The Fire We Make

chapter nine

gif of Brayden above :) we also have a trailer! please check it out :)

Aiden remained opposite me. He looked out of place coming back home. Our home had chipped paint in a few ranges, little lines in favor of the entryway as we all measured how tall we grew, and miscellaneous items we have no use for. He was dressed in a light blue button-down and black slacks. His light chestnut hair was smoothed down with gel and I held myself back from snorting at his appearance. Graduating with his business degree truly transformed him. That or getting Hannah pregnant with twins did.

Brayden was the first to react. Just as I was about to ask what the hell he was doing here, Brayden pummeled the door in his face. I jumped back a little, not anticipating that to happen. I was always the hotheaded one in the family. I was the first to speak what was on my mind and jump at the chance to have a brawl with someone. Brayden was the logical one. He thought about ways to approach a conflict, something he inherited from Tristan. But as I saw his hands clenched into fists I could see sparks of me dancing on him.

"Just open the door Brayden," I heard Aiden yell from outside. "I'm not here to fight. I just want to talk."

"Nobody wants to talk to you here. You've made your choice a year ago after you walked out on our family," Brayden spat back. He pulled his hair indignantly before opening the door back up. I stood back and watched as my brothers "talk" things out.

"I don't understand," Brayden proceeded with, a little laugh getting away from his lips. "How can someone just abandon their own blood in a vulnerable and desperate time? How can someone just destroy their family?"

"We were never a family," Aiden interjected.

Anger hooded his eyes and I ventured closer to Brayden, knowing it was going to get bad soon. Our lives were dysfunctional. All we knew how to do was fight. That was the only way we communicated, which was why we stopped altogether.

"She destroyed us Brayden!" He yelled, his eyes glancing at me in disgust. "She destroyed all of our lives before we even started living! Hell, you haven't even finished college yet and you've been through some of the toughest things people have to go through. How can you still stick by her?"

"Hey! You don't get to talk about me like I'm not even here. If you have something to say, say it to my face. Don't bitch about it to Brayden," I seethed.

I pushed Brayden back a little, signaling him to go away, yet he didn't move. He was just as angry as I was, or even more. He never did get over Aiden leaving after everything happened.

Aiden just worked his jaw irately. He was fidgeting with something in his pocket. I knew he was making a decent attempt to stay quiet. I was only happy that for once he figured out how to keep his mouth closed.

"I came to talk to you Brayden. I haven't seen you since last Christmas and I just wanted to see how you were doing," he at long last said, murmuring a bit. Brayden held the front doors handle firmly, a glare shaping all over.

"You lost the privilege to ask me that a long time ago. Don't come back here, ever."

With that said Brayden slammed the door back shut. I could see his back slightly shaking from anger and I knew how much that had to hurt him. All his life he tried so hard to seek approval from both Tristan and Aiden, and now he was slamming the door in his face.

"I'm so sorry Brayden," I softly said. "You don't have to hate Aiden because of me."

Brayden turned around with a delirious expression on his face. "Hollyn, he was about to let you rot in jail for the rest of your life! I hate him because he's always been that selfish son of a bitch who did everything to please himself. If he could do that to his own sister, imagine what he would do to me if we ever had a disagreement. It's... It's not just because of you. It's because of everything."

A tear escaped my eye and I quickly wiped it away. It wasn't like me to cry, but Brayden's words were hitting a soft spot. I've tried over and over again to be the best version of myself, but I kept failing. I kept failing Brayden, and he sure as hell didn't deserve it. He sighed before pulling me into a hug.

"He's an animal and if I had to choose all over again it would be you. It would be you every time."

"I love and appreciate you so much Bray," I confessed, wrapping my own arms around his torso tightly. "And I'm sorry I got mad about you and Mila. If you truly like her, go for it. I shouldn't intervene with your life."

He pulled back a little and smiled. "I know you're just looking out for me. Granted, I would be mad if you tried to go for one of my friends, but I wouldn't stop you from doing it. Knowing you and your ways you wouldn't care."

I rolled my eyes and pushed him back. "Trust me. I don't think I'll be in a relationship in like forever."

Brayden bumped me roughly with his shoulder. "Nobody likes a bitchy girl anyways."

I gasped before lunging at him. He chuckled deeply as his body hit the back of the stairs railing. He finally looked like my young, carefree brother. His eyes were crinkled as he smiled brightly at me and his body was finally less rigid. Though I wanted to be mad at him, I couldn't. Seeing him happy made me happy.

"You're a real ass," I complained.

His phone vibrated and he took it out as he stuck his tongue out at me. As he glanced down at his screen, his cheeks slightly tinted red. He looked at me with a guilty expression.

"What?" I asked, going into the living room. I hopped onto one of the leather couches and patted around for the remote. "One of your many sex tapes got leaked?"

"Haha, very funny," he replied sarcastically. He came into my frontal view with an unamused expression.

"Then what is it?" I asked, finally retrieving the remote under a pillow.

"Mila wants to go out with me," he confessed, his cheeks turning pink again. I let the news sink in before shrugging.

"Okay..." I replied, unsure of what to say. "What do you want me to do? Hold your hand and walk you to your date?"

"No, I want you to be okay with it. I don't want you to feel left out. I know Mila is your only friend-"

"Hey," I interjected, scowling at him. "She is not my only friend."

"Oh yeah?" He challenged, raising an eyebrow. "Who else?"

I opened my mouth, ready to respond, but I realized it was true. I had no other real friends but Mila and Brayden as sad as that sounded. All my old friends I dumped after Tristan passed away. I knew they didn't care for my wellbeing when they didn't even bother to offer their condolences. I was better off without them. They were going nowhere with their lives and me being with them was only harming me.

"That's what I thought," he replied. He typed something in his phone before shoving it back in his pocket. "Come on, get dressed."

"Dressed, for what?" I asked, bewildered. I was just about to watch a movie.

"You're coming with us."

Aww, isn't Brayden just the sweetest when he wants to be. A lot of you said Isaac and a lot of you said Aiden, but only one person said Aiden alone and that was elnorap.  RezaAstridFourie was in a close second! If we could dedicate this chapter to both we would haha. We hope you guys had a safe Thanksgiving!

Question: How do you think the "date" is going to turn out? the answer that's closest to what we have planned will get a dedication!