Along The Way

Chapter 19 - When I Tell Her Everything

"It doesn't end there Angel." She settled down to listen. "One weekend she invited him to this...party. She was there, so was Emily and Ryan. He swears he does not know what happened." I squeezed my eyes tight. "I'm not just trying to protect my brother here, you know. We are like twins, I'd know a mile away if he was lying."

I felt her nod against my chest.

I let out a gust of breath, "He does not know for sure, but he swears someone roofied his drink." my eyes opened, looking over her head. "Next thing he knows he is in a room with this girl, half dressed or undressed and Ryan is barging in like a madman. He punched Reed on the face and yelled at Kim. A week later he found out she was moving away, she was ashamed she hadn't realised he was high as a kite." A dry laugh escaped me, "The worst of it was that Reed honestly liked her. Everyone knew she was just a pastime for your brother."

I watched as she drew her lower lip into her mouth. "So Ryan blames Reed for that."

I nodded. "He believes he stole what was his right under his nose."

Her brow furrowed. "But how do you come to play into it? You had nothing to do with what happened."

"I didn't." I affirmed. "But Ryan didn't burry the hatchet. Let's say I was roped into it for emotional motives."

Her rosy mouth parted while her eyes studied my face. "What did he do?"

"Reed had a bike. It was a simple MASH bike with a single cylinder motor. It was old, but reliable. He had helped dad rebuild the engine the summer before my parents passed away. Both of us treated that bike like a f**king goddess, because it was one of the few memories we had with our dad." I ran a hand through my hair, feeling my body tense at the reminder. My eyes roamed over her face before drifting away.

"One night Reed came into the auto shop. He left the bike outside. He wasn't going to stay long so there was no need to pull it in. But then something came up and we took longer than we thought we would. At some time, we heard a noise from inside the shop, and when we went to see what was happening..." I shook my head, still feeling the pain as if it was yesterday. "Someone had set it on fire."

Charlotte's eyes were bright with unshed tears, "You didn't see who it was?"

She was hoping Ryan hadn't done it. I knew, and I didn't blame her.

"We looked at the tapes." There was no way to know how she'd react after hearing this. "The image wasn't clear, but it looked like him. Same height, same walk. It couldn't have been anyone else. Only two weeks had gone by after the party. It was too much of a coincidence."

A soft palm pressed against the side of my face, drawing my gaze to her red rimmed green eyes. We stayed like that, staring into each other's eyes for a moment.

Then her mouth wobbled a little, "I'm sorry about your bike."

I closed my eyes, pulling her body closer. "Not your fault, Angel." My fingers threaded through her soft blonde locks. "I should be the one to apologise for ever thinking of dragging you along."

I felt more than saw her shake her head. "You were hurt. I understand."

I tightened my hold on her, trying to soak in all that goodness that poured off her pores.

"None of that matters anymore, Angel."

Not when I have you here.

a/n: The explanation everybody was asking for...

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