DEDICATED TO ProbUnstableTBH who helped me build the rest of the plot and fix holes in my plan. Y'all should actually go read her books tbh, she has one about Emerson which is kinda sort of finished, and one about Remington which is ongoing but still worth the read.

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Remington didn't move for the rest of the day, he was too busy at the bathroom door waiting for Emerson to come out. His bones were stinging, and his cheeks were still red from crying. He didn't know why he was crying. Maybe it was the thought of his brother hurting less than a foot away from him on the other side of the door and there was nothing he could do about it because his brother wasn't ready to open up to him yet.

Sunlight turned to darkness, highlighting the passage of time that had taken place since Emerson had first gone into the bathroom. His heart ached to care for his brother who was still sat on the other side of the door.

Emerson wasn't asleep, but he wasn't consciously awake. He was just staring at one point on the opposite wall, his eyes glazed over as a result of his constant staring and not enough blinking. The lack of food was getting to him and it was slowly coming to become all that he was thinking about. He was tempted to just leave the bathroom without cleaning up, but he knew Remington was on the other side of the door and would see the blood which was dried on the floor, and the cuts that were scattered all over his exposed body.

His clothes sat in a pile at the corner of the room, reminding him of how fucked up his life was. Others might have seen the pile of clothes as a sign of his messiness, had they not known the reason for him taking his clothes off was for his destructive nature to isolate himself further from the person he once was.

He heard Remington softly singing you'll be fine on the other side of the door, voice cracking in parts which contrasted against the message of the song. Thoughts raced through his mind, assaulting his mentality more. His personal issues were now affecting his family which stung more than the evil thoughts he was bombarded with on a daily basis. His stomach rumbled, once again bringing attention to the fact that it was nearing the evening and he hadn't eaten since last night, he might have been depressed, but he was still hungry.

Slowly he stood and assessed the damage, not only to his body but to the bathroom. The blood was now a red stain on the floor, and his arms had dry blood all over them. It was also an added challenge to clean up without Remington noticing, however after a few moments of silence in his brain, he was able to form a sure plan to do it as fast as possible.

He dug through the trash can and pulled out the rag he had disposed of yesterday and put it in the sink full of moderately warm water to soak and clean. Digging through the cupboards under the sink, he found his next weapon of choice against the discovery of his habits. He sparingly poured the disinfectant onto the blood stain making sure the largest area of blood was sufficiently covered, but not using too much to avoid the strong pungent smell reaching Remington's nose for a while.

Climbing into the shower, his thoughts cleared again, only this time, the noxious thoughts stayed away. He had had his moment. It was time for him to heal the break in Remington's heart and attempt to appease him for a while longer until he could come up with a feasible excuse that would diffuse the ticking time bomb that was the question Emerson feared hearing.

Scrubbing gently on his already sensitive skin was barely getting him anywhere, but the organ had already faced enough damage in one day. It didn't take that long to remove the dried blood in the end, but the passage of time in the bubble of shame- which had inundated him in the small confined space that was the shower- seemed slower than real time.

Barely drying himself, he dressed himself in the clothes that were piled already in the corner, before wrapping the towel around his neck to catch stray drops of water falling from his wet hair. Using the already blood stained rag, he made easy work of the stained floor and finished cleaning faster than he usually would. Perhaps, he thought, it helped that the blood was already set and he wasn't making any more drops of blood with each move he made.

The time had come. He stood at the door of the bathroom, hand already on the handle. His nerves which caused his hand to shake, also caused the handle to shake too. Making anyone on the other side aware of his impending exit of the small room.

His thoughts argued back, telling him to stay in the room, and that his brother's didn't want to see him. They succeeded for a few seconds, resulting in him removing his grip and slightly pulling his hand away from the handle. Remington's voice is what made him open the door, all he could hear on the other side was him whispering "Come on" silently cheering Emerson on and giving him the strength.

Emerson had originally planned to speak to Remington in private outside of their bus but his resolve flew out the window the minute he saw Remington's face. His cheeks were red and slightly puffy from crying and his make-up was in streams running down his cheeks to his jaw bone. Remington had froze the moment he had seen the door open, and it pained the drummer to have inflicted so much pain upon his brother whom had stuck by him in their darkest moments.

Remington opened his mouth to speak, but Emerson knew hearing the pain in his brother's voice would break him even more and enveloped his brother into a tight hug, cutting off any words that would have possibly made it to the back of Remington's throat. He tucked his face into the neck of the other, as Remington did the same. The hug was long and released the previous pain caused by the bathroom door separating them from reaching for the other in comfort.

Neither one of them wanted to release the other, but they both had to, after all they couldn't spend the rest of the tour attached to each other in fear that one would isolate the other once again. Yet it was only a matter of time until Emerson picked up the pieces of the mask that had broken away when he saw his brother's pained face a few moments ago.

It was only when they had pulled away from each other that they noticed that the others were missing from the bus. The silence was heavy on their chests, restricting any words that they wanted to say to each other, it was only when Emerson caught Remington glancing at anything but him did he finally find some strength to speak, "how long?"

Remington looked confused, he wasn't expected to hear his brother speak so soon, but at the same time he had no clue as to what his brother was referring to, "how long what?". The two were still in the narrow corridor outside of the bathroom which made the conversation seem off as Emerson and Remington both wanted to be away from the room which divided them so much.

"How long was I in there?" Emerson quizzed as he pulled away from Remington's side, which he had been pulled into by his brother after they had stopped hugging each other. A look of hurt and betrayal flashed through the singer's eyes as he felt the other man, once again, distancing himself from him. The look was quick to disappear when he saw that his brother was only trying to make it easier to manoeuvre themselves and head to the couches.

As a last second decision, Remington directed the two into his bunk, and closed the curtain as to provide more privacy in the event that everyone returned to the bus. Just as they sat down, Remington took the chance to respond to the earlier question, "I have no fucking clue man" he really didn't know. It wasn't like he had his phone to check the time, it was on the coffee table in the living space buzzing as notifications came through on his phone; it wasn't usually like this but Remington was too wrapped up in healing Emerson that he completely ignored it. However, Emerson opened the curtain again when he got bored of sitting in the dark cuddling Remington's side.

Wrapping themselves up in their own minds, the guitarist and the photographer returned home to the bus, and were more than happy to be finally climbing up the steps which led to their familiarity and privacy. Sebastian and Codie had left the bus just before the sky had gotten dark, despite Sebastian's unwillingness to leave his brother's. Codie had put forth the suggestion that they leave for a while before they try and pick up the fragments of the two men, trying now would only break more pieces away.

They were just walking around the streets of the city they were currently staying in, watching the streetlights turn on in the twilight of the darkening sky. Their minds were unsettled, thinking back to the events that had unfolded during the length of the day, and the events unravelling in the bus that they had left some hours ago. The night air was still, not as warm as it had been before, but nevertheless they continued on the distraction.

Brief small talk had been attempted during the course of Sebastian's distraction, but not of them graduated into full developed conversations. Their phones had died long ago, and they were not ready to go to the bus, vary of events still. Distractions had been blessed during the outing, in the form of soldiers of the royal council, yet it hadn't all been cupcakes and rainbows as the pressing worries still relayed in their heads.

All thoughts of that though, went out of the window after an incident with a fan. Which left them in a more noticeable silence than before.

The girls had crowded around Sebastian crying out for him to take pictures and sign stuff, whining for him to give them a hug, complaining when he hugged another. It was madness. They hadn't even noticed Codie, and those who did barely gave her a second glance.

Until a girl, who already gave of the aura of loud and obnoxious, approached, pushing her blue dyed hair out of her face and 'accidentally' brushed shoulders with another fan, consequently resulting in the other girl stumbling and the stuff in her hands falling to the floor. Perhaps if Codie had stayed put, and left it at that, she would still be left in the dark, but her body was coded in way, in which it was a reflex to bend down and help the girl.

Mistake. The one action drew her to the attention of the loud and obnoxious girl, "You're Emerson's rebound girl aren't you?" the sentence as a whole shocked Codie, resulting in her looking at the blue haired fan with her mouth open in an 'O' shape. The other girl continued to speak, "So like, is it serious, or are you guys just PR? Cause like, Emerson only dates pretty girls, so I think it's PR" the shock was a poison to her blood flow, paralysing her and restricting her from defending herself and denying all the claims.

At this point, the loud and obnoxious girl had attracted the attention of the rest of the fans surrounding Sebastian, and they also proceeded to attack Codie with an onslaught of questions, bombarding her from every side.

She was still shaken up as Sebastian led her up the steps towards the bus. Though most of it had blown away in the cooling breeze once they had left the cluster of fans. She hadn't said much to diffuse the rumours and could barely even conceive a steady sentence to even ask Sebastian for help.

They were greeted by the sight of both Remington and Emerson on the bunk wrapped together, each of them were doing their own separate tasks: Remington was flipping through a magazine, whilst Emerson sketched on a scrap piece of paper. They hadn't noticed the two enter, wrapped in their own bubble wrap of serenity.

Their phones were buzzing with seemingly no end. Remington's phone would buzz, then Emerson's would, and then Remington's; it was an endless cycle. "Hey, assholes, your phone's" The pair finally looked up and acknowledged the two, but it was short lived as they returned to their prior tasks.

Remington clutched his stomach in temporary pain after the phone made contact with it after being thrown by Sebastian. In response, the black haired man threw the pillow he had been leaning on. However, the drummer had also been leaning on the cushion as well, which led to him falling hard against the wall. Both of the remaining men laughed at the stunned expression of the artist who hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings.

These events led to both Remington and Emerson tag teaming on Sebastian and 'beating' him to the ground. In reality, their combined weights overpowered the equilibrium of Sebastian's inner balance leading to him falling backwards onto the sofa. Emerson continued his 'attack' upon Sebastian, whilst Remington wrestled to keep him pinned. Their laughter was filling the bus, evicting the poisonous silence which lead to Emerson's habits.

Codie felt like an invader to their life, she wasn't a part of their happiness or laughter, and probably never would be. She was an alien. Yet she still stood there at the door watching the scene unfold, secretly taking her camera out that she always carried, and capturing the happiness in the digital images.

Sebastian broke free of Remington's hands and went for Emerson, who immediately fled and hid behind Codie's back and used her as a shield. His laugh was- as cliché as it was for Codie to think- infectious, as she soon began laughing along with Emerson as he held her shoulders and changed the direction that her body faced as Sebastian tried to find an opening.

"I'm sorry Codie, but it seems you've picked your side" Sebastian had a small smile on his face which turned into a sly smirk as he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away from Emerson who was backed against the door with Remington nowhere to be seen. In a quick moment of thinking Emerson opened the door and fled the bus whilst Sebastian was busy with Codie.

Sebastian was torn, he didn't know whether to chance his brother, keep the photographer pinned or to attack Remington who was sat on the floor videoing the whole scene. Making an executive decision, he released the petite girl and chased Emerson out the door. Emerson's screams could be heard as he realised that the guitarist was no longer paying attention to the shield.

The two left in the bus laughed when they heard a sudden scream from Emerson after just hearing Sebastian's shouts, and they knew that he had been caught. An exchange of jovial insults were exchanged as the two battled on the warm concrete ground. Sebastian was winning, pinning Emerson easily by his wrists. By the sheer luck of god, the place that Sebastian's hand was, was not a place that the younger of the two had recently cut.

Remington stood at the door of the bus, filming the fight for Instagram live whilst cheering Emerson on. Somehow, Emerson broke free and made a break for the bus, Both Codie and Remington cheered him on, laughing and smiling as Emerson got closer. The laughter was short lived as Sebastian caught Emerson again. Remington handed the Instagram live over to Codie, and ran in to help his brother.

He playfully tackled his older brother to save his younger brother. He kept him pinned to the floor whilst screaming for Emerson to run for it. When Emerson made it to the bus, Remington pulled away and dashed there too. Laughter was still clear in the air and they were all slowly losing their breath due to the fact that they were laughing more than breathing.

They had all hidden in the bathroom, locking the door to keep Sebastian out. Codie was reading through the comments on the live, laughing as the fans got excited, some were still asking who she was but none of them were as abhorrent as the blue haired fan.

"Send out Codie, and I'll let you guys go" Codie was shocked, there was no way she was going out, she hadn't done anything to end up on his hit-list. Codie still had Remington's phone, filming the whole event. "Emerson, come on, send her out, or the hats get it" Emerson froze and glanced at the photographer.

Sebastian was trying to get them to give each other up, the minute they opened the door to serve the other up on a silver platter, he was going to grab Emerson and get revenge. "Remington, do remember, the Nutella is on this side of the door" he barely had time to react before the door was opened and Remington was shoving the girl in his arms. He only realised what had happened once Remington had locked the door.

"Bitch!" The look of shock on her face was enough for Sebastian, but he had unwittingly made an ally against Remington, and with Rem and Em sticking together, an ally against one was an ally against both. Still holding the phone, she pounded on the door, screaming profanities aimed towards Remington, "-ing coward! Cheap whore! Bitch ass son of a wonderful woman! You better watch yourself when you get out of her boy, you're dead."

Sebastian and Codie sat on the sofa's watching the television, there was no point waiting at the door, if they even decided to leave, they would be caught before they made it to the door. The Instagram live had finished a while ago and she hadn't bothered to start another. The other two had been in the bathroom for about 30 mins and would be getting bored soon, neither one of them had their phone.

Despite the lack of phones, the two had found a way to pass the time, Emerson had a pencil on him whilst this was happened and had taken to drawing on the bathroom wall, whilst Remington busied himself cleaning the small room. Taking his make-up off and experimenting more with different colours of eyeshadow. At the moment he had a dark purple on his lid with a pigmented red on his lower lash line.

Emerson put his pencil down and picked up the eyeliner, Remington seemed to get what was going to happen, and sat still. His face tickled as his brother doodled little designs on his face, and he had to fight the urge to laugh and squirm. They could tell that they were beginning to get bored, but they weren't willing to give up yet.

Codie was reaching for something in her bunk when the bathroom door opened, she didn't have time to alert Sebastian as once again she was taken as Emerson's shield. She caught sight of Remington and glared, still bitter about his earlier betrayal. "Sebastian call a truce! Or she gets it" the oldest of the brothers stood up from where he was sat on the couch and inspected the scenario.

Both his brothers had huge smiles on their faces, his youngest was holding the photographer hostage. He knew that the only way to end this was to call a truce, but he wouldn't be the one to do it. He slipped his phone out of his pocket and snapped a picture of them, mainly Emerson and Codie, ready to use the information he learned in the afternoon against him.

The picture was quite efficient. Emerson had his arm wrapped across her chest, and smiling, which caused the image to look quite intimate to anyone who had no clue that he was using her as a human shield. "Emerson, let her go and you call the truce or I'll post this picture" showing him the phone from a distance, to show him there was no bluff.

Emerson hadn't been on his phone all day, and didn't know what their fans thought of the new woman's existence, so he just laughed "So what? How is that mean to scare me?" Emerson's cluelessness made it all the more sweet for Sebastian, and also made for great leverage as it would knock him back.

"Oh, you don't know?" the sentence alone managed to make Emerson's smug smile fall a bit, this action alone cheered Sebastian on and gave him strength to continue the emotional blackmail. "Emerson, the fans think that you two are a couple, considering you're the first one she was seen with in public, not me and Rem, I reckon, posting this picture right here will fuel the rumours for one or two weeks" Emerson's smile had fallen completely.

"You're bluffing." Rather than telling him to check for himself, he gestured for Emerson to check. Remington's phone was once again thrown across the room, and landed in Emerson's hands. Still with his arm around Codie, he unlocked the phone and clicked on the twitter app. Sure enough, most of Remington's feed was filled with images of the two on their walk the morning.

Guilt surged through him as he remembered the events from the morning, but he pushed passed it and focused on the happiness that he was feeling. Looking to Sebastian again, he released Codie and gently pushed her towards his brother. "Say the words Emerson!" it wasn't over. Begrudgingly Emerson uttered the words that Sebastian wanted to hear.