“What the fuck is going on?” Sam shouted again, rubbing at his neck where he’d gone red from Finn’s hold. If he didn’t know from experience that Jaime’s skin—and Sam’s too, probably—marked at even the gentlest hold, he’d be even more worried.
“Sam,” Jaime croaked.
Sam’s face hardened, and the look he gave Finn would have scorched his fur had he not already shifted back into his human form. Self conscious, he grabbed a pillow from the bed to cover his dick.
“Jaime. Get your things, we are leaving. You’re coming to live with me. I don’t know what the fuck thisthingwas doing to you in his bed, but it stops now. I can’t believe I trusted them to look after you.”
Sam pointed his finger at him, and Finn knew this was it. He had just threatened Jaime’s brother’s life, had his claws at histhroat, and Jaime would finally see that he was capable of doing just as much damage as the monsters that haunted his dreams. Clenching his teeth, he kept his head down.
He couldn’t bear to see the shock and fear on Jaime’s face.
Sam continued, “You, whatever the fuck you are, stay away from my brother. I’ll be filing a police report. You’ll never touch him again, you monster.”
Finn winced, but looked up, needing to say something, needing to say he wassorry, but before he could, two things happened.
Silas walked through the door, harried and shaken, a look on his face that Finn had never seen before. He took in Finn’s nakedness with raised eyebrows, and then Jaime’s before quickly averting his eyes to the ceiling.
And then Jaime punched his brother in the face.
“Owe, shit!” he cried, shaking his hand as he took a step back from Sam.
Finn dropped the pillow and darted forward to check if Jaime’s hand was hurt, and Silas moved toward Sam who was bent over his knees, holding his nose. Pulling him up, Silas cupped the back of Sam’s head and tilted his face up toward him, moving it this way and that before releasing him.
Then Silas moved so that he was positioned nearly between the two brothers, which only seemed to irritate Sam because he elbowed his way around him and gave him a look that made Silas go sheepish and shuffle his feet. Given their height difference, all of that would have been hilarious if he wasn’t currently cradling Jaime’s injured hand.
Or meeting his brother for the first time, balls and claws out.
“You’ll be fine,” Silas said gruffly to Sam, eyes still intense. “That probably hurt Jaime’s hand more than it did your nose.”
Indeed, Jaime’s hand was red and would probably be sore for a few days, but Finn didn’t detect anything broken. Still cradlingit before him, he gently rumbled, “We should put some ice on it, Jaime.”
Jaime was shaking with rage, and hadn’t seemed to hear him. Finn grabbed a blanket from the bed and draped it around him, so he wouldn’t feel so exposed, while Sam glanced back and forth between them, wide-eyed and shocked.
Jaime’s voice shook, but he straightened his spine. “Don’t evercall him that again. And you have no right,no right, to tell me where to go, or who to be with, or how to stay safe.”
He stepped toward Sam. “You can’t just ignore me for a whole fucking year because I’m such a burden to you and then storm in here demanding I follow your orders on a whim. You can’t say shitty things about the people I care for just because you haven’t been around enough to understand what’s going on!”
“Jaime—” Sam began, voice breaking, but Jaime kept going.
“Where have you been, Sammy? I called you. Many times over the last year, and you ignored me. I know I’ve been a lot. I know I’ve needed too much from you. But I just— fuck, Sammy, I just needed my brother! That’s all! Forget about the money and the lawyer and everything else. I wanted my brother.And you weren’t there.”
Finn’s heart broke all over again at the pain in Jaime’s voice. He wanted to tell him that he’d never been too much, he’d never been a burden. But only Jaime could heal the parts of him that felt that way. Only Jaime could decide when he was ready to confront those feelings with his brother for them to work through together. All Finn could do was make sure Jaime knew every day how much he wanted him and cared for him.
How much he loved him.
Suddenly, he desperately wanted to tell Jaime how much he loved him. That he’d fallen in love with him sometime in thelast week, swiftly and deeply and irrevocably. Maybe even before that, when Jaime was only a face and a voice through his phone.
He knew how crazy that sounded, but even then, he’d known Jaime wasright. He’d known he’d never be able to walk away, not fully. But that could wait. It wasn’t the right moment, and there were still things he needed to share first.
He also refused to confess his love in front of Silas and Sam, naked, hiding his cock behind a pillow.
Sam looked like Jaime had hit him again, and Jaime’s anger had clearly burned too bright and quick, sucking all the energy from him and leaving only the hurt and pain.
Jaime turned away from Sam. “It’s fine. I am capable of making my own decisions and looking after myself. I’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about me anymore. Please, just go.”
“Jaime, that’s not what I want. I didn't—I can’t—please, come home with me. Alone. I’ll explain everything, and we can?—”
“No.” Jaime’s voice was thick with tears, but resolute.
