The Fighter

Chapter Twenty

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I say with a smile and I place my stuff on the bar inside of Damien's place-- a small house on the outskirts of town not too far off from the clubhouse.  "You know what, I am fan-fucking-tastic because my brother is alive and home.  My brother... he's..."

I break down into tears begin to fall to the ground when two strong arms wrap themselves around me and pull me into their comforting embrace, holding onto me while I break apart knowing that the one person that I wanted to be alive more than anything in the world is less than five minuets away from me. We sit there for what seems like hours when the front door opens and I hear my little brother call out to me right before he and Addy walk into the kitchen; dropping her hand slowly, he walks to me and I open my arms into a hug.  I am the only sibling that he knows personally but I told him about our older part so he knows who he is.

"What happened?" I open my mouth to speak but nothing comes out except a broken sob as I hold onto him tighter, not wanting to let him go.

"Your brother," Damien says with a sigh as he pulls Addy into a side hug from the floor, "he isn't dead like everyone thought he was.  He's back."

"Bullshit," I pinch his arm lightly and he shakes his head. "No, this is complete bullshit, he leaves willingly for however long and then comes back and thinks that everything is going to be the same as when he left?! Does Dad know?" I shake my head. "Does Jackson know that he's an alcoholic or that he married a woman that practically spent everything that mom left us? Does he know that you went mute?"

"Jake," I start but he cuts me off.

"Does he know your favorite color? Favorite food? Favorite movie to watch when you're sad? Does he know about how you graduated in the top ten percent of your class two years before anyone else?! Does he know who you are?"  Jake takes a deep breath as he starts to pace around.  "Did he care that he had a little brother that might have needed him when he got older?! I had to learn everything with you through YouTube and terrifying educational videos that made me never want to get someone pregnant.

"We needed him and he was nowhere to be found! You taught me how to shave. You taught me how to read. You taught me what I needed when I needed it no matter what you were going through. And then you... when I found you..." Jake lets out a broken sob at the memory of me laying at the foot of the stairs one night when the step-bitch accidentally tripped me.  "When I found you there and you didn't respond to me, I thought I had lost you and I knew that I was going to be able to make it but I still needed you. You made me a promise to never leave me."

"Through Hellfire and Brimstone or through the coldest points in Helpheim, I will always make it back to you to stand by your side."  I stand up and pull him into another hug.  "You are my brother and he will never change that, but I need to ask you one thing. Don't hate him right off the back, give him some time and a chance to prove himself."

"He left."

"He said that it was for our own good, and there is a part of me that believes him." I pull my brother away and look into his eyes. "He wanted me away from everything yet I still got there, I've seen some of these people and I know where he's coming from. I don't want you anymore near then he would have wanted me."

Buzz. Buzz.

I look at the counter to my phone.

Old '32. Good condition,
minimal damage. You in??

Hello?

Nah, man.

I'm done with the fights .