𝟎𝟔𝟖. 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭, 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝

the water is fine ────       chloe ament

☀︎ 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐥𝐲𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

𝖨 𝖱𝖤𝖢𝖮𝖦𝖭𝖨𝖲𝖤 𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖬𝖤𝖭 𝖳𝖮 𝖡𝖤 𝖳𝖧𝖮𝖲𝖤 𝖮𝖥 𝖲𝖨𝖭𝖦𝖧'𝖲 𝖦𝖴𝖠𝖱𝖣𝖲，and I think they're dragging my brother off to the nearest field just to kill him. Why they need to drag him off, I don't know, but at least it gives me a better chance to save him. I'm following closely behind, very ready and very prepared to do what I've gotta do to save my brother.

I don't know where my father is, and if I'm being entirely honest, I hadn't given him much thought. I assumed Singh took him for whatever reason because I couldn't find him down in the basement. However, I did find Dad's gun that the guards stupidly left on the ground.

And it was fully loaded.

Although, now I have a fully loaded gun and I have no idea how to shoot. Well, I have some idea on how to shoot, but I definitely don't think I can aim said shot. I once shot a tree to avoid shooting a teddy bear, but I don't think that makes somebody a trained shooter.

Maybe the fact that my brother is the one about to be killed will suddenly make me a good shot.

I don't plan on killing anyone... I think. However, I do plan on doing a little more damage than a crowbar would do. Well, I hope. Would I kill for my brother? Yes. Yes, I would, but that doesn't mean I will right this second.

As of now, I'm crouched behind the closest tree, staring forward at the scene as I try to decipher when the best time to shoot is.

My brother is down on the ground. One guard has his hand gripped in his hair and the other is holding something in his hand. It's not a gun, it's something small and barely noticeable, but I assume it'll kill John B nonetheless. Yeah, I can't let that happen, so there is really no time like the present.

I've gotta shoot this gun.

The thought of losing John B is making me feel sick, so if I shoot and this bullet kills one of those guards, I don't care as long as my brother gets away safely. I need him safe. I need him alive.

I push myself away from the tree, remaining in a crouched position as I don't want one of the guards to turn and spot me. The grass level is high, hiding most of me, and with the sun setting, I'm barely noticeable. I can get away with this.

I tilt my head, trying to figure out if I could hit the guard from this far away. Hell, I don't specifically need to hit either guard, maybe I could just shoot in any direction and make a loud enough noise to stop them from hurting John B.

I can do this. I can save him. I will save him.

Come on, B. You got this.

I raise my arm, pointing the gun in the direction of the guard who has his back to me. He's holding whatever will likely kill my brother in seconds, so I need to shoot now.

Inhaling a sharp breath, I double check the shot is lined up, and then I do it. I push my finger down on the trigger. The shot fires, echoing across the length of the land. It travels in the direction of the guard who has his back to me. From afar it's hard to see, but I don't think the bullet embeds in his skin. I think it just grazes by his arm as he spins around to look in my direction.

John B takes the opportunity to bolt, but before he does, he grabs a handful of sand and throws it into the eyes of the other guard. A shot is fired in my direction but catches onto the tree I was hiding behind before. That was close.

Before a shot actually has the chance to hit me, I begin to move away, running in the opposite direction of the guards. John B follows the same line of path I take, running away from the guards who begin to shoot their guns in the hopes of hitting us.

Thankfully, not a single shot hits us as we continue to run. "Did you shoot a gun?" John B asks, yelling as we meet in the middle and begin to run alongside each other.

"No, I shot a flare obviously," I scoff, sucking in a deep breath. "Yes, I shot a gun!"

He snaps his head over to me as I shove the gun into my back pocket. "Why?"

"I had to save you, jackass!"

"I had it handled!"

"Oh, yeah, looked like it!"

"I had it handled," he repeats, much louder than before. I reach out, grasping his arm as I slow down, forcing myself to stop running as I fear I'm going to hurl. He snatches his arm back, breathing heavily. "What are you──"

"What is your problem?"

He sucks in a breath. "I don't have a problem, B."

"You do have a problem," I exclaim, running my hand against my chest to try and ease the anxiety and to catch my breath.

"We don't have time for this, Brooke. We have to save Dad, we have to──"

"No!"

He rears his head back. "No?"

"No. We are not doing anything until you tell me what the hell is wrong with you because I am sick of this── of you and Dad." I smack my hand against his arm, displaying my frustration, and he smacks his hand back at mine like a child. "I'm sick of it all," I breathe out, yanking my head back. "I'm sorry if you didn't want me here, but I couldn't leave you alone with Dad."

"What was Dad gonna do, Brooke? He protected me." I scoff, shaking my head. "Now he's gone because he was protecting me── protecting us." He waves his hand between us.

"Protecting us? Really?"

"Oh, don't do this, Brooke. Not now. We have to go and save Dad, alright?"

"Oh, right, cause he's missing. Again."

"He was protecting us."

"No, John B. No, he wasn't. Do you know what he was doing?" John B doesn't meet my gaze, just looks straight on like he can't bear to hear the truth. "He was running to get that stupid gnomon, not even considering the fact that he could've gotten killed. No, he didn't care because, once again, John Routledge wants the treasure more than anything else in the world!"

"Brooklyn." It's rare my brother calls me by my full name. It's very rare that anyone calls me by my full name. I hate it. "He ran after that gnomon for us, so we could finally have a win, so we could finally get everything we wanted."

"No, not us. I wasn't supposed to be here, right?"

He sighs, pushing a hand into his hair. "B──"

"You weren't even gonna tell me, were you?" I press my lips together, feeling my throat swell as my emotions threaten to burst. "Neither of you had any plans to tell me, did you? You were just gonna go off and find that treasure without me, without us."

He meets my gaze. "That's not true."

"I think it is," I bite out. "Hell, I think you two would've ran off and bought a sugar shack in Costa Rica just to get away from me."

"Oh, come on, Brooke. Stop." I look away from him, suddenly wishing I hadn't started this inane conversation. "Stop acting like this, like a... child."

My eyes widen. "A child?"

"Yes, a child, Brooke. Stop acting like you had a crappy life. You didn't! You── We had a good life. You, me and Dad, we had it good. We can still have it good."

"Then why are you trying to change our lives?"

"I'm not changing it, Brooke. Dad and I are trying to make it better, alright? Dad is trying to give us a better chance, Brooke."

"I don't care about a better chance, John B. I care about the life I have right now. I'd rather have you over the fucking treasure. I would choose any of you over that treasure in a heartbeat, do you not get that?" The back of my eyes burn, but I do my best not to be weak in front of John B. "I don't want it if this..." I hit my hand against his arm softly. "...if this is what it causes."

"Brooke, we can have the treasure and each other. Why is it one or the other?"

"Because that's just how it is." I cross my arms over my chest. "And right now, you're picking the treasure over the things that matter── over me and Sarah and the others."

"I'm not doing that."

"You are, and I hate it." I feel like crying and screaming. "I look at you and I don't feel like I'm looking at my brother. I look at you and I see Dad."

"Well, we have the same eyes."

I scoff, hating his need to joke right now. "That's not what I meant, and you know it. You're prioritising this treasure over us── over the people that have been here since the beginning."

"I'm trying to give us more, Brooke. Why is that such a bad thing?"

"It's not, I just..." I swallow the lump forming in my throat. "I don't want things to change, okay? I'm scared that we'll lose again and we'll be back to square one. I mean, I nearly lost you just a second ago. I nearly lost JJ last night. I──"

"What? You nearly──"

"It doesn't matter right now. I..." I meet the eyes that look like mine. "I don't really like change, not when we could lose more than we could gain. I mean, so much is already changing, John B."

"What is changing?"

"You're keeping things from me because of Dad," I say, jabbing my finger in his direction. "You're lying to me, and it's not like you. You've never, not once, in our lives, lied to me."

"I stole that five dollars you found when we were, like, six, and I lied and said I didn't."

My mouth gapes. "You stole that?"

He scrunches his face up. "Yeah. Sorry."

"I can't believe you stole that. I cried about that." I cried a lot about losing that five dollars. I mean, for a six-year-old, that was a lot of money. This whole time, I had no idea it was my brother who stole it from me.

He sighs. "I know. I bought a Reese's."

"You spent my five dollars on peanut butter?"

He shrugs. "I was really hungry."

I exhale a laugh, finding it a little ridiculous that we're able to fight and then laugh about it... kind of. We always end up diverting the argument to something irrelevant like the five dollars I lost as a child. We're great at it.

"Look..." He steps forward, looking down at me. "We didn't want to tell anyone about the gnomon in case things went south," he explains, but it's not the greatest explanation. It's just generic.

"Well, look at where we are, John B. Things have gone south." My voice cracks. "Dad's been taken, you nearly died, I shot a gun. We don't have the gnomon. Things, of course, have gone south, like always."

"Okay." He steps back from me, rubbing the back of his neck. "Okay. I get it. I get it, B."

"I'm sorry that I followed, but I'm not mad that I did." I wipe a hand across my eyes, feeling tears form. "You could've died tonight, and I know you think the world of Dad or whatever, but I would've blamed him, John B, because he is the one that drags you into this crap with the promise of more. Seriously, what is so wrong with what we have now?"

"Do you really like the way that we live?"

"Yes, I do," I say firmly. "Sure, it's not glamorous or anything, but it's our life and I like it just the way it is. I've always liked our life. I thought you did too."

"I do, B, but don't you think we deserve more?"

"I don't know, John B, but I'm tired, alright? I'm tired of fighting and trying to get a win. I'm so exhausted, and I hate arguing with you, so when you're ready to tell me the truth── the whole truth, so help me God," I lamely joke, huffing out a pathetic laugh. "I will listen, okay? I won't judge. I'll be here for you, just like always."

"I know, Brooke."

"So when you're ready to tell me the truth about everything, not just about the time you stole five dollars from me, I will be here for you, okay, because I'm not just your sister, John B, I'm your best friend, and you're mine, so I've got your back. Okay?"

John B nods, hearing him, but he doesn't say anything else. "We should head back to the Chateau," I say, swallowing my emotions. "Round everybody up and come up with a game plan."

I step away first, walking away.

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𝖩𝖮𝖧𝖭 𝖡 𝖨𝖲 𝖣𝖱𝖨𝖵𝖨𝖭𝖦 𝖴𝖲 𝖡𝖠𝖢𝖪 𝖳𝖮 𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖢𝖧𝖠𝖳𝖤𝖠𝖴．We did a full circle, walking all the way back to Sowell's house so we could collect the Twinkie. Now we're driving in silence, and it's slightly tense between the two of us, but that's to be expected given the fact that we just argued.

John B and I rarely ever fought growing up. Sure, we had the occasional spat but they were always squashed the moment we'd share chips or push one another in the water. As we got older, I guess we were more prone to bickering and jabbing at one another, but this is definitely the worst fight we've had.

It's similar to the argument that we had with Dad the night before he disappeared, but our fight didn't end in the way that fight did. I definitely don't plan for it to end in that way as I hate every part of that night with my being so I need to fix this. We need to fix this. John B and I don't do this── we don't fight like this.

I glance at my brother. "I hate arguing with you," I say again, hoping he understands that point clearly. "It's like arguing with a mirror."

"You've argued with a lot of mirrors," he replies.

"Yes, I have, but you are my least favourite one to argue with." I force a smile to my lips, and I catch something of a smile on his face. See, even after a fight── or during a fight, if you will── we can still make each other smile. "I'm sorry."

"No, B, I'm sorry." I sigh, opening my mouth, about to speak. "No, let me talk, alright?"

I nod slowly. "Okay."

"I wanted to tell you," he begins. "I wanted to tell you, and you don't have to believe that, but I did want to tell you, Brooke. I wanted to tell you everything that happened with Dad, with me, with Charleston, with the gnomon. I wanted to tell you everything, I swear. I wanted to tell you everything, B, but I was..."

He glances at me for a second, taking his eyes off the road, and I meet his gaze. "I don't want anything bad to ever happen to you, okay? I was afraid that you'd get caught in what Dad was doing and I didn't want that." He looks back to the road, clearing his throat. "I just wanted you safe, alright?"

I breathe out a laugh. "Safe, huh?"

"I always want you safe, Brooke. I do care about you, you know?"

"I know that." I've always known that. My entire life, John B has shown me through words and actions that he cares about me. For a lot of my life, he was one of the only people who ever really did care about me.

"But I'm sorry I lied. I'm really sorry I lied, but I wanted you safe and I didn't know how to tell you."

"John B, what did he do?"

"A lot. He, uh..." John B hits his hand against the wheel a couple times, head shaking as he struggles to get the words out. It's rare to see him unable to speak. "I lied to you, Brooke. You're right, I've never lied to you, and I did."

"Well, you lied to me and stole my five dollars when I was six." He casts me a glance, but I just smile. "Sorry. Continue."

"I could've told you everything but I was just so set on wanting to impress Dad and be on his side and understand him because I-I missed him, B. I missed him, alright──

"Okay," I interrupt, keeping my voice calm. "It's okay, it's fine. I-I forgive you."

"See you always forgive me," he exclaims, scoffing. "And you don't have to because it's not fair to you to just forgive me, not for this. You've always been here. You've never lied to me. Well, you lied about you and JJ but I-I don't care. I just──"

"John B, it's okay," I insist, needing him to stop rambling. "It's fine."

He doesn't know that I have one other secret── one other lie. I'm kind of a hypocrite.

"I'm really sorry, Brooke."

"I swear, if you say that again, I'm gonna hit you," I threaten, chuckling softly, and I think that makes him lighten up a little. "What did he do, John B? Just tell me."

He leans back in his seat, exhaling a loud breath before he admits, "Dad killed two guys." My mouth gapes, a gasp falling out. I hadn't expected that. Out of everything there could be to possibly tell me, hearing that Dad killed people was not on the list. I guess I shouldn't be surprised though.

"H-He was protecting me," he says more to himself than to me, and I choose to believe that. "I helped... I helped him shove the bodies into the water. I..."

"What?" I shake my head, trying to wrap my head around that fact. "You... helped him? What?" The fact that he dragged my brother into his mess pains me even more than learning that Dad killed two people. For John B or not, I don't care for his reasoning behind it. He should've never dragged my brother into that.

"I am so glad that you weren't there."

"You shouldn't have been there either."

"Well, rather me than you, Brooke."

"I'm sorry." I turn, sitting crosslegged in my seat. "I'm so sorry you had to deal with that."

"No." He shakes his head. "I-I could've walked away, Brooke, but I-I didn't. I didn't want to let Dad down. I couldn't let Dad down, not after last time. Not after the fight we had then."

As always, John B hates to let people down, especially Dad. I've heard that line several times over the course of our lives, and I hate to have to hear it again. "John B, you could never let Dad down, you know that."

"And neither could you, Brooke, but saying that doesn't stop you from thinking that, does it?"

I lean my head against the window. "I... It's different, John B. It's... not the same, John B."

"No, Brooke, it's not the same, alright? Dad loves you, and I know he has a funny way of showing it, bit he does love you. It's not different. It is the same." I shake my head, tears welling in my eyes. "Things between you two never used to be like this. I don't... I don't get it, Brooke, I don't. What happened? Why is it not the same?"

"Because it's not," I say, emotion in my voice. "I've told you before, John B, Dad has a favourite and it's you."

"Brooke..."

"No, it's okay." I force out a laugh, wiping the tears from my cheeks. "It's okay. It's really okay, you know, because I don't care anymore. I've already said that I'm your favourite, right?" I see him smiling so that answers my question. "See, and that's enough for me. That will never change. That will always be the same."

"But you and Dad didn't use to..."

"I know Dad and I didn't use to be like this. I mean, when I was a kid, I thought he was some kind of superhero." I sniffle, pushing my hands through my hair. "I love Dad, John B, I do, but things between us aren't the same anymore."

He glances at me. "Why?"

"The fight," I tell, realising I'm close to telling the secret I've been holding back for a whole year. "The fight we had before he left. It was... bad."

"Yeah, I know, but..."

"Dad and I fought more after you took off in the Twinkie," I interrupt.

"You did?"

"I-I wanted to run after you but as I was leaving, he grabbed me and we started fighting and..." My breathing becomes a little shaky, a little erratic, and John B notices.

"Hey." I feel the Twinkie slow down as he pulls us over to the side of the road. "Hey, I'm sorry. You don't have to..."

I suck in a sharp breath, looking around. "Why are you pulling over?"

"You're upset, B, and if you're gonna throw yourself out of the Twinkie, I don't want to be driving."

I breathe out a laugh, tears continuing to trickle. "Shut up." He pushes open his door, and I watch, a little confused. "What are you──" He rushes around to my door, pulling it open quickly. "What are you doing, John B?"

"I'm trying to be a better brother. I'm trying to cheer you up, jackass."

I roll my eyes. "I'm fine."

"You're crying."

I nod along. "Good observation, genius."

He reaches out, snatching my hand and pulling me out of the Twinkie. I don't put up much of a fight. I just let my brother drag me out of the van and towards the grass beside the road. He keeps stringing me along, pulling and tugging until we come to a standstill in the field.

I think he's gone insane.

"I──" He grasps my shoulders, standing behind me. "Okay, what are you doing?"

"Look up." I do as told, looking up into the dark sky to see a thousand tiny sparkly dots in the sky.

"Okay. I'm looking up. What?"

"You see it?"

"The sky? Yeah."

"No, the Big Dipper." He points to a cluster of stars in the sky, and I tilt my head, trying to figure out what he is seeing that I'm not. "You see it, right?"

"Um, John B, that..." It's the sentiment, B. Just go along with it. "Yeah, I see it." I chuckle, nodding along as I stare at a cluster of stars that absolutely does not resemble the Big Dipper. We used to look at the stars all the time when it was our birthday, so he should know what the Big Dipper is, but whatever. I'll go along with it.

I peer away from the stars, looking at my brother over my shoulder. "Thank you."

"It's what I'm here for, B."

"You're my favourite brother," I say, reaching my hand up to wipe my tears.

"I bet you say that to all your brothers," he jokes.

I choke out a laugh. "But I really mean it with you." I turn around, facing my brother. "I love you, and I'm really sorry you had to deal with all that stuff alone. I'm really sorry, but I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere."

I step into him, wrapping my arms around him in a bone-crushing embrace. He hugs back, immediately relaxing as he wraps his arms around me. I feel safe to cry now while standing in the dark in the middle of this field, hugging one of my favourite people on the planet. I feel safe. I feel warm and loved. I feel okay.

John B flattens a hand against my hair. "What happened with Dad, Brooke?"

Don't crush the moment, Brooke.

"We just fought," I say, not entirely lying but not entirely telling the truth either. "We just fought a lot, and I'm just reminded of it when I see him, it's hard."

"Is that all?" I tighten my arms around him, nodding my head.

"Yeah, that's all."

It's not all, but what he doesn't know can't hurt him, right?

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❀ soph speaks

ah obx's favourite siblings