Broken and Lost

Chapter 12: You Okay?

'Kate can you do me a favour?' I read from my phone, it was almost six in the morning and I wondered why she was up this early.

'I'm not stocking the store for you so you can sleep in again, Dean' I texted back, remembering the last time she asked me to do her a favour.

'No, it's serious. Do you think you can check on Tayler for me? I have her brother here, it's a long story, can you do this for me?' I hesitated for a moment, I couldn't really ever say no to Dean. "She was drinking last night, please?'

'Yeah, alright' she sent me the address, and coincidentally, I wasn't too far from the area, school started soon, I wondered if she'd be able to make it. I walked out of the little cafe I was studying in, and opened up my umbrella, walking out into the rainy Pittsburgh day and towards the apartment complex that I now knew she lived in. She was only a few blocks down from where me and Dean lived, but I wondered what happened to her brother.

I made my way to the fifth floor, looking around slowly to find apartment 513. It was eerie in the building, and I kept feeling eyes on me, but I knew I was just over reacting, today was going to be a little hard for me.

I came to the door, knocking gently at first, I couldn't hear anything from inside. I frowned, looking down at my phone to see if Dean said anything else, but knowing her, she was probably sleeping, I wondered about her relationship with Adam. I knocked gently again, there was a rustling, a groan, and then slowly the door opened. She looked really tired, but her eyes lit up when she saw me.

"Oh um.. I... Hey" she smiled, confused as to how I showed up. I chucked a little.

"Dean told me to check on you" I chuckled a little bit, examining her. She smiled a bit, I guess she was fond of Dean. "alright, well, you look like you're doing okay, will I see you at school today?"

"Do you wanna come in for a bit? Maybe we could go together..." She mumbled, she was shy but I admired her bravery, she was making an effort to become my friend. I nodded and let myself in, taking off my wet shoes and setting my blue umbrella on the side. "Wow I love your hair" I blushed a little bit thinking about my short, gingery brown hair that I didn't out much effort into today. I could smell burnt eggs and I looked over to the kitchen. "SHIT" she yelled, running to the kitchen. I followed, noticing how the eggs stuck to the pan. She frowned at the burnt eggs. "My brother cooks, I can't" I smiled taking the pan from her, cleaning it off and greasing the pan with butter first. She watched with concentration. "That makes so much sense" I laughed and cracked the egg right into the pan, making her breakfast. She chuckled, scratching her head nervously as she watched me fry it and then place it on some toast that she made. "Thanks" she mumbled, beginning to eat the food.

"No worries" I smiled, sitting down with her at the small table. There wasn't much furniture, they were still getting settled in, but I noticed on the side a few framed pictures, them with their mom and dad, her and Adam... But in some pictures there was another girl, one that caught my eye was her and Adam, holding beers and smiling in the rain together. A past girlfriend perhaps? I didn't know, but I didn't bother to ask. Tayler seemed to notice what I was looking at and she shifted nervously in her seat and began rubbing behind her ear, I peaked over and looked at the tattooed white lily that was there.

"That's my sister, Alex" she gave a soft smile, but didn't say anything else. After she ate, she got into the shower and began to get ready, I looked around at their tv and couch, I wondered if Adam was doing okay, but if he was with Dean, he would be fine. I cleaned up the dishes from when I cooked and dried them and put them all away as best as I could. I quickly sent s text to Dean, informing her that Tayler was okay and to tell Adam not to worry. I looked out of the window at the rain, it was still raining heavy, but not as bad as the thunderstorm last night. The wind was bad and the power even went out. I took a closer look at the pictures looking at the different phases of all of them, how Adam has changed, how Tayler has changed, but there weren't many pictures of Alex, she probably moved out on her own or something.

"Ready to go?" I heard Taylers voice a few moments later, all dressed up and ready to go with her bag around her shoulder and a smile on her face. I nodded and out on my stuff and grabbed my umbrella that was big enough for the both of us, school wasn't too far and the walk would be nice, especially with Tayler there with me.