Stepbrothers

Chapter Twenty-Six {Broken heartbeats}

Hello, it's @misstaken17 here. I'm posting today because your lovely writer JJ is busy b/c her school system is out of whack and they start this early in the year. So wish her luck!

I hope you like the chapter, lots of shenanigans is gonna go down soon.

{Andy Fowler}

I wake up next to Mikey. I say next to, but it's more like...with. My head is still resting on his chest, his arms are still around me. I can hear his heartbeat through the shirt that he wore to bed.

After he's woken up, we have breakfast: apparently he never told me that he could make pancakes. When he leaves, he gives me a hug and tells me to be safe and not to worry, because Rye's a good guy and he won't hurt me. When he's out the door, I sigh, a mixture of relief and worry for what's to come. I know that Rye won't hurt me, on purpose. But I'm afraid that he'll hurt me without trying to.

And I know that he's afraid he'll do it too.

I knock on Rye's door and open it slowly, in case he tells me not to come in.

"Hey baby," is all he says. I walk over and sit next to him on the bed. He pulls me into his side and I lean into him.

We lie down in the bed, my head on his chest and a small smile on my face, but it disappears when I remember what I'm here to do.

"We need to talk," I say. He takes in a deep breath and nods.

"I agree. Want to start?"

I nod, then pause. I don't really want to have to go through this, but it's better now than never.

"Rye...you have to understand that I don't trust just anyone like I trust you. It's very difficult for me." He nods and squeezes my hand. He sits up and pulls me with him.

"I know, Andy. Take your time. I'll always be here." I take in a deep breath, knowing that starting to tell him will be the most difficult part. I crawl into his lap and rest my head on his shoulder.

"Promise you won't hate me?" I whisper. He nods a little, his hands holding me by my lower back. We stay in silence for a long time, listening to each others breathing and heartbeats. Mine are both quick, terrified. Rye's hand trails up and down my back, trying to calm me down. I take a deep breath.

"My dad wants to come get me and take me with him."

The silence in the room is deafening. Nothing like what it was before. Just seconds ago. That silence was comforting and this...

This silence is killing me.

Rye's heartbeat has gotten faster and he pulls away from me, still holding me on his lap.

"Andy, why didn't you tell me?" He looks hurt, pain in his eyes. "Why didn't you...I don't know! We could have figured this out..." his voice trails off.  He gently pushes me off of him and onto the bed. Then he stands up and turns to face me.

"Andy, why?" There's tears in his eyes now, and his chest is heaving with his breaths. 

"I just...I thought you would break up with me." I purse my lips and pull my knees to my chest, wrapping my arms around my shins and resting my chin on my knees. Now is the first time that I've wondered why I haven't told him. If my dad showed up, he'd find out anyways. But I know that deep down, I really just wanted to avoid it.

He comes back and sits down with me, but when I try to lean into him, he moves away a little. I won't lie, that really hurts.

I stand up and get out of his room as quickly as I can, slamming the door behind me. I run to my room and lock the door, shaking hard.

Rye doesn't come after me.

And that hurts even more.

I curl up on my bed, the tears sliding down my face. My breathing is so fast that I choke on my sobs, hating myself for not telling him even more than ever. I try to take deep breaths, but I can't. My throat is tight and I can't breathe. I realize that I'm having an asthma attack so I sit up and reach into my bedside table for my inhaler, breathing in the medicine and taking a few deep breaths. Another dose.

I lie down again, on my back. My body shakes with my crying and I realize that I can't do this anymore. I wasn't planning on it before, but maybe I should take up Dad's offer.

So. Please don't hate us 😂 we love you, thanks for all the support that we've been getting on this book. Both of us appreciate it a lot. Sorry for the huge time gap between posts, but we've got writers block and we don't want to have to force our writing.

Have a good day/night/evening/prevening!
❤️