Her big brothers

Chapter 84: humiliated

"How come you're back? And where are Liam and Noah?" I ask, looking around.
He hugs me tighter and looks at me sadly. "They're not back yet, love."
"What, why?" I ask, looking up at him.

"Honestly, I wasn't planning to come back so soon either. But, Cole got sick this morning,"
"Yeah, I know, I was there," I say, cutting him off. "But why are you back?"

He gives me a stern look. "Don't interrupt me. Anyway, later this morning, Cole's condition got worse, so Aiden got worried and told us. Since it'd be hard for him to look after the both of you, especially since Cole's sick, I decided to come back home." He explains.

"Oh no! What happened to Cole?" I ask worriedly. I didn't think much of it this morning when Aiden told me he was sick.

Alex gives me a reassuring smile. "He's alright, he's just got a bad case of the flu."

"Oh. I hope he gets better soon," I say sadly. Even though we don't talk much after school starts, I missed him today. It didn't help that three other of my brothers weren't at home, either.

"I'm sure he will. Just try to keep your distance, alright? We don't want you getting sick too,"

I nod. "Okay, I will. When will Noah and Liam be coming back?"

He thinks for a moment. "Most likely, sometime next week. They'll come back as soon as they can," he assures me.
"Oh," I reply sadly. I was glad that Alex had come back, but I really missed Noah and Liam too.

He holds me by my shoulders and kisses my hair again. "We'll catch up later, okay? I need to check on Cole,"

"Can I come with you? I need to talk to him about something,"
"Maybe later hun, he needs his rest."

I sigh sadly. "Okay..."
Alex smiles at me again, before disappearing upstairs to Cole's room.

"Should've just gone with the girls," I mumble to myself.

"Where's Alex?" Aiden asks me, emerging from the kitchen.
I turn to look at him. "You just missed him. He just went upstairs to check on Cole."

He grins. "So, did you like the surprise?"
I smile. "I do, I'm glad he's back. He does seem pretty stressed, though."

Aiden nods. "He is. He still has a lot of unfinished work to do, and now on top of that, he has to look after Cole."

I frown. I was hoping I could spend some time with him, but it looks like he has his hands full. "When did he even come back?" I ask.

"Just around half an hour ago," Aiden says, checking the time on his watch. "I'm glad he did. I wouldn't be able to deal with a sick grumpy Cole on my own," He says with a snort.

"He's grumpy?" I ask.
"Very, just like how you were on the phone. Why was that?"

I furrow my eyebrows, "I wasn't grumpy," I insist. "I was just annoyed you weren't letting me go."
"You could've been less disrespectful about it," He says, glaring at me.

"I'm sorry," I apologise insincerely. He just shook his head. "Well, I'm going to go work out for a bit. Call me if you need anything."

I grab my backpack I had tossed on the floor earlier and head upstairs, eager to change out of my uniform. I was contemplating what to wear when my phone vibrated. I picked it up, and I had a text from Amelia.

Amelia: Hey girl! It's Amelia. We still on for tomorrow??
Me: I guess, my brothers haven't said anything about it.
Amelia: Great, can't wait! Also, I was just wondering why didn't Cole come to school today?