CHAPTER SEVEN.

Graham had found himself hanging out in Diego's old room with him. He had sent Jericho a text telling him that he would come to get Fern in the morning--not explaining anything further. He sure as hell was not about to tell Jericho that he was hanging out with Diego. And he absolutely wasn't about to tell him that the two were lying shoulder to shoulder on Diego's bed just staring at the ceiling and saying nothing. In fact, he would never mention it to anyone and if Diego ever did, he'd kill Diego. But how the hell did the two of them get into this spot in the first place?

Well, after Diego had spoken to mom, Graham had followed Diego back down to his room. Graham still had no clue as to what he was really meant to do besides follow Diego. Graham had awkwardly stood by the bedroom door while Diego laid down.

Leaning against the door, he asked: "You wanna talk about it? Or be alone? I can leave, if so." It wasn't that he wanted to outright ditch Diego in what appeared to be a moment of pain and need, but Graham didn't feel that he was the right person to be comforting Diego. He had no clue how to comfort Diego. All he really knew how to do was insult and hit Diego. Neither of those things seemed appropriate to do at the time.

Diego had been looking at the ceiling but turned his head towards Graham, "You mind just hanging out for a while? If not, it's cool." Graham nodded his head slowly and made his way to the desk in the room. He pulled the chair out and sat down. "Thanks," Diego muttered before looking back up the ceiling.

"So you wanna talk about it?" Diego shook his head no. Graham sighed, "You wanna talk about anything?" Another no. The two went silent. They sat in silence for a while. Neither was counting how long it had been. But after a bit, Graham had stood from the chair. Diego had watched him from the corner of his eye, thinking that he was just stretching, which at first, that's all he was doing. Then, he moved towards the bed, "Scoot over, that chair's uncomfortable as fuck."

So, Diego scooted over and Graham laid down next to him. It was a twin bed and they were both pretty large men. Diego found himself pressed closely to the wall and Graham's shoulder was lying over his. Graham's other shoulder was hanging off the edge of the bed. It wasn't the most comfortable position but it was absolutely way more comfortable than that fuckin' chair.

Both of the men had been quiet since then. Graham figured that if Diego changed his mind and wanted to talk that he would say something. Besides that, Diego had said he didn't want to talk about anything, so Graham didn't try to talk about anything else. Though, the situation had left Graham feeling more and more awkward by the minute and he wasn't sure how much more he could take. But he also didn't wanna just up and be like: "Alright, Diego, I'm out. Stay here lonely and sad by yourself."

Out of nowhere, Diego shoves Graham's shoulder lightly, "Get up."

Graham sat up, "What's up? Kicking me out finally?" Please, he thought.

"No, just kind of hungry," Diego stated, pushing Graham's arm again as if to tell him to get off the bed. Which Graham did. Diego moved himself to the end of the bed and stood. He pointed towards the door, "You hungry?" He made his way towards the bedroom door.

Graham shrugged, smacking his arms onto his sides, "Sure, why not."

Diego stopped by the door, grabbing the handle, "If you wanna leave, Graham, you can. You don't have to stay here, you know? I'm not gonna like resent you for leaving or anything?"

Graham shook his head, "I'm good. I don't mind staying if you want me to. I just don't know what I'm supposed to say 'cause I feel like I'm supposed to say something to make you feel better but I am not good at stuff like this."

Diego laughed, "Honestly, just having someone that's not my siblings hanging around makes me feel better."

"Well, you're welcome then, asshole," Graham grinned causing Diego to roll his eyes. He waved Graham off before turning and opening the bedroom door. Graham watched as Diego stepped into the hallway, about to follow after. He was standing at the door entrance when he heard guns cocking. He and Diego turned to the side to see two people in Halloween masks of some sort standing at the end of the hall. His eyes widened as he watched them aim the guns at them. When they began shooting, the two took off in the opposite direction. Graham felt Diego shove him to the side slightly so that he could throw knives back at the people. The knives clung against the masks. Graham thought, the masks are metal? Graham found himself grabbing onto Diego's arm, ensuring that he kept up. Turning a corner, the two stopped and stood against the wall. Graham listened to the footsteps approaching.

He looked over to Diego, trying to see what they needed to do-- and maybe see if there was any tell on Diego's face that would tell him what was happening. But there was nothing there as Diego turned himself so that he faced the way the two intruders were coming. Diego jumped out and attacked the person that had approached them. He could hear Diego fighting the man and the repeated sound of metal clanging. Diego must've been hitting the mask.

"Shoot him," the man Diego was attacking him said. Graham's eyes widened as he stuck his head around the corner. He wasn't sure what to do. They had guns and he didn't. He also didn't have anything on that would stop the bullets from hurting, or killing, him. He looked around the area for something to use as a weapon.

"Get out of the way, dumbass," the voice was a woman's. The woman was at the end of the hall aiming her gun at Diego but was waiting on a shot to be available. He watched as Diego kicked the man and jetted back to where Graham was. The woman had attempted to shoot him as he ran. Diego grabbed Graham's arm before running down the hall, dragging Graham along with him. This was the first time Graham had found himself vulnerable and somewhat frozen in a situation. Usually, Graham was incredible in situations like that. Granted, in situations like this, Graham usually had weapons to defend himself. He knew that if he could get close enough for hand-to-hand combat, he'd be fine but he had no way of getting past their guns. The two intruders rounded the corner seconds later and Diego let go of Graham's arm to jump the railing down the first floor.

In a moment of shock that Diego had actually just done that, Graham paused. This gave the intruders a still target to shoot at. But the second that Graham realized that, it was too late as he felt multiple bullets colliding with his body. In yet another panic, he found himself mimicking Diego and jumping from the railing. Though, his jump was certainly less graceful than Diegos. His feet hit the ground and he stumbled, falling over because holy fuck, did getting shot hurt like a bitch. Graham crawled quickly over to hide behind the table and couch Diego was at.

Diego looked at Graham with utter confusion, "What the fuck was that? You just stood there and let them shoot you!"

"I... I panicked," Graham's muttered angrily. His chest was heaving and he was trying so hard to catch his breath.

"I'm sorry, you panicked? Graham Sharp fucking panicked?"

Graham pushed Diego's face away aggressively and spat, "Shut the fuck up before this fight becomes a fucking three v. one, dipshit." The two fell silent as two sets of footsteps entered the room. The intruders had made their way downstairs. Graham looked at Diego and made a face as if to ask what they were meant to do. Diego shrugged back, shaking his head as if to tell he had no clue.

Diego, for some reason unbeknownst to Graham, jolted to the edge of the table causing the people to shoot at the area. Graham slid down so that he was hidden further under the table and turned to look at Diego, who was huddled up and covering his head.

"Dumbass," Graham hissed causing Diego to flip him off.

"Not the fucking time," Diego rasped, pointing an angry finger at Graham, which he smacked away. Finally, the shooting stopped. Graham could hear someone grunting and a body hitting the ground. Crawling to the edge of the couch, he slowly looked out to see Luther standing over one of the intruders. The other intruder stood behind Luther. Graham watched the man cock his gun again but the weapon was kicked out of his hand by Allison, whom Graham did not see enter the room at all.

Graham turned his head to look at Diego, who was making his way around the couch. His head shot back to Allison when he heard what sounded to be choking noises. And he was right. When he turned, the man was holding Allison off the ground by her throat. Everything was happening quickly and Graham knew he should help but he had no clue what to do. Neither of the intruders seemed to have weapons anymore but he was still in complete shock over the situation.

"Let her go," Diego grunted as he ran to the man. Diego punched at the man and even jumped on his back while beating him. He finally dropped Allison and Diego fell off his back. Allison crouched to the side where Graham was still planted on the floor. She glanced at him, confused. The stare caused him to panic and stand at the realization of how silly he probably looked sitting around while they fought. He stood up, putting a hand on her back.

"You good?" He asked. She sighed and nodded, looking up to him. Graham looked up to see Luther picking the man up by the back of his shirt and throwing him out of the room. His eyes widening at the clear display of his strength--which with his build came as no surprise to Graham. Graham spared a glance to Diego for a moment, silently asking if he was alright to which he was granted another nod.

"Who the hell are these guys?" Allison asked, standing upright. She looked between Graham and Diego.

"No fucking clue, man, I'm just here," Graham held his hands up in defense.

"You're welcome," Luther stated.

"I was doing fine!" Diego explained.

"Oh, yeah, you really had them--"

"Ever hear of a rope-a-dope?" Diego asked. Graham wasn't sure about anyone else but he knew for a fact that he hadn't heard of whatever Diego was talking about. Bullets flying through the room once again caused everyone to drop and take cover. Graham found himself dropping to the ground and pushing himself back behind the couch. He watched as Allison and Luther ran from the room. Graham turned and crawled quickly over to where Diego had dropped. Luther stopped at the door and both Graham and Diego took notice.

"Luther, go!" Diego hollered to them. Diego looked back to Graham, "If you get the chance to run out of here too, you should go."

Graham scoffed, "And miss the chance to kick their asses and be better than you? Fuck off, dickface. I might've been panicking before but I'm fine now."

"I'm serious, Graham."

"So am I, fuckhead."

Graham heard the man say that he had lost his gun and the woman responded that she was going after them-- Luther and Allison, he presumed. He listened to her run off and the man walked further into the room. He heard the man open a cabinet and pull something out.

"What the hell was that? What did he just get?" Graham questioned quietly.

"No clue," Diego whispered. Graham groaned and, as silently as possible, moved himself to see the man.

Graham's head shot back to Diego with widened eyes full of fear, "You all have a fucking morning star in this fucking house? You all live in the fucking fourteenth century or some shit?" Graham was doing his best to scold Diego quietly but he also wasn't all that concerned if he was heard because who the fuck keeps random medieval weapons in their fucking house?

"Dad liked shit like that, I guess," Diego attempted to defend the man. Though, he wasn't sure why he would defend the man. Truthfully, he wasn't sure why there was a medieval weapon in their house either. But their father was one weird bastard so it didn't surprise him.

"Hello?" Graham heard what sounded like Vanya call out, "Guys, is everyone ok? Hello? Guys?" Graham attempted to stand to holler at her but was stopped by Diego.

"He'll find us if you do that," Diego spoke.

"He'll attack her if I don't," Graham argued. He listened to Vanya enter the room and attempted to pull away from Diego, who kept a tight grip on the man. He gasped when he heard the weapon swing and then a hand hitting her. He could hear her whine after being hit and falling.

"Hey, asshole," Luther called out.

Diego pulled a face at Graham, "See? She'll be fine."

Graham scoffed, "If I had stood up, she wouldn't have gotten hit at all, idiot." He could hear the man leaving the room quickly, going after Luther. Graham shoved Diego off and made a quick jog towards Vanya, helping off the table that she had landed on.

"Good?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Think so, yeah." Vanya sighed, rubbing a hand down her jacket, "Thanks."

"Yeah, and sorry. I was gonna try to warn you, but dipshit fuckhead over there didn't want the dude to know where we were so he wouldn't let me," Graham explained bitterly, pointing a finger behind at Diego, who was now standing.

"It's cool. I'll be fine," Vanya smiled lightly. Graham turned his head to watch Luther and the man fighting.

"I'm gonna go check on Allison, you guys coming?"

Graham shook his head, "I'm gonna stay in case Lord Buffington needs help with the masked weirdo."

"I'll stay too. Though, I won't be much help fighting, really."

Graham pat her shoulder, "I'll look out for you, don't worry." Diego ran off to go find Allison.

"Vanya, get out of here," Luther hollered, still fighting the man.

Graham tilted his head to the side, "You could also get out of here if you wanted like dear old brother suggested. I can handle helping Luther on my own, really." Vanya sighed, running to the side of the room and hiding in the corner where she couldn't be seen by the intruder. Graham nodded at her, sending a thumbs up. He turned and was about to go help Luther but saw Luther literally stepping on the guy's back to walk over him.

"Vayna?" he called. Graham pointed in her direction.

Graham's eyes widened for the millionth time that night, "Giant man!" Luther looked confused but was picked up and slammed onto the ground alongside the man. "I am so sorry! I panicked and tried to warn you and for some reason, all that came out was 'Giant man,'" Graham hollered. He jogged over to help and watched as the man stood, straightening his suit. Looking behind him, Graham ran to the table and grabbed a box of some sort that was on the table Vayna had fallen on. He turned around, seeing the man walking towards him and clearing his throat. He could see Vayna next to the intruder, pressing herself against the wall in hopes she wouldn't be noticed.

"What's that box gonna do to protect you?" The man asked, fixing his tie.

Graham looked down at it then to the man, "You'd be surprised." He gripped the box for a moment, hesitating on what he was about to do. He wasn't sure if Luther would see but he knew for a fact that Vanya would. And what he was about to do not even Diego knew about. Graham wasn't sure it was something that he ever wanted Diego to know either. Realizing he couldn't think about it any longer, he threw the box and watched as the box combusted as it hit the man. The impact of the small explosion still managed to send the man falling back. He looked at Vayna, who was looking between the fallen man and Graham.

"I'll explain later but for now, you didn't see that!" Graham spilled out rapidly. He ran towards her and grabbed her arm, pulling her to the side of the room where the bar was. He pulled her behind it and shushed her. He moved himself to peek from the side to see the man. He watched as the man got up, looked around, saw no one, and walked away. Graham figured it was better to play it safe and stay hidden a little longer.

"How did you do that?" Vanya asked, pulling on Graham's arm.

Graham turned his head away from the living room entrance, "It's complicated but you can't tell anyone you saw that." He turned his head back to peek out from behind the bar but looked back to Vanya quickly, "Especially not fucking Diego."

"Why?" She asked. Before Graham could think of an excuse, he heard Allison hollering out for Luther.

"It's safe to get out I'd say, let's go," Graham forced a laugh, "And again, don't tell anyone." Graham stood quickly and made his way towards where Luther was still on the ground. Vanya followed close behind.

"Come on, Luther, get up," Allison said as she crouched next to him to help him up. Diego jogged in alongside Allison, momentarily acknowledging Graham and Vanya.

Diego bent down to help also, "Ah, you gotta cut down on that fast food, soldier." They all looked up to see the woman on the second floor. She looked down back at them before turning. There was a clanging noise a second later and the chandelier above Allison, Luther, and Diego was falling.

"Out of the way!" Luther called as he shoved his siblings away from him. All Graham could do was watch as the chandelier fell on top of the extremely large man. Allison called out to Luther again. Though, he found himself moving across the room towards Diego to check on him.

"Hey," Graham said as he dropped next to Diego, "You good?" He brought a hand to Diego's shoulder as Diego sat up.

Diego sighed, breathing out, "Yeah. Still alive." Their heads turned as the chandelier began making noises. They watched as Luther pushed himself off the ground, his shirt ripping off in the process. The chandelier hung above the ground. Graham found himself staring at Luther, confused (and truthfully, somewhat grossed out) by how hairy the man's body was.

"Holy shit," Diego murmured as he stood from the ground. Graham followed in suit, standing alongside Diego. As weird as Luther's body looked to him, he couldn't stop staring. He felt bad for thinking that his body looked weird and that he was grossed out, but he had genuinely never seen a person's body look like that before. It didn't seem... human. He watched as Luther finally stepped out of the chandelier causing it to crash into the ground. Luther stared at Allison for a moment before turning and making an exit up the steps, pushing past Graham and Diego. Graham watched Allison make her way over to Vanya.

Humming coming from the second floor caught Diego's attention, "Shit. Mom." Diego turned and ran up the steps. Graham watched as Diego ran up the steps but turned and made brief eye contact with Vanya. She met his eyes and gave him a small, barely noticeable nod, silently telling him that she wouldn't tell anyone. But something in her eyes told Graham that she would be asking about it soon. Sighing to himself, he moved to jog up the stairs to go after Diego.

Graham reached the area where Diego was. He was standing next to Grace with his hand on her shoulder, asking if she was alright.

"Of course, I am," she answered without a care in the world.

Diego shook his head at the woman, "You didn't hear the noises? The guys in the masks that just shot up the house?"

The woman chuckled and looked up to Diego, "What are you talking about, silly?" Diego crouched on the floor next to her, watching her hands. Graham moved to take a couple of steps forward to see what Diego was looking at. When he approached, Grace was sewing through her hand causing Graham to grimace. He took note of the distraught look on Diego's face. He watched Diego move to sit in front of the woman. Her eyes looking up to meet Diego's. He could see Diego breathing roughly and watched as Diego's eyes dropped down to Grace's arm.

Graham allowed his eyes to follow and saw something happening to her arm as Diego moved his fingers down it. Grace had looked down and was watching also. Graham felt as though he shouldn't be watching this but something told him to stay. That Diego would want him here for this.

"Diego?" Grace softly spoke, "What are you doing?" Graham observed as Diego moved the skin of her arm to the side. Diego began messing with the wires in her arm, a pained look on his face. He stopped and looked back up to Grace. Graham noticed Diego's mouth moving as though he was trying to say something but couldn't.

Finally, Diego uttered, "It's gonna be o--" He paused and Graham could hear how shaky his voice was getting and could see the tears forming in his eyes.

The woman smiled up to Diego, "Remember what we worked on. Just picture the word in your mind." She nodded as she spoke. Graham widened his eyes for a second and inhaled. He didn't know this woman and wasn't all that close with Diego, but this was sad and he couldn't help but to feel tears of his own forming.

"It's gonna be okay..." Diego was stuttering as he tried to comfort the woman, "...Mom." Graham saw the lighting in the woman's arm go off and her hand going limp. Her eyes fluttered shut, slowly.

As she was turning off, she spoke in parts, "Diego, remember." Her face and eyes lit up with a blue glow. The glow faded and her head dropped to the side. Graham moved his eyes to look at Diego, whose eyes were still on his mom.

Graham approached Diego, crouching next to him, "He-"

"Can you leave now?" Diego interrupted him, "I'd like to be alone."

Taken back, Graham sputtered, "Yeah, sure. Call if you need anything." Diego didn't answer. Graham sighed and pushed himself back up before turning away. He made his way to the end of the hall and briefly turned back to Diego, "Really, Diego. If you need anything at all, call." Diego didn't even look up to Graham. Graham let out a final sigh before going down the steps. He looked into the living room as he walked by to see Vanya and Allison talking but continued to the front door. He didn't bother saying bye to anyone, it wasn't like they were friends.

word count. 3972
I have chapter eight prewritten and ready to be posted tomorrow!! I wanna try to write again tonight so hopefully I'll get at least some of chapter nine and be ready to post the day after tomorrow!! I'm trying to pump out as many chapters as possible while I have all this motivation to write!!

posted. march 3, 2021
hexgiris