Grace's POV

I walked back up the stairs of my apartment. My brother had a phone call earlier, then he suddenly rushed me out the apartment, shoving a twenty dollar note in my face. I'd only been here less than 24 hours and he already wanted me out of the apartment. Something does feel odd, and my old suspicions are creeping back into my thoughts, but I try to brush them away.

I need to start trusting my brother more. He's my brother, he wouldn't do anything to try and hurt me. I know what happened in England was my fault, and to this day Thomas probably still blames me but I hope it isn't causing his feelings to be manipulated. He isn't like that. Not at all.

Now what to do with the $20. I could go see Aaron, but I think I'm going to go talk to Chaz. I feel bad for what Thomas had done yesterday, you know, slamming the door on Chaz's face. It was a fairly odd thing he did. He was never that rude, but then again, last night when I was telling him about the tour so far, he was only interested in Ben, and what Ben had said and done. Almost like he was jealous. No. He wasn't jealous.

I pulled out my phone and texted Chaz.

Hey Chaz.

Hey,

I'm really sorry about my brother acted last night, it was inexcusable. Any chance you want to get a milkshake as an apology. 

Yeah, it sounds good. I was probably being a bit overprotective. Why don't I come to pick you up from your apartment?

Sounds great!

Be there in 5.  

I plopped down on the last step of the stairs, staring out of the glass door into the bustle of New York. Growing slightly tired, I rested my head on my arms that were propped up on my knees. I sighed deeply, I thought coming back would feel amazing, or absolutely terrifying, but it was just average. This happened a lot back in England me sitting waiting for something new to happen. But my brother's nasty smile was stuck in my head. I couldn't get it out of my head.

Suddenly a car honked, snatching me out of my gaze and I saw Chaz sat in his car outside the door. I jumped up and ran to his car and hopped in. "Hey!" I smiled at him whilst closing the door. He returned the smile and wiggled the gear stick and got us back in motion. 

"To the milkshake shop we go!" he laughed. He gave his signature smile before setting off. 

It wasn't too long until we got to the milkshake shop. We entered and sat down at a booth. We quickly ordered our milkshakes since the shop was too busy. I order my classic strawberry milkshake and Chaz ordered a vanilla one. 

We sat in silence for a minute, simply savoring the delicious flavors gracing our mouths. Oh and the smells! They were somewhat calming, but they captured the taste perfectly. 

"Can I ask you something, Chaz?" I asked, slightly nervous about what I was going to ask him.

"Yeah, shoot," he replied jollily not knowing what was about to hit him. 

"My brother, " I began, "He is acting weird. He's er he's not been himself lately. Before his smile was warm and comforting, but not it's more of a smirk, and - and whenever he smirks it's like he's plotting something. Something evil"

I took a deep breath then looked at Chaz who had an apologetic look on his face. He probably realized how stupid I was sounding, but didn't want to say anything. I was on the verge of tears, it was taking a lot to hold them back, and I just didn't want to sound crazy. I guess it was a touchy subject, I'm not sure why, I've talked about Thomas before, but I guess living in the same apartment as him is making me slightly nervous. He smiled slightly, then sipped more of his drinking, obviously thinking of how to make me sound the least crazy. 

"Talk to him," he said, "You just need to talk to him, it's probably a misunderstanding. Perhaps he's grown more confident. You said he got a new job right? Maybe it's that."

I nodded and sighed. I gazed out the window and began to sip my milkshake. I dropped the subject and we talked about anything and everything. I felt a bit better about the whole Thomas situation but something, something just felt off. 

I thanked Chaz as he dropped me outside my apartment complex, then I ran inside because it began to rain. I climbed the stairs slowly, just lost in my thoughts. I rummaged around my bag for my door key still dazed, but that ended once I stepped inside. 

My brother was crouched on his knees but the far wall, scrubbing the floor of blood. I dropped my keys in shock. My jaw dropped, the only justifiable thing I could do.

"Are you alright?" I asked, still stunned. 

"Yeah, I just had a nose bleed and it got everywhere." 

"Oh, okay". I simply walked to my bedroom and buried my head in my pillow. I was done with today. 

My brother had just flat out lied to me. I could always tell when he lied. He often bent the truth, so that I wouldn't notice. But that was a flat-out lie. I was now really worried. What has my brother turned into? What had happened whilst I was out? Was it that phone call? 

Not wanting to think much more of it, I spent the rest of the day in my bedroom, drawing. I didn't want to leave my room not even to eat but I knew I had to for rehearsals tomorrow morning. When night fell, I clambered into bed and quickly drifted asleep. 

I wanted to leave this terrible excuse of a day behind me. Every time I thought about the blood it sent a chill up my spine. Whose blood was it?