branch angst

unwantedly found

branch's pov:

my eyes fluttered open; slowly adjusting to my surroundings. i blinked past the sunlight so i could get a good look at where i was. i don't remember anything that happened last night!.. and thats probably for the best.

i sat up dizzily to find myself sat upon a park bench. how did i get here?? 

suddenly my hand shot to my head as waves of pain surged through. ugh. another headache.

i looked down at my chest which had fragments of white crystals. i could only guess what they were..

my eyes snapped to the trolls who were walking towards me.

clay, bruce, john, floyd, and jules.

all i could do was sit there helplessly as they reached the spot i was in.

"how'd you find me?" i sighed.

"tracked your phone." clay gave me a weak smile.

i nodded my head. "where's carlos?"

"who's carlo-" floyd began.

"never mind." i grumbled before sitting myself up on the bench.

instinctively, bruce and john moved to put their shoulders under my arms; helping me walk home.

"easy there buddy." john chuckled as i took my first wobbly step onto the ground.

i scoffed in response as i allowed them to help.

i was always such a pain to be around. although i wanted to complain about this whole situation i kept my mouth shut for my family's sake.

"what happened anyways?" floyd questioned.

"went to a party." i mumbled.

floyd opened his mouth to reply; but he stopped himself once he saw the look on my face.

"did you tell poppy." i questioned.

bruce shook his head. "we didn't think she needed to know."

"thanks." i mumbled silently.

we kept moving forward.

all of us went silent. but a good silent.. y'know? like it wasn't awkward or anything. it really helped me think about things.
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i blinked to find myself sat on the couch in the bunker.

what the hell??

my brothers (and jules) were surrounding me with a worried expression on their faces.

i was sat straight up and my mouth was open as if i was about to speak.

"branch?" john began.

"what happened??" i gasped while looking around the room.

my brothers looked at each other.

"you want the truth?" floyd sighed.

"of course i want the damn truth!! what happened!??" i growled.

clay took in a breath before explaining. "we found you walking around near an alleyway. you were like.. talking to yourself dude. you were saying something about going to a party..- but thats besides the point! you were hallucinating again. so we took you back home."

oh.

"but it all feels so real.." i whimpered; my ears drooping as i covered my face with my hands.

nobody replied to me.

"how much of that was a hallucination..?" i sighed.

jules spoke up. "you went to jail. you escaped jail. but we don't know what happened after that."

i hesitated before speaking. "where are my pills?"

they make me feel awful. maybe horrible. maybe even horrific. but i was done with trying to find out what was real and what wasn't now.

"where you left them." john shrugged.

i hope jules didn't take any. 

i nodded my head. "thanks."

i began to get up and walk away.

"how many more times are you going to do this?" floyd whined.

i turned my head around. "do what?"

he hesitated. "scare us, branch. how many more times are you going to worry us. because i don't think i can keep doing this anymore."

oh wow. that hurt. that hurt really, really bad.

"then don't." i finished.

before letting anyone reply i turned around and headed straight to my room.

i didn't slam the door shut, i didn't stomp on the way there, i just went to my room. much, much more calmly than i thought i would. the first thing i did was force those pills down my throat.

they were noticeably more empty. i knew jules had probably took some while i was gone.

john dory's pov:

i got out of that bunker asap. i really didn't want to spend my time awkwardly sitting silent in the living room with my brothers and girlfriend. i needed air.

i had been working on something big. and i'd been meaning to share it with my family!.. it's just that branch has kind of been occupying my time here lately. i'm not mad at him. at least i don't think i am? i get mad a lot, so i can never really tell.

but anyways.. i kinda got off track there. what i've been meaning to tell my family is that i bought a business!! and not just any business.. a bar!!

that may sound bad to some people. but i'm sure this was a really good investment. i could work there so i didn't have to pay any employees. and i could get free beer whenever i wanted. isn't that great??

i don't need your opinion. i know it's great!!

my thoughts were cut short when i entered the bar, breathing in the smell of liquor. mm.

i'm sure i'm going to love it here.

i unlocked the door so that more trolls could come in before stepping behind the counter; taking some time to look around the room.

up in the corner was a flat screen tv which was playing the local football game. below it was a booth with a table sat in the middle. there was a toy hula lady jiggling around on top of it. that was definitely worth the money.

besides the bar was a pool table with a stick laying beside it. i loved pool. i bet none of my brothers knew that.

i loved a lot of things that my brothers didn't know about. i guess they just never cared to ask.

i mean, if they did care then they would have known about this bar by now.

i bought it two months ago.

thats the end of the chapter!! gunna try and include the other brothers more.