Chapter Quote:
"Let go of the past, but keep the lessons it taught you."
~Chiara Gizzi
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Chapter 28: Siblings and Friends

Three more raps on the door sent my uncle into action. Spooked, he grabbed a rifle from the hallway closet and a handgun, handing the latter to me as he said, "Wake up your brother. Grab the other gun from underneath his bed."

"I'll ask how many weapons you have hidden later," I muttered, rushing off.

I found Genette sprawled out on his back, snoring obnoxiously loud. God help his future wife...

"Genette!" I hissed, slapping him on the shoulder. "Get up!"

"Wha- wha's goin' on?" he murmured, looking around in a daze.

"Get your ass up! Someone's at the door." I bent down to grab the gun attached to the underside of his bed. Meanwhile, Genette sat up and glanced at the clock.

"It's two in the morning. Who's here?"

"We don't know, but Uncle Jason said to get up and to take this." I handed him the gun. My brother stared at me with wide eyes as the situation dawned on him. Without a word, he followed me into the hallway, where we stood behind our uncle.

"Get behind me," Genette whispered.

"You get behind me!" I said, pushing him back. "I'm the soldier here."

Uncle Jason pointed his rifle at the door, waiting for the person to either knock or break in. I waited with bated breath, praying it was some lost traveler instead of someone going after my uncle or a robber. For all we knew, someone put the few pieces together from the documentary and figured out where my uncle lived. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

The person shouted, "Blaze?! Genette?! You home?!"

I lowered my weapon instantly. "Chopper?"

"Chopper?" Genette repeated as I peeked through the blinds. Sure enough, our friend stood in front of the door, drenched head to foot. In the blink of an eye, I threw open the door for him.

"Oh, thank God," Chopper said in relief. "I thought I'd have to run all the way back in the rain."

"What are you doing here? Are you okay?" I asked worriedly, looking him up and down for any potential injuries.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'm sorry to-" Chopper's eyes narrowed in on the gun in my hand, then on the ones in Genette's and Uncle Jason's. "Were you going to shoot me?"

"Sorry. We thought you were- never mind," I said hastily, deciding it'd be best not to explain the fact I thought he was someone from my uncle's past come to see him. Or kill him. Not sure which was more likely. "It's the middle of the night, and you have a former soldier and current one. You think we're not going to be armed and spooked by someone banging on our door?"

"Ah, yeah, that makes sense," he said. "I tried calling you and Genette, but neither of you answered. I even saw you and your uncle on the porch and tried yelling out for you, but you couldn't hear me over the storm, I guess."

"Oh, I didn't have my phone on me, and Genette can't hear anything over his snoring."

"Hey!" my brother protested.

Chopper grinned. "Sounds like he's cutting down a forest, doesn't it?"

"Exactly!" I agreed.

"I am right here!" Genette exclaimed angrily.

"As much as I'd love to continue harassing Genette, I do have a reason for coming over at such an ungodly hour," Chopper said. "Our rental car broke down about three miles from here. We couldn't get a tow truck out because of the weather. Apparently, we're in the calm of it. Everywhere else is getting hammered with hail and worse. Our GPS was working, though, and I realized we weren't too far from y'all, so I offered to run here when you didn't answer your phone. I'm so sorry to bother you this late at night, but I couldn't think of anywhere else to go."

"No, no, it's fine. Get in here," I said, pulling him inside. "You're going to catch a cold standing out there."

"Where'd they break down exactly?" Uncle Jason asked, setting down his rifle. "Left or right out of my driveway?"

"Left. I don't know of any hotels nearby, but-"

"Nonsense. You can stay here. I have two couches, and the guest beds can fit more than one person. Your family is welcome to stay here." Uncle Jason grabbed his car keys. "Genette, you come with me. Elizabeth, you help Chopper get into dry clothes. He can borrow some of mine, or he can borrow a robe until we get him his suitcase."

The two of them left in a rush, and I instructed Chopper to go into my bathroom. Before following him, I put the tea kettle on, filling it up to the top in case any of the other Davenports wanted tea upon their arrival.

"So," Chopper said when I arrived at my bathroom, robe in hand. "Were you really planning on shooting me?"

"If you hadn't yelled out my name? Potentially," I admitted, handing him another towel to dry off with. "Take your shirt and pants off. Otherwise, you're going to get sick."

"You know, if you wanted me to take my clothes off, you could've just asked," he joked.

I rolled my eyes. "Seriously?"

"What? It's not like you haven't seen me shirtless and pantless before."

"Yeah, but you're also dating someone right now, a person who happens to be my best friend. Best friend or not, I don't think Cassie would appreciate you being in a bathroom with me with no clothes on."

"Cass and I aren't dating anymore. We broke it off. We're just staying friends," Chopper said, stripping off his shirt and pants. "Did she not tell you?"

"No, she hasn't," I replied, slightly irked at the idea. It's not like Cassie owed it to me because I couldn't date Chopper, but I thought she'd still tell me being her best friend and all. "What happened between you two? You seemed like the perfect match."

Chopper shrugged. "It's almost like we were too much alike. Don't get me wrong. Cassie's great; she's smart, she's beautiful, but I didn't feel anything for her, and vice versa. We realized we're better as friends. No harm done."

"How can you be too much alike?"

"I don't know. I think we're both too impulsive and outgoing. We need someone who can tone us down a bit." Chopper slipped on the robe. "Ah, that's much better than being soaked."

"I could imagine," I said, grabbing his clothes and heading to the laundry room. I shoved them into the washing machine and proceeded to make my way to the kitchen. The tea kettle had shut off a while ago, but the water was still boiling hot. I poured two cups for us.

"So," I began, leaning up against the counter, "Which girl are you going to ask out next? Or should I say, which blonde? I've noticed you have a type."

"I do, don't I?" he laughed. Chopper scratched his chin, pondering the idea while he leaned against the counter next to me. "I've kind of asked out almost all the blonde girls."

"Almost? Who have you missed?"

"Let's see. There's Erica Braves, Kylie Madden, Pauline Henrikson, and you."

I grinned. "Do any of them balance out your impulsiveness and outgoingness?"

"Kylie's too shy, Pauline is too crazy- like burn your house down crazy- and Erica might be. You definitely do, but Genette would kill me if I dated his little sister."

"You know, that kind of insinuates that you might like me," I pointed out, forcing the knot of hope forming in my stomach away.

"It does, doesn't it?" he remarked, chuckling. "Well, hey, it's not like you'd ever consider me anyways if I was insinuating that."

"What makes you say that?" I asked a little too quickly.

Chopper looked down at me curiously. "For starters, I'm your brother's best friend. I remember you explicitly saying you'd never date your brother's friends. Then there's the fact that you're way out of my league. You're this kickass fighter pilot. I'm an idiot who somehow hasn't crashed yet."

"Give yourself some credit," I said, nudging him. "You got onto the Sand Island program and the one at Heierlark during your sophomore year. You're most likely getting in them again. You can't be too much of an idiot to achieve that."

"I noticed you didn't deny I'm an idiot, though," he mused.

"I won't lie. You do have idiotic moments. It's mostly because you speak before you think. How many times has that mouth of yours gotten you into trouble?"

"About as many times as it's gotten me out of trouble."

"Exactly. You are quite charming, I'll admit."

"Thank you. I don't know how I've ended up being so, because really, I'm a sarcastic little shit most of the time," Chopper joked.

"Somehow, girls find it endearing."

"Are you one of them?"

"I'd be lying if I said no."

"So, you find me endearing and charming. Any other qualities you want to describe me as?"

"And give you a bigger ego? I don't think so."

"See? This is what I meant earlier. You keep me balanced. You make sure I don't get too big for my britches."

"You're going to get too big for them if you keep eating those chili cheese fries at Tucker's Diner."

"Oi! I'm fighting fit!"

I patted his stomach. "Yes, you are."

"Ah, another compliment. Possibly a sarcastic one, but I'm going to take it." Chopper took a sip of his tea. "What about you? Any guys you're interested in?"

"Always, but I'll never tell," I said, taking a sip of my own drink.

"Come on! I told you mine. You tell me yours!"

"I don't see the point when they're not interested back!"

"What idiots are those?"

"Nagase pointed out that my type is tall and athletic. Almost like a lumberjack but with less plaid."

"Names, Blaze. Names."

I groaned. "Fine. There's George Pares, Luke Ellis, and Aaron Stonewall. And there's other's that fit the stereotype."

"I think I fit that stereotype."

I let out an amused huff. "Funny. We both fit each other's types, and yet, we're not interested in each other."

"I never said I wasn't. And, unless I'm mistaken, you never explicitly stated you weren't either," Chopper remarked, moving to stand in front of me. "You think we could ever-"

"We're back!" Genette hollered, causing the two of us to jump. Damn my brother's timing...

Chopper and I shuffled into the living room where my uncle, brother, and Chopper's parents and sister were taking off their jackets.

"Elizabeth!" Melissa exclaimed, giving me a hug. "Long time, no see!"

I laughed. "I know, right? What's it been? Almost a week?"

"Hello, Elizabeth," Mrs. Davenport greeted with a smile. "How are you?"

"I'm good. How are y'all?"

"Better now that we're out of that dreadful storm," Mr. Davenport answered. "Thank you three again so much for taking us in. I don't know how long we'd be out there if you hadn't come to help us."

"No problem at all," Uncle Jason said. "We're glad to help. You two can take my bed, and I'll take the couch. The kids can share rooms with my niece and nephew."

"No, no, no, you take your own bed. We're already intruding on your family time. We're not going to take over your bed too. We'll be happy to sleep on the couch," Mrs. Davenport declared. "We should all get to bed. It's very late for all of us."

"Not for Melissa," Chopper remarked. "She's usually up talking to her boyfriend into the wee hours of the morning."

"I will hurt you," Melissa warned, narrowing her eyes at her brother.

"You're nearly two heads shorter than me. What could you possibly do to me?"

"I will hit you."

"I've never been hit by a child. Guess I'll find out when you hit me."

"Women may not hit harder," I said, jumping into the conversation. "But, we do hit lower."

Chopper glanced at his sister, who now donned a sly grin. He stepped away from her, placing his hands in front of him. "You wouldn't dare."

Melissa cocked an eyebrow at him. "Have you met me?"

"Don't risk it," Genette said. "Elizabeth has done the same to me, and if she's willing to do it, Melissa is too."

"All right, that's enough. All of you, get to bed," Mrs. Davenport ordered. Reluctantly, we did so. Melissa still fake-lunged at Chopper to get a rise out of him, and he jumped back defensively. She cackled in amusement all the way to my room. However, once there, her energy dissipated. Melissa changed into her pajamas, and the moment her head hit the pillow, she was out like a light.

I, on the other hand, couldn't fall asleep if my life depended on it. My mind kept replaying my conversation with Chopper over and over again. What had he been going to say before we were interrupted? Was he going to ask if we had a shot? Could I even begin to dare to hope that he liked me?

No. The idea was utterly ridiculous.

Shut up and go to sleep, Blaze. My brain chastised.

Sighing, I forced every thought out of my head and focused on the blackness surrounding me and the sounds of the thunderstorm.