Chapter 76 Chapter Seventy-Two
Omniscient Narrative
\[Few minutes later\]
It’s been a few minutes and they didn't let go of him right away.
That was the first thing Demi noticed through the haze of tears and shaking breaths, no one rushed him.
No one tried to fix it or quiet him or tell him to calm down.
His siblings simply stayed, arms wrapped around him, solid and warm and real.
It felt safe.
Eventually, the sobs eased into quieter, broken breaths.
Demi wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt, his eyes swollen and burning.
Temilade was still stroking his hair in slow, rhythmic motions, the way she used to when he was small and afraid of thunderstorms.
"Okay now that we’ve gotten that out of the way," she said softly. "Talk to us now Demilade. I want you to start wherever you need to."
Demi swallowed hard.
Ayra sat cross-legged on the bed beside him, her eyes red-rimmed. "You don't have to explain everything," she added quickly. "Just what you want us to know about the whole Alex situation."
Demi nodded, staring down at his hands. They were trembling.
"I didn't plan to tell anyone tonight," he admitted hoarsely. "I just... I couldn't keep it in anymore, not after what just happened an hour ago."
Daniel leaned back against the wall, arms folded loosely, watching Demi with an expression that was gentle but intent. "You've been carrying this alone for a long time, haven't you?" His heart broke as he stared at his younger brother, he looked so lost, so confused, so sad, he looked like he was in pain and that hurt him deeply.
They were all supposed to protect him from this and now, just as fate would have it, he’s going through what all of them had to go through when it came to love.
Demi nodded again.
"I didn't think I could tell you," he said. "Any of you. I kept thinking... what if it changed how you see me?"
Angel let out a small, tearful laugh. "Oh, Demilade."
She reached over and took his hands in hers, squeezing gently. "You really think loving someone would make us love you less?"
His chest tightened.
"I didn't know," he whispered. "I was scared and it didn’t help that we’re Nigerians, we’re from a very homophobic country Angel, I thought you guys think like the others there."
Junior shifted closer, sitting on the edge of the bed across from him. "You know what scares us?" he said quietly. "Thinking you were hurting like this and didn't think we were safe people to come to."
That broke something open in Demi again.
Tears spilled over, silent this time, sliding down his cheeks as his sisters leaned in closer, pressing their foreheads to his, their own tears falling freely.
"We're sorry if we ever made you feel like you had to hide who you were," one of them said through a sob. "We never wanted that to happen, you’re our baby brother."
Demi shook his head. "You didn't. This was all me. I didn't want to be a disappointment and I was scared, I ended up judging you guys, I placed you amongst those closed minded people and that wasn’t fair, I didn’t even give you guys a chance and I’m sorry."
His brothers spoke at the same time.
"You could never be that."
"Not to us."
The words wrapped around him like a blanket.
They sat there for a long moment, breathing together, letting the weight of the confession settle.
The house was quiet around them, the rest of the world narrowed down to this room and these people who loved him without question.
After a while, Ayra cleared her throat gently. "You said you're in love with Alex."
Demi flinched at the name, pain flashing across his face.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "I am."
His sisters exchanged a look.
"And tonight?" one asked carefully. "That's what caused the fight right?"
Demi nodded.
"He said those words," Demi murmured.
"Those words that I’m pretty sure he didn't mean. I think. But it still-" He pressed a hand to his chest, breath hitching. "It still feels like he ripped my heart out."
Demi hesitated, then whispered it.
"You're dead to me."
The room went still as they heard their brother repeat the same words that caused him to look the way he looked right now
One of his sisters stared at him softly.
Another swore under her breath.
His brothers' jaws tightened, anger flickering briefly in their eyes before they reined it in.
"Oh, Demi," his oldest brother said, voice low. "That's not okay."
"I know he didn't mean it," Demi said quickly, instinctively defending him even now. "He was angry. I pushed him, I provoked him, I-I shouldn't have-"
His sister interrupted gently but firmly. "No. Stop."
Demi looked up, startled.
"You don't take responsibility for someone else choosing words like that," she said. "I don't care how angry he was."
Her voice broke on the last word, tears spilling again. "You didn't deserve that."
Demi's shoulders shook as the truth of it hit him.
"I loved him," he sobbed. "I loved him so much. And I tried so hard not to."
His sisters cried with him openly now, arms tightening around him.
One buried her face in his shoulder, her own sobs muffled against his hoodie.
His brothers stayed close, grounding hands on his back and shoulders.
"You're allowed to love," his youngest sister whispered fiercely. "You're allowed to be hurt."
Demi broke completely then.
All the restraint he'd learned over the years, every carefully measured smile, every swallowed confession, every quiet night spent loving someone who couldn't love him back, came undone.
He cried into his siblings' arms like he was coming apart at the seams.
They stayed.
They didn't rush him.
They cried with him.
And for the first time since the party, since the words that had chased him home, Demi felt something other than pain creeping in around the edges.
Relief.
Dani left relief
Because no matter what happened with Alex...
No matter how badly his heart hurt...
He was loved.
Unconditionally by his siblings.