Rules

by Doe, Anna B.

  He said it with such certainty like, there wasn’t another option. In his head, Brook is coming back home with us. But what if she doesn’t? What if she found a life, found happiness somewhere away from Greyford, away from all the drama, away from me?

  My chest squeezes painfully, and Andrew has to sense it somehow because he gives me a quick look of reassurance.

  “She’s coming back home with us. She thought there wasn’t a reason to stay, that she wasn’t wanted, but she is. We all want her back. Lia and Jeanette, me, you… We just have to show her. Show here there is more waiting for her in Greyford than the damn drama that’s been going on for the last year. Show her she isn’t alone in all of this.”

  “Do you think she really is…”

  I don’t have to finish the question because he already knows. If anybody knows how I’m feeling, it’s him.

  “I don’t know, man.” I can see the pain flash on his face, but as soon as I blink, it’s gone. “After everything with Jeanette… I just don’t know.”

  Well, I guess that makes two of us.

  “Who are you going for: Brook or the baby?”

  “I…” I open my mouth, but no words come out.

  “Because if it’s just because of the baby, because you want to do the right thing, I’m going to ditch your ass right now and go get her by myself. Brook deserves better than some dick knocking her up and then forcing her into something just to be a hero. If you’re not the man she needs…”

  Andrew doesn’t finish his sentence; he doesn’t have to. One way or another, Brook deserves someone better than me. What I’m not sure is, am I willing to let her go?

  * * *

  “You sure this is it?” I look at Andrew over the hood of his car.

  It has been one long-ass drive from Greyford all the way to the middle of nowhere Virginia. Who the hell runs to Virginia of all places? Brook, that’s who.

  Andrew looks at his phone before he lifts his gaze to meet mine. “This is the place John’s PI said we’d find her.”

  He tilts his chin in the direction of the house across the street. I take it in, trying to figure out why would she come here. There is nothing special about it. It’s just a regular two-story house in a small Virginia beach town. The front porch is covered in flowers, and there is a swing swaying slowly with the ocean breeze.

  “I guess there is only one way to find out.”

  The sound of the car door closing echoes through the silent street. Andrew locks the car, and we slowly walk up to the front door.

  With every step, I can feel my heart speed up a tiny bit until it’s a full-on stampede. My chest squeezes to the point it’s hard to breathe. I dry my sweaty palms against the sides of my legs, clenching my fingers.

  This is it. A few more steps, just behind that door…

  Andrew turns his head to the side, and green eyes that I now know match Brook’s look at me. His pupils are dilated, so I know he must feel something similar too. Ever since he found out, he has made it his mission to find Brook and bring her back home, and now she is here, just behind that door, and as much as I want to see her, to touch her, I’m also afraid.

  What if this isn’t our Brook? What if it’s somebody else and this trip was all for nothing? But an even more terrifying thought is… What if this is our Brook, but she didn’t want to come back?

  With breath stuck in my lungs, I watch Andrew lift his hand and press the doorbell. The sound echoes in my head on repeat, a sudden heat wave going through my body. Shifting my weight from one leg to the other, I tug at the collar of my shirt in hopes it’ll help me breathe easier.

  A faint sound of footsteps nears from the other side of the door. Light and unhurried.

  Why the fuck does it take so long?

  The door swings open.

  “How can I help you?”

  Chapter Sixty

  BROOK

  With the tip of the paintbrush tucked between my teeth, I look critically at the canvas in front of me. Tilting my head to the side, I rub my stiff neck, hoping to relive the pressure. The last few days I’ve been sleeping for shit, and it shows. The pressure to finish these pieces and send them to Mrs. Brown are getting to me.

  Why the hell did I agree to this again?

  Because she was the only one who could help you and you weren’t in a position to bargain.

  Before she let me leave, Mrs. Brown made me promise to stay at her sister’s place for as long as I needed until I was able to stand on my own two feet and to let her sell my art to help me with the money. To say I was skeptical is an understatement, but her gallery owner friend actually did manage to sell the pieces she sent, and now she wanted more.

  Narrowing my eyes, I dip the tip of the brush into a palette and tap softly on the canvas, adding a little bit of color here and there until I’m satisfied with the final result. Taking a step back, I give the painting one last look. Nodding in approval, I lay down the palette and brush, looking through the open window.

  It was so easy to get lost in my art and lose track of time. And since there wasn’t a clock in the atelier and my phone’s been turned off since I left Greyford, it could have been hours.

  My stomach rumbles as I look at the late afternoon sun. Chuckling, I rub my sweaty forehead before my hand settles on my stomach.

  I guess it’s time to eat.

  Going down the stairs, I think of all the things I still have to do before I send the paintings to Mrs. Brown. She insisted I send them to her so she can enter them in whatever competition she wanted. Not that I cared much. The only reason I agreed in the first place is because of the possible money I could get out of it. The money I so desperately need because working part-time in a bookstore isn’t cutting it. For now, I was lucky to be able to stay with Mrs. Brown’s sister, but I know I can’t stay here forever. This is just another stop on the road. To where exactly, I’m not sure.

  You could go back. You could call Lia and…

  I shake my head, dismissing the devil whispering in my ear. There is no way I’m going back to Greyford, not with how I left things. Not with all the secrets and…

  “And who might you be?” I hear Mrs. Perry, Mrs. Brown’s sister, ask from downstairs.

  I continue down, still half-immersed in my thoughts.

  “I’m her brother and this is…”

  Those words, that voice, snap me out of it. I lift my head, stopping at the halfway point from which I have a clear view of the front door, but then one of the stairs creaks loudly, no matter how softly I step on it.

  All heads turn to look at me, but he is the only one I see.

  Max.

  I stop dead in my tracks, my hand gripping the railing and holding on to it for dear life as my mouth hangs open in surprise.

  What the hell is he doing here?

  My heart is beating so loudly, the sound echoing in my veins as my lungs close up, impeding me from inhaling. A choked sound comes out when I try to take a breath.

  He shouldn’t be here. He should be back in Greyford, finishing senior year and packing his bags to go to whatever university he got into, where he’ll have a stellar hockey career and go off to play professional hockey like he always wanted.

  Then why is he here?

  Our eyes stay glued to each other’s. Not blinking. Not breathing.

  It’s like we’re stuck.

  Stuck in time and space, unable to move. Unwilling. Because the moment we do, the spell will be broken, our lives shattered and nothing will ever be same again.

  So we drink each other in like this is the last chance we’ll ever get.

  Then his lips move, a pained whisper falling from them. Just one word, just one sound, carrying so much heartache, so much pain. My name.

  “Brook.”

  It ripples through my body, shaking me to my core. It’s been weeks. Weeks since I last laid my eyes on him. Weeks since I heard the sound of his voice. Weeks since I felt his touch. And it’s like that one word unleashed everything inside
of me. The ache so strong, all-consuming, that if I don’t hold on to the railing, it would bring me down to my knees.

  All the feelings I’ve been fighting, feelings I thought I’d managed to shove away and stash somewhere deep inside of me—because I’m not foolish enough to believe they’re actually gone—are now back in full force.

  So much for doing better.

  “W-What are you doing here?” I stutter out quietly.

  When I left Greyford that day, I let myself cry all the tears, but then I decided I was done. Done crying. Done overthinking. Done wishing things were different. They are what they are, and there is no changing that. So when the last tear fell, I wiped my cheeks and pushed all those thoughts and feelings away. I locked them in the box, I turned off my phone, and didn’t let myself come close to either of them. It was better that way. Safer.

  Although my eyes are glued to Max’s, from the corner of my eye, I can see Mrs. Perry look between us.

  “I’ll give you kids a moment.”

  I nod absentmindedly, still trying to wrap my mind around what’s happening here. Max is here. In Virginia. In Mrs. Perry’s house. He came here looking for me. There was no other explanation.

  He came here looking for me.

  The door in the back of the house closes, signaling we’re alone.

  I gulp down, forcing my fingers to loosen from the death grip so I can come down the stairs, although I’d much rather run back up and lock myself in my bedroom. But that’s not really an option.

  Just when I reach the bottom, my eyes catch the sight of the second person.

  “Andrew, what…?” My brows furrow in confusion.

  I’m her brother.

  The words I heard finally make sense, until it hits me. He knows. Andrew knows about his dad and Josephine. Probably knows about Josephine’s blackmail and the money his father gave me.

  My hands clench into fists by my sides as I look away. I can’t look at him, because if I do, I’ll see what he thinks and I’m not ready. Not ready to face the truth. Not ready to face him. My brother.

  God, this is a mess. One big, ugly mess. Everything I tried to avoid happening by leaving has come true, and now I have to deal with the aftermath.

  I can hear footsteps come closer, but I don’t look to see who it is. Andrew or Max, it didn’t matter because there wasn’t a safe choice. Both boys were equally dangerous for me, just in different ways.

  He stops in front of me, and a hand slips underneath my chin, nudging me to lift my head and face him.

  Don’t be a coward, Brook.

  Swallowing hard, I force myself to do it. To look at the person standing before me.

  Green eyes meet mine. The same eyes I’ve been seeing in the mirror my whole life, but never knowing where they came from. Until recently. But being forced to look into them now, I’m left dumbfounded.

  How did I not see it sooner?

  Neither of us say anything. He’s drinking me in, almost hungrily. Astonishment and wonder mixing on his face as he observes every inch of mine and I wonder if I look at him the same way.

  The silence stretches between us almost uncomfortably long as we just stare at one another, looking for other little details we might have missed or simply ignored, writing them off as inessential.

  His thumb brushes over my cheek, and when he pulls it away, I can see a smudge of green paint on it before it falls back down to his side.

  “I know,” he rasps, finally breaking the quiet, his voice charged with so many emotions it feels like a punch to my gut. “I wish I would have known sooner, but I know now.”

  “Do you think it would have changed anything?” I whisper.

  There are no hard feelings, no accusations, just plain wonder. I’ve asked myself the same question over and over since I found out. Would it have changed anything if he’d known? If we’d both known? Andrew has changed a lot in the last few months, but the guy he was back then… I’m not so sure. The little five-year-old girl that still lives somewhere inside of me wanted to hope things would have ended differently, but the grown-up woman I am now knows there is no sense in dwelling on the past. The situation played out the way it did, and the only thing we can do is move forward.

  Andrew runs his hand over his face and through his hair. “I… I don’t know, Brook.” My eyes shut for a second as I absorb his words. “I want to believe things would have ended differently. That I’d have done the right thing.”

  Facing him, I offer a small smile in understanding. “I want to believe that too,” I say quietly, appreciating his honesty.

  “But I will do right by you now, Brook.” His hands grip mine, locking our fingers together. The breath gets stuck in my lungs as I stare into his intense, determined face. “Come home with us. Give me a chance to be the brother you deserve.”

  “I…” My throat bobbles as I try to swallow all the emotions nestled inside. “I’m not…”

  My eyes dart over his shoulder and settle on Max. Still there. Still observing. Still waiting.

  Andrew notices my distraction, a knowing smile curling his lips.

  “I guess I should leave you two to talk, but, Brook?” His hands squeeze mine softly, drawing my attention back to him. “No matter what happens between you two, you are coming home with me. I won’t take no for an answer.”

  “Andrew…” I drawl, not ready to surrender. “Going back to Greyford…” I shake my head, not even knowing where to start. When I left Greyford, shit was about to hit the fan. “It’ll piss off a lot of people, starting with your father. But more than that, I’m not even sure I can do it. Not with…”

  “It doesn’t matter,” he insists stubbornly. “Let him be pissed off. The asshole deserves it. The girls miss you, and I… I don’t want to have more regrets in my life. I want you back, and I promise you, you’ll never be alone again. It’ll be you and me, sis. You and me.”

  Tears gather in my eyes at his words. Hope, that little traitorous bitch, blossoms in my chest. I can see Andrew is honest; it’s written all over his face. And a part of me wants it, every single thing he said, but the other part, the reasonable part knows differently. Because when he finds out, when they both find out about my secret, my betrayal, they won’t think the same.

  Nodding my head to appease him but not saying anything, I let my eyes wander once again to the guy standing behind his back.

  Andrew breaks our bond. “I’ll be outside.”

  But before he leaves, he leans closer, so only I can hear him. “Give the guy a chance. He’s been one miserable fucker since you’ve been gone.”

  Not waiting for my answer, he walks around me and to the back of the house in the direction Mrs. Perry disappeared. The sound of the door closing behind him somehow sounds final, leaving me alone with the last person I ever thought I’d see again, but the one I wanted to see the most, nonetheless.

  Chapter Sixty-One

  MAX

  The door closes behind Andrew, leaving me alone with Brook.

  My Brook.

  Seeing her for the first time in weeks has brought back so many emotions, I was left speechless. I was actually glad Andrew was with me, taking the initiative to talk to her first and giving me time to wrap my head around the fact that we. Have. Found. Her. After wondering, overthinking and worrying, she was here, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her because if I did, she could disappear once again.

  When Andrew’s dad hired the PI and we met with him, giving him all the information that could help him find Brook, he was brutally honest with us, saying that the chances of finding a runaway girl like Brook were slim to none. She’d turned off her phone, she didn’t use credit cards and she didn’t have any family to speak of. She was practically untraceable.

  But Andrew never lost hope, something I can’t say for myself. When she left, I was angry. Angry at her, angry at myself, angry at life. Jeanette had just been in an accident, and we thought she was pregnant, only to be told she wasn’t, in fact, pregnant. Something abou
t a false positive pregnancy test. How the hell is something like that possible in the twenty-first century? And then everything about Dad was revealed. The cheating, asking Jeanette to be quiet, how it all played into her to ending up in the hospital. And in all that mess, I remember Brook coming to talk to me, but I was too stuck up my own ass to pay her any attention, and then she left. Not that I can blame her for it. When I needed her, she was there, but when she needed me, I turned my back on her. Who does something like that? Apparently, I do.

  And then a few weeks later, the shit hit the fan again. Josephine Taylor broke into Hill’s house, screaming and causing a ruckus, demanding to know where Brook was and revealing more secrets. Between the Hills and Sanders, we’ve had enough secrets to fill the Atlantic. Was this it, or were there more things, more secrets, we weren’t aware of?

  Pushing the dark thoughts away, I let my eyes scan her body. She looks good. All that dark hair pulled on top of her head in a messy bun. Her make-up-free face, covered in traces of paint, has a natural glow to it. She’s wearing a white button-down that also has paint on it. It’s too big and falling down to mid-thigh with black leggings peeking underneath it.

  Beautiful and definitely not pregnant.

  “You look…” I start, but my voice sounds all squeaky, like a twelve-year-old boy’s, so I clear my throat before continuing. “Good. You look good.”

  I cringe at my words. Great, Casanova, just great. Can you be any lamer?

  But isn’t she supposed to be pregnant? Andrew said he saw the test. It was positive. Maybe it’s too early for her to show? I try to do mental math, but the truth is, I have no idea when the woman is supposed to grow the belly. Maybe it’s too early. Or maybe her test was wrong like Jeanette’s was…

  Who are you going for: Brook or the baby? Because if it’s just because of the baby, because you want to do the right thing, I’m going to ditch your ass right now… Brook deserves better than some dick knocking her up and then forcing her into something just to be a hero. If you’re not the man she needs…