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He was okay.
He knew he was.
Kal knew he was, so why did his head hurt so much? Why was his chest restricting him? It reminded him of when the GCI kept taking control of him against his will. That did not make his panicking better; in fact, it just made it worse. He clutched at the bike railing. Dru had already gone home. He said he didn’t want to wait for Kal because he took too long talking to Tim and the others.
Kal tried to shake his head. As his fists balled, one hand went to his head, grabbing at his hair. No. He won't let them get to him.
He promised.
When he was putting his bike in the backyard. He noticed that there was laughter coming from inside the house. Ugh, did Dru invite Chloe again? Ever since the GCI got taken down, it's as if she still held Kal's actions against him! They were literally both under control. It wasn't fair. Why did Dru get everything?
Kal scoffed as he went in the living room to see Dru and Chloe animatedly chatting to each other. The conversation died down when he entered. His thoughts supplied him with more ideas. They're probably talking about you.
“Oh? Don't let my presence stop you from flirting, Dru—" Kal said, passive-aggressively, to Dru with a faked smirk. Dru, not noticing Kal's tone, groaned good-naturedly. “Ugh, Kal! I told you we’re just friends—“ Chloe laughed when Dru spoke. She’s such an irritating ditz (a voice supplied in his head that sounded suspiciously like Regan).
“Sure, Dru, just keep it short, yeah? I'm not covering for you again. Mum and Dad don't even know she’s home—“ Kal said in a mock tease as he dashed away while biting into an apple. Mhm, Dadi sure was right about them being in season.
Kal went up to his and Dru's shared bedroom and closed the door carefully. He might have been angry, but he wasn’t risking his life by slamming his door.
That's when he could finally let loose.
Damn them—the headache got stronger. He’d tried ignoring it, but it wasn’t working. It hurts. They're going to control him again. Then he’d hurt Chloe and Dru. And they wouldn’t be able to do anything. Kal didn’t want to be a zombified sleeper agent. He felt his toothache. Why was it aching? The implants were supposed to be removed—?!
Kal dashed to the bathroom and looked in his mouth. The implants weren’t there, so why did he feel like they were still there?
Kal felt a bit dizzy, and he gripped the sink’s edge. Yeah, he should probably tell Dru. If he wallowed in his anger any longer, he'd do something he regrets. Besides, Dru can flirt with Chloe later.
"Dru! Code blue—“ Dru had made Kal remember a few codes (the one time it came in handy, actually) in case they were in trouble. At the time, Kal called Drew paranoid.
Was this karma or something?
Dru didn’t reply; he probably didn’t hear Kal call out, probably too busy with his girlfriend—the ringing in Kal's head intensified as he let out a groan of pain.
Where the hell is Dru?
Kal slumped to the floor slightly as he curled up slightly. His head felt like it weighed a hundred tonnes, and that voice won't. Stop. Talking!
Your brother abandoned you again.
You're the better twin.
Everybody loved you. Now all the attention is on Dru.
You're all alone.
Again.
“Shut up—“ Kal gasped out as he slammed his palm into the sink counter as he got up. “Shut up, SHUT UP—“ That sound ought to bring Dru here.
Dru had heard Kal yell code blue, but Chloe just kept talking. He didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of his crush!
But then he heard a bang upstairs, and that's when he knew he had to go. He hurriedly ushered Chloe out of here, who was asking too many questions. After rudely closing the door on her face (sorry, Chloe), he ran up the stairs.
Dru burst into their shared bathroom and saw Kal stumbling as he held himself up on the sink counter. His chest was rapidly moving; he had a grimace of pain and slight anger on his face. Which scared Dru a bit, It reminded him of the expression when Kal was running after him. Dru shook his head; it was not the best time for him to get paranoid.
“Finally—“ Kal groaned with a laugh, then he saw the expression on Dru’s face. And that scared look coming from his own brother? That hurt. Kal was trying to. He was! So why does Dru still look at him like that!?
"You, Dru, really?" Kal looked up at Dru with a ashamed but angry expression. Dru snapped out of his shocked stupor and put Kal's arm around his shoulder as he helped him to his bed. As Kal sat down, he was staring daggers into the floor as Dru went back to the bathroom to get some medicine for Kal's headache.
When Dru came back and sat next to his brother awkwardly, he handed Kal his water bottle and the headache medicine. Kal worldlessly took them out of his hand and drank the pills down. He then proceeded to flop down on the bed as he groaned, "God, when will these stop? ”.
Dru tried to speak up. "When did they start this time?” He asked as if he were used to Kal complaining (he was). Kal's reply wasn't helpful to Dru, as he said, "Oh, so now you care?” Sarcastically.
“Listen, I can't help it if you're being like that again, Kal."
"What, you don't like me when I'm angry, Dru?" Kal sat up with a scowl. “Do I scare you?” He came up angrily to his brother's face.
Dru faced his brother head on, albeit a bit scared; Kal was, after all, still the elder one (by 3 minutes), so Dru had some respect for him.
“What do you think, Kal?" Dru looked at Kal a bit unimpressed.
“Fuck you, dru—“ Kal shoulder-checked Dru as he tried to leave the room. Dru quickly caught Kal's hand. “Kal, wait, don't—" Kal quickly ripped his hand from Dru as he turned around angrily. "Don't touch me—“ he spat with a growl. Dru fought the urge to shiver; he looked up at his brother with pleading eyes. “Kal, please." He knew Kal was weak for that look. It worked even when he was under control back then in the tunnels.
Kal looked back at Dru's face as he softened with a grunt of annoyance. How was he still able to use that look? They were 15, for God's sake! He turned around as he let Door close the door; they sat next to each other on Kal's bed. Waiting.
“Want to tell me what's going on, Kal?" Dru looked tired; God kal was such a burden on Dru. He always did weigh Dru down. Kal was honestly just glad he was the one that was implanted and not Dru; he wouldn’t have been able to bare it—
“Earth to Kalpen Sharma?" Dru waved his hand in front of Kal's face, who was zoned out. That scared Dru when Kal zoned out; it looked like he was in control.
Kal snapped out of it and hadn't realised he’d hiked up his legs onto the bed or that he was fiddling with his blanket; he looked up at Dru, who looked on the verge of genuinely panicking.
“Dru—?” He replied back so that Dru would stop worrying. “You alright?” Kal always dropped everything when it came to his brother, even his own resentment towards himself.
Dru looked at Kal, confused, then got a bit angry. Why did Kal never worry about himself? It was making Dru worry and adding even more to his paranoia. He knew Kal meant well, but he couldn't bare seeing his brother like this.
Unexpectedly, Dru's hand shot out to Kal's collar. “Why don't you care, huh!?” Dru said with a knot in his throat as he looked at his brother through slightly teary eyes. “You were literally just pissed a minute ago, but you drop it like a hat when it comes to me. Why? Why when you should be taking care of yourself, Kal?" Dru emphasised the point with a shake.
“Sure, I get paranoid as hell. Sure, I get anxiety attacks every now and then, but it doesn’t mean I can't handle it. It doesn’t mean I can't handle you, Kal." Dru looked at Kal, searching in his eyes for an answer.
“You shouldn’t have to handle me,” Kal muttered automatically.
“…I’m the older one. I should’ve handled it myself. I always do—“ Kal looked down slightly ashamed.
"I'm too tired of this off-and-on thing, Kal. We made a truce, didn't we?” Dru looked up at his brother. “You have my back; I should have yours," he gently reminded Kal.
“I know that! I just—" Kals' irritability shot up before he took a deep breath and spoke. "It's just hard to.”
Dru laid his head on his brother’s shoulder. "Tell me about it," Dru laughed to himself.
"Listen, Kal, you've got to let me in. You aren't a burden; we both know better than to call ourselves that," Dru added on. Kal ran his hand through Dru's hair to calm himself a bit; Dru was always the one that was better with emotions anyway.
Kal let himself smile slightly; Dru always used to lie on him on long car rides because Kal, despite being a 7-year-old, stubbornly didn’t want his brother to have his back hurt.
Dru spoke up. “Truce?”
Kal looked down with a groan. “Fine truce."
Dru laughed as he continued, “But seriously this time, don't hide stuff, yeah?” Dru had that worried tone again.
“Yes, Mum—" Kal replied teasingly.
“Oi—“
The twins knew that there was a lot of healing on the way; hell, everyone in this town needed therapy.
But thank god that twin brothers were always at each other’s backs.