You Again (Completed) ✔️

31.

Liam's Pov

Julia and Cole are standing next to each other in the kitchen talking about something serious. She has a frown on her on her face.

Nudging my Antwon with my leg I say. "What do you think those two are talking about?"

He shrugs. "Maybe, they're coming up with a way to get us drunk and spill our secrets to her."

That's a dangerous game for her to play. She's not going to like the things we have to say about her favorite Uncle, but it's the truth.

Julia was close to Uncle Kevin growing up and he brought her all the latest designer clothing and accessories. She had lots of friends at elementary and junior high, but once she hit high school everything started to change for her.

Veronica walks over to us with two beers in her hands and she places them in front of us. "Can I play too?"

"Sure," I give her the control and pick up the beer. "What's Cole and Julia talking about?"

She turns slightly on my lap. "They're talking about the high school reunion and how Cole should take me since Julia doesn't want to go."

Looking at Veronica I say. "A lot can happen in 10 years. Julia's classmates would have grown up and changed. I hope she'll be able to see that and come to sense and go to the reunion. She might regret it if she doesn't go."

"I didn't go to mine. I have no regrets at all."

A smile spreads across my face. "I'm not surprised by that at all, but when it comes to Julia she regrets leaving things unsaid. It might be hard for her to accept it right now, but as the reunion comes closer I think she'll change her mind." I take another swig of the beer and look back into the kitchen.

Julia's in the kitchen on her own and she raises the glass to her lips. She drinks the contents of the glass.

I watch as she pulls out five bowls and places them on the table in a row. Grabbing the pot from the stove she pours the noodles into a colander and then scoops the noodles into the bowls. Then she adds the sauce to the tops. She takes the bowls to the kitchen.

Cole walks into the living room and says. "Dinner is ready." He leads the way to the dining room and we follow. He takes a seat at the head of the table. Julia sits on the other side of him and next to her is Antwon. I take a seat next to Cole and Veronica.

We dig into the food sitting in front of us.

A throat clears and Julia says. "Liam, Antwon. Is there anything you want to tell me?"

I don't want to do it right now, but there's no other time to reveal everything to her before Dad sits her down to talk about it.

I look Julia in the eyes and say. "Yes, I want to tell you how much I hate you for leaving us." The color drains from her face and she holds a hand over her heart, like it hurts her to hear such a thing from me. "After you left Los Angeles our family fell apart and you weren't there to help us."

She moves her hand to the table. "How did it fall apart?"

Antwon's hand wraps around his spoon and his knuckles turn white. "Your favorite Uncle stole from Dad's fortune and we lost everything."

Dad isn't the only one that lost money because of Uncle Kevin. I lost a lot as well. 

Tears well up in Julia's eyes. "I didn't know."

Of course you didn't. We didn't want to tell you.

I laugh. "Of course you didn't. You were too busy living your life without a care in the world. If you would have checked in on us once in a while you would have known."

She looks at me. "I kept in touch all the time at first. Everyone was happy to talk to me, but then things started to fall apart and not one of you told me about it. Had I known about the problems I would have come home."

You're only saying that to get in our good books. It's not going to work.

Antwon slams his fist on the table. "Don't lie to us. You were afraid of Cole and you're still afraid of him. You don't trust people like you used to and that's starting to piss me off."

Julia pushes her seat back and stands. "Everyone keeps hiding things from me." she yells. Lowering her voice she adds. "Why can't you all be honest for once? What's so bad that my brother's couldn't visit me in New York?"

I glare at my sister and my hands form into fists. "After everything turned to shit for our family I noticed money from my car shop was stolen. I lost everything too. To deal with everything I started to take heroin to numb the pain of losing everything, including my shop. The one thing I worked my ass off to call my own. I was messed up until a new employee saved the shop." My eyes lock onto Cole's. "He made everything easier for us. He even told me that I can have the shop back once I had the money. After ten years, I'm still paying him back."

"I'm sorry you went through all that because of Uncle Kevin." She walks away from the dining table with tears falling down her face.

Veronica slaps my arm. "Why are you being so hard on her? She had nothing to do with what happened to your family." She shakes her head. "I love you, Liam. But I have to stay away from you. You need to grow up and make amends with your sister, without me being around." She pulls her phone out of her pocket and makes a call.

Upstairs we hear something break and Cole stands up. "I'll check on her. I want you two to stay away from Julia right now. I can't believe how mean you two are to your sister and she hasn't done anything to you." He rushes to the stairs and takes them two at a time until he reaches the top.

Antwon and I stay in our seats and don't touch the remaining of the food in our bowls. He shakes his head. "We've been bad brothers to Julia since she came back. None of this is her fault." He pushes his chair out. "I'm going for a walk to clear my head. I think you should too, but without me at your side."

He's right. Maybe, some fresh air will do me good.

I stand from my seat and make my way to the front door. I see Veronica on the outdoor seat. "I'm sorry I ruined everything before it could have been something."

She places her hand on mine. "It's a good thing that I know your flaws now. That way you can fix them while I'm gone. Please don't hook up with another girl. It would hurt me immensely."

"I won't, Veronica. I love you." I walk down the footpath and away from the woman I love with my whole heart.