What Now

14. Earth to Lydia

"Hey, little sis." Michael greeted me with a smile as he waited by his car.

I dropped my bag as I threw myself into his embrace. I shut my eyes and squeezed him tight. I kept replaying what happened over and over in my mind. From the amazing sex, which still had my body tingling, to Sean dropping that little bombshell, I was at a loss.

"You okay?" Michael asked me.

I pulled away from him, tucking my hair behind my ear before I grabbed my bag and put it in his backseat. After we both got in the car, we headed towards his house.

"Well?" He prodded. "Do I have to fly over to New York and beat Sean to death?"

Even with my mixed emotions, I laughed. "No. He didn't do anything wrong. Nothing to be killed over, anyway."

"So, what has you sneaking away on his charter in the middle of the night on Valentine's Day?" He glanced from the road to me with a cocky smile. "Miss your big bro already?"

I rolled my eyes as I rolled my window down. "I didn't sneak. And of course I missed you."

Michael tapped his fingers on the steering wheel before pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. "You didn't sneak, huh? So, if I call Sean right now, he's going to know where you are?"

"Yes," I said between clenched teeth. When I saw him start to dial Sean's number, I snatched the phone from him. "Fine! I snuck away." I buried my face in my hands before I ran them through my hair. "Oh, God. What did I do, Michael?"

He scoffed as he turned onto his street. When I saw Michael's house, my mind flashed back to the night I confronted my brother. The night Sean chased after me.

"I think this confrontation is long overdue. Don't you, Michael?" I was surprised at how strong my voice sounded, considering how scared I was.

Before he could answer me, I asked the question I've been asking myself for almost two decades. "Why did you guys leave me in that hospital? You, Alex, and mom left me there!"

"Life wasn't easy for me and Alex either. They beat us, too. They left us to fend for ourselves; just like you." He ran his hands through his brown hair. "That night, mom told us that they were going to keep you at a mental health clinic or something. We didn't find out until later."

That seemed to just piss me off more. "So, what? You just accepted that she supposedly shipped me off somewhere? You never tried to call me or find me."

His voice started giving away his emotions. "We thought she was lying! She told us that in a drug haze. Then two weeks later, Alex and I were taken away and dropped into foster care. We were kids too, Lydia! She was so upset about dad and--"

"WHAT?! Are you fucking kidding me?" Before I could stop it, the dam holding back my tears burst wide open. "That sick bastard deserves to rot in hell! He almost killed our mother that night. Or what about the multiple times he snuck into my bedroom and assaulted me!" I couldn't take it anymore. I turned away from him and started to leave.

I ignored him as he yelled after me to come back. The tears made my vision blurry and I tried to run. I barely made it five feet when I ran into something hard.

As two arms held onto me, I heard that familiar baritone that seemed to soothe me. "Lydia? Are you okay?"

I couldn't control my emotions and my head was pounding from my injury. "Get me out of here," I begged Sean.

"Earth to Lyida?" Michael repeated.

"I'm sorry," I breathed as we started getting out of the car. "What was your question?"