You're it (SEQUEL OUT)

Chapter 11- a princess mixed with a spy.

A/N at the end

'Don't waste your time on me

you're already

the voice inside my head

(i miss you) '

(**)

I sit in silence on the couch, watching my older brother sip his tea. Luke sits beside me, throwing me a glance every few minutes. I ignore it.

"What are you doing here?" I snap, unable to wait any longer. He puts his cup down and rests back into the chair, watching me.

"I was on my way to a meeting in the city but I received a call about you being bullied today and I thought I better drop in." He shrugs.

I inhale sharply, twiddling with my fingers. He wasn't supposed to know about this. I'm guessing the office called after they couldn't find me at school.

"So? Who was it?" He folds his arms, patiently waiting. I see Luke throw another glance at me.

"Karina. Karina Hollis." I say and he sits up.

"Oh, I remember her. Never was very nice was she?" He ponders this, tapping his chin.

"No." I reply, hoping he'll leave soon. Daren has made it pretty clear he's never wanted much to do with me.

"Did anyone do anything?" He asks, looking at Luke.

"Ashley slapped her." I say, shrugging.

"I always liked her." he says, looking impressed. "Balls of steel obviously."

"Darren why do you care? Why are you even here?" I say, losing my patience.

He glances to Luke. "Can we have a moment alone?"

"I actually need to head home." Luke stands up, rubbing his hands on his jeans. "I'll see you tomorrow Riles."

I mouth a goodbye to him and Darren waits until the door shuts to start talking.

"I'm here because I'm sorry." He looks at me evenly. I freeze.  "I was an idiot. A dumb, selfish, hurting idiot."

"Where is this coming from?" I lean forward a little, shocked.

"Honestly? I met someone in New York and we talked about everything, even you. She made me go see a therapist." He smiles a little, as if recalling good memories. "I realised that I acted like a child with you, leaving you here at 16. That must've been really hard."

"It was." I reply, not even bothering to lie.

"I mean, you seem to be doing great. I get your grades from the school and I phone in to check you're going and I see you get tagged on a lot of stuff in Facebook." He shrugs. "I guess I convinced myself you were perfectly fine."

"I am Darren." I sigh, rubbing my eyes. "Today was a minor fault in an otherwise perfectly fine life. Do I miss our parents? All the time. Does it make me sad to think about it? Obviously. But I went to therapy years ago. I sorted my stuff out."

"I know you did, and I'm proud of you." He sighs too, leaning forward. "I'm not asking you to instantly forgive me. I acted awfully."

"Yeah, no kidding."

"I want to be your brother again." He scratches his neck. "I mean, I will have to stay in New York for a while. But I'd like to be there for you more. Be a brother."