𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗧𝘄𝗼 | 𝗖𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗽 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 | When Kay gets an emergency call from her mother, Brian takes her back to her hometown of Harmony, where she has to deal with old family drama and her ex-boyfriend, Mario, who just won't let her...
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Could I say that rain had an awful habit of appearing when shit went left? Right as Jun parked his car beside our father's Mustang, thunder roared in the sky and raindrops quickly followed. Normally, as would any person, I would have pulled my sweater over my head to keep it as dry as possible. This time I let it hit me. Drop after drop slapped against my skin as I walked up the walkway and onto my parents' front porch. I was soaked in seconds but wanted the water to calm me down.
Something needed to.
"Mom!" Jun called out for our mother when we stepped into the living room. He wanted me to step in front of him because shutting the door behind me. But once he did, he quickly moved around the couch and into the kitchen.
I followed after him, just not as quickly. I kept thinking of the look on Brian's face. A sort of regret. Yes, he hadn't backed down from fighting Mario, but Mario had been the one to start it. Mario threw the first stone. Brian only caught it, then threw it back. Just... when Jun came and the jokes and teasing hit another way, Brian made sure Jun wouldn't have been the one fighting. Brian knew firsthand how bad rash initial reactions could be.
He protected my brother from that mistake.
"Ma..." Jun's voice dropped, sad, almost apologetic. As I stepped into the kitchen after him, I saw my mother sitting at the table. My father was next to her. There was a small stack of plates next to his arm, as if he had been planning to take them to the living room. But judging by the looks on their faces, Jun had already asked a question.
Had I been so far in my head that I didn't hear him?
Jun pressed both of his hands against the table and took in the deepest breath. "Ma..." He turned his head. "Dad... I just." He paused. "Mario said something tonight, just a bit ago, that hit me."
My father's hand slid over his face before landing on the table. He cleared his throat. "Mijo, Mario can say a lot of things, but—"
"But what he said, no one knows about it." Jun straightened, balling his hands into fists at his side. "They know about the break-in—"
"Jun, don't." My mother waved her hand as if she didn't want to hear him. "Please, not now. Not today. Today we're supposed to—"
"Talk, right?" Jun huffed. As I stepped into the kitchen and stood beside him, I could hear the grumbling in his breaths. I looked at him, but he didn't pay me attention. His attention had shifted towards our father. "So, I want to talk. I need to talk about what he said."
"If it's about what Mario said, then no." My father leaned back against his seat. "Your mother wanted you both here to talk about other things. More important things concerning this family."
"Really?" The disbelief in Jun's voice resonated within me. And I fed off of it.
"Brian's in jail tonight." I pulled at my wet sleeves as I wrapped my arms across my chest. "He made sure Jun didn't fight Mario tonight and took the fall."
