Dennis clung to Colin as if he was afraid the other boy was going to disappear. His fists curled into the back of his brother's coat, hanging on to him for dear life. He never thought he would get to see his brother again, let alone hug him. Most of his dreams about Colin ended bloody and violent. A small part of him worried that that was what this was, but it felt far too real to just be a figment of his imagination. Colin was too whole, too solid, too vivid to possibly be fake. His heart was twisting in his chest, writhing behind his rib cage as he tried to come to terms with something his doctors had pushed him to reject. That Colin was alive. Dennis was drowning in it.
"Don't go." Dennis pleaded, voice rough with tears. "Don't go, if you end up back there, don't go. Colin. Don't. You could've stayed- should've stayed, Colin. I looked and you were gone and then you just weren't-" He wasn't above begging. He needed his brother, had always needed his brother. Even now, he felt his absence keenly. He had made great strides since his death, but there was always and would always be something missing without Colin. It was a while before the tears slowed and Dennis' form stopped it's shaking. The cameras crushed between them began to grow uncomfortable, but Dennis was reluctant to pull away. When Colin began to, Dennis resisted for a moment, holding on tighter before letting go. With the reassuring press of Colin's hands to his shoulders, he was able to focus and not panic that he would lose him again.
Eaten. When had he eaten last? Dennis had gotten better with that. He had a schedule that he stuck to. That was another thing that helped him cope. Schedules and routine. "Um." he mumbled, shrugging his shoulders before shaking his head. His stomach was too twisted up for food. "M'not hungry." Dennis replied, unable to look away from his brother. His face was streaked with tears, glasses slightly crooked which led to him pushing them up his nose. "You're really real Colin?" he asked again, in the same soft tone he always used when he came to his brother with things when they were kids. Except instead of asking Colin if there was a monster under his bed, he was asking him if he was actually there. Alive and breathing and whole for Dennis to have again. Dennis brought a hand up to wrap gently around his brother's wrist, needing to hold on to something.