Surviving the O'Neal boys

Chapter 19

***IMPORTANT***

In the last two or three chapters I messed up the ages so in this chapter and now the others it's fixed. Nat and Brook are 18 going on 19, Logan is 16 going on 17. Adam and Kyle are 23, Chase is 22, James is 20 and is about to turn 21, Bret is 19 and will be 20 in the near future. I realized that it has been 18 months since the boys first got here so they each have already had one birthday and some two. So just a quick little note on their true ages.

~~

It's been a week full of tests and everyone trying to get me to remember everything. I think I want to but I'm not sure. There's this weird vibe everything I ask about Connor and I don't know why.

"We're all ready to go Brook." Mom says.

"Alright." I reply and follow her out to the car.

We drive about an hour until we finally get home. I get out and head inside. When I step inside everything looks weird.

"Did you guys redecorate while I was in the hospital?" I ask.

"No honey. It's been like this for years. Remember?"

"Not really."

I head up to my room and see that everything is different. There are posters for bands that I don't know. There's All Time Low, The Main, All American Rejects, Green Day, Nirvana, Blink 182, and 5 seconds of summer. Nope, no clue who any of those bands are.

There are also a bunch of pictures of me some girls I don't recognize. Then I see pictures of me and that Nathan guy.

"What happened to my room!" I yell.

"What? Nothing happened." Nathan says.

"I'm going to Connors room." I say confused and walk past him.

I head down the hall and open up the door a few down from mine. When I open it I see that its perfectly clean. Which is weird because Connors room is always a mess. Well the maid must have cleaned it since he's out of town. Other than his room being oddly clean, its the same as I remember it.

"Brook?" I turn to see that Nathan is the one who said my name.

"Yeah?"

"Whose room is this? I've never seen it."

"It's Connors. I'm surprised you don't know him if you've been staying here for over a year."

"Yeah well, I thought you were an only child."

"Of course I'm not!"

"Brook! Get out of your brothers room!" Mom shouts walking up behind Nathan.

"Why? He's never cared before. Plus it's the only room that feels and looks normal."

"I can't keep this up anymore. Brooklyn, Connor died." She says.

"What?!" I don't believe her. He promised that he would always be there for me! I feel tears fall down my face.

"You're brother died seven years ago, he would have been 22 as of two weeks ago. And you're 18! I can't keep pretending that he's alive. He was on a school trip and the plane crashed. He and four others died. God Brooklyn, remember already so we can move on!" Mom says and leaves.

I break down crying and the next thing I know Nathan is holding me and saying that it'll all be okay. I feel like this has happened before. I'm crying because of my parents and Nathan is here to comfort me. It all feels right.

"Nathan?"

"Yeah?"

"Kiss me." I say and he does.

All of a sudden I remember the first time we kissed. He had just gone off on me when I asked what he was like. Logan told me to go and talk to him so I did. We made up and he told me about his dad and I told him not to ever think that was his fault. Right before we kissed Adam had burst through the door to tell us dinner was ready. Once he left I said that we should go but Nathan said we could do other things. So he kissed me. Some of his other brothers walked on but then left after making a big deal out of seeing us kissing.

"Brook?" Nathan asks snapping me out of the memory.

"Yeah wait what?"

"Is something wrong?"

"Not at all. In fact I was just thinking about the first time we kissed. It was actually kinda fu-" I start and I see a huge smile on his face.

"You remember something!" He exclaims and kisses me again.

"I do. I guess I should tell you about my brother. You know, since I remember what happened and all."

"You don't have to."

"But I do. See, you told me about your dad, I told you the obvious about how me and my parents hate each other."

"You also told me about your drinking problem and your anorexia. You don't have to tell me about this."

"I want to. It may help explain how I got to be like this."

"Alright. But you can stop at anytime."

"Connor was the one who was always there for me. My grandparents and great grandparents were there too, but mainly Connor. Anytime I had a nightmare I wouldn't go to my parents, I went to my brother. He always stuck up for me and made sure my parents never treated me like shit after the first time he saw them treat me badly. He, um, he would tell me that no matter what happened he would never leave me. He said that all I had to do was call and he'd be there. Connor helped me in every way possible and always made me feel important. Around him, nothing could hurt me. He made sure of that. Then when he was 14 and I was 10, he was going to go on a trip to Washington D.C. He promised he would be back in a few days and bring me back souvenirs. He said that anytime I missed him, to go into his room and he'd be there. He basically gave me permission to do anything I wanted in his pig-sty room. Then the day he was supposed to be on the plane headed home, we got a call that something happened when they were landing. He and a few others were rushed to the hospital. So my parents and I rushed there too. I got to see him one last time all rapped up in bandages. The last thing he told me was that he loved me and that I should never let my parents get in the way of who I am and what I love. I changed after he died and so did my parents. There was no one to stop them from treating me like shit and no one for me to turn to. I let Connor down, I let my parents get to me and I never recovered from the loss. My parents blame work obsessed and that's when Maria became a full time housekeeper. No one ever went into his room after it was clean for the last time." I ended up crying about halfway through telling Nathan about Connor.

"Come here. It'll be okay. Brook, I love you." He says hugging me. Wait he loves me? I know we have probably said it before but it just seems a little weird.

He just holds me while I cry and I then start to drift off. I feel him pick me up and start walking towards either my room or his room. I hope that it's the first one. I feel him set me down but then hear him start to walk away.

"Nat?" I I say through a yawn.

"Yeah Brooks?"

"Can you stay in here tonight. I don't want to be alone." This feels like it's happened before. Maybe it has and I just don't remember.

"Of course I will. You are my girlfriend after all." He says while climbing under the covers.

I curl into his side while he wraps his arms around me. I feel safe and loved for the first time since Connor died. I never want to lose this feeling again.

**** Hai! So I'm updating regularly now. I know it's different but hey it's kind of nice. I forget less this way. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. As Always....

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