The Age of The Masrui

“And now he’s gone.”

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“He’s your family too. The father of your son.”

"Who is being a dickhead to me right now and invalidating my feelings. You may of accepted Altair being emotionally unavailable to you and your children; acting like fear was not allowed but I will not let that happen to my son, or me. If I need my dad or my sister for support I will go to then for support and I will not let any damn Levi try and intimidate me."

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"No, not.. not completely, hm? We'll keep him alive. With memories."

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"Hey..." Asher hummed softly in greeting as he stepped into his brother hospital room. "Scarlett text mom saying she was leaving, so... just came to check on you. You OK?"

“You’re not marrying my son.” Celeste stated firmly then. “You tried to join the wrong family, you clearly don’t accept my son for who he is. And he deserves better then that.”

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“But it’s not - he’s not here.”

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“Tired.” Archer sighed deeply, reaching his hand out to his brother

"That is Archer's choice to make, not yours. This is a fight, a normal fight that we have had before and will be resolved this time as it always is." Scarlett countered firmly. "Though it is wonderful to see your true colours, Celeste. I'll remember it. Now, I'm leaving... I'm sure I'll see you soon."

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"Mom is seeing red, she's pissed at her." Asher mused as he walked to his bedside and took his hand. "I think we're lucky we aren't there to see whatever goes down when Scarlett gets there."

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"He is here..." She whispered, tapping his forehead softly, the heart soon after. "And here. As close as he can be."

“Pissed at her? Why is she pissed at her? Our fight is nothing to do with mom.”

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“My true colours? Because I refuse to let my son marry someone who’s willing to abandon him? Becsuse I want more for my son than someone who’s going to run away and make him feel bad and beg to come back? Because I know you’re just stringing him along because you don’t really love him?”

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Tobias just sniffled, shaking his head.

"I knew this 'let's bond' thing was a load of nonsense. Good luck trying to turn Archer against me. He knows the truth, I'm confident of that. Thanks for keeping an eye on Sam, I'll make sure we don't bother you again." Scarlett muttered, strapping the baby into the car seat before getting into the car and driving off.

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"Because your ill and she is like.. disappearing, that's why." Asher frowned. "It's shitty, a fight or not Scarlett shouldn't be doing that to you right now."

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"Just rest, sweetheart. You've had an emotional day, you must be exhausted. You won't be alone, I won't let you go for a second."

“I can’t give her what she needs, clearly. This scares her…”

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“I’ll be okay…”

"This scares everyone who loves you, things like this always will." Asher shrugged. "What is it you think she needs?"

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"You're right, but you do need to rest. Bad days need sleep."

“Clearly someone who’s not me… someone more emotionally in touch I guess. She’s always been too smart for me, all of that. I guess she’s more emotionally intelligent than me too.”

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“This is … hard.”

"Don't put yourself down." Asher frowned. "What actually happened, Archie? What is the fight actually about; I only have what mom told me from that text which.. like I said mom was seeing red so I don't know what was actually in that."

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"Yeah, yeah. It is. It is going to be for a little while."

“I should go to work - I need to go to work.”

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“I don’t wanna talk about it. I’m exhausted and she’s clearly gone so - what’s the point?”

"Ah, she loves you. She'll be back." Asher assured confidently. "If I didnt see her sit at your bedside after the crash like she did I wouldn't be sure but.. she loves you. She's not running away from you, she is running toward people she hasn't seen for a while right? Nothing wrong with that. We want to run to dad sometimes when things are hard. She'll be back, Archie. She'd of gone ages ago if she gave up easy, or didn't care."

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"No, no. You don't need to do anything right now." She soothed, tightening her arms around him. "Close your eyes, my love."

“It’s how I got through it before - I need to go to work.” Tobias sat up, rubbing at his face. “Work makes your mind go blank.”

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“Does your not-girlfriend have any more Levi hating pals that would be up for dating the Archie Levi?” Archer teased weakly, moving his hand to stifle a cough. “Gonna need a date to functions and stuff now she’s left.”

"She's left the damn state, not your relationship." Asher snorted, sitting on the bed next to his brother. "I don't know her like you do but.. if someone wanted to leave then your other half being in a coma is a better time to do it then a bit of pneumonia with a baby in tow. The issue is your both scared - that's the problem... your scared, she is. You deal with that differently."

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"I don't want autopilot, surviving Tobias." Tesni frowned. "I want you..  thd kids need you. Living you. Feeling you. Even if he is broken for a little while."

“You know my brains fucked - what if I lose it like I did before? I need to just turn it all off for a while… I don’t want to - I can’t think about this all the time.”

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“So that’s a no to the hate sex with an anti-Levi activist? Got it.” Archer nodded, laying back on his pillows. “Keeping the good stuff for yourself I see.”

"If you pose it then thats okay, thats fine - I'll be right by your side the whole time, fight until you are able to pull it back. Don't distance yourself Tobi - I - I don't know how to help you if you do that, do you understand?"

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"Nora isn't bad." Asher whispered.

“I mean she hates the core of who you are and your family but - “ Archer shrugged, grimacing at the movement. “You’re falling for her, aren’t you?” He whispered then

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“I don’t know what to do…”

"No, she sees the core of who I am despite the horrible things we have to do for work." Asher sighed before nodding slowly in response to the question. "I uh... yeah. Yeah, I think I am."

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"Stay with me..."

Tobias hesitated before nodding and moving to lay back down.

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“What do you love about her?”

"Do you mean things I love about how she sees me or things I love about how I see her?"

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Tesni wrapped her arms around him tightly once again, pulling the covers over their heads and touching her forehead to his as her eyes closed. "You're not alone, okay? I've got you."

“Both…”

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“I love you, princess.”

"I know. I love you too Tobi."

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Asher's face contorted in discomfort then before shaking his head. "I uh.... I don't know Archie. I - I don't want to. I mean, I vocalise it and then what happens?"

“I can see if she’s different from the last bitch and decide whether or not I have a hit put on her before she breaks your heart.”

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Tobias closed his eyes, breathing softly.

"I don't want any of you near her. I don't... want her being the next target for the family. I know we gave been shit to Aunt Marlowe from where she came from, I don't want Nora going through that or - or what Scarlett is facing with mom right now. It's easier for her to keep her seperate."

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Tesni was quiet then, matching her breathing to his.

“And you don’t see why that’s a problem? That you love a girl but you don’t want her near us?”