Stairways | A Surviving Summer FanFiction

Part 98 - The Board (Part 2)

A/N: Okay I am aware I disappeared for a long long time but I have been very busy okay? And I'm very sorry and I will not be disappearing again, I promise 😅 I've been working on my own novel and improving my writing in my own time, so that's why it's taken me so long to update this fanfic. I'm sorry to anyone who has been waiting, and I hope you enjoy this new update!

Phoebe x

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The mess left over from the party seems never ending as you begin picking up discarded bottles and cans, taking care to put any empty alcohol bottles to one side - you'll deal with them later, find some way to dispose of them somewhere where your mum isn't likely to see them in the recycling when she comes home.

It must have been about half an hour later when you hear the scratch of tyres on gravel, and the screech of a bike bell as someone comes up the drive. You move around the side of the house, pausing at the sight of Baxter climbing off his bike.

"Hey," Baxter smiles as he approaches, his hands in his pockets.

"Good morning." You smile as he reaches you.

"You okay?" He asks, and you turn to head back around the side of the house, hearing his footsteps behind you.

"Yeah," you reply. "Cleaning, after last night."

"How's your brother?"

"A bit banged up, but he'll be fine," you reply. Physically, he'll be fine. But you still have no idea what's bothering him enough to not want to sleep at his own house, in his own bedroom. "Thank you for your help last night."

Bax just shrugs as he picks up a crushed coke can from the ground and throws in the trash can you've brought outside. "I know I act like I don't care about stuff a lot of the time, but Griff had gone too far," he says seriously, and you nod, your whole body tensing at the memory of Marlon sprawled on the ground like that, Griff's fist flying.

"Mars is going back to Ari's before my mum gets back."

"Leaving you to deal with the consequences?"

"No. At least, I don't think that's what it's about. He's been acting weird recently with my mum."

"Well, when's she coming home?" He asks, working a little quicker now as he picks up more litter from the patio.

"Not until tomorrow."

He pauses, about to throw another can in the trash. "Tomorrow?" He throws it in the opposite direction. You narrow your eyes as it clinks on the ground next to you, reaching down to pick it up.

"Leave it," Bax smiles. "What are we doing tidying up if we still have the whole day to do it?" He throws his hands up in the air.

"Because it's probably going to take the whole day to clear it?"

"How are you going to explain your brother's bruises to your mum?"

You hadn't thought about that. Maybe it was a good thing he was staying at Ari's. "I don't have to," you reply. "He's not talking to her."

"So...this," he motions to the left-over party junk littering the floor. "Is the only evidence there is that you had a party?"

I nod, wondering where he's going with this.

"Then it's fine! Do it this evening, and if there's anything left over tomorrow when your mum gets home, say you had some friends round for some drinks."

"I suppose-" you start, but he cuts you off with a finger to his lips as he stalks forward.

"I've got something to show you," he says, grabbing your hand. Even the simple gesture makes you flinch as he pulls you round the side of the house. "You got a bike?"