Sabrina ; The next generation

Nineteen

Aunt Charlotte was coming home.

I didn't know when — she didn't write that in the letter. She just said that she was coming home because she wanted to introduce her girlfriend.

It was weird growing up in a broken family. Sure, my parents have always been together and I've got a lovely family, but my mum's sister died and that split up the rest of the siblings.

Apart from Samuel. Mum always had a relationship to him. She visited him a lot after the war, bonded with him.

He was in Belgium for ten months, wanting to see bits of the world. He had saved up to be able to afford it, but he too was home.

Currently I was sat in the entertainment room in the basement, scrolling through my phone while Mia and Eli played some table football.

"Did you know Samuel is back?" I asked as I laid with my legs over the back of the sofa, my head hanging over the edge of the cushions.

"He is?" Mia asked. "From Belgium?"

"Yeah. He was at Uncle William and Marco's place yesterday when I went to get cigarettes."

"Right..." Eli nodded. "After you ran away from me in Diagon Alley."

I rolled my eyes but then I dropped my phone right on my face before it tumbled onto the floor.

"Ow!"

With a groan, I forced my feet over the back of the sofa until I was sat up and placed them on the floor.

I reached down to grab my phone from the floor, checking it for any cracks.

"Dad's going to kill you if you broke it." Eli commented.

I scoffed.

"What is it with you and thinking dad will kill me?"

I looked at him but then saw Alec lean against the doorframe of the entrance to the entertainment room.

He nodded towards the hallway and without hesitation, I got off the sofa and followed him out of the room.

"I didn't want to tell dad." I hurried to say. "Eli told him and I—"

"Sabrina, stop." Alec turned towards me, sighing loudly. "Stop always trying to defend me. Stop acting like it's okay for me to—"

He bit his lip.

"I'm sorry."

"You're—"

"I'm sorry." He confirmed. "Truth is that I am absolutely horrified of Ethan and the rest. I know I've been a horrible brother. I should've stepped in all of those times instead of hiding in the back because I'm too afraid to get beat up."

I raised my eyebrows while fidgeting with the phone in my hand.

I hadn't expected him to apologise. I hadn't expected him to admit being scared of his friends either.

"I'm really—" he sighed and brushed his fingers through his hair. "...please just stay away from them. I'll keep them away from the house and the family but if you see them out in public, if you see us out in public, just stay away... I obviously have no idea how to protect you from them so..."

"Are you fucking serious?" Eli's voice came from behind me as he and Mia walked into the hallway. "That's your apology towards Bree? Are you actually that big of a coward to stand up to your own friends that the only solution you see is telling Bree to simply avoid them?"

I looked down at the ground. I didn't like when they fought and I didn't like being the reason to it either.

"This doesn't regard you." Alec said. "I was speaking to Bree, not you."