The End of Summer

Chapter 34- 'What do you think, is this enough for us?'

A/N: thank you to happilycookie for the awesome banner!

Right guys I know this is a short chapter. It was meant to be part of the last chapter but i knew if i posted this part with the last, then the whole thing about Archie and Alex would have just been looked straight over and that part is important to the story because i want people i realise just how close the two brothers actually are and how much they care for each other. If they weren't, what happened with Roger's death just wouldnt have been as big. 

So yeah enjoy this one.

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The look Archie was giving his older brother right now was one I had not seen in a while, if ever.

He was looking at Alex like he owed him the world, and if you think about it he did.

Alex’s actions that night were what allowed Archie to be the boy he was today. It allowed him to live his life normally, not have to carry around the scar of what someone like Roger can give to you.

“The scumbag got everything he deserved.” The words came out of my mouth before I knew they were going to, but once they did I realised how much I meant them.

Bradley's jaw clenched as he stared at me.

“That scumbag was my father. He was anything but.” Bradley hissed in my direction, before pointing at Alex “You believe that little story? The truth is he sat there and watched my father die. After he got his kicks, he went straight back to sleep like nothing happened. If that doesn’t scream ‘psychopath’ then I don’t know what does.”

“You.” Archie said without a hesitation.

Bradley breathed one laugh at this, shaking his head at his former best friend’s hatred towards him.

Suddenly, the message on the board when we found Tally dead in the classroom flashed back to me.

Choose your friends closely.

At one point, Bradley and Archie were best friends. He knew because of the wire on Kevin that we would be the ones going back out to look for the laptop, so he knew Archie would be the one reading that message. Hell I was friends with the kid back when we were younger, neither myself nor Archie had chosen our friends carefully.

Kevin was included in that statement. I didn’t know if he was included because I had chosen to trust him, or because he had chosen to align himself with Bradley. That part still wasn’t clear.

Once that little mystery was solved in my head, another one began to wrap itself up. That song, the one from Pretty Little Liars he played down the speaker when he killed the Principal.

Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead.

Those words made so much sense now, because I knew that those ‘two’ the song was referring to was in fact Roger and Alex. Look where Roger was now.

The secret had been kept, and it was for the exact reason that one of them was dead.

Archie glued his eyes to Alex “I don’t know what to say man.”

Alex smiled “There’s nothing to say. Don’t thank me; you would have done the same thing.”

Archie thought about his brother’s words “A hundred times over.”

“I know you would, and for once it wasn’t you who had to look out for me.” Alex said, and I knew he felt bad about that. The responsibility that was pushed on Archie as Alex got worse I think was something he will always feel guilty about.