Chapter Text
EXTRA-CHAPTER (2.5)
After The Party
Michael picked up some of Nick’s books, piling them onto the corner of the dining table, and with that, he finished tidying up.
The house was, essentially, clean.
And quiet.
Usually, Michael loved when he could get a few minutes of peace and quiet. The boys were so damn loud. Everything had to be shouted about, across the room or across the house, and they fought over everything.
Well, Gabriel fought everyone about everything. Want the remote? Gabriel will fight you for it. Last soda in the fridge? Gabriel is willing to arm wrestle you for it. And now that the twins and Chris were basically the same size in clothing, Gabriel would even fight for which shoes or which jacket he wanted to wear.
No one else had to be interested in fighting, Gabriel just liked to fight.
And Michael couldn’t blame him.
Michael had had to grow up with his brothers being too little for him to be too physical with. He could certainly play fight them, but their mother had always warned Michael that the boys were too little to be rough with.
But Gabriel and Nick were identical, she couldn’t exactly tell Gabriel that his twin was too small for him to play with. And Gabriel was usually decently careful to not hurt anyone else. Unless he wanted to.
He also had the seemingly endless energy that he derived from his element. And that was something that their parents hadn’t had to deal with with the kid. That was Michael’s own joy to deal with.
Super joyful.
Silence was a double edged sword. It allowed him to release some stress, but it also allowed all of the worrying thoughts start creeping back in.
And lately, there were a lot of things to worry bout. Like, a lot.
Like, he shouldn’t have let the twins or Chris go to that party. Things weren’t ever calm – not since Michael himself had had the Earth awaken in him. Not since they had buried what was left of their parents.
But, even that tentative platitude was being shaken up. And baby brother was dead center of it. Michael just couldn’t figure out why.
Gabriel, well whether he liked it or not, it was easy to see Gabriel getting on someone’s bad side. His little brother was loyal, fierce and mostly a goof, but he was quick to throw fits and quicker to unleash insults and other unnecessary comments.
It got the teen in enough trouble at home and at school, so it would be easy to see it accelerate the others feelings about the brothers.
Still didn’t make things easier to accept.
With a deep, soul-heavy sigh, Michael moved to sit at the couch. Having the television to himself left him with no idea what to watch.
Nicholas would point out some documentary on the history channel, Gabriel would point out that there had to be a football, basketball, or any kind of ball game better than a “stupid history lesson”. And if Chris had a chance to voice an opinion, which was hard to get in edgewise with the twins, he would probably look for either a comedy or an action film to watch.
Michael was boring and often opted to watch the news. As if seeing the crap going off around the world would make his own situation seem tenable.
Movie it was.
Finding something that was half way started and semi-decent, he settled for it and pulled out his work notebook. He would try and keep his mind from dreading what the boys were up to, hoping against and for all hopes that they would actually look out for each other and nothing bad would happen to them – it was the soccer team that both Gabriel and Nick hung out with.
Well, Gabriel hung out with all of the athletes. And, since Nick was supposed to be a part of them too, he was often at his brother’s side.
It wasn’t much Chris’ scene, but he was with his brothers.
They were all three together and Michael had nothing to worry about.
They would totally look out for each other.
They had barely been gone an hour.
Nick had texted him already that they were fine.
Gabe had texted that they were drinking body shots off of Playboy models and talking about filming an amateur porno – so, there was that lovely visual.
But he knew that they were fine. Nick wouldn’t agree to a porno, and he wouldn’t allow Gabriel to use their ‘shared face’ for that shit either – a card he often had to point out to his twin.
They were fine.
It was Michael that was driving himself insane.
The twins were right – and that was certainly not something he thought easily.
But it was true.
They were right. He had to let them – all of them, not just Chris – experience life. He had to be able to back off enough for them to have as close to normal of a life as possible.
Was it so bad that he just wanted them to be safe and far away from the dangers that idiots like Tyler and Seth brought them?
And it was mostly those two. Even the idiots that Michael had grown up with had mostly left them alone now. They got to go off to college and start their own lives. They didn’t care about the Merrick boys and Old Mill’s teenaged drama.
Michael could only wish he had such a privilege.
He settled in, trying not to think – failing – forcing himself to think about work – also failing – and turning his attention to the movie.
He didn’t even know when he fell asleep.
Waking up to a jerk of his hand and the sound of one of his brothers’ voices was – actually pretty common.
“Hey. Mike. Wake up. I’m home.”
Michael rubbed at his face, forcing himself into the moment, and straightened up. He looked up at the door, expecting to see the three boys, and instead saw Chris and that girl. Becca. Again.
Did she not have her own house?
She had been there now like a dozen times! Baby brother kept insisting that there was ‘nothing’ going on between the two, but come on! Why the hell was she coming around all of the time?
So damn annoying.
“And you brought a friend.”
“Be nice,” Chris said, walking back towards the girl and the foyer.
Becca shoved her hands into the pockets of the pullover. “I’m not staying long.”
Michael frowned at her. “Why are you staying at all?”
Chris gave a disgusted sigh and turned away from the doorway. “Ignore him. Come on.”
Michael didn’t take too much offense at that. He was pretty grumpy when woken. Okay, he was pretty grumpy period.
And he wasn’t exactly keen on this girl. Every time she had shown up, she was surrounded by trouble. It was hard to think she wasn’t as involved in this damn mess as Chris swore she wasn’t.
But what the heck-
“Why are you all wet?” Michael called out.
The two teens headed up the stairs and Michael groaned.
He hadn’t thought she would be back. Why where they wet? Chris wasn’t trying to hide anything, at least. He wouldn’t have woken Michael if he was trying to be sneaky. Gabriel was the sneaky type.
But, what the hell kind of situation called for both teens to be wet?
Michael scrubbed at his face. Where had that damn party been again? Was it by the beach?
Chris would be fine in the water – but this girl?
Michael searched for his cell phone. No calls. He got up, walking over to the front door as he started to text Nick. The girl’s beat up excuse of a vehicle was there, besides Michael’s landscaping truck, but not the dark red SUV.
Where r u? he sent.
Michael glanced at the stairs and started to worry all over again. He got a reply text and sighed in relief. Or partially relieved.
Damn it. Teenagers and the shit they got into.
Michael headed for the stairs. He hated having to find shit out like this. His brothers knew he didn’t like being in the dark about their bullshit. He needed time to prepare, mentally, to defend their stupid asses. Mostly Gabriel and his temper, but there had been enough instances for all of them.
Usually, the girl trouble that Michael had had to deal with, especially in the last two years, had been heartbroken girls that Gabriel had no more interest in.
There were a lot of conversations following those visits.
But mostly, his brothers were good kids.
He just kept repeating that to himself as he headed up the stairs.
“- a dick to every girl who comes around here,” Chris was saying.
They were talking about him. And, well, Michael couldn’t argue that.
“Just girls?”
“Yeah.”
It wasn’t like there were boys coming up to the front door and crying about the jerks his brothers were and how Gabriel swore she was the prettiest. Michael stopped caring halfway through their sophomore year. At that point, he figured that the girls wanted to be another notch for the twins. And as long of they wore condoms and he didn’t become an uncle-grandpa in the next five years, he really didn’t give a shit about their feelings. The girls, not his brothers.
“Sit down. I’ll give you some sweats so we can throw your clothes in the dryer.”
Michael rubbed the back of his head. His hair was a mess. It was pulled back into a tight knot, but it was mostly loose now. He needed a shower. And a lot less stress.
“So, why is your brother mean to girls?”
Michael scoffed. Like, he didn’t have enough to deal with?
Reaching Chris’ room, Michael frowned at them. Chris was at his dresser, probably looking for the sweats he had offered and the girl was sitting on at the edge of the bed.
“Because,” he said from the doorway. “I have three younger brothers who think its hilarious to parade jailbait through here on a daily basis.”
Or monthly. Practically.
Except Cecilia Dobbs. That girl was around every day for two weeks. She was in the field hockey team and Michael was certain she was just using Gabriel for the food she kept pilfering.
And listen, Michael wasn’t going to be the one tell any girl to watch their weight – but, for fucks sake, she could be her parents’ bills’ problem. He had four mouths to feed as it was.
Becca glared at him. “No one told me there was a parade,” she said acidly. “And here I forgot my banner.”
Cute.
Michael leaned against the doorjamb to study his brother. “What happened to your face?”
Again.
Chris busied himself with digging through the clothes again. “Nothing. Go back downstairs so she can change.”
Super cute.
Michael stepped into the room and stopped beside the dresser. He reached out a hand to lift Chris’s chin. There was a new bruise forming on his jaw, and as wet as Chris was – Michael could only assume that it had been much worse before. The water would have done it’s best to help heal Chris. It would have taken some of his pain and started the recovery process. And the state of soaked that his teeshirt was, the scent of ocean still clinging to the boy, he knew there had been a lot of water to work with.
Chris smacked his hand away. “Jesus. Stop.”
There was a touch of worry and bothered to his eyes that screamed back.
Damn it.
“You want some ice?”
“No.”
He shouldn’t have let them go.
Chris grabbed a gray tee shirt and some pants and slammed the dresser shut.
“Here,” he turned to the girl, holding the clothes out to her.
“Thanks,” she sounded unsure and moved slower to get them.
Michael watched this exchange. “I thought you’d still be at that party.”
Chris wasn’t looking at him.
“We were. Nick and Gabriel might still be there.”
And didn’t the kid know that not looking at him wasn’t enough to get him to not know what his brothers were thinking? The fact he didn’t want to tell Michael anything was obvious. And very telling.
“Nick sent me a text. They wanted to make sure you got home before they came back with the car.”
“I’ll just,” she moved from besides them and towards the door.—ah, go in the bathroom then —”
Michael swung his head around to look at her. “You involved with Tyler somehow?”
Her eyes went wide at his sudden movement, and Michael hoped that she would be scared enough to speak honestly. Maybe get him some much needed answers.
She shook her head quickly.
“She’s not,” said Chris groaned.
“Because,” Michael continued without looking at him, “when Chris comes home from two fights in one week, and you’re with him both times, it starts to look—”
“Damn it, Michael.” Chris shoved him toward the door. The move was a little too aggressive to feel brotherly. So was the glare. “Just—go downstairs.”
Michael did not like that particular tone. Or the aggression. He knew that Chris didn’t like to talk about this subject, but he also didn’t like being in the dark about all of this shit.
But, maybe right then wasn’t the time.
He glared at his brother, warning on the tip of his tongue. But, while Michael was used to issuing all kinds of threats in his house, he wasn’t about to put the kid on the spot like that. Whatever the girl was or wasn’t to him – Michael wasn’t about to put himself in a position of making his baby brother even more furious. Especially not at him.
He had no beef with Chris. Just the damn situation.
So Michael took a step back. He could feel the tension in the moment, and he didn’t want to force it. The girl’s face was enough to tell him that it didn’t look good.
Alright little brother, he thought. I can give you this. I can give you enough space to breath.
He gave Becca a long look. He didn’t like her. He didn’t like that every time she showed up was because something had gone off with Chris. But he knew that she wasn’t the one swinging at his brother either.
Still, he didn’t trust her. There was something off about her. He didn’t like how he felt when he was around her.
But Becca kept with his gaze, and Michael didn’t want to say anything that might upset Chris further. Not with her there.
Turning, he walked back into the hallway, waking measured steps to not be thundering his way back downstairs.
Some space, kid. Not enough to strangle yourself with. Or make a mess of more things.
“Sorry,” he heard Becca saying.
Yeah, a lot of sorry was going around.
SCENE DIRECTLY FROM THE NOVEL – Not written by me AT ALL, but it’s my favorite so I wrote it out for you that haven’t read the series. (becca’s pov)
She heard the twins before she saw them, and she stopped short in the hallway, scowling. They were talking to Chris from the sound of it. She wanted to just walk down the steps and out the front door. Maybe she could hang her jeans out the car window and dry them that way.
But one of the twins—Nick, if she remembered the clothes correctly—was closest to the door, and he spotted her first. “Hey, Becca.”
She put the ball of damp clothes under an arm and squared her shoulders. His dark hair was a little windblown, but he clearly hadn’t taken a swim. It seemed unfair—he looked even better than he had at the party, while she knew from the mirror that she looked like a drowned cocker spaniel.
She looked right into his eyes, determined to show him she wouldn’t get all flustered like she had in Drew’s hallway. “Hey,” she said flatly. “Nick.”
His smile warmed a little, as if she’d amused him. He stepped forward and held out his hands, gesturing to her bundle of clothes. “Here. I’ll throw those in the dryer.”
She faltered, not expecting kindness from him. Uncertainty almost made her clutch the ball of fabric to her chest, as if this was some kind of trap.
Idiot. Just give him the clothes.
She thrust the bundle forward. “Thanks.”
When he jogged down the stairs, she shoved her hands into the pullover pockets again and edged toward the doorway. Chris was sitting backwards on the desk chair, leaning his forearms on the back. He’d changed into a gray tee shirt and jeans that weren’t wet, and now his hair was drying with a slight wave to it.
“Find everything you need?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She paused. “Thanks.”
Gabriel was sprawled on the bed, leaning up against the wall the way he had last night. He glanced up at her, a spark of humor in his eye. “Want to sit on the bed?”
She gave him a dark look. “No.”
Chris sighed and uncurled from the chair. “Here. Sit.” He stepped away to lean against the wall between the window and the aquarium.
She did, drawing her knees into the chair to sit cross-legged. She bit her tongue, unsure if Chris had told his brothers what he’d told her.
Chris shrugged, his gaze on the window. “The jig is up.” Then he glanced at the door, and she read the unease in his eyes. “Not with Michael, though. So keep your voice down.”
Gabriel smiled, and there was an edge of challenge to it. “You want me to set something on fire or what?”
“Subtle,” said Chris.
“Can you do that?” she said, pleased that her voice was even, almost skeptical. She wouldn’t let Gabriel intimidate her, either.
He glanced at his brother. “Chris. Give me your Trig book.”
Chris did no such thing. “Michael will go ballistic if you start a fire up here again.”
“Michael needs to switch to decaf.” Gabriel dug in his pocket and fished out a lighter.
Becca straightened, feeling her eyes grow wide. Was he really going to start a fire right here in the bedroom?
Way to be nonchalant. She forced her voice to sound bored. “A lighter? Isn’t that cheating?”
“Fire needs something to burn, sugar.” Gabriel flipped the lighter between his fingers, somehow lighting it while it spun.
“Frat boy tricks,” she said.
“Don’t encourage him,” said Chris.
Gabriel grinned and did it again, faster, rolling the lighter through his knuckles until the silver was a blur, the red gold of the flame a near constant arc.
She stared despite herself, leaning forward, mesmerized by the motion.
Then he snapped his other hand forward, pinched out the flame, and flicked the lighter into the air to snap it closed.
She lifted her eyes to meet his. Impressive, but nothing supernatural. “Should I applaud or something?”
He turned his closed hand over and uncurled his fingers. “You tell me.”
She froze. Fire sat on his palm. Not like his hand was burning, but a suspended flame, as if his hand had lifted the plume of fire off a candlewick. A blue base climbed to orange and red as it flickered there.
“Let’s see a frat boy do that,” said Gabriel. The flame was big enough that it threw light on his face.
She uncurled from the chair and moved closer to the bed, unable to help herself. She reached out a hand to touch it. Her fingers brushed across the tip of the flame, feeling it nip at her fingertips.
“Careful,” said Chris. “Sometimes it looks for something real to burn.”
She couldn’t tear her eyes away. “What’s it burning now?”
“Energy,” said Gabriel.
“What energy?”
“Mine.”
Did that mean he was ... feeding the fire somehow? She swallowed, almost compelled to touch it again. A breeze whispered through the open window, lifting the ends of her hair. The flame flickered and jumped, biting at her outstretched hand.
She thought of the drums on the beach, the way they’d snapped fire at Tyler and Seth. She pulled her hand back. The fire began to swirl in the breeze, a tiny whirlwind of flame stretching higher in his palm.
Then it lifted clean off his hand, spinning wider and faster until it burned out into nothing. She couldn’t even smell smoke.
“I’d say you’re playing with fire,” said Nick from the doorway, “but it kind of loses effect when you really are.”
“You didn’t have to do that.” Gabriel rolled the closed lighter across his knuckles again. “I had it.”
“You had it this time,” said Chris. He paused, and there was a thread of envy in his voice. “Your control’s gotten better.”
“My control?” Gabriel grinned. “I’m not the one who brought down a tsunami on Sillery Bay.”
“Yeah, well.” Chris glanced at Becca, and he looked a bit sheepish. “That didn’t quite work out like I’d hoped.”
Becca had thought it was downright amazing, but she didn’t say that. “Are you worried about Tyler and Seth coming after you?”
“After that?” said Nick. “They ran.”
He sounded pleased. She’d wondered earlier what kind of parents Tyler would have, allowing him to run around with a gun. But Nick’s tone reminded her of something she’d read once in a textbook, about how guns were invented so man could level the playing field.
“They’re afraid of you,” she said softly. After watching the demonstration on the beach, she almost couldn’t blame them.
“Of course they’re afraid of us,” said Nick, his voice a bit dark. “That’s why they’re breaking the deal.”
“They’ll try to prove that we’re a danger to the community,” said Chris. He folded his arms and looked at Gabriel. “Some of us try a little harder to stay out of trouble at school.”
Gabriel sat up straight. “I haven’t gotten in a fight yet this year!”
Despite everything, that made her smile. “It’s September.”
He waved a hand. “Details.”
“So why do they care about me?” she asked. “I’m not involved in any of this.”
“They’re really after us, not you,” said Chris. “We scared them off tonight. That will buy us some time.”
“You have any classes with Seth?” said Nick.
She shook her head. “He’s a senior.”
“He’s also an idiot.” Then Nick glanced at Gabriel, and he raised an eyebrow. “That’s right—don’t you have, like, two classes with him?”
Chris ignored them, watching her. “Has Seth ever hassled you at school?”
Becca froze, then tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She had to clear her throat. “Not since the fight in the parking lot.”
Chris frowned. “But before?”
“It’s nothing.” She shook her head quickly. “What are you guys going to do?”
“What are they going to do about what?” Michael said from the hallway. He put his hands on either side of the door and leaned in.
“Nothing,” Nick and Chris said at once.
Gabriel flung the lighter at him, hard, with true aggression. “Why don’t you quit acting like you give a shit?”
Michael caught it and flung it back. Harder. “Why don’t you quit acting like a smartass kid?”
Gabriel moved to throw it back, and Becca heard him flick the lid, then saw the flare as it spun free of his hand. She sucked in a breath.
Nicholas stepped into the line of fire and snatched the lighter out of the air. He snapped it closed. “Come on. Not tonight.”
Michael was already backing out of the doorway. “Whatever.” His voice was tired. “I’m going to bed.”
Silence hung over the room for a moment as he moved down the hallway.
Then he called from somewhere farther in the house. “Send her home by midnight, Chris.”
Becca flinched.
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Stay as long as you want. He’ll turn on SportsCenter and be asleep in ten minutes.”
“I’m only here until my clothes are dry,” she said quickly.
Chris shifted against the wall. His eyes were flat now, emotionless. “Don’t worry. We won’t keep you any longer than necessary.”
That wasn’t what she’d meant—or was it? Did he think she was insulting him?
Something in the tenor of the room had changed. While her brain was stumbling over something appropriate to say, Chris pushed away from the wall and headed for the door. “Come on. I’ll turn on a movie or something for you downstairs.”
From the sudden shift in his demeanor, she half expected him to leave her alone in their living room, but he sat on the couch—at the opposite end—while one of the Shrek sequels played on cable. The twins had remained upstairs.