My Last Year

Someone Brave

I tugged off the hat and ran a hand through my hair, volumizing the matted down locks. Turning on the water, I plunged my hands into the cool stream and splashed it up into my face. I was only beginning to reach for a towel when Leo jumped in to help me.

“Here, let me.”

I froze, unsure how to go about it, and allowed him to dry my face. When I opened my eyes he merely broke into laughter.

“What?” I asked mortified as I tried to get to the mirror.

He stopped me and forced me to sit down on the toilet seat. “Nothing, it just looks horrible. Nothing to worry about. Just let me,” He leaned over to a wicker basket that sat on a shelf above a towel rack and pulled a jar out of it. After unscrewing the lid and dipping his fingers into the jar, he pulled his hand out with a white cream spread over his fingers.

My face contorted. “Do you know how to use that?” I asked, referring to the makeup remover now reaching toward my face.

He nodded grimly, his lips a thin line. “Lilly’s had many heartbreaks. Mom and Dad are normally sleeping or working when she comes home in a mess.” Leo sounded like he rather wouldn’t be sharing this information with me, but continued to speak nonetheless. He looked at me, smiling slightly. “And what am I supposed to do? I’m her older brother! I’m supposed to protect her from those bastards. But I can’t. She won’t let me say anything about the guys she picks.”

He wiped the solution carefully on my cheeks, under my eyes and around my eyes. “So I’m here to clean up the mess they create, and help pull my sister back together.”

I watch him work and listen quietly. This guy sounded amazing. I mean, who doesn’t swoon at the protective/sensitive older brother?

“This last guy,” he went on, shaking his head and wetting a washcloth. “was some kid from out of town. Supposedly he’s on the swimming team. I thought she might have found a decent guy at last.” He began to rub the makeup off of my face softly. “He sent her flowers or something for her birthday last month, and took her to the zoo. Real nice stuff the other jerks didn’t think of.

“But, I have to be proven wrong at some point. So last week I caught her sneaking into the house and trying to hide away to her room quick before I could see her.”

He stopped and looked me dead in the eyes, his green eyes masterfully steady. “She had a hickey on her neck and bruises on her arms. I finally got it out of her that he tried making her have sex with him, but she threatened him with a lawsuit.” A smile flickered across his face. “One thing about Lilly--she knows how to get out of a situation in a hurry.”

He stopped talking and rinsed the towel before cleaning my face off. I wasn’t sure if he wanted me to talk.

“I’m sorry, Leo--”

“Don’t be,” he cut me off crisply. “You aren’t the one abusing my sister.”

I stopped talking, bit my lip to keep the words back, and looked down at my hands in my lap.

“I just hope she finds a good, solid guy who can treat her right, you know? Someone who respects her for who she is: like how Jason respects you.”

My neck nearly cracked as it snapped up at Jason’s name. “What?” I said.

Leo shrugged, dropping the washcloth in his lap. “He held you in the utmost respect, I thought he was going to ask you to marry him.” I searched his voice to find a trace of sarcasm, but it was completely sincere. He shook his head, looking down at his own hands. “But then this accident happened, and the brain damage has affected his personality, and Jenny’s death. It’s done something to him, you know? I went to see him today and,” he stopped, evidently thinking of the memory. “I don’t know,”