You Better Bring an Umbrella, Vol. 2

Chapter 15: Brothers of Mine

            A hopeless feeling buried itself deep in me, swirling around with the bitter sting from the replaying image of Lila completely turning her back on me. Tonight had been, quite possibly, the most disappointing night of my life, which said a lot.

"You know, I'm starting to get the feeling Dad's avoiding us," Five quipped, tapping his foot.

"Gee, I wonder why," I deadpanned, leaning down slightly to meet eyes with my brother. He shook his head, clearly not wanting to focus on the fact there was a chance Dad had no earthly idea who we were.

"Hate to be the boring one, guys," Lila piped up, "but, uh, it's time we get the hell out of here." Without waiting, Lila simply turned around and started to run back the way we'd snuck in.

All of a sudden, she just wanted to run away.

"When you say 'we,' who exactly are you referring to?" Five seethed, venom dripping from his words. I released my hands from him and moved to cross my arms against my stomach, unsure of what exactly to feel right now. Before I could really sort things out, an intense chill washed over me, causing me to shudder violently. My spasm caught Diego's attention, who promptly removed his suit jacket and set it around my shoulders.

"Here, sis," he whispered as he secured it, making sure it wouldn't slip off my frame. I nodded at him in thanks, focused primarily on Lila. She had suddenly gone silent, completely devoid of a snappy comeback or well-timed insult, her jaw hanging open slightly.

"Not a lot of ambiguity in that sentence." Her words had been sucked dry of any confidence. Was Five onto something here...?

"Listen, I don't know who you are, or where you came from, but whatever it is, I'd advise you to return posthaste." Diego stepped forward carefully, his eyes on the guards outside the entrance to the consulate.

"She's right, Five. We gotta get out of here."

"I just saved your life, you kinder-shit." Lila's sudden harshness caught me off-guard. Where the hell had this side of her come from... and how long would she have kept pushing it down if Five hadn't hit the right buttons? "If I hadn't stepped in, all that would be left of you is a blazer and some bloody socks."

"And that's the problem," Five observed. "You're too good. You ask too many questions. You know too much. And you fight like you know what you're doing."

Slowly, the reality Five was presenting started to dawn on me. She'd taken down a man twice her size without any sort of issue just a few moments ago, something an average person certainly wasn't capable of. Not to mention, she'd taken such a sudden and vested interest in my brother, a person who'd done quite a bit of wrong across several points in time. Her interest couldn't be a mere coincidence...

Yet, when I met with her lost, afraid brown eyes, I felt my insides melt again. I hadn't just stopped liking her—I wasn't sure that would ever happen. I didn't want this to be the end of us, but the realizations that had dawned on me tonight certainly threw a rock into our relationship. I'd already dealt with a liar of a father my entire life; I didn't want that from my girlfriend.

"He's got a point," Diego muttered, now looking to Lila with caution.

"So I know how to handle myself, and that makes me the bad guy?" I didn't like the way she phrased that. Not that she was going to make Five backtrack, but that was clearly her intention.

"Whoever you are, you're in my way." Five's eyes flashed back to me momentarily, shivering as I pulled Diego's jacket closer against me. Stupid November... "I hope you understand my sister's protectiveness goes both ways. If I see you again, I will kill you."