Stars ||| ADOPTED BY SHANE DAWSON BOOK 2

Together

Raven:

My brother didn't call me today..or the day after that, or the day after that. It's been two whole days without contact with him, and my stubborn ass won't be the first one to break the silence. The one thing my mother taught me was that vulnerability is weakness.

The dinner table is quiet and very tense, which isn't unusual for this family. Especially after arguments.

I say grace in my head,

...and watch over my family so that we can be at peace again. Amen.

Dinner felt odd, and it wasn't just the vegetarian lasagna. It was the family. I found myself getting jealous of thier dramatic conversations about thier day, and became silent. There was laughter even after the yelling from earlier.

My family had no laughter after my father's death, even after my mother went crazy. There was no rest. Here, this family found happiness in even the most concerning times.

I get up from the table, my appetite completely lost, and my mood totally tanked. Not even the hot make out session with chris from earlier made me happy.

"I'm going outside for a smoke." I say. Everyone's eyes are on me. Ryland gives me a look.

"I'll come with you." Chris says immediately.

"No, you're going to stay and eat your dinner." Ryland spats.

"That's not even fair, if I want to be with my girlfriend-"

"Baby, no." Shane warns.He returns his attention back on me.

His worried eyes only make me more upset. Why couldn't my family be like his? Why couldn't my dad be alive? Why couldn't my uncle be as caring as Shane?

"Go ahead." Is all he says. Chris continues to immaturely argue, but I'm already out the front door.

I sit on the front steps of the house, just looking out onto the night sky. A year ago, everything felt so chaotic and depressing in my life. Nothing has changed much from that, other than me loosing my mom. But I've lost my mom awhile ago, the day she started having her symptoms.

I just wish everything could stop.

Instead of staying out here to smoke, I ride my longboard wherever it takes me. It's so dark outside, I can't see anything. Except, once I'm at the driveway of my destination, I regret even going. My dad's house.

God heard my prayers. He brought me here for a reason.

I hop off my board and start for my climb to my brother's room. I miss him so much. We were supposed to stay together, he was supposed to protect me.

It's pitch dark and quiet in his room. I drop onto the carpeted floor with a thud. Something feels different about the room, there is a heavy silence.

"Issac, you asleep?" He's laying on his bed, in a complete knocked out sleep. I nudge him, but his body is limp. His hand falls to the side of the bed. "Stop playing."

Concern overwhelms me at my brother not responding. I turn the lights on and in that moment, my whole world has been turned upside down.

God...how could he do this? How could he punish me like this?

His eyes stare at the ceiling, or something beyond. All the muscles in his face fall limp, mimicking his very still, and limp body. A bottle of pills lay empty on his bed- his anti depressants.

"Stop playing...w-wake up you dumbitch." I cant resist from letting out a sob. I put my ear to his chest, listening to a non-existent heart beat. "Y-you're just gonna leave....me..?"

I whimper. I close his eyes and feel my body shake in powerful sobs. Fat, hot tears fall quickly down my face.

He left me. We were supposed to stay together. We were supposed to protect eachother, be eachother's rocks. Dad said so.

Dads body lays peacefully in his coffin, with his arms crossed over his chest. He's dressed nicely, only if his expression wasn't so blank and dead.

I let out another whimper and cuddle into my brother's cold body. Dad left me, and now him. Soon he'll be dressed in a nice tux, laying next to dad six feet under.

We sit in the car, the car stopped, but running. My brother holds me in a hug, and I swore I heard soft sniffles of him, as we sit there, holding eachother.

"We only have eachother..." he whispers in my sweatshirt. "Until I'm dead and buried six feet under..I will always be here for you.."

"And I will always be here for you."

I feel his cold lifeless body next to me, and hug him closer to me. My body shakes uncontrollably with even more sobs. Maybe if I sit here with him in my arms, he'll be okay. He'll come back and protect me, because we only have eachother. Remember Issac? You swore that.

I dial 911 with shaky fingers. I didn't want them to take my brother away, I wanted to keep him to myself one last time. The  paramedics wouldn't let me stay with him, they shoved me off of him and took him away from me. They covered him up in a white sheet and didn't look back at me; his sister.

I watched the truck drive off with him from his window. My uncle didn't say anything to me that night when I slept in his bed. It was the only thing that was close enough to having him near me.

What happened to our promise?What happened to staying together? You left me to see dad, why couldn't I come with you?

That night, I cried myself to sleep. I only had dreams about Issac, my heart ached to have him back. That same night, I had never wanted death more than I did then. I wanted to die. I wanted to die. I wanted to die.

I wanted to see my brother laughing again. I wanted to see my mom smiling. I wanted to see my dad alive and thriving.

What happened to staying together?

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A/N: this was a hard one to write. At least I'm over my writers block, new fresh ideas are finally entering my brain. Vote and comment for more. We are almost to 1k reads! Tnx so much for taking the time to read my shitty fanfics 🖤🖤.