Dance In The Rain

~19~ Next Adventure

Since I couldn't update my Marriage book this week, I thought I'd do a double update in this one! Enjoy a random Thursday update, friends!

~*~

To my surprise, and probably Holden's, Tate hasn't been doing bad with his grounding. He will occasionally make an un-needed remark, but he's REALLY trying to get his phone back.

I had no idea how much leaving his friends destroyed him, and not being able to talk to them seems like it's physically painful for him.

"Brandy, I haven't even told these kids yet...No, you cannot come over if you're gonna run your mouth," Holden snaps on the phone one night after school. Tate and I look at each other, and fear starts to creep in.

Is he going to send us away?

"So what, you're gonna break up with me over the phone? Real nice. What is it you want me to do? They're my brother and sister, and I'm not just dumping them....Well, if you put it like that...I choose them......Brandy...Br—Damn it!"

He slams his phone down on the counter and kicks something, and we hear whatever he kicked snap.

"This day can go to hell," he mumbles as he walks outside and slams the back door.

"What's happening, you think?" I ask Tate quietly once he leaves.

Tate is simply staring at a dark TV screen, since Holden informed him that grounding also meant no TV or PlayStation.

"Not a mind reader, Julianne," he sighs as he crosses his arms. "I'm so bored. Think he'd let me at least walk on the beach?"

"You could ask......"

Tate nods as he stands up and pokes his head outside.

"Would the Royal Dictator allow the common folk to walk on the beach, or is His Majesty taking away the sun, too?"

I walk into the kitchen, and Holden is sitting at the rusty porch table with his head in his hands.

He looks up at Tate with a devastated expression, and clears his throat.

"How 'bout you quit being such an ass, and try that again," he says in a dejected voice that makes even Tate react.

He blows out a breath. "Can I walk on the beach for a bit?"

Holden watches him for a minute in silence before he nods. "Let's all take a walk...I need to talk to you two about something."

"You're getting rid of us, huh?" I let slip out without thinking, and Tate looks over at me with fear in his own eyes. He simply takes my hand in his and squeezes it, and Holden is out of his seat and over to us in an instant.

"My hope is that one day soon, my dumping you will never be in your thoughts again. You're with me until the day you decide to go out on your own, and I pray that you'll want to live close by and allow me to be a part of your family." He says as he puts a hand on both of our shoulders, and then pulls us into a group hug.

Tate immediately stiffens as he pulls out of the hug, but Holden doesn't let his gaze go. "Let's go for a walk," he says gently as he puts his phone in his pocket and leads the way to the sandy path.

~*~

The seagulls are the first thing that I hear, and I smile at a nursery flock playing in the wind. They catch Holden's attention too, and he points over to the left a little.

"Those two over there are probably males...They're watching over the young."

"Don't care," Tate snaps as he kicks at a shell, splashing it into the crashing waves.

Holden stops walking as he lets the water lap over his sandals, and he closes his eyes as the salty sea air hits our faces.

"I've been on the phone for three days...We have to go back to California for the weekend," he finally says as he keeps his eyes closed.

"We get to go home?!?" Tate asks with life back in his voice for the first time since we left.

Holden opens his eyes, and his blue irises match the water as they pierce into Tate. He nods slowly, choosing his words.

"Yeah. They found who killed him, and there's no danger to you guys after all...The estate needs settled, and for whatever reason they won't just fax me the crap to sign. We need to leave tomorrow, right after school. That way we won't have to miss Monday."

"Holden, can I please have my phone back tomorrow night so I can text my friends and tell them I'll be in town? Please?"

"I'll think about it, Tate," Holden nods, and Tate gives him a genuine small smile for the first time.

"Can we get more of our stuff?" I ask carefully.

Holden nods. "Yeah. I'm seriously hoping we get a chunk of change out of it too...I want to get you guys out of this tiny house and give you each a room."

Tate claps his hands together and then fist pumps. "Why were you afraid to tell us?"

Holden tilts his head in confusion.

"We heard you on the phone."

Holden sighs and shakes his head in aggravation. "Another reason I want out of this house...There's no damn privacy......I'm just really not looking forward to going, and I've been trying to pretend like it isn't happening."

"Why?" I ask.

"Because like I told you the other night, every time I got close to going back, I had a panic attack.. And I don't want to fall apart in front of you guys."

"But he's dead!" Tate says, as if that should magically make it all better.

Holden ignores him as he stares back out at the ocean.

"Sorry about Brandy," I say softly.

"What do you mean?" Holden asks as he looks back at me.

"...You broke up."

Holden rolls his eyes and sits down in the sand, letting the water splash up on his khakis.

"We didn't...This is what we do...She threatens to leave me and then after she cools down, we go back to where we were before the argument."

"You deserve better than her," I say as I sit next to him and make handprints in the wet sand.

He looks at the top of my head, but I pretend like I don't notice as I make a heart outline with my finger in the sand.

"Tate, you can have your phone back when we get to the airport tomorrow night. When and if I have to take it away again and you fight me like you did the other night, I won't turn the phone back on...You'll just lose it. Deal?"

Tate sighs as he sits on the opposite side of Holden and picks up a Cockle shell, turning it around in his hands.

"Deal. Thank you."

~*~

"You know, you're gonna be busy tonight...I could just have the phone now to save you time," Tate says as we start walking into the school the next morning.

Holden turns to him and gives him a smirk. "You're so thoughtful, brother...But no," he chuckles as he lightly pushes Tate.

Tate rolls his eyes as he walks ahead of us further, and Holden chuckles to himself some more.

"Holden!" A high-pitched shrill cuts across the air, and when I turn, I groan.

Brandy

Holden's face lights up as he kisses me on the head. "Have a good day, Annie," he says as he turns to Brandy and walks quickly toward her.

I watch as she jumps into his arms and he holds her, kissing her deeper than a teacher probably should on school grounds.

I turn around and walk into the school, realizing just now what my brother has done.

Even though he's old, he's went from one toxic relationship to another.

And he has no idea