My Brother's Band

chapter three: meet the brother

The house was magnificent. The people? Not so much.

It only took me about three minutes of knocking on the large oak doors of the mansion to realize that no one was about to come and let me in. It took me even less time to realize that the doorbell wasn't going to bring anyone either. So, I did what any irritated, annoyed, teenage girl would do. I opened the front door myself, stepped inside, dropped my bags and screamed;

"HONEY, I'M HOME!"

I was greeted by the sound of roughly three scrambling pairs of feet on the stairwell to my left, and I watched as three teenage boys came sprinting headlong into the front room.

"Whoa, who's the babe?" A tall, sloppy dark haired boy was the first to take in my sudden appearance. His hair reached above his collar, lightly brushing the top of his white button up shirt. He had noticable studs in both ears, and the way he maintained the lopsided grin, he seemed to give the appearance of a complete joker. "I call dibs," he stated, before anyone of the other boys could answer.

"Didn't Rob say his sister was coming 'round today?" another boy asked; he was shorter than the first, with cropped brown hair, and a brighter clothing choice than all of them. Very bright. Like neon pink shirt, yellow shorts kind of bright.

The third boy shrugged, pursing his lips as he quickly surveyed me. His dark eyes started at my toes, before slowly working their way heatedly over my body, resting at a few typical points. I would be lying if his penetrating gaze didn't make me shiver. This one was only slightly shorter than the first, with long back hair covered by a ball cap that rested lightly on top of his head. He was long and lean, and judging by the way his tshirt clung to his chest, he was fit; nicely so. He was hot, and he so totally knew it judging by the quick smirk he sent me.

"I don't know. I don't hear a lot of what Rob says, but we do need better food around here. Kitchen's that way babe," the third boy stated, pointing over his shoulder. "I'd be glad to escort you there... personally." Something in the tone of his voice had me surpressing a shiver.

"Dude!"

"Ben!" The other two protested in unison, glaring at their friend.

"Why are you always such a dick?" the first boy cried, throwing his hands into the air.

"It's the way I am man, you know that," Ben shrugged, before turning and heading down the hallway. "Catch 'ya later babe." With a quick wave, he was gone.

"Sorry about him, I'm Grey," the first boy said, holding out his hand. I shook it with a timid smile, before dropping his hand. "This is Paul-" Paul send me a nod. "- and that was Ben, obviously. Sometimes I wonder how his fat head fits through the doorway," Grey muttered, shaking his head. I let out a light peal of laughter that had both boys grinning at me.

"I'm Haley. Haley Winters. Rob's sister."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Hailey," Grey smiled, while Paul turned to the stairwell.

"ROB! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE. YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS HERE."

"I'm his sister," I protested, cringing at the idea of anyone having any sort of relationship with the thing they call my brother.

"I know," Paul shrugged. "But it's honestly the only way to get his ass downstairs."

"Your brother loves girls," Grey whispered, sending me a conspiratorial wink. "But he's not that good at getting them."

"Shut up Greyson, I got more than you did this week," a husky voice argued, coming from the top of the stairwell. The sight that greeted my eyes should have been a pleasent one. It wasn't.

Lo and behold.

It was my brother.

--<3--

"Hey Hales," Rob grinned, darting the rest of the way down the stairwell. I took the time to appraise him; he was taller, obviously, though not as tall as Ben. His blonde hair was now ear length and unruly as ever. He had filled out, both in muscle and in looks, but I wasn't impressed.

"Only my friends call me Hales," I stated bluntly, turning my head from watching him, and ignoring the arms outstretched for a hug. I didn't miss the flash of pain that crossed his eyes, or the look of confusion on the other boys faces.

"I'm so glad you're here," Rob grinned, trying again. I rolled my eyes and huffed.

"Yeah, about that. Thank you for pulling me away from the place I was finally comfortable in. Really. I appreciate that, as do the friends that I finally made-" Okay, so I was slightly over exaggerating on the house and friends part, but I didn't want to be here, and I wanted him to know that. "-I was there for a whole two monthes you know. That's pretty impressive seeing as once my brother abandoned me, I was in and out of homes as frequently as twice a month. But, you know, so happy to be here. Yay," I fake cheered, turning to grab my bags. "Just let me know where I'm being shipped off to next."

"You're not going to be shipped off anywhere!" Rob argued, and it was hard to miss the hurt that laced his voice.

"Right. Heard that before. Along with; 'Don't worry Haley, I'll take care of you'... Remember that Rob?" I asked, finally meeting his gaze. He winced and recoiled as though I had slapped him with the familliar words. "I thought so. Grey, can you show me where I'm staying?"

"Yeah, um, sure," he nodded, looking more than a little confused. I thanked him quietly and followed him past Rob, up the stairs. Grey opened a door at the end of the long hallway and told me this was it. "Um, Rob decorated it for you. I mean, he tried. He wasn't sure what you'd like so he just thought he'd just leave the walls and stuff white. He went out and got all these decorating magazines for you..." Grey noticed my bored look, and backed out of the white walled room. "I'll, um, see you later." Shutting the door behind him, I turned and surveyed the huge room. It was gorgeous, even with the plain walls. There was a whole wall of floor to ceiling windows across from the door, and to the left, there was a large king sized bed with white covers. The floor was oak with a white carpet, and each of the shelves of books were oak as well. There was a huge oak desk against one of the windows, with a laptop resting on top, and a large leather white couch sat across from a large flat screen tv. I could see the open doorways leading to a bathroom and a closet, but my attention was fixed on the sticky not attached to my laptop.

"I'm glad you're back Haley, I missed you so much ~ Rob"

Well doesn't that just suck.