My Brother's Best Friend

Chapter 1

"So, your brother is coming over from university to look after you while we ski, and we'll be back in two weeks. Is that okay?"

I roll my eyes. Mum's been speaking about nothing else since June. It's August. 

"Yes, Mum, it's okay, now go before you miss your flight."

"I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you too, Mum. I love you, Dad." I shake my head as I watch my dad trying not to cry in the corner. He's never been great about me growing up, but leaving me effectively on my own for two weeks is a bit too much for him.

"I love you too, Brownie." He calls me Brownie because my hair's the exact same colour as a brownie. Not a very creative nickname, but it's meant very affectionately. He pulls me into a tight hug and I feel his arm moving. 

"Dad, are you wiping your eyes so I can't see that you're crying?"

"..............No."

Laughing, I break away and turn to Mum. "So, Jacob's coming at 20:00?"

"Yes, and he won't have eaten, but there's a pizza in the freezer that you can do for the two of you." 

"Alright. I'm going to miss you, Mum. Now how's going to do my laundry and cook me dinner?"

"Ha ha. I'm going to miss you too, darling. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, you two. Have a safe flight and call me when you get there, okay?"

"Okay, Brownie. Speak to you in about 4 hours. We love you!"

"I love you too!" The door shuts behind them. 

"FREEDOM!" 

I promptly ran upstairs, changed into my cropped, red t-shirt that Dad hates and black shorts, throw my hair up into a messy bun and put on my glasses. I really don't like contacts, but I have to wear them to avoid Layla Batty pulling them off my face and smashing them on the floor. Then I grabbed a blanket, ran downstairs and turned on Netflix. Time for some binging in the four hours I had before Jacob came home. 

That's him at the door! I haven't seen him since Easter, I missed him so much, even though he's the most irritating person I have ever met in my entire life. Still love him though. I fling open though door and launch myself into his arms. He already had them open because he knows I always hug him immediately when I see him. After about 10 seconds he goes:

"You can let go now, Lola."

"Sorry, but I missed you! You're my brother, so I'm legally required to, even though whenever you're near me I fantasise about shoving your head down the toilet," I said smiling at him.

"Ha ha. Do we have any food? We're hungry." 

"There's a pizza in the freezer, I'll warm it up. Wait, did you say we?"

"Yeah, Andrew's staying over. Is that okay?"

"Sure, but you could have warned me."

"Er...surprise?" 

"Hi, Andrew. Come in, I'll get your coat for you. Pizza'll be about 30 minutes."

"What about my coat?" said Jacob.

"You've lived here, Andrew's the guest and also, I don't like your face, so... yeah."

30 minutes later and we're happily munching pizza in the living room and watching Shrek. Yeah, I know, lame right? But the boys begged me to let them watching it, so... Of course, Jacob made me sing the whole of All Star at the beginning because I had to learn it in primary school for choir. It was fun because then at the end I got to make fun of them, seeing as though the only know about half of the first verse.

I made Jacob do the dishes, meaning I was left alone with Andrew. I used to have a huge crush on him, but I never thought he would like me back, so I got a boyfriend. Then another. And another. Then I stayed single for about a year. Then I started dating my current boyfriend, Tom. 

I just got a text. It was from Tom. He's leaving me. For Layla Batty. Andrew saw me crying over my phone, and obviously asked me what was wrong. I told him and he immediately left the room. A minute later I saw Jacob and Andrew walking down the hallway towards the front door with a rounders bat. 

"Where are you going?"

"Out," said Jacob.

"Out where?"

"Just out," said Andrew. 

"Are you leaving me right now?"

"This is important, Lola," said Jacob.

"Can I come?" 

"It's probably best that you don't," said Andrew.

"Okay, but come back soon, it's nearly midnight."

"We're eighteen, Lola. We'll be fine," said Jacob. Then he mumbled something under his breath but all I heard was "Son of a B****." 

"Well, bye," said Andrew, smiling at me.

"We'll be back soon, Lollipop."

"Really, with the nickname?"

"Oh, get over it. We'll be back in about half an hour."

"Bye."

"Bye."

They came back after I'd passed out on the sofa waiting for them. They didn't have the bat anymore, and they looked a bit sweaty.

"What did you guys do? You've been gone for about an hour."

"Um... we kind of beat up your ex-boyfriend," said Andrew.

"What? You are joking, right? Right?"

"Nobody text dumps my sister, starts dating somebody he knows hates her and gets away with it."

"Why were you out so long?"

"He tried to run away, so we chased him to the skate park. We cornered him, spoke to him, and..."

"And?..."

"I kicked him in the groin," said Andrew, hanging his head, but grinning all the same.

"Well, I don't think you reacted the best way you could have done in that situation, but I really appreciate you both sticking up for me like that." I look particularly at Andrew. Jacob's done this for my past three breakups, but Andrew's not my brother and we aren't especially close, even though he comes round all the time. I'm feeling the same way I did when I was 14 and he'd just started regularly hanging out with Jacob. 

I hug them both, thanking them. Jacob looks embarrassed but pleased, whereas Andrew looks a bit taken by surprise, but in a good way. I say goodnight and head up to my room. This day has been crazy.