Weigh Down on Me

|Chapter Nine|

Nick and I locked eyes and my heart started beating wildly in my chest.

"Your mom had an affair with his father a few years before you were born. To save the reputation of our family, we cut ties with the Folios."

I could feel myself slipping into a panic attack and I stood up from my place at the table. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Noah push himself away from the bar and make his way to our side of the restaurant.

"Excuse me." I mumbled and hurried out the front door.

How is this possible?

"Lennon!" Noah's voice echoed off the sides of the large buildings surrounding me, and I kicked off my heels.

I could feel the snow searing the bottoms of my feet, but I couldn't care any less in that moment. I made my way down the street, my eyes blurring and hands trembling from the surge of adrenaline.

I felt a strong hand grasp my shoulder and I spun around with my hand raised ready to strike whoever was behind me.

Noah flinched and took a step away from me. His dark brown eyes were filled with concern, and I placed my hand over my chest in an attempt to slow my rapid heart rate.

"I'm sorry," I sobbed, my voice shaking. "I'm not feeling well."

It was then that everything went black.

"Lennon." Noah's voice was soft and calm as he cradled me in his arms.

"What happened to her?!" Nick yelled as he approached us from the entrance of the restaurant.

"We need to get her home, now."

My vision was still blurry as they placed me in the back seat of Noah's car, and I could barely feel my toes.

"He's your brother, Lennon." That was all that was playing in my head the entire drive back to the apartment.

My vision slowly started to clear the longer we drove, and I could hear Noah's hands sliding over the steering wheel as we pulled into the parking lot.

I didn't want him to know I was awake though because that would mean I would have to talk about what happened.

Noah, sensing me, glanced back, and sighed once he realized I was conscious. "You scared me."

Noah furrowed his eyebrows when Nick pulled in next to us a few moments later. Nicks expression was blank, completely emotionless.

I couldn't imagine what was going through his head, but I assumed it was similar to what was going through mine.

Nick opened my door and scooped me into his arms. The gesture would have been weird before today, but it felt like such a big brother thing to do.

Noah eyed Nick before he grabbed my shoes and made his way to the front door of my apartment. The jealousy he was feeling would soon dissipate once he found out that Nick and I share the same DNA.

As we stepped over the threshold, my feet throbbed in pain from the drastic change in temperature.

The rest of the evening was a blur of emotions as Nick recapped everything my dad had told us over dinner. I was thankful it wasn't me, because I wasn't sure I would be able to get through it without having another panic attack.

I had made my way upstairs to my room to lay down, but I could still hear the faint hum of their voices in the living room.

All I could think about was my mom having an affair with Nicks dad. Part of me didn't blame her for cheating on my dad, he wasn't the most endearing person to be with. But the other part of me was angry. I was starting to wonder if that was the reason she died.

There was a soft knock on my door, and I raised my head to find Chelsea standing in the doorway. Her belly was huge under her long sleeve shirt, and tears welled in my eyes.

She ran over to the side of my bed and threw her arms around me. "I've been so worried about you."

"You've been worried about me?" I asked incredulously. "I've been worried about you!"

"Oh, I'm fine." She waved her hand at me dismissively and gave me a small smile. "The doctor had me on bedrest for a few weeks, but my contractions died down so I figured I would come check on you while I could."

"I'm assuming they told you." I said, crossing my legs underneath me.

She nodded and sat down next to me. "So does that mean we are going to be in-laws?"

I chuckled and leaned my head on her shoulder. It felt good to be with her again. She was the one person I could always go to when life seemed like it was getting too much for me to handle.

"Is it safe to come in?" Nick asked from behind my bedroom door.

After a satisfactory hum from Chelsea, the door creaked open, and Nick stepped into the room cautiously. His dark hair was pushed back from his face, and his eyes scanned my room. It was almost as if he was looking for any clues that we were related; anything he must have missed in the few months he had known me.

"Chels, Noah just finished your waffles." Nick said with a small, apologetic smile.

She nodded and slapped her hands on her thighs. "Well, can't let those get cold."

She kissed my forehead before whispering she would be back, and then walked down the stairs to the kitchen.

Nick motioned towards the spot Chelsea abandoned on my bed and I nodded. He sat down, the weight of his thin frame raising me a little on my side.

It was silent for a moment, and I took the time to actually look at Nicks face. I had looked at him before obviously, but I hadn't really looked.

We both shared dark hair, but our eyes weren't similar at all. Nick had a set of dark, chocolate brown eyes while I inherited my dads' icy blue orbs. He used to always say the contrast between light eyes and dark hair was intimidating.

"Look," Nick said, breaking me out of my trance. "Whatever happened between my dad and your mom has nothing to do with us."

"I mean it has everything to do with us, I have a brother that I didn't know about." It came out a little harsher than I expected but Nick didn't react to it. I knew he felt the same way, but he was just trying to hide it.

"I grew up with Ellie, and as we all know she's the worst. So, having you as a sister is a major upgrade." The corner of Nick's mouth twitched upwards, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder like he did in the restaurant only a few hours before. This time though, it was different.

"I don't want this to change anything." I said, leaning my head against his shoulder.

"If anything, this makes me even more protective of you." He rested his chin on the top of my head and sighed. "And...we may have a new lead on what happened to your mom."

I glanced up at him and nodded in agreement. "I was thinking the same thing. What if the affair was the reason someone killed her?"

Nick winked and a smirk played on his lips. "We may have a new set of suspects."