Swan Song

Nine

If I was dying on my knees, you would be the one to rescue me and if you were drowned at sea, I'd give you my lungs so you could  breathe.

I've got you, brother.

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I had managed to avoid my house like the plague and my brothers did my bidding, being sure to grab my clothes and other necessities so I could stay the weekend at my parents house and not have to be bothered by Bradley or Jake.

I found a cozy spot in the den that a stream of sunlight managed to keep warm throughout the day and I cozied into that spot with a blanket and my kindle, ready to spend the evening disassociating from my shitty life, at least for a little while.

Just as I got started on my newest book, Haunting Adeline, I saw the silhouette of somebody standing in the doorway and I sighed as I lowered my kindle to see who it was.

"Come on, let's go," my eldest brother Owen called to me, nodding his head towards the front door.

I thought for a moment, clicking my tongue before resting my Kindle on the arm of the chair and getting up. I slipped my tennis shoes on and walked to where Owen waited for me.

"Where are we going?" I questioned as Oliver caught up to us as we walked out of the front door.

"Just get in the car," Oliver chimed in and I nodded with another sigh as I climbed into my eldest brothers vehicle.

It was highly unusual, almost unheard of, for siblings to be stationed together but the fact that all three of us were at North Island was something extremely special and something I had come to greatly value over the previous few weeks. As much as I would have never admired it growing up, my brothers were my best friends and being separated by the military took a huge toll on me.

Once we were in Owen's jeep, we took a drive to the hangar that my dad kept our family's private plane in.

"What are we doing here?" I finally asked as he pulled into the hangar.

"Going for a ride," Owen replied as he tossed me the keys. "I call copilot."

I couldn't help but smile small as I unlocked the plane before lowering the stairs. I ran all of my safety checks before speaking with the control tower. Once all was clear, we took off and I eased back knowing I wasn't having to worry about anything with my two favorite copilots at hand.

"So what happened with Seresin?" Owen finally questioned.

"I don't want to talk about it," I grumbled, glancing back at Oliver who must've told Owen that something was up.

"It must be something major if you're staying at mom and dads house," Owen replied. "You love your privacy too much to stay there."

"I mean, yeah, I do, but it's also nice to be able to spend time with them. Especially since dad is better now. It sucked not being here while he was battling cancer."

"It was hard," Oliver chimed in from the rear of the plane.

"And Owen and I are grateful that you stepped up to help them on top of work when we couldn't."

"No wonder you're their favorite," Owen chimed in, giving our brother a grin. "So are you going to tell us what happened, Little Duck?"

"I'm not above flying this plane straight into the pacific if you keep trying to bring it up," I muttered. "It's all of your guys' fault for ever giving me that stupid ugly duckling nickname anyway."

"You're right. I'll take responsibility," Owen replied. "But to be fair, it was never because you were ugly. It was because you loved The Swan Princess as a kid and you shared a name."

"As you got older, we knew you were anything but the princess type," Oliver admitted.

I swallowed hard as my brothers confessed why they gave me my nickname. It was far from being as cruel as I thought but it still hurt that the nickname followed me throughout my entire life.

"So are you gonna tell us what happened or what?" Oliver questioned and I sighed.

"I, uh, I found out that they made a stupid bet about getting me to go to the Navy Ball and I overheard him and Bradley talking about it today."

I swallowed hard as I tried to fight back tears.

"A bet?" Oliver followed up.

"Yep. To see if they could make me, and I quote, 'fall in love with Jake ' before the ball. I don't even want to go anymore."

Oliver harshly blew air past his lips knowing that this wasn't my first time having a problem with Jake Seresin.

"He did this to you once, Oh."

"I'm upset about Jake, sure, but I think I'm more torn up knowing that Bradley knew and didn't say anything to me," I admitted. "No heartbreak has compared to the heartbreak of my best friend betraying me."

"One day you'll meet someone who appreciates you," Owen said as he glanced at me.

"I'm pretty sure I'm meant to be alone, which is fine. I'm pretty sure I don't ever want to give anyone the power to make me feel like this again."

"Do mom and dad know?" Owen questioned.

"Mom does. I'd never tell dad. He'd just say 'I told you not to date your coworkers' and then that would be that," I replied with a slight shrug. "And please don't tell him either. This isn't his battle to fight. It's mine."

I glanced at Owen and he nodded, knowing I'd hate for dad to get involved.

"Thank you both for this, by the way," I muttered.

"Well I knew it'd be the only way we would get you to spill your guts," Owen teased with a laugh.

"Who needs a truth serum when you could just let Odette fly? Seriously, Oh. This is like your therapy," Oliver added.

"And free therapy is the best therapy," I laughed.

"So about tomorrow," Owen muttered, changing the subject. "You're not going to rehearse one last time?"

"Nah, Matt and I could do our routine in our sleep if we wanted to."

"Hints for your song?" Oli questioned, sitting back and getting comfortable.

"This one is a secret," I smiled.  "You'll be there?"

"Have we ever missed a single competition?" Owen questioned.

"Not that I can remember," I admitted.

"Who would've thought that you and Matt would be skating together after all these years?"

"Not me, Oli," I laughed. "Imagine if mom wouldn't have ever taken us skating to get us out of the house."

"You both were inseparable growing up," Owen chuckled. "Annoyed the shit out of me."

"Not my fault that you couldn't ever take a prank," I countered. "Is anyone else starving?"

"Famished," Oli groaned.

I turned the plane back around and began our trip back to San Diego. Once we descended and got the plane locked back up in the hangar, we went back home where my parents had been waiting for us.

"Pizza is on the way. Ordered extra wings too," my dad called out from the living room. "You guys ready for the game?"

"Is that a real question?" I replied, plopping down beside him on the couch. "Let's go Nuggets!"

"No way. This one belongs to the Lakers," Oliver groaned.

Dad turned on ESPN before turning to look at me.

"I'm sorry people suck, kiddo," he admitted quietly before turning back to the television.

"Me too," I muttered, settling in as the game started.

Even with all of the distractions that my family offered, I still couldn't keep my mind from wandering back to the conversation I heard between Jake and Bradley and I suddenly felt my heart break all over again.