Jonas and Eli stared each other down, making it uncomfortable for the people in the room. They waited for a full minute and Eli received a text. "They made it to their car." He said quietly.

Jonas sighed and relaxed a little. Before anyone could say anything Eli ran forward and jumped into Jonas' arms and a large sob sounded from Eli.

Jonas will always remember the time he caught his father hitting Eli as a toddler. He always thanked whatever god was out there that Eli never remembered that moment. It's not a memory anyone wants their little brother to hold. He even did well at hiding the fact that their father beat him, shielding Eli, so he lived happily. What he couldn't block Eli from was the disinterest from his parents. They hardly looked at either child unless they could use them to climb the ladder.

Eli felt that Jonas was more of a father figure even though he was only 2 years older than him. Jonas was the one who really took care of Eli since he was a child. He remembered the clumsy 7 year old Jonas learning how to make a sandwich for his lunch box, or teaching Eli how to dress himself. He would make sure Eli was already ready for school, and would walk him back home every day. He made sure he ate and finished his homework every day. He would sit down and tutor him for hours, and then stay up late at night to finish his own homework.

Jonas was the one who taught him from how to tie his shoes and to how to knot a tie for homecoming. He taught him how to act around people and respect others, despite being a socialite. He demonstrated the importance of being humble, how to work hard at any job, and to treat the job seriously. Jonas did everything he could to show Eli how to be a man, when he himself was trying to figure it out on his own.

Although he had enormous pressure on his shoulders, he would never let Eli see it. He would only show how supportive he was. When Eli found his love for piano at the age of 10, Jonas scoured the internet to find a decent piano instructor and convinced his parents to hire them. He would attend every concert he had, even missing his own events or practices. Even when he was the Wolf, he would sneak in and watch him.

He only started missing concerts when he was locked in the basement overnight, and that became more frequent in the last year. But now, he had to stay far away, only going to a couple shows since the one at the cafe.

For Eli, his big brother was everything. He was his best friend, his protector, and his mentor. He only wanted to impress his big brother, unaware of the many sacrifices or pain Jonas endured just to keep him safe.

Four years ago, a 12 year old Eli snuck into Jonas' room to tell him a secret. He was gay, no question about it. He adored Jonas and never wanted to keep secrets from him. His sexual awakening was something he wanted to be proud of. He prepared himself for Jonas to ask questions, already knowing in his young heart that his brother would not be disgusted with him. Although he knew Elites do not like anything different, he never falter with Jonas and told him everything. Jonas emulated a perfect Elite on the outside, but Eli knew that he would never compromise him for the name of 'Elite'.

He remembered the night being dark, but Jonas always had a small lamp near the bed that illuminated the room. He busted through Jonas' room with a cheer, being overly obnoxious and loud. He accidently dropped one of Jonas's trophies making a loud bang that echoed through the house. He didn't think much about it because he was proud and confident of his discovery. He wanted nothing more than to share it with the person he admired the most.

He didn't notice Jonas flinching with the loud noise, and the desperate eyes looking towards the entrance of his room. But Eli did noticed the building unbridled fear in Jonas' eyes as Eli started to explain what he was experiencing and his sexuality.

Although Jonas' reaction was unexpected, Eli was resolute in telling him the truth. However, before he could finish his confession Jonas clamped a hand down over his mouth. He shook his head and made a shushing motion. Eli nodded and stilled his words, his heart pounding. He saw Jonas glaring at the door, strained his ears listened carefully. They both jumped when they heard heavy footsteps approaching.

With a trembling voice, he told Eli he loved him and was proud of him. But he had tears in his eyes when he begged Eli to never speak those words in this house. To keep it quiet and inside his heart.

He pushed him into the closet, instructing him to close his eyes and cover his eyes. Eli gave him a perplexed look but still covered his ears. Jonas gave him a sad smile that he never seen before and shut the door right when their father came in with a fire in his eyes. Eli did promise to keep to cover his ears and close his eyes, but he couldn't help but to disobey. He peered out of the closet through a small crack.

He let out a small gasp when he Jonas made a snide remark, which was just enough to make their father lose reason. From the small space in the closet, Eli watched his father become a monster and hit his defenseless brother. A horrible feeling hit him in the gut as he noticed that his brother moved with the punches and guarded himself as if he was used to this scene. A horrible feeling of nausea struck him when he saw Jonas' frightened eyes before being dragged away.

It was the first time he heard his big brother sound terrified, begging not to go to the basement again. Eli was horrified and couldn't move from his spot. He stayed frozen watching the whole exchange through a crack in the door and stayed in the same place until morning. He didn't leave until Jonas came stumbling back into the room in the late morning with a blank and dull look in his eyes. Eli remember bursting through the closet and crying into Jonas' chest. It was the first time he saw Jonas cry too, begging Eli to forgive him for seeing the abuse.

After that, Eli and Jonas created their silent communication so they can check on each other was needed, but he also learned the patterns and saw how Jonas deflected them. Their system worked for a couple of years, but Jonas was still thrown in the basement and Eli was neglected. Eli would always wait in Jonas' room when it was time to be let out, and would comfort him.

However, last year changed everything. Their system was broken because Jonas became the Wolf, losing control of his anger and his facade. It became extremely difficult for Jonas and would be locked in the basement for days sometimes. Each time he would emerge from the darkness, looking more hollow and broken than before. It became bad enough that Eli begged Jonas to run away together and leave.

That was when Jonas explained that he was he wanted custody of Eli and had been saving money for the both of them. So they started to fight back in their own way and gain evidence of their parents neglect, setting up secret cameras throughout their house that automatically uploaded videos to a secure cloud. They knew they would never succeed without concrete evidence and Clark Spencer would try every means to keep them under his thumb.

However, St. Vincent's disrupted every plan they came up with, and decided to jump Jonas at the end of his junior year. He lost control and hurt many socialites. When his father heard about this, he made a scene at the gym and kicked him out of the house. He never bothered to ask about the injuries he sustained, only caring about the impression it made on their family.

Jonas made it a point to still stop by as a 'peace offering' after being kicked out, but was really an attempt to agitate his father. He basically asked for another beating to reset the clock and keep Eli safe in that dangerous house by himself.

He found other ways to take care of Eli, knowing that their parents wouldn't bother. He got Eli a credit card, and would give him allowance from his paychecks, making sure he could still eat and buy necessities. He would text him from time to time to ensure that he was doing ok, but had to do it discreetly and scarcely in case his father saw his phone bills and noticed the new number.

Because Eli was not allowed near Jonas, he could not have the conversations they used to. Being seperated like this for the brothers was something that was difficult on both ends. They had always been together, and separating for so long broke their hearts. He found that he missed listening to Jonas' voice, his tutoring sessions, and his guidance. He missed his big brother.

But worst of all, they had to act like they hated each other to keep each other safe from their father and St. Vincent's. If either found out that Eli and Jonas were still close, all hell would break loose. He wished for nothing but a normal life and would rather struggle financially as long as he just had Jonas in his life.

Eli knew that they their separation would be more permanent when Jonas instigated a large fight with their father. He knew Jonas did this to hit the reset on their father's aggression and hoped that they extend the calm period a little longer than usual. Jonas spent two days in the basement and was let out just before school at Hawkings started, making him unable to move into the dorms until the first day of school.

They were both relieved when their father announced that he will be traveling for a year. That allowed them a period where they can focus on getting everything ready for a custody battle, deciding to wait until Jonas was 18 to give them a better fighting chance. But their father came back early unexpectedly and Eli refused to let Jonas know about it. He couldn't watch his brother hurting again. He thought he could control his father's anger and pacify it, much like Jonas used to, but the boiling point had already been hit.

He never knew that his father hit him as a toddler or that his brother saved him from that fate. He never knew the pain that Jonas when through over the years until now. But recently, his father lost control and hit Eli a few times, punching his lip and throwing him across the room. He was petrified and his frantic eyes found his mother who was watching with a blank face. He thought that she may stop him, but she did nothing but turn around and walked away.

He took a few more hits to the chest and body and was left sprawled on the floor. His father offered no apologies or empathy. He only told him to clean up the mess and go to his room. That moment broke him because he finally understood a fraction of what Jonas endured and swore to start shielding his brother the best he could.

But even now, he was helpless and he had to watch with an impassive face when his father struck Jonas just now.

He was useless.