Song Above: Better Now Etham ( who happens to my boyfriends best friend) check him out!

If you like this story then please check out my new story Me You And Winnie The Pooh! It needs all the love it can get! 😊🐻🍯

BRODY

I roll onto my side and groan as my sore face presses against the rough fabric I'm laying on. I pull the blankets that were around my shoulders closer to my face as the light pooled in through the blinds, rude awakening when all I wanted to do was sleep.

That was weird.

My bedroom had blackout curtains, it could be one of the sunniest days of the year and I wouldn't see a smidge of light.

Also, this blanket was way too soft to be my own.

Where the hell-

"Morning sleepyhead," A small voice I hadn't heard in a while says and I instantly fling my eyes open and jump to my feet, frantically scanning my surroundings. I almost knock over a table with a freshly brewed coffee on it. The antique furniture, the mixture of pale colors on the walls that looked as if they were out of a homeware magazine made my stomach twist.

Oh no, why was I here?

"Brody calm down," Golden blonde hair is what I see at first and then those big green eyes staring at me wide-eyed. If you'd asked me a few years ago about those eyes I would have told you they were the most beautiful I had seen.

That was until I had really looked into Ivys.

Oh, shit Ivy.

Yesterday's events came flooding back so fast it made me feel dizzy. Ivy, my dad, the drink I had brought and then it was all a blur. Oh no no no this couldn't be happening.  I stumbled and fell onto the sofa, letting out a frustrated groan and finding my head in my hands. I cursed to the high heavens.

If I was here then I'd royally fucked up, fucked up more than what I did yesterday.

"Brody baby, what's wrong?" She sank into the seat beside me, a gentle hand rubbing at the base of my back. Her hair brushed against my cheek and I could smell the cherry shampoo she'd used. I could understand why I might have driven here. She was familiar, warm, welcoming.

The girl I thought was my first love.

The girl I had lost my virginity to.

But then I remembered those freckles that scattered against that tiny button nose, the plump lips that I loved feeling against mine, that long brown hair that pooled out into waves against my white bedroom sheets.

Ivy.

My beautiful Ivy.

I couldn't have done this to her. I wouldn't have hurt her more than I already had.

Would I?

"Olivia, why am I here?" I shrugged her hand off my back and moved across the sofa so we were a safe distance apart. I saw her visibly sink but she hid it well with a white smile. 

Anyone else who didn't know her would think she didn't care but I knew her very well.

She chucked her hair over her shoulder and looked directly at me. "You came here last night drunk as per."

"We didn't you know..." I trailed. I prayed my worst nightmare wasn't true. I thought I was different now but had drink brought out the side of me I hated most about myself?

She looked into my eyes, her expression vacant and I wished I could read her mind right now. She took a moment to answer, she was toying with me, I knew she loved to watch me squirm. Then she said, "What do you think happened?"

I felt sick.

Could I have slept with Olivia?

Old me would have run to anything that gave me temporary relief from my thoughts. The old me would try to distract from the pain but I wasn't that person anymore. Ivy made sure of it.

"Please," I had to suck in a breath to gather myself. I thought I was going to throw up, "Please tell me we didn't,"

At the look of my expression, she scoffed in my face, "Jesus calm down Brody. No, we didn't, you kept going on about someone called Ivy?  She must be special to be on Brody Jackson's drunken lips,"

Oh, Ivy.

Even the sound of her name out loud caused my stomach to stir with butterflies and dread at the same time.

Olivia must have noticed my expression because she cocked a quizzical brow.

"Who is she?"

"She's just someone," She was more than someone.

She scoffed, "You can't lie to me Brody, I see you."

My lower lip quivered as the words came out of my mouth, I could feel my heart sinking, "She's someone I let slip."

"You were never very good at holding on," She said to herself more than to me and then she looked me in the eye and paused. I could hear the heaviness of her breath. I knew this wasn't easy for her, "You love her, don't you?"

All I could do was nod. My head hurt and span from the thoughts of last night and the drink I'd used to try to forget.

"God, she got you good huh," She smiled a sad smile and leaned back. She watched me carefully almost as if I were a wild animal that was going to erupt. I guess in some cases I was.

"She sure did," I quietly said to myself and rubbed at my jaw. I winced at the sharp pain that followed. I looked down at the dried blood on my hands and remembered.

I guess it was Jackson's genetics to pack a punch.

"I see you've been picking fights, you'll never grow up will you Brody?" She shook her head and rolled her eyes, "What did the guy do?"

The realization hit me square in the stomach.

I launched from my seat and desperately scanned the room, "Olivia where's your Mom?"

She jumped at my abruptness before giving me an odd look. I can't begin to imagine how crazy I looked right now but I needed to speak to Mona.

"She's just at the store, she'll be back soon," She paused, watching me, "Why do you need my mom?"

"I just need to speak to her," I rushed, I didn't have time to explain everything to Olivia and who knew she could be put in danger with the knowledge I knew.

My Dad's reaction last night answered the questions I had. Ivy was right and I'd been too bigheaded and stubborn to realize. I'd lost the one thing that mattered to me over pride.

How sad.

"Brody, what is going-"

The front door opening stopped Olivia in her tracks and Mona appeared carrying shopping bags. She paused her face a moment of surprise then confusion when she caught sight of me. Her eyes flickered from myself and Olivia. She looked at the couch, which was covered in blankets and I could see the cogs turning in her head.

She slowly placed the bags to the floor and then crossed her arms over her chest, "Brody, I didn't expect you to be here."

I would be a fool to think she wasn't aware of me and Olivia's past. I'd spent three years sneaking out of her bedroom and we weren't very inconspicuous.

Afterall Mona was my mom's childhood best friend.

"I needed to speak to you about something,"

"What happened to your face?" It was as if mother mode took over all rationality when she'd had a moment to register my face. She quickly moved across the room and opened a drawer. She began rummaging through it before pulling out a red first aid kit.

I instantly protested.

"No, it's fine, my face is fine, don't worry about it, "

She gave me a look that slammed my mouth shut, "Brody, your jaw is purple and you have a cut on your chin, if you don't, disinfect it you will get an infection so sit down and shut up for a second,"

I reluctantly complied but not without muttering a few curses under my breath. I sat on the edge of the couch and watched as Mona came and sat beside me. She looked up at Olivia and they had a silent conversation. Without a word, Olivia left the room and I watched her retreating frame.

"She still loves you, you know?" Mona's words brought my attention back to her and I watched as she unpacked the first aid kit, neatly placing the items next to her on the couch. I frowned at her words.

"That's not true,"

She looked up at me and seriousness washed over her expression, "Brody, I know my daughter. She's never got over you. I think it's the Jackson charm,"

"I forgot you'd know how it feels," I mumbled and awkwardly tried to dodge her rough hands as she dabbed my cut with disinfectant. It stung and hurt like a bitch. Maybe this was karma.

"That was a mistake," She huffed out a breath and changed the dirty cloth, "But I wouldn't expect you to understand, you were just a kid,"

If you thought my dad potentially killing my mom was the greatest deceit of all try my dad sleeping with my mom's best friend.

Yeah, shitty right.

"I make mistakes, I've made plenty but what you did to mom was just downright unforgivable,"

"I know," She looked down at her hands and hunched her shoulders in shame , "And I regret that I never got to tell her that I'm sorry,"

Her words stung worst than the cut on my chin because I regret that I never got to tell my mom that I was sorry.

There were so many things I wanted to apologize for.

Maybe I and Mona weren't so different.

"It's okay," I put my hand on her shoulder and she looked up at me almost in shock and relief at the same time. Maybe I'd hit my head too hard, I was behaving weird.

"What are you doing here Brody? Because it wasn't here to see Olivia," Her question caught me off guard. If I was honest I wasn't too sure why I was here either. My drunken mind had wanted answers, but I wasn't even sure what the questions were.

I leant back and rubbed at the back of my head, "Did you know my dad was married before my mom?"

She looked taken back, "How did you know about that?"

"The internet is such a wonderful creation," I said sarcastically.

"Your dad was married before your mom, yes, but if I'm right you read the article about her poisoning?"

"Her accidental poisoning," I empathised the word accidental and Mona rolled her eyes.

"You need to stop watching crime dramas on Netflix. I know where you are going with this and no, your father didn't kill Fiona. She was sick, very sick and not the physical kind, it was very upsetting for your father to go through, don't you go throwing those accusations at him Brody, he's been through a lot, especially with your mom,"

I almost wanted to laugh that even now after everything that has happened she protected him. I don't even know what I thought I'd get speaking to Mona. She would always hold a candle for my father.

"For someone who isn't guilty, he sure as hell acts as if he is guilty," I bristled and pointed towards my jaw, which caused her to gasp.

"Your father did that to you?"

"Your prince isn't as charming as you thought," I said bitterly and raised to my feet, straightening my dishevelled clothes and walking towards the front door.

"Where are you going?" She said, watching me wide-eyed and mouth slightly agape.

"There's someone I need to speak to,"