Okay, here's more angst, yippee! Lmao
I didn't know how to end it, so the last bit is pretty messy, oops-
-
Patchwork AU - Tearing (Briar's POV of Fraying)
Characters; Briar (Sall and Rye), Aries, Ingall, Akira, Revan, and Nico. Garvin mentioned.
Word Count;
TWs; Swearing, Mentions of suicide, Panic/anxiety attacks, Varying levels of dissociation, Self-blame, Blood, Mentions of character death, Mentions of arguing, messy writing, and definitely more-
Notes; Fraying but some of the aftermath from Briar's POV. No one is doing well, lmao
---
By the time Briar got the call from Aries, everyone at Nico's place was starting to get anxious again. Not that they'd been entirely calm in the first place, just... better than when Briar had first arrived.
As in, Nico had stopped sobbing and was now sitting beside them on the couch, fidgeting with her hands and staring at the floor, not fully present, Ingall had paused his cleaning spree and was now simply pacing, and Akira and Revan were currently avoiding looking at each other, with Akira retreating to the kitchen and Revan sitting on the other side of the living room, only really sticking in a common area due to Nico's pleading minutes before.
So, not great, but better than the mess from before. After they'd gotten everyone to this point, Briar had texted Aries, questioning about how Garvin was doing, but that had been a while ago now with no reply. So, when their phone rang, they picked up immediately.
"Hey, love, what's wrong? How's Garvin doin', he alright?"
The attention was on them in seconds, and Ingall even stopped pacing, staring and waiting for an answer. Briar tried to remain calm, but the fact that Aries had opted to call them instead of answering the prior question with a text didn't bode well. Aries' next words just made things worse.
"I- uh- I'm sorry, I... I need you to- to... Can you please bring everyone to the- the hospital?"
Anxiety rose in Briar's throat, but they swallowed it, keeping their tone even as they stood, holding out a hand to Nico and pulling him up as well when she took it.
"'Right, I can do that, can ya tell me what's goin' on?"
They gestured toward Revan and Ingall, silently telling them they all needed to be moving right now. Both of them looked very confused and Nico squeezed their hand anxiously, but Briar just started moving, leading everyone toward the door, gesturing to an equally confused Akira as they passed, all too aware of Aries' silence on the other end of the phone, only to very timidly be followed up with a shaky voice.
"I- Just... Can you come to the h-hospital?"
Briar took a deep breath, mentally preparing themself for the worst.
"Okay, we're on our way. See ya soon, love ya."
Aries didn't answer, but Briar wasn't worried about that at this point. They just hoped no one was dead.
They hung up and continued to the car, closing their eyes briefly and turning to the others before getting in, keeping their voice as steady as possible.
"'Kay, I need everyone ta get in, please. We need ta head to the hospital."
The panic was evident immediately, with Akira and Revan tensing, Ingall's eyes widening, and Nico flinching, nails suddenly digging into Briar's skin. They didn't mind, just squeezed back gently before carefully pulling apart from him and slipping into the drivers seat as the others scrambled to get in.
The trip was a fast one, and nearly silent, but as soon as they pulled into the parking lot, before they could even put it fully into park, Akira had thrown their door open and, moments later, they were all piling out and rushing to the hospital entrance where Aries was waiting, pacing.
Their partner himself looked like a mess, soaked in blood and clearly anxious and upset, dried tears still visible on his cheeks. Their anxiety rose, but they forced it down again, ignoring the light tug from Rye, a warning. They needed to stay calm. They needed to be support. Aries clearly needed it now, so they took a breath and asked the question they wished wasn't necessary.
“Are you okay? What happened?”
Aries paused, taking a moment to process before responding.
“The blood’s not mine. I—" His breath hitched and he started crying again, twisting Briar's heart as he did so. He looked so... broken. “I tried, I swear I tried. He— I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I tried, I really did. He just— He’d lost too much blood and I— I couldn’t— I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
The switch was immediate. Both in Briar themself and in those around them.
Ingall shook his head and stumbled back, panic taking over his whole expression as his breathing sped up and he began to shake. Nico stood completely still for a second before Aries' words seemed to click and her eyes flooded with tears, shortly followed by a cry of anguish as his body seemed to give out and they toppled forward, thankfully caught by Revan who took a few steps forward to grab them before they hit the ground, only to slowly lower them both to the ground, expression blank and distant as he mindlessly pulled Nico closer.
And Akira seemed to take the longest to actually understand what Aries was saying, seeming to come to the conclusion at about the same time as Briar did.
Garvin was dead, almost certainly due to suicide.
They felt Sall jump forward, defensive at dealing with another death due to suicide and it took everything in their power to keep control, even as they felt themself start to slip.
Not here. Not now.
"Shit." They didn't even realize they'd said the word out loud, blinking rapidly and digging their nail into the star-shaped scar on their wrist, grounding themself. They spoke carefully, under their breath so no one else would hear. "I got it, I fuckin' got it, 's fine."
Sall protested internally, but, as Briar's eyes fell back on Aries, shaking, bloody, and unsteady, they silenced Sall and forced their feet to move, stepping forward and gently grabbing Aries, pulling him into a loose hug and ignoring the metallic scent of blood as they did so.
"This ain't your fault, love."
They were well aware Aries wouldn't believe that for a second, but it was all they could think to say in the moment.
The commotion from the others was also cause for concern, however, and while still holding Aries, Briar took note of the others, biting their tongue as they tried to collect their thoughts.
Apparently, while they were collecting themself, Akira had run off, which probably wasn't good. Nico and Revan were still on the ground, with Nico still sobbing and Revan staring straight ahead with a blank expression. Ingall had doubled over, struggling to breathe with tears streaming down his cheeks.
And Briar only had themself, which wasn't nearly enough to help everyone.
Which left the option of asking for help from the hospital staff, which wouldn't be too hard considering several people had already taken notice of the chaos unfolding, but would also run the risk of further triggering Aries and likely also further triggering Ingall.
They closed their eyes again, sucking in air between their teeth, gently running their fingers through Aries' hair in hopes of both grounding themself and maybe providing an ounce of comfort to their boyfriend.
Eventually they came to a simple conclusion; they couldn't handle this on their own. Akira was gone, Aries, Nico, and Ingall were all a mess and probably wouldn't be calming down any time soo, and Revan still looked barely present.
So, without letting go of Aries, Briar dug their phone back out from their pocket and shot a quick text to one of the few people they trusted to be able to handle this situation calmly, Kostas.
'Could you come to the hospital please, I need help.' They paused, thinking for a moment before adding, 'We lost Garvin.'
Kostas responded quickly.
'I'm on my way.'
They nodded to themself and put their phone away again.
Realistically, they were aware that nothing would be okay, at least not for a very long time, they just hoped they could manage to keep everyone else alive, and, at the moment, that alone felt like it might be a pretty big challenge.
Fall Month: 1 
Day 
Heavy Rain
