This Is The Moment (9-1-1: Lone Star)

Chapter Thirty-Two

It has been a couple of weeks. Megan is still in rehab. Avery had planned to tell T.K. and Owen about Ollie the day she got back from Jason's but T.K. wasn't back and she's been putting it off since. She's in her reading room when she hears T.K. downstairs. She bites her lip and decides today's the day she'll talk to them about her little brother. She stands up from her swing chair and walks downstairs. She finds T.K. and Owen in the kitchen.

'Hey.' T.K. grins when he sees her. 'Decided to come out of your reading cocoon to say hi?'

'Can I talk to you both about something?' She asks, playing with her fingers. T.K. and Owen look at each other, concerned, before turning to face her.

'Sure.' Owen nods. They all sit around the counter. 'What's up?'

'You guys don't know this but erm-' Avery starts with a deep breath, 'I erm- I had a younger brother. His name was Ollie. We'd moved to L.A. when he was one.' A couple of tears drop from her eyes and she wipes them away. 'Anyways, when he 4 and I was 14, I was looking after him whilst mom had popped out to the store. I got distracted for two seconds by a text that Jase sent to me. In that time he'd tried to climb a bookshelf. It was anchored to the wall but it hadn't held and it fell on top of him. There was a catastrophic brain bleed and nothing could be done to save him. I shouldn't have gotten distracted.'

'Ave, it's not your fault.' Owen comforts her and she just scoffs. He looks at T.K. who slowly nods. 'Avery,' he looks back at his daughter, 'we already knew.'

'What?' Avery looks between the two. 'How could you - I never told you. I doubt mom told you.'

'When your mom died, we got all the different copies of her will. Ollie was mentioned in one of them. There was also a letter addressed to dad and myself explaining what happened.' T.K. adds. 'She wanted us to know in case you ever bought him up.' Avery stands up abruptly.

'You're telling me, that my baby brother died and in the time I've been here, you never thought to bring it up? Ask me about him?!' She exclaims.

'Ave, we didn't want to say anything until you told us.' Owen says and he and T.K. also stand up. 'You never talk about him.'

'Because it hurts!' She shouts.

'Grief hurts, Ave,' Owen says, 'but it helps to talk.'

'I talk to Jase and my therapist about it all the damn time. It doesn't change the fact that it's my fault that he died. I was supposed to be watching him, I got distracted and he died.'

'Avery, you couldn't have known the brackets for that shelf wouldn't hold. You are not to blame.' T.K. reassures his sister.

'What if it were me?' Avery spins to face him. 'What if one of those times you looked after me when I was younger, you got distracted, something happened to me and I died?' She asks him. 'Would you blame yourself?' T.K. says nothing, just looks down. 'Thought so. I can't help but blame myself. You can't fault me for that.'

'Ave-' Owen starts to say but she holds her arm up, cutting him off.

'I'm going up to my room.' She tells them. 'I need some space.' With that she turns and walks off.

'I should have told her we knew sooner.' Owen rubs his face once he hears the click of Avery's bedroom door shut.

'Her reaction probably wouldn't have been any better than what it was just now.' T.K. says.

'Yeah.' Owen nods sadly. 'I'm glad she's been talking about it with other people.'

'She's right though. If I were in her position, I would 100% be blaming myself and no amount of convincing would change my mind.'