Chapter Text
Neither Dennis nor Robby had talked about what had happened in the staff room a couple of days ago, but whatever happened there still lingered in the air. Whether it was a simple brush of the hand while one of them was cooking, or a small grin across a gurney, they were both playing on what had happened and were both clearly enjoying the aftermath of it. But, as with everything, life gets in the way.
Dennis was at home, enjoying his day off by baking some blueberry muffins and playing on his PlayStation, both of which he could rarely do with Matteo next to him as you always had to keep a pretty close eye on him. So, he naturally enjoyed the time alone and away from the harsh world of civilization and responsibility.
After he had cleared up all of the plates and pans from breakfast, he made a start on cleaning the house up a bit. He felt bad for Robby with them not only intruding on his home, but also Matteo leaving toys and books everywhere as he was completely unaware of being clean and tidy. It annoyed Dennis at the best of times, so he dreaded to think what Robby thought of it all
He moved up to their bedroom and started to take the sheets off the bed and place them in a pile ready to put them in the washing machine. He loved the feeling of freshly washed sheets and assumed that Robby did too by the amount he saw him washing his own. That was the weird thing about living with your boss - you ended up knowing the most weird facts about what they do with their day to day life.
Within fifteen minutes, he had put a washing load on and was lying on the sofa scrolling on his phone. Although the idea of the day off seemed really nice, he often got restless when he was away from the ER and found himself wondering what they were up to there. He laughed to himself thinking about the time he told Javadi about this feeling and she told him he had 'Stockholm syndrome' in her classic Javadi fashion.
He continued to lie on the sofa, with his eyes steadily drooping in and out and the soft feeling of sleep beckoning his eyes. He felt like he had only been asleep for seconds when he was jolted awake by his phone ringing. He fell off the side of the sofa in shock, banging his elbow on the coffee table and cursing in pain before he finally answered his phone.
"Uh, hello?" He murmured as he rubbed his elbow.
"Hi, is this Mr Whitaker? It’s Chartiers Valley Primary School speaking.." A voice replied on the other end of the phone.
Dennis' heart sunk into his chest, "Yes, that's me. Is everything okay?"
"Well, we're going to need you to come and pick Matteo up. He had a nasty fall at break and hit his head, which was bleeding a lot at first but the school nurse patched him up." The person explained, with Dennis' heart racing more and more with each word. He immediately stood up and ran towards the door to put his shoes on, his mind clouded with worry.
"I'll be right there. Tell him I'll be right there, please." Dennis pleaded, already halfway out of the door. As he was getting into the car, he quickly texted Robby to tell him what happened in case they needed to drive in to the ER. He really hoped that wouldn't be the case, but Robby replied immediately telling Dennis to keep him updated. Thank god Robby had rode his motorbike in today, else Dennis wouldn't have had the car and would've had to walk.
There was very little traffic on the road as Dennis raced towards the school, pulling up manically outside the front gates and half-running, half-walking inside to the reception.
"I just got a call to pick up Matteo Whitaker?" He told the receptionist before he had even reached the desk, the panic surging through his veins. What if Matteo was really hurt?
She nodded and headed around the back of the reception area and into the medical room, from where he heard voices for a couple of seconds before she reappeared holding Matteo's hand. He was crying as she led him around to Dennis, who crouched down in front of him and held him tightly; his breathing finally slowing now that he had him back. He shook him slightly as he turned him around to check the wound on the back of his head. It didn't look too deep but there was still some blood.
While Dennis was still checking Matteo's head, another lady walked towards them from around the corner.
"Mr Whitaker? Hi, yes, I'm the Principle here at Chartiers. I don’t believe we've met before, no?" She asked, as she shook Dennis' hand firmly and smiled at him. He half smiled back.
"Uh, no, I don’t think we have." He replied as he held tightly onto Matteo's hand, never wanting to let go.
"I just wanted to quickly talk to you about what happened today, I was hoping perhaps you and Matteo could maybe have a talk at home." She continued.
Dennis looked down at Matteo, who had hung his head slightly while he was still crying.
"The incident happened because Matteo decided to climb up the wall and onto the school roof, you see. The member of staff on duty asked him to get down repeatedly and it wasn't until we threatened to call you that he would get down, from where he fell as he was scaling the pole down." The principle explained, while Matteo sniffled next to Dennis.
Dennis sighed, "Oh god, Matteo. How many times have I told you not to do things like this?"
Matteo pulled his hand away and faced the other direction, not answering Dennis.
"I'm really sorry. It won’t happen again, I can promise you." Dennis said, shooting the principal with an apologetic look. She nodded to them as she said goodbye, with Dennis rubbing the back of his head in frustration. How could Matteo be so stupid?
He grabbed Matteo's hand again as they walked back to the car in silence, the only sound being Matteo still crying gently. Dennis drove them back in silence, unsure of how to even approach the situation. He wanted to calm down first, realising he was feeling too angry right now to even have this conversation, but he knew he needed to check Matteo's wound out as quickly as possible.
As soon as they were back inside, he made Matteo sit on the counter as he removed the compress they had put on his head to really get a good look at the wound and decipher how deep it was. He brushed Matteo's curls away in silence as he shone a light into the cut, peering into the lake of crimson that scared him endlessly.
From what he could see, the cut wasn't too deep and they wouldn't have to go to the ER unless the rupture widened, which had him feeling more relieved than before. He also made sure to check that the cuts on his knees and elbows were all okay before he was sure that his brother wasn't going to drop dead any second. It was always the least expected things that snuck through the cracks.
He put his hands on the counter and leaned forward, closing his eyes and breathing out deeply.
"Are you angry?" Matteo asked quietly.
Dennis waited for a moment before he responded.
"I'm not angry. You just scared me, Matteo."
Matteo looked away and began to cry again, clearly feeling sorry for himself. Dennis wasn't going to let him get off that easy with just a few crocodile tears.
"I've told you so many times not to be bouncing around and climbing on things, but you never listen. Now you can see why I warned you about it." Dennis continues, wanting to make the message clear.
"You could've really hurt yourself from that fall, Matteo. And, you didn’t listen to the teachers when they told you to get down."
"I'm sorry, I won't do it again. I promise." Matteo said, making those blue puppy eyes go wider and looking deep into Dennis' soul, attempting to distract him.
"You always promise this." Dennis replied.
"But I really promise. I'm hurt so I don’t want to do it again." Matteo pleaded. Dennis shook his head.
"I'm taking the iPad for a week, Matteo. I need to be really sure that this isn't going to happen again."
Matteo really started to cry then, with Dennis not really knowing what to do in this situation. He was used to being the one to comfort his brother, not make him cry. But he was sure his decision was the right one - if Matteo fell again who knew what could happen, it was too dangerous.
As Matteo continued to cry, Dennis pulled him off the counter and started him in the direction of the stairs.
"I think you should go upstairs for a bit, Matteo. Maybe have a nap." He said, as he continued to lead Matteo up the stairs and into their room, where he left him to it. He needed some time to himself after all of the drama. Of course this would happen on his only day off.
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It wasn't until a couple of hours later that Robby came in through the front door, immediately searching for Dennis to ask about what happened with Matteo in detail. He strolled into the living room and sat down on the sofa next to Dennis, his eyes searching to see how he was feeling.
"I took him up to bed early. Turns out he climbed on the school roof and refused to come down. When he eventually did, he fell right off and hit his head." Dennis sighed, with Robby shaking his head in response.
"It's a very Matteo thing to do." Robby replied, earning a laugh from Dennis.
"Yeah, well, he wasn't best pleased when I told him he couldn't have his iPad for a week." Dennis continued, standing up from his seat on the sofa and heading towards the kitchen to eat some strawberries from the fridge.
"How was your day anyway" Dennis asked, wanting to shine some attention on Robby instead.
"Ahh, just an average day at the Pitt. A couple of car incidents, a couple of minor incidents. I'm sure you can imagine." Robby muttered as he flicked the TV onto the motorbike channel, with his favourite show where they repair old classic motorbikes popping up for him to watch.
"I really can imagine." Dennis laughed as he closed the fridge. He thought he should really go and check in on Matteo now that it had been a couple of hours.
"I think I'm gonna go up and check on Matteo, maybe get an early night before tomorrow." Dennis told Robby as he headed towards the stairs.
"Goodnight." Robby shouted from the living room, with Dennis smiling to himself as he headed upstairs.
He lingers outside the bedroom door for a moment before pushing it open, the tension from earlier still sitting heavy in his chest. Matteo is already in bed, turned away, small and stubborn in the way only kids can be after they’ve been upset.
For a second, Dennis just stands there, unsure. Then he crosses the room quietly and sits on the edge of the bed, the mattress dipping under his weight.
“I’m sorry, I just want you to be safe” he murmurs, softer than before.
Matteo doesn’t answer, but he doesn’t pull away either. That’s enough for him.
Dennis leans down and wraps his arms around him, pulling him in carefully, like he might break. After a beat, Matteo gives in, arms slipping around Dennis’s middle, face pressed into his shirt. The anger fades quickly like that, replaced with something smaller. Something tired.
Dennis presses a hand to the back of his head, holding him there for just a moment longer than necessary.
“Goodnight, buddy.”
This time, Matteo mumbles it back.