Stepbrother

by Stacy McWilliams

  My head swam in shock, he always visited Louis? He’d caught me on Coop’s lap and at Louis’s grave. Shit, that was messed up.

  “Bailey, why were you sitting on your stepbrother’s lap in the middle of the day in a crematorium?” Oh hell, he did know who Coop was. I rolled my shoulders as I considered my answer carefully.

  “It’s not what it looked like.” I paused as his gaze narrowed and my face began to heat under his glare.

  “Really? It looked like you were on a date with your stepbrother at your brother’s graveside. So, what is it, Bailey?” His angry voice made my back stiffen. He’d not been in my life for the last six years and hadn’t even been to see Louis when he was in the hospital.

  I wanted to walk away from him, but I couldn’t do it, so I answered honestly in a small voice.

  “Coop brought me here because his brother had a seizure in front of me today.” The sun was suddenly hidden by a cloud and my top became cold on my back as a droplet of sweat rolled down my neck.

  “What does that have to do with anything?” he snapped, brushing his fingers across the top of Louis’s grave and his eyes went to the stone as I realized he probably didn’t know about that day. He wasn’t there.

  “Louis had a real bad seizure when he was in the hospital, and I was alone with him when it happened.”

  My dad glared at me and moved towards me.

  “Stop lying, Bailey, Louis was killed instantly in the crash.” I shook my head and stepped back from my dad as though he’d slapped me.

  “I think you better check your facts. I was there, you weren’t. Mom called and called you, and she couldn’t reach you for the two weeks he was in the coma.”

  I turned and began running down the hill as my dad called after me.

  “Bailey?” I ignored him, running towards Coop as fast as I could. He was pacing beside the car and glanced up as I ran into the lot. He held out his arms and after a moment’s hesitation, I went straight into his embrace. He ran his fingers over my arms and kissed my head.

  “Take me home, Cooper,” I muttered against his chest, and he kissed my head one more time before pushing me towards the door of the car. As I climbed in and locked the door, I wondered why my dad thought Louis had been killed instantly. Who would lie to him and deprive him of the opportunity to say goodbye to his son? It had to have been Alexa, but why would anyone do that? I knew she hated us, but to actively stop my dad from being there to see his son was sick.

  The drive home was as silent as the one to the crematorium, but I went back with Coop because the alternative was my grandparents’ house with the woman who hated me and would have loved nothing more than to make me feel unwelcome in a place that was supposed to be a safe haven for me.

  We got home a little after lunch, and we both went to our rooms, not speaking. His face was pinched when we got to the house and our parents weren’t back yet. I lay down in my bed and curled under the comforter. I closed my eyes and drifted off waking as a text pinged and I scrambled around the bed for my cell.

  It was from my mom.

  Zane’s okay. He’s being admitted for tests. We’ll be back in a few hours. Let Cooper know.

  I groaned and tried to move over to get out of bed, finding a warm body curled in behind me. Coop’s arms were across my leg and my chest, and he snored gently. He didn’t move as I scooted up the bed into a sitting position, I didn’t want to wake him up, but I knew if my mom or Shawn came home and caught him in my bed, even if it was just for comfort, there would be hell to pay.

  For a moment, I sat and watched him sleep. His brown hair was getting a little long and it covered the top of his neck. It was getting a little curl in it too and was damp at the back of his neck. His cheeks were soft and relaxed and his forehead smooth without stress or worry on it. His lips parted as he breathed, and his eyes were relaxed and completely closed over.

  I reached over and stroked his cheek feeling the slight scratch of stubble. His breathing sped up as I touched him and I leaned over, pressing my lips to his gently and sucking on the bottom one as he opened his eyes slowly. As I pulled back, he wrapped his hand around my neck guiding me back to him and he moved his lips against mine in a way that stoked the fire in me.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered, pulling back. “Bailey, I’m sorry for being such a shit to you. I didn’t know about your brother, and I was scared.” I kissed him gently once and shifted my body away from him.

  “Coop, our parents are coming back soon. You need to get out of here before they catch you.” He nodded once and sat up, pulling his top back on. As he stood, I watched with fascination as he pulled his pants up and stuffed his erection into his pants.

  He moved towards the door, then froze as we heard footsteps coming towards us; horror visible on his face.

  “Shit,” he muttered as he ran into the bathroom. A few seconds after he closed the bathroom door, my room door opened and my mom walked in, looking tired. She moved towards the bed and glanced once around the room.

  “Mom?” I spoke, and she sat on the bed beside me. She turned her eyes to me, her face full of pain and sorrow.

  “Bailey, I’m sorry. I know how hard that must have been for you today.” Her eyes met mine and I nodded knowing what she meant. We sat in silence for a few minutes, and she did something out of character; she reached over and squeezed my hand.

  “Tell Cooper to go back to his room. I’ll let today slide because of what happened, but if I find him in your bed again, I’ll tell Shawn.” My mouth opened with a pop as she stood and walked out, closing the door after her.

  I walked over to the bathroom and opened the door. Coop wasn’t there and I shook my head, heading over to the sink to splash some water on my face. A hand shot out from behind my shower and grabbed me and I almost screamed.

  “Bails, they fixed the tile. They know.” His face was pinched, and he met my eyes in the mirror. “I couldn’t get out.”

  “I know. My mom knew you were in my bed.” His eyes widened in horror as I spoke.

  “Wait, what?” he asked as he backed away from me.

  “Shit, Bails. She’s gonna cut my balls off.” I moved towards him and pressed my hand to his chest. I lifted my eyes to see the unfettered panic in his eyes.

  “Coop, it’s okay. She’s gonna let today slide because of Zane, but if it happens again, then she’s gonna tell your dad.”

  He nodded and jumped as my mom called us.

  “Cooper, Bailey, Shawn’s on his way.” Coop backed away in terror. He shook his head and turned heading out of my room. He made his way downstairs without looking back and closed himself in his room for the rest of the day.

  I stayed away from Cooper and he avoided me at all costs. He went out with his friends and barely stayed home and each night I went to sleep thinking about him and wondering if he was okay.

  The day Zane was discharged he was given the address of the local drug rehab center, but he didn’t bother. A batch of badly cut cocaine had been doing the rounds and a few kids had died from taking it. Zane was lucky he hadn’t had that much, but they’d needed to be sure because of his head injury that it was the cocaine that had caused the seizures.

  In the days following Zane’s release, Coop stayed as far away from me as possible, but we spoke via text every day. He’d message me in the morning: Good morning, beautiful

  And I smiled as I replied before going downstairs to see him for a few seconds as he made the coffee. When our parents went back to work, I’d told him about their conversation in the pantry, and he stared at me in shock for a moment, before he reached out quickly squeezing my fingers before walking away from me.

  The following morning,I’d gone down to the kitchen to see Coop had gone out to stand on the deck. As soon as the coffee was ready, I poured us both a mug, before taking it out to him.

  When I’d reached him, he’d turned to glance in my direction and I placed our mugs on the table. I wanted to be drawn into his arms so badly that I’d wrappe
d my arms around myself to stop myself reaching for him. He didn’t move and I stood there for another second, contemplating going back inside, but Coop turned and strode away from me, leaving his untouched coffee sitting on the table.

  I sat down and curled into one of the chairs, sipping my coffee as I watched the sun move across the water. He went for a run and I saw him again running across woods by the lake. He didn’t stop and I watched him until he was out of sight. I sat a while longer, enjoying the sunshine, only going back inside when I was famished. As I walked through the door to the kitchen, I saw Zane slumped at the table, so I rushed over.

  “Zane,” I called out in a shaky voice. “Zane,” I called again shaking his shoulder, but there was no response. I moved my hand to his neck, trying to see if I could feel a pulse when his hand closed over mine. He pulled my hand away from his neck and his chair clattered to the floor echoing loudly in the kitchen.

  He bent my wrist and I screamed in pain, but he didn’t seem to hear me and his free hand shoved me against the wall between the kitchen door and the pantry. My head bounced against the wall hard and my eyes watered, as he dropped my wrist but before I could say or do anything else, his hands closed around my neck, and he pushed me up the wall roughly.

  Lights appeared in front of my eyes as I gasped for breath. I clawed at his hand and he held tighter. A loud noise broke the quiet and I slipped suddenly down the wall, crumbling to the floor as Coop hovered over Zane. Coop had him pinned to the floor and was hitting him. I tried to call out for him, but all I could manage was a hoarse whisper.

  “C… Coop…” I managed, but he didn’t hear me because Zane managed to get free and charged for me again, grabbing my hair while I gasped for breath. He punched me twice before Coop charged at him again and slammed him into the island. I held my throat as it burned, and blood poured from my lip and a cut above my eye. I tried to swallow, but each swallow was like flames shooting down my throat.

  Tears ran from my eyes, but through my watery vision, I saw Coop standing in front of me, shielding me from Zane. My pulse sounded loud in my ears and as Zane flew at Cooper, knocking him to the side, nausea rose in me. He advanced on me again and Coop grabbed him around the waist, throwing him against the island again.

  Coop glanced at me once, before turning back to face his brother and Zane started shouting at him.

  “She’s a demon. She’s possessing your soul and you can’t fucking see it because she has you under her spell.” He moved towards me again and Coop stepped to the side, shielding me from view.

  “She’s not a demon, she’s our stepsister.”

  Zane growled and agony shot through me, something was seriously warping his mind.

  “Zane, calm down. Think about this logically.” Cooper was trying to reason with him, but he wouldn’t listen.

  “So, is that it, then? You choose her? Over me? Your own brother?” Zane’s voice was tough as steel as he spoke through his teeth to Coop and Cooper’s face blanched. He glanced at me on the floor holding my neck, staring at Zane in abject horror to his brother who was pacing around and shooting evil stares in my direction.

  “Zane, please stop,” Coop begged, hurt evident in his quivering voice, but Zane wouldn’t hear it.

  “No, you’ve chosen that slut over me.” He moved before Coop could do anything and punched out, catching Coop on the side of his face, sending him flying in my direction. Coop landed a little away from me, unmoving.

  Zane glared at me once, screaming.

  “I hope you’ll be happy with your demon slut.” He turned and rushed upstairs. I crawled across the floor to Coop and saw him bleeding from a cut on his head. I pressed my hand to his head, trying to stem the bleeding, but a wave of dizziness overwhelmed me, and I collapsed onto his chest.

  For a few hours, I drifted in and out of consciousness, waking up to find myself on Coop’s bed surrounded by my mom, Coop, and Shawn.

  “Bailey, what happened?” Shawn’s furious face was above me and I shrank back against the bed, willing myself back into unconsciousness. Cooper’s voice sounded overhead, and he sounded tired, “Dad, I already told you. Zane flipped out and attacked Bailey.”

  “But why? Why would my son attack her? Was she speaking about her make-believe brother again? Is that it, Bailey?” Shawn’s voice sounded off and I could hear how worried he was, and I opened my mouth trying to speak, but I could only make a small croak.

  “Bailey, shh,” Coop spoke and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Dad, it wasn’t that at all.” I noticed he didn’t correct his dad’s assumption about Louis but ignored it as he continued. “Zane’s been using drugs for a while, you knew this. He went crazy and called Bailey a demon.”

  Shawn’s face appeared over mine.

  “Bailey, is this true?” I nodded gently, grimacing as the simple movement sent a wave of pain shooting down my neck. Coop’s hand put gentle pressure on my shoulder, and I moved my eyes to look at him. His face was tight and pinched in pain, but he shook his head at my questioning look.

  My mom appeared over me, holding a glass of water.

  “Cooper, can you help Bailey sit up.” Coop’s hand moved from my shoulder and I wanted it back. It was the only thing keeping me calm. He moved closer to me and my heart rate accelerated, but not in desire, but in fear. I didn’t want to move, moving sucked. I was right to be scared, as Cooper’s gentle hands slid under my back, Shawn slipped his hands over my shoulders and Coop pushed me up tenderly. When I was up enough, he slipped in behind me and I leaned on his chest.

  My mom glared at him but didn’t say a word and as soon as I was in position, Shawn left the room, slamming the door.

  “Cooper, she needs to drink all of this. The doctor said this will help. Can you make sure she drinks it, please? There are pain meds dissolved in the water.” A shudder rocked down my back as he nodded. My lips tightened as agony shot through me again. He reached for the glass and my mom nodded at us.

  “Bailey, Cooper will watch you for now. Don’t leave this room and…” She shook her head and turned, walking out and closing the door. As the door clicked, Coop leaned his head on mine. For a moment he didn’t move, but then he raised the straw to my lips.

  “Bails, drink, please.” His voice sounded thick with tears and his body shook as I leaned on it. I hissed out a breath as every shudder he took caused the agony in my throat to rise.

  He sucked in a deep breath and offered me the straw again.

  “Please drink this.” He didn’t say anything else, and the silence between us was thick with unsaid words. I opened my mouth and croaked a moan as my lip burned. Closing my mouth on the straw I sucked in a small mouthful of water. As I tried to swallow, my throat burned as though it was acid I was drinking. Tears rolled from my eyes and down my cheeks.

  Breathing hurt, drinking hurt, but mostly I was hurt because my stepbrother had turned on me; he’d called me a demon. I managed two swallows before I drifted back into unconsciousness. Before I slipped off, Coop whispered in my ear, “That was the scariest moment of my life. Bails, your face… I can’t even…” He sucked in a breath and shuddered causing a wave of pain in my neck.

  “Coop,” I managed in a hoarse whisper, “quit moving… hurts…”

  “Sure thing,” he whispered as he pressed his lips to my head and as he breathed evenly in and out, I drifted back to sleep.

  I woke again a few hours later to the soft sound of Coop’s breathing under my ear. As I listened to him sleep and the gentle thump of his heart, the pain rushed back to me and I shifted uncomfortably. Coop stirred as I moved and I froze; he needed sleep. I wasn’t sure how he was coping with everything that had happened, but I knew he’d been hurt too.

  I tried to sit up and his arms circled my waist.

  “Bails,” he whispered, “stay, please. I need you to stay here with me.” I leaned back down, and he held me tightly as he broke down. His sobs broke my heart, but he’d trapped my arms, so I couldn’t touch him. My eyes filled with
tears at the pain because his pain was my pain.

  “Coop, I…” my hoarse voice crackled painfully, “I’m so sorry.”

  His arms moved, and he gently rubbed my arms whispering as he did.

  “It’s not your fault. Bailey, I’ve never been as scared as I was when I came through that door. Your eyes were rolling back in your head, and your lips were turning blue.” His body tensed and an image of Zane’s face flashed into my mind. “I was scared, so scared for a second…” He gasped in a breath and my heart shuddered. “I thought I was too late.”

  His voice cracked and his tears fell. I turned, ignoring the pain that shot through me, and after working them free, wrapped my hands around him, kissing his chest over his heart. I whispered brokenly into his chest, “Thank you for saving my life,” and I pressed another small kiss into his chest.

  “Bails,” he began but the door handle jiggled, and he spun me back around ignoring my hiss of protest.

  “Close your eyes,” he breathed as the door opened and I closed my eyes, breathing loudly and ignoring the shooting pains from my throat.

  Gentle hands lifted my arm and there was a sharp scratch against my skin before the magic morphine was plunged into my vein. A familiar voice spoke, but I couldn’t place whose voice it was.

  “She’s going to be sore for a week or so. We should deliver intravenous morphine over the next day or so to help with the pain and administer Advil orally to help with the swelling.” Cold hands pressed against my neck and I jerked a little as pain prickled through me. Coop’s hands steadied me under the covers and the person turned their attention to him.

  “We should move her. It can’t be comfortable for Cooper…” The voice spoke again, and my mom answered.

  “I’d rather not wake them tonight, Nixon, but thanks for being here. Can you and Cate stay for a few days? We don’t want this to become public.” They sounded further away, and the door gently clicked closed.