Beautifully Broken

Hidden Truth

Carson POV

Chase turns and looks at me from the passenger's seat of the car. "What are you thinking! What is going on with you! You have treated everyone like crap since the move! You haven't talked to Alana or me in three weeks; anytime Mom or Dad asks you to do something, it ends up in a fight, and anytime we are at home, you're locked in your room! What is going on with you!"
"I don't like to change."
"Yeah, We've been brothers for over eight years. I've figured that one out! That's no excuse for the way you've been treating us."
"Chase, I don't want to talk about it."
"Yeah, that's what you've been telling me for three weeks now!"
"Chase, please."
"I want my brother back. I want my older brother back! I miss my older brother! I bet Alana does too."
"Chase, I'm not your brother."
"What happened? You've never been like this! We have been best friends since the day we met! Why all of a sudden do you want to cut everyone out!"
"Cut everyone out?! You think I want to cut you all out! I have to cut everyone out! I need to protect You and Alana!"
"From what! The thing that is hurting us most right now is you! Ever since we found out about the move, you have been mad at the world, and for some reason, you decided Alana is to blame."
"I lost everything in that move."
"And I didn't? As far back as I remember, I lived in that house; all of us were adopted while living in that house. We made so many memories in that house, It hurt leaving, but you know what? we can still make memories because all of us are together. The only problem with that is for some reason you decided to leave yourself and your heart in the old house; why didn't you bring your heart with you? Why did you decide that Alana and I no longer worth the effort? Why is our family not worth it to you anymore?!"
"I lost her forever," I say very calmly and slowly. "Who? Katelynn? Your girlfriend, this is over having to leave your girlfriend? You guys had just started dating!"
"You honestly think about this is about my girlfriend? She and I were on the rocks anyway, I'm sad I had to leave her behind, but she's not the girl I'm upset about."
"Then who is!"
"AMBER! YOU IDIOT!"
"What about Amber?"
"That was the last address she had, I have no idea where my little sister is, and now she has no idea where I am either; she's gone." I feel the tears begin to slip down my face. "I always thought that she would start writing to me again one day, that we could still be friends, we would still have a relationship." I lay my head on the steering wheel. "Well, I have no idea where YOUR sister is, but I can tell you OUR little sister is at home wondering what she did to hurt you."
"really?"
"Yeah, she has been for the past three weeks, just like the rest of us."
"Alana's hurting?"
"Yeah, we all have been, but you have been in your own self-absorbed little world and haven't bothered to notice anything about what's happening in the rest of our lives." We continue driving down the road in silence. "Chase, I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?"
"Sorry for being the worst brother in history the past few weeks."
"It's going to take a lot more than sorry to fix this... But at least it's a good start."
"Okay, how do I fix this?"
"In order to fix this, you need to start with Mom and Dad, then go to Alana; she's hurting a lot right now."
"How do I fix things with you?"
"By fixing things with them? When they're all okay, we'll be okay."
"What did I miss?"
"What do you mean?"
"When I isolated myself from the rest of you, what did I miss?"
"Mom and Dad updated their foster license, that's why we got a bigger house, they want to foster some more, but they've had to turn down some kids because they were so worried about you. I found out Alana was a flight risk when she came to us."
"She was a flight risk?"
"Yeah, apparently Mom was always planning on adopting her. That's why they moved her so far."
"Well, where did they move her from."
"Here? Where have you been living under a rock?"
"Not under a rock, but behind a closed door."
"Yeah, and what are you gonna do about that?"
"I'm gonna go be the best me I can be. Is that why she's acting differently?"
"Alana? I think that boy Caleb has something to do with that."
"Caleb?"
"Yeah, the boy that Alana was talking to outside."
"I saw them together several times today. I don't think I like him."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I think he's a good guy."
"What are you talking about? That's our baby sister!"
"Yeah, a baby sister who you haven't talked to in three weeks."
"Who is this Caleb anyway."
"I don't know, but he respects her and treats her a lot better than you have these past few weeks."
"Okay, I get it. I messed up pretty bad this time."
"He brings out a confidence in her that I had never seen before. He stops her before she goes too far; he cares about her."
"Is he her ex?"
"No, or if he is, she didn't want to tell me."
"Do we know what's going to happen?"
"No, but if I know our sister, which I do, She's smart and probably already has a plan."
"So, why didn't she see him right after we moved?"
"Well, I asked her why she didn't go visit any of her friends sooner, and she told me it was because she wanted to make sure she got her life set up again before she brought them into it."
"What?"
"She wanted to make a good first impression or second first impression."
"Stray," I mumbled underneath my breath. "What?"
"Stray, that's what they were calling her this morning."
"Meaning?"
"Without a home. I didn't like them calling her that; that's why I said something this morning."
"Well, that was probably a nickname or something."
"Yeah, they were calling another kid stray to. I can't remember who it was, though."
"He's probably in foster care. That was probably their way of coping with it to make the situation seem not so serious."
"I'm an idiot, aren't I."
"Yeah, you are," Chase says with a chuckle as we pull up to the house and see Caleb's car driving backing out of the driveway. "You ready to go fix things?" Chase asks, "Yeah, ready as I'll ever be."