Eean grabs him by the forearm and catches his younger brother by surprise. He doesn’t even give Evan the time to process what is happening because he immediately starts to drag him back, to the vehicle, swearing under his breath. Eean ignores Evan when he starts to shout at him that he needs to let go, that he doesn’t want to go with him, that he needs to leave him alone. Eean ignores the people who stare at them wondering if they should stop him, call someone and help poor Evan whose face is the perfect picture of distress and fear and anger. Eean doesn’t stop.
When he gets to the car, he opens the passenger’s door and pushes his brother inside with rage and closes it before Evan can add another word. He circles the car and sits down behind the wheel, starting the engine and getting on the road after a moment of hesitation. Perhaps he’s really been too brusque, he should’ve left Evan alone. But yet again, the surprise of having him in the same vital space as his own and being able to drive him home takes over at the same time as the conscious thought that Evan might attempt something stupid to leave the car.
Eean presses the lock button on the car panel and relaxes a little. He feels bad because he should’ve listen to his brother and give him some space, but he won’t play with the fate again. Hell knows where Evan would’ve ended up in order to avoid them at dinner. He would rather have Evan extremely pissed off sitting in his car, safe, than knowing him somewhere he doesn’t know and potentially in danger.
«This is called kidnapping,» Evan informs him, giving his brother a harsh look. It’s the first emotion he shows him, the first bunch of words he says ever since he started working with Joël. Evan is trying to provoke him, to accuse him, and he finds himself surprised when Eean gives nothing in return. The old Eean would’ve snapped back, they would’ve fought and then made up in the space of a moment as usual. But that’s not normal anymore and that silence is dragging too much, it’s becoming heavy and uncomfortable. Evan gives up and asks himself why, despite everything, Eean is still able to have some kind of deep influence on him.
With a resigned sigh, he takes the bag off of his shoulder with a bit of struggle and lets it fall on the floor under the seat, then he puts the seatbelt on. There’s a lot of traffic and apparently getting home will take a while, longer than the twenty minutes he thought, so he might as well get comfortable. He heavily grumbles in the process, just to make sure Eean gets the message: Evan is pissed off, his brother did the wrong thing once again and he didn’t like it. Perhaps Eean doesn’t even care but he has to know so that next time something like this happens, Eean will know better than kidnap his own brother. Eean has to be reminded sometimes about his last attempt in saving Evan. How bad it ended. Not that this drive is going to go any other way. None of them have got superpowers, after all.
At the first traffic light they encounter, Eean slows down and stops when it turns red. He’s more relaxed now that they’re on the road. His grip on the steering wheel is lighter and Eean looks like his comfortable despite the tension in the cabin. His expression is still firm and severe, and Evan thinks about the fact that he’s probably trying to keep his shit together. In this moment it would take absolutely nothing to make his brother explode. He could take advantage of that, instead Evan keeps quiet. He looks at his brother’s profile, the way his square face looks more mature than his own, the way Eean’s lips are a straight and thin line, the way his nose points a little upwards. His skin is pinker than Evan’s one and he suspects it’s because Eean is living a healthy life whilst he… Well, Evan is not living at all. Eean’s eyelashes are longer, he realises. He got them from Yvonne, they’re very charming. Eean’s eyelashes were Finbar’s favourite thing in the world.
«You can always get off,» Eean mumbles at some point, taking Evan by surprise. «If you’re not ok with the ride, I mean.»
Evan thinks about it for less than an instant. He took his decision when he stopped fighting him, but that instant still manages to last an eternity. Evan shrugs. He’s already there and there’s no point in getting off now, also considering the fact that Eean would be ready to bring him back as soon as he would step out of the car. So he crosses the arms around his chest, sinks into the seat and turns his face towards the window.
«Whatever,» he whispers. Then Evan gest quiet again. He doesn’t have anything else to say to him anymore. Those few words he just shared are more than enough, more than what Eean actually deserves. And then, right in that moment, it strikes him. How simple and ordinary Eean’s life has always been. He just takes the car and goes places with people – friends – and never has to worry about dead people who are trying to hurt him. He never has to look at a child dying under a carriage in the most improbable spots of the world, he never has to watch his mouth and his back all the time when he’s talking to one of them or when he’s alone.
Eean is a lucky young man and he doesn’t realise it at all. Evan kind of feels sorry for him, because it would give everything to have what Eean has. And he’s about to tell him, he’s about to make the mistake of starting a conversation with his brother that could potentially end up with Evan giving in and forgiving Eean despite the fact that he doesn’t want to, when his eyes land on a piece of paper with bright colours and big words. He doesn’t need to reach out and move them from the spot slightly below the radio to see. He doesn’t need to read what’s written on them to know that the circus is in town.
That Finbar’s back.
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