Chapter Text
Nash wakes up to the sound of his alarm, he snoozes it because it's Saturday, Thank God. He lays in for about an hour more before getting up to actually do something with his day. He was half way through eating breakfast at their kitchen table when his roommate and work colleague Jack left his room in nothing but underwear, introducing his overnight partner who was following behind him, fully clothed as he made an embarrassed dash for the door.
"Really, Jack? That's the fourth one this month, mate" he pointed out to his friends as he shrugged and poured a cup of coffee for himself, "what? can't I have any fun?" He playfully replied as he brought the mug to his lips.
Nash snorted before his equally playful comment was interrupted by his phone ringing.
Caller ID: Mum.
Weird, he thought. His Mum hardly ever calls on weekends, and the kids use the the landline to call him, so what could this be about? He presses the green button as he stands up from his seat and puts the device to his ear.
"Hello, Mum. What's going on?" He asks, but is met with silence. A feeling of dread begins to build in his gut, which quickly turns into panic when he hears the small sniffling sobs of his little sister, "Nash? Can you come home?" She manages to get out despite her distress.
Nash's heart sinks into his stomach, something is wrong, really wrong.
"Tabby? What's wrong? Why have you got Mum's phone?" He asks her, trying his best to put on a calm voice so he wouldn't frighten her. "She didn't wake up, Tate went to wake her this morning but she isn't waking up, he gave me her phone and told me to call you" she sobbed louder now, Nash was grabbing his jacket and wallet, Jack looked on in confusion.
"Okay, okay, that's fine. Now, where is everyone? What're they doing?" He probably shouldn't be asking the 11 year old so many questions, but he needs to know if the others are okay. "Tate and Emmett are on the landline to an ambulance, Basil and Felix are next to me on the couch" she replies with a shaky voice, she's trying really hard to be strong, he can tell. In the background he can hear his youngest brother also crying, which kills him inside
"Okay, good. That's good, Tabby. I'm on my way right now, stay in the house, tell Tate and Emmett to stay on the landline, tell Basil to meet the ambulance when it arrives. You and Felix stay on the couch, when the ambulance shows up you listen to what the medics tell you, okay?" He's out the door, he can hear Jack calling after him but he doesn't stop to explain, he's too focused on his siblings right now.
Tabby sniffs, "okay, Nash. Please hurry, we're scared" she tells her brother, as she starts to sob again. "I know, sissy, I know. I'll be there very soon."
It's about a 40 minute walk to the house from his apartment building. He books it down the streets of London, remaining on the phone the entire time, he was passed between his youngest siblings back and forth. Felix was scared like everyone else, but didn't know exactly what was going on, he only hang up when he saw the street the house was on, and he heard the sirens.
When he got to the house, his mother was being loaded into the ambulance, in a body bag. She's gone, he thought, she's actually gone. He was stopped by a paramedic asking who he was, "I'm her oldest son, where are the kids? They didn't see her, did they?" He asks, almost frantically.
The paramedic explained that they were put into another bedroom before their mother was moved, she was declared dead upon arrival. They don't know exactly why, but signs point towards a heart attack.
Nash nodded, trying to keep his composure before going inside to see his siblings. It was Tate's room they were put in, all of them huddled on his bed apart from Basil who was sat at Tate's desk with the chair turned to face them. When Nash entered the room Tabby was first to run for a hug, then Felix, then Tate and Emmett. Basil gave a small wave because they didn't like hugs.
"Okay, I spoke to the medics outside, they're gonna take Mum to the hospital so they can find out what happened to her" he explained, his siblings drew back from the group hug, the air was heavy with a dreadful question, a question which Basil dared to ask.
"Is she dead?" The others looked at them in shock, apart from Tate, oh God, Tate. He found her, he already knew. Nash couldn't find it in himself to lie, so he took a deep, shaky breath, and nodded. "Yeah, she is. I'm so sorry, guys."