?" John Dory asked

"Floyd gave me this new technique, it's not helping me much though." I explained

"Oh yeah! Floyd gave me some rubber bands too, I use them all the time when I'm stressed." John Dory smiled.

"Why are you stressed?" I asked curiously

"I worry about loosing our family too. I guess I don't want to be alone again." John Dory admitted.

He understood me. I finally felt understood, I hugged John Dory tightly. I wasn't ever going to leave him.

"What's the hug for bud?" John Dory chuckled confusedly

"We can stick together." I offered

" I would like that..." John Dory smiled.

Floyd's pov:

I heard branch and John Dory bonding, it was nice not to be the therapist brother for once. I was doing the dishes and cleaning up the living room until I heard a huge crash from outside. I ran to the bunker elevator pulling the lever quickly and moving upwards. I reached for the door, opening the latch and checking outside. My eyes widened as I saw Rhonda lying unconscious on the floor. I ran quickly over to Rhonda checking if she was okay, thankfully Rhonda wasn't dead but extremely damaged. There were big slash marks all over Rhonda which was covered by some spray paint. Somebody must of broke Rhonda while we were all inside.

"Rhonda are you alright girl?!" I kneeled down in front of Rhonda

Rhonda gave out a small little groan, she was going to be alright but needed a lot of fixing. I walked to the other side of Rhonda, there was a small yellow sticky note addressed to branch. The note read out 'dear branch, I know you destroyed my car so as karma I ruined your pet armadillo looking thing. Love Dante' when the note referred to 'armadillo' I knew this guy was talking about Rhonda. John Dory was going to be so pissed.