The night seemed to glow brighter.

The shine of the stars against the dark blue hues gave me little comfort as I watched Sutton's Ferrari drive away from the window. Pushing my hands further into the pockets of the hoodie I wore, I walked away from the glass and crawled underneath the covers, hoping that the physical and emotional fatigue of today's events would consume me whole and lull me into a deep sleep.

But my mind stayed awake.

It stayed awake amidst the growing silence and the passing of the hour, playing back the images of Faust on the big screen as the girl claimed her prize; the sounds of Theo's furiousness, Faust's bitter words, the blow of the anger their fists created; the look of horror in my brother's battered face when he'd seen me standing there after Nico had rushed in to stop the fight. The lack of expression in Faust's.

Without a word, I had turned back and left. No one had stopped me.

Sutton and I had spent the rest of our Friday pigging out with meat and cheap beer. Going home after that to shower while Sutton waited for me wasn't as dismaying.

Until I was left alone with my thoughts once again.

The door slammed open some minutes later. Sitting up, I rubbed the tiredness out of my eyes while Theo looked at me with an expression I couldn't read.

"Hey," he said awkwardly. "You're home."

I hummed in response.

"I fell asleep while waiting for you." He rubbed the nape of his neck. "Where'd you go? Who were you with?"

"The Grill. Sutton."

"...I couldn't reach your phone."

"I turned it off," I answered quietly, hugging myself.

Theo let out a heavy breath. "It's past midnight, Thea."

"I'm well aware, thanks. What, I can't go out without asking you?"

"Stop being a brat," he snapped suddenly, stepping closer to the bed. "We need to talk."

Sighing, I nodded. "Okay. You look awful."

Theo laughed. In this light, the purple color of the huge bruise on his face seemed more prominent. "That's one way to put it. I feel like shit."

"You shouldn't have gotten into a fight with Faust, then."

He snorted. "Your boyfriend shouldn't have kissed some other girl. Hell, he shouldn't have been in the game in the first place."

I looked away, knowing he was right. "He asked to be opted out this year. Paula said so."

"He should know better than to trust cheerleaders."

"Then he had no choice."

"He had a choice to say no," Theo countered harshly, pinning me with a firm gaze. "The winner picked him and he could've said no, but he didn't because he cared about his reputation."

"Yeah," I mumbled, grabbing a pillow and tugging it closer to my chest, "I heard. I heard him say it. Doesn't mean it hurts any less."

My brother searched my expression, eyebrows drawing together. "How much did you hear?"

I blinked, confused. "What?"

"Thea," he said, voice dripping with subtle accusation and a barely-there fear, "how long were you and Nico standing there?"

No point in lying now. I reached up to knead my forehead with my fingers. "As soon as the livestream ended. I heard what you said about Anya if that's what you're asking. What Faust said."

The edge of Theo's features were gone in a second. His eyes softened. "Then I'm assuming you're curious about her?"

I shrugged, biting my lip. "Anyone would be, but you don't have to tell me if it hurts you or makes you uncomfortable. Keeping myself in the dark about the reason of your feud might just be the wiser option—I'm not sure I want to know, anyway."

Theo sat on the edge of the bed. "I think you have a right to know. Nico thought so too. I think it's why he kept you both in the dark while Faust and I argued."

"Argued is a mild word," I told him with a small smile. "You were at each other's throats."

He sent me a flat look. "You wanna hear my side of the story or not?"

"If you want me to."

Clearing his throat, Theo scooted over closer to me to lean his back against the headboard. "Anya isn't from around here. She used to live secretly in Belham with her adoptive family, and as much as she wanted to have their last name, her parents refused, insisting it was for her own protection that she keep the Castillo."

I nodded, motioning for him to go on as I leaned back against the headboard as well, pulling my knees up to my chest.

"A huge scandal struck the company her parents owned," Theo continued, "so they sent her here, hoping she would be safe. A lot of people were against the Abbeys then—it was too dangerous for her if they ever found out they had an adopted child. The business almost shut down."

"Abbey Corporation?" I asked, glancing at my brother with a raised eyebrow. "That's...huge. I think I heard about it on the news."

He nodded. "It was all over television and the newspapers. Anya was deemed safe to live and study here with her aunt while her parents figured out how to save their business. She went at Woodridge High with Faust's older brother, Beau."

I didn't even try to hide my surprise. Theo noticed. "Carter keeps the fact in the dark as much as he can," he said quickly. "You'll understand why later."

"Okay."

"Fast forward two years. Anya's a junior who has advanced classes with Beau, so they study together at his house two days a week. Then she met Faust and they dated. Anya didn't want anyone else to know though, and he respected that."

Theo took a deep breath. "Carter and I were friends once. You probably don't remember, but we were close before basketball camp. Before junior year and before I became a threat to his captaincy."

"I don't. Maybe it's because I never noticed, but it's...shocking to know that there was a time you and Faust had been friends."

"Yeah." He scoffed, shaking his head. "When junior year came, Carter regarded me as his silent competitor. Although back then I had no plans of stealing the captaincy from him, I treated him like one too. I just wanted to be as good as him, but the silent competition was fun. Carter's attention was all on me."

I hugged my knees closer to my chest as Theo went on, "At that time, he was dating Anya. Carter and I were coming late from basketball practice and she was waiting for him at the truck, thinking he was alone. I met her by chance."

My brother let out an empty laugh at the memory. "I remember the look on Carter's face when I figured out they were dating days later. Anya and I became friends quickly after that, and Carter wasn't happy."

"I can imagine," I murmured. "Was he jealous?"

"Very," Theo answered with a roll of his eyes. "It was funny then. Anya and I used to hang out behind his back just to tease him. We'd talk about everything and nothing, and that's when I got to know about her family and her hometown."

"Wait." I turned to face him, eyes widening. "You fell in love with her, didn't you?"

"What? No!" He made a grab for a pillow and smacked me with it. "Shut up, you have no idea what you're saying. Let me finish this."

I heaved a sigh of relief. "Fine. Go on."

Theo smacked me one more time with the pillow. I dodged it. "A few days before state championships last year, we were invited to a party. Faust didn't want to go, claiming he wanted to practice his shots for the game, but Anya did. So I offered to take her with me."

He rolled his shoulders and looked at the ceiling. "Carter agreed. Anya and I danced and drank, the usual shindig at parties, you know the drill. It was when she was a bit drunk that she pulled me towards one of the bedrooms and started complaining about how Faust loved basketball more than he loved her."

"You must've felt sorry for her."

"I pitied her, yes. I believed she didn't deserve to be loved second to a sport, so I let her rant until she was crying," Theo said quietly, shutting his eyes. "And I hugged her. It was out of comfort for a friend, but I think she took it the wrong way. Before I knew it, she climbed onto my lap and kissed me."

Mouth agape, I sucked in a harsh breath. "Oh, Theo, no."

"Carter had perfect timing." He tipped his head back and laughed. "He thought it was my intention all this time so I could steal the captaincy from him. He beat me up. I tried to defend myself and to tell him the truth, but his mind was too clouded with rage. He said he never trusted me, said he knew I was always envious of him."

"Were you?"

"In the beginning, maybe," my brother answered, tone laced with raw honesty. "In the first few months I'd known him."

"And after that?"

"After that he was my friend. Even though he saw me as a threat, I never acted on it and I figured that our friendship mattered more than a stupid title. No, I wasn't envious of him."

I nodded in understanding, laying my head against Theo's shoulder. "What happened then?"

"I was...hurt. It was what put me at edge, made me start fighting back. It was also what made me scream at him to listen to me. But he wouldn't. He left instead."

I wrapped my palm around Theo's hand in silent reassurance. Theo squeezed it back. "Anya was crying and told me that she never meant to kiss me. She said she'd been growing feelings for me but it was the alcohol that had pushed her to make a move. When I didn't say anything, she turned around to leave. I asked her where she was going and she said she wanted to go home. I offered to drive her but I was tipsy too, so I told her to stay put while I grabbed some water and called one of my friends to drive us. When I came back, she was gone."

My brother exhaled heavily and swallowed hard before continuing, "I ran around the vicinity of the house but I couldn't find her. I panicked. I got into my car and started driving to her house to check, and I called Carter too but he wasn't answering. I was told he left with Romero to cool off, but Romero's phone was dead. I contacted Beau instead, and I told him to look for Anya at the places I knew she went to when she wanted to be alone, just in case she wasn't home."

My mouth suddenly felt dry. I was afraid to hear the rest of the story.

Theo's free hand balled into a fist. "I got to her house first. Her aunt was confused and asked me why I was there so late. I made up some lame excuse and went to my car again, but a call from Beau stopped me. He'd found her unconscious at the alley going to the secluded park she always went to."

I swallowed down the gasp that threatened to escape my lips. "Unconscious?"

"She was attacked," Theo said, voice dropping lower, "clothes ripped off. Face bruised, cuts all over her body. There was blood at the side of her head. Beau told me he was going to bring her to the hospital and to meet him there, but—there were police sirens. The line got cut off. Beau was at the scene of the crime and he was arrested. Anya was brought to the hospital alone."

I couldn't find the words to say. My brother took another deep breath. "I decided to deal with Anya first. The doctors said that if she was brought a few minutes later, she wouldn't have made it. She was also going to be physically fine, but that her trauma might cause psychological problems. I called Carter again, and this time the asshole finally answered. We were both so furious that we couldn't even look each other in the fucking eye." He paused once more, drawing in a shaky breath. "Then he left to get his brother out of jail. The cameras showed someone else. He exited the alley a few minutes just before Beau pulled up."

The fingers wrapped around mine loosened as Theo leaned his head against the wall and shut his eyes. "Beau was released but a couple of students from his school heard about what happened and stayed away from him. It's why Faust keeps him under the radar, too. Everyone seems to have forgotten about it, but Beau doesn't want to take that risk with Faust's future. Said being involved with someone who's been accused of attempted murder might ruin his chances. Their surname is pretty common."

"He doesn't deserve it," I interjected quickly, feeling sympathy for the older Carter brother. "He didn't even do it."

"People believe what they want to, Thea," my brother answered bitterly with a shrug. "Faust and I stayed at the hospital for a few more days after school. Anya's parents had flown over from Belham, and they were going to press charges and push for an investigation. But Anya woke up with no recollection of what happened. She couldn't even recognize us, so the Abbeys decided to leave the case alone. They didn't want another scandal on their hands just after the business was saved and had gotten back to its feet. Anya returned to Belham with her parents. Faust and I hadn't seen her since."

I pulled my hand away and stood. "That was so messed up. I can't even imagine what Anya went through. What you all went through. What the hell was I doing when you needed someone, Theo? Why didn't you tell me?"

Theo's lips pulled up at the corners. "It was a time when I shut myself down emotionally from everyone, including you. It wasn't your fault for not noticing, Thea. I can mask myself pretty well."

I felt a sharp tug pull at my heartstrings then. He was so good at hiding his emotions that sometimes people forgot he had them. "I'm sorry I never noticed."

"Don't apologize," he said nonchalantly with an easy smile. "You can see why we hate each other. Carter thinks it was my intention to have Beau at the scene of the crime—that I framed his brother. He hates me because he thinks I caused what happened to Anya and that I was only using him to get to her. In return, I hate him because his mistrust in me led to Anya's suffering and because he thinks I'm capable of framing someone for attempted murder."

When I couldn't say anything in reply, Theo continued, "Carter also said that one day, he was going to take someone from me and that I wouldn't be able to do anything about it until he destroyed that someone. I didn't think he was serious at that time but when he went for you...I panicked."

"Was that why you were so opposed to my relationship with him?" I asked quietly, fiddling with my fingers. "Because you were afraid I might be that someone?"

My brother stared at me. "Thea. You are that someone."

I turned away and paced the room.

"It's why I wanted to tell you this," Theo explained, moving over to sit at the edge of the bed. "I want you to be careful. I want you to know that there's a part of Faust that longs for retribution. A part that scares me. A part that can hurt you."

"You should've told me," I muttered under my breath. "I didn't know. I'm sorry I worried you."

"I was hoping you didn't have to get dragged into it," he said with a sigh. "I thought the article was going to be the end of your involvement with him. I thought my warnings would be enough."

I kneeled in front of the bed so that we were on level with each other. The brown in Theo's eyes showed fear for the first time in years. "Faust isn't going to hurt me."

"I don't believe you," Theo whispered.

Somehow, there was a part of me that doubted it as well. It was a part that desired to hear Faust's side of the story.

*

as always, thank you to ace for beta reading this for me!!

talk to me on twt: https://twitter.com/pqmwrites

ask me anything here: https://curiouscat.me/pqmwrites

tysm for reading x