Thank you to whoever made the graphic above. Your username wasn't in the email. But I love it x

Flynn was visibly sweating. I shrugged at him. "What is it?"

We stood in the middle of the gym. Mac Miller hummed from the speakers, filling the silence that came from Flynn's refusal to just spit out whatever the fuck he had to confess.

He was making me nervous but I leaned on the weight shelf and patiently waited. He sat down on the bench press and rested his elbows on his knees, palming his jaw.

"Alright," he said, staring at the floor. "I swore I wouldn't tell you this. She— she made me promise and I feel terrible that I'm going behind her back—"

"Who the fuck are you talking about, Flynn?"

He refused to look at me. "Abby."

"Alright," I said, standing in front of him. "Stop fucking around and spit it out."

"So last night, remember I told you I dropped Tanner off at his house after I dropped the girls off?"

I narrowed my glare, not liking where the conversation was headed. "Yes. I remember."

"Well, after I left Tanner at his house, I went home. I had a shower, I got into bed. I went to sleep—"

"Flynn! If you proceed to tell me that you took a fucking dump and washed your hands, I'm going to punch you in the throat."

"Okay okay," he held his hands up. "So I woke up to a phone call at around four thirty — maybe five this morning. It was Abby and she was really upset. She gave me this address to pick her up from and when I got there, I realised it was the house I'd dropped Tanner off at earlier. But I don't think she connected the dots and realised I knew who lived there because I'd dropped Tanner off after her. You follow?"

"What happened?"

"Well she hopped in the car and she was sobbing and blubbering and she wouldn't tell me what happened for a minute but then I noticed this little black car was in Tanners drive. And it hadn't been when I dropped him off.

"So I asked her what he did and then she pieced it together that I knew Tanner was involved. So I said I was going to bust his door down and murder him. But she told me not to and just said she did something she shouldn't have and she got her feelings hurt.

"Those were the words she used. But she seemed more than hurt man. She was a mess. And we talked for a while and drove around but I think the car belonged to a girlfriend. I just got that vibe from the situation."

He finished his recount of events and swallowed with nervousness. My fists were clenched and I was more furious than I could fathom.

I knew he couldn't be trusted. And despite the fact I had tried to keep her from being alone with him, it didn't work. And she was hurt. As I said she would be.

"How come she called you?" I asked. "Why didn't she call me? Or one of the girls?"

"You?" He recoiled. "You're not her favourite person at the best of times. Let alone when it comes to Tanner."

"Yeah well she could have called Mills or Lola?"

"I don't know bro. Sh— we— we're friends. She can talk to me. She knows I'm not as harsh on her choices."

"I'm her fucking brother," I snapped. "When I think she's going to be used or hurt, yeah I'm harsh. So what? I have to look out for her."

"Exactly man," Flynn stood up and I sighed now he was towering above me. "You're her brother. She needed someone to talk to. Someone who wasn't going to give her the 'I told you so' lecture."

"Ya know what it is," I said. "You're soft. And gentle. Just another one of the girls I bet."

He scowled and it seemed I had hit a sore spot with that one. The big idiot thought I couldn't tell how he felt. He was terrible at hiding his feelings. But I didn't have time to get into it. I had other matters I needed to deal with.

"I'm going to go and talk to her," I stepped around Flynn and gave his shoulder a slap. "I need to get the full story before I roll this motherfucker."

When I pulled the door open and looked back at my best friend, I noticed the sullen stare he had directed at the floor.

I'd known him long enough to know he wasn't in good sorts. I sighed and gripped the door handle a little tighter.

It was obvious he didn't want Abby to know he'd been the one to squeal. But he also knew I would have kicked him in the dick if he had known and kept it from me.

"Bro, just tell her how you feel," I said. He raised his head and met me with a pensive stare. "She's got a mad attitude but she does deserve to be happy. You both d—"

My cellphone interrupted. Amalia. Flynn was still looking perplexed with his head hung low.

"Take it," he said with a small voice. "I'm going to finish up here and head home."

"You sure?"

"Yeah man."

"I'll see you at school tomorrow."

I hit answer as I stepped out into the dark cool air. The lights at the bottom of the pool illuminated the rippling water, the shrubs and tree branches on the other side of the gate rustled with the light breeze that had picked up.

"Hey, how's it going?"

"Hey," she said. "Is everything okay? Your text said there was a lot going on. I thought I'd see if you needed to talk."

"You're so damn sweet," I said as I opened the pool gate and followed across the concrete path towards the deck. "Yeah there's a lot going on and it feels like it all came on at once. My brothers girlfriend has a brain tumour. It's bad."

"Shit," she replied. "That's awful. Poor Max."

"Yeah. Empathy sort of takes on a new meaning when it comes to my twin. He's not doing too well."

"I can imagine."

"He wants to drop out of school to spend time with her. But I don't think Mom and Dad are too sold on that idea."

"I understand that. Not a lot of people get the option to embrace those last moments. I would be the same if a loved one was sick."

I opened the dining room door and slipped inside. The sound of the television hummed from the living room but when I tip toed past I almost scoffed in disgust because Mom and Dad were having a pash on the couch instead of watching the game highlights.

"And then there's Abby," I whispered as I walked up the staircase. "She's upset about something Tanner did. I'm actually about to talk to her and see what I can do to help. Are you a ride or die kind of girl? Would you help me hide a body?"

"I guess I would. You could afford a decent lawyer if we got caught. Right?"

I laughed as I stopped outside of Abby's closed door. "You know it. Can I call you back in a bit?"

"Yeah of course," she said.

"Thanks for checking in Mi Amor."

She exhaled. "I'll talk to you later, Lucas."

She hung up and I slipped the phone away as I tapped on the door and pushed it open.

I was riled up. Prepared to ask questions and get the truth. But when I stared into the dark and let my eyes adjust with just the help of her patio twinkling lights, I saw she was curled up and fast asleep.

I wasn't about to shake her awake and demand to know what had happened. We all had a clear understanding of what happens when you wake Abby Lahey from a slumber.

It doesn't end well and someone is bound to end up with a bruise. Plus, I was glad she had a break from whatever had been upsetting her all day.

I quietly closed the door again and decided to deal with it tomorrow.

In the morning, I was up before the sun. I went hard in the gym for an hour before downing a protein shake and showering.

Dad had left for work when I wandered into the kitchen in school uniform and mom was obviously leaving the house this morning.

She did a lot of work from home. Depending on the season. She'd judged a television dance competition show for three seasons running but it didn't start filming again until December.

So in the mean time she ran her charitable organisation and on the odd occasion she took choreography jobs if the offer was right.

She stirred her coffee and flicked through her cellphone. I wandered past and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Morning Mom. Morning Francesca," I greeted the little woman with white hair and wrinkled skin.

She handed over a plate of scrambled eggs and smiled.

When I sat down at the breakfast bar, I looked around. "Where's Abby?"

"She's gone to school," mom said, still looking at her phone. "She said she needed to go early to turn in an assignment or something. She took her own car."

That was total bullshit. But I didn't bother commenting on it. She couldn't avoid me forever. I wasn't sure why she would want to either.

Tanner hurt her and she knew I would get him for it. She should have been in favour of me finding out. It didn't seem logical that she'd want to protect him.

"What are you up to today?" I asked Mom who had slipped her phone into her pocket so she could finish her coffee.

She sat down beside me and sighed. "I promised Max I would take Kyla to go and see Doctor Pearce. He wants a second opinion so I was on the phone to him this morning and it's going to be a damn expensive appointment that's for sure. Just because it was last minute."

"Man it's such a shit situation. I feel so bad for her."

"I feel bad for both of them. Her parents as well. It's not fair. Dad and I spent a while talking about what Max could do last night. I don't want him to miss out on this time with her. So I've been browsing schools in New York."

"For real?"

She nodded. "A transfer might be a good idea. Maybe. We'd need to talk out more details. But it's a possible option."

I slowly nodded, pushing the food around on my plate with sudden disinterest.

I wouldn't want to hold Max back from being with his girl or making the most of his time with her as well as keeping up his schooling.

But we'd never lived apart and the thought of it made me a bit unsettled.

However, when he and Kyla wandered in with their fingers laced, I noted the immediate despair in his attitude and thought that being apart while he grieves might not be such a bad thing.

He was dressed in his uniform but his hair was a mess and he had a shadow of stubble around his jaw.

Mom was the one who would be taking Kyla to the doctor this morning.

Max had his first debate class and the times overlapped so he wasn't allowed to go. It didn't sit well with him and I listened to him complain about it several times while I scoffed down the rest of breakfast.

It wasn't in him to get worked up and throw a tantrum. His complaints were calm and quiet. That might have made it worse to be honest. He sounded so damn fragile and depressed. I hated it.

"I like your tattoo," Kyla complimented while I rinsed my breakfast plate. Max was still conversing with Mom.

I looked down at the family portrait which was uncovered due to my sleeves being rolled up.

"Max sent a photo but the real thing is a lot better. How are Pete and Tyler?"

I smiled at her genuine question. "Great. The parlour has a ton of business at the moment. I don't see it slowing down."

"Ah that's good," she said. "How about Flynn? Is he still on the team? His grandparents were putting the pressure on him to follow neuroscience for a while there?"

I'd forgotten Kyla paid attention. She listened. She always had and she loved to check in on people. No matter what someone told her and about who, she remembered.

She followed it up. It was genuine care as well, not just a need to know for gossip purposes. Her concern was never with the intimate details. It was with the well-being of the person and it reminded me why Max was so in love with her.

"Yeah his grandparents were set on him following tradition but Flynn's Mom and Dad are great. They just want him to do what he loves. Which is football. He's good at it too. So he'll be fine. I think he plans on taking some extra courses at college though."

"Has he decided which college he'll go to?"

"Depends if he's offered a scholarship. He's applied at Baylor but if something else of interest came up, I think he'd go for it."

Her cellphone started to ring and she looked at the screen. "Mom again," she said. "She was super worried about me coming here. But the doctor cleared it. So what could she do? I better take this."

She wandered off and let Max know what she was doing as she left the kitchen.

As soon as I got to school, I went straight to the office.

"Good morning Hannah," I smiled at the middle aged receptionist whose hair was cut under her chin. She peered up at me through her thick rimmed glasses and sighed.

"Lucas, it's Miss Pollard," she said. "We've had this conversation more times than I can count."

"And yet the question remains," I laced my fingers atop the tall desk and leaned against it. "Why is it, Miss Pollard. Why is a beautiful woman, such as yourself, not married to a strong handsome man?"

She narrowed her glare. "What do you want?"

I gasped. "A student can't come and see his favourite receptionist for nothing but a chat? Also, that shirt looks perfect. Have you lost weight?"

The student hand who was responsible for delivering messages to the classrooms or collecting the roll call sheets was tucked in the corner behind the desk, gathering the cards she'd have to hand out. She snickered with amusement while Miss Pollard rubbed her temples.

"Lucas, tell me what you want or get to home room."

"Well, I mean, there was one thing. Now that you mention it," I said. "I know we had to do class switches by the end of last week. But I forgot. Total accident. I've been distracted with — stuff. So I'm here to beg that you let me switch to Spanish."

She rolled her eyes and tapped her key board. "You've been taking French for the last three years, Lucas."

"Oui," I pointed at her. "But I need to branch out. Besides, why would I want to take the language of a country that hates us so much?"

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"Ya know, the war? The—"

"Never mind," she waved her hands in dismissal. "I will sign this class transfer if you stay out of this office unless you absolutely have to come in here."

"Well," I pretended to think about. "I'll miss these chats. But it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. My future girlfriend is Spanish."

And one day I would really love to be able to hear her native tongue shouting in ecstasy while I'm driving her wild.

The transfer form was done just as the home room bell sounded in the corridor. There was a rush of students, lockers slamming, shoes squeaking on the Lino. But as I headed towards the staircase, I saw Tanner and Abby.

He was intercepting her. Whenever she tried to move around him, he stepped in front of her. It looked like he was pleading with her.

I began my way towards them, but before I made it, she veered off and ran straight towards the bathroom, looking upset as she clutched her books close to her chest.

I was torn between chasing her down or pushing that motherfuckers head straight into a metal door.

I stood there for a second, letting shoulders bump into me as the corridor cleared.

I went towards the girls bathroom. I didn't give a fuck about walking straight in. I'd been in there before. The last girl I'd been locked in a cubicle with was definitely not my sister.

I pushed the door open and found her leaning over the white ceramic sink. She was sobbing with her books scattered on the floor.

"Abby. What happened?"

____

Rip Mac Miller. :( I'm sad.