Wrong Number.

Trust, Lies, and Siblings

Ben bounced his leg, staring at the messages he left Taylor. She hadn't answered—obviously. Ben was worried. He fucked up.

He shouldn't have lied to her like that. Why didn't he just tell the truth instead of lying? He was being no better than Ashlyn.

And Ashlyn...why had he gotten so mad at her? Because he was worried Aiden would be hurt? He looked hurt but....happy. Happy that he knew now.

Ben flopped backwards onto his bed, feeling like shit.

Great.

Just great.

He really needed to fix this—but he didn't know how. Was it even possible? No one was messaging in the group chat, but he would bet anything that Aiden was mostly excited, Logan and Taylor a little hurt, and Tyler mad. But overall? They were probably just confused.

Ben sighed. He had been confused when he first found out to. Why was he being such a dick about this? Just..tell them the truth damnit!

There was a knock at the door, and Lily poked her head in. Ben smiled. He and Aiden's family had flown in sooner than expected. He was excited to see them again, and see Lily again.

"Ben?" Lily asked, very polite for her age. "Can I come in?"
Ben nodded, patting the bed. Lily sat down, then turned to Ben.
"Why are you being such a grump?" Lily huffed, crossing her arms and look at her big brother.

Ben blinked a few times. The hell did he do now?
"What?" He typed.
"You—" Lily stood up on the bed, pointing in his face. "Have been a big grump all day! You said we would spend the day together today! But only Aiden's played with me and he's always making his own rules! And he wasn't listening to me either!"

Ben cringed. He did tell Lily that they would spend time together. He had planned it so then he could tell Lily about Taylor—but then the fiasco at school happened. Ben felt bad, but he also needed to fix this.

"I'm sorry," Ben apologized. "We'll play tomorrow I promise. But I'm busy right now."
"But you said we would today!" Lily pouted. "Your a liar!"
"Lily please. I promise. Have I ever broken a promise to you before?" Ben tried to calm his sister down.
Lily pouted, looking away. "Yes!"
Ben looked confused. When had he done that?
"When?"
"Back at the old house! You promised me that you would always be around for me! But then you got angry and left everyday and Mom and Daddy got sad and worried and then we had to move cause of the bad people! And then you left! And I don't like it!" Lily stomped her foot, her bottom lip pouty.
Ben paused. A lot had happened between them huh? He hadn't even noticed. He never got mad at Lily, or talked to her really. She was very young still, so he assumed she was fine. But it made sense.
Lily wasn't even ten yet—how the hell was she supposed to understand what was going on? Why her brother was so angry all the time and then left. Why her parents looked so worried all the time. It's scary for a little kid.
Ben ruffled Lily's hair.
"I'm sorry Lily. Really I am. I didn't realize you were so unhappy,"
"I'm not unhappy.." Lily put her head on Ben's shoulder. "But it's different. Everything's changing. And I don't like them. They all scare me,"
Ben put his arm around Lily. "Well...do you know one thing that will never change?"
"What?"
"Aiden."
Lily bit her lip, trying to resist the urge to burst into giggles right there and then. She had to be mad gosh darn it Ben!
Ben noticed this, and he smirked evily. He tickled Lily's sides, and lily burst into laughter. She giggled and kicked her feet, happy tears in her eyes.
"Ack! Staph! Meanie!"
Ben smiled. It felt good, spending time with his sister again.

Eventually, their little tickle fight died down. Ben ran his fingers through Lily's hair as she sat next to him, chatting away about school and her friends.
"And get this Ben!" Lily swung her arms out dramatically. "Heather likes Deigo except he knows that Diego already likes Molly but Molly doesn't like either of them! Or boys in general. Boys are stupid. And some of them are really ugly. Like Marcus! He's got a ugly dot in the middle of his forehead!"

Ben pinched Lily's cheeks, a silent but effective way to scold Lily for calling someone ugly. He smiled. Well...now would be a good time.
"Oh and guess what else Ben?!" Lily whipped her little head around. "Victoria apparently lied to Kyle about inviting him to her birthday party! And Kyle got real upset about it,"
Ben quirked an eyebrow. Elementary school drama was so stupid sometimes—but interesting. It was so much simpler too.
"What did Victoria do?"
"Well she explained, but Kyle didn't want to hear it so she stopped. But I think that's silly! If you lied to your friend you should say sorry! And show that your sorry! Like—Melissa got mad at Amy once—and to say sorry for being mean Melissa got her a snack from the cafeteria." Lily said, unaware how her brother was taking this. "Like—if you've been a meanie—you should say sorry! And keep saying it! Cause you can't do anything if you don't do anything!"

Ben smiled at his sisters words, thinking about them for a second. Stupid as it was—her little story gave him an idea. If Taylor wasn't willing to go and talk to him—then he should go and see her. And talk to her.

Ben ruffled his sisters hair, smiling. He typed on his phone.
"That was a really interesting story Lily. Thanks,"
"Your welcome!" Lily said happily.
"Ben, Lily, come on! Dinner!" Ben and lily heard their mom call from downstairs.

Lily grinned at her brother, mischief in her eyes. "Last one there is a rotten egg!"
Lily dashed out of the room and Ben scoffed. This little cheater! He ran after her, smiling to himself.

Yeah. Yeah he could make this work. He could talk to Her.

Talk to Taylor.

And hopefully not be killed by tyler before he got the chance to.

(A/N: Just a heads up—the chapters aren't going to be as long some of these next few days because state testing :/)