My brother's best friend

Chapter seven

My whole body went cold. It came from deep inside me like it came from my stomach and grew from there, making me shiver. My hands felt like ice against my thighs. If I didn't know any better I would've thought I was turning blue as the cold spread through my body. I couldn't move.

I hear the man talking, but nothing seems to come through. I wish he would just stop. None of this matters. I look over at Levi, he is slightly rocking back and forth. Will is as pale as snow. I look at Daniel, he seems to be listening intently at what the man said.

The man looks at me and I feel I need to listen now, but I just can't seem to grasp what he was saying. The man moves on, still speaking in silence. He finally shuts the file and send's us all a smile. Dwayne and Amanda got up and lead him away.

"Lindsey?" Daniel's voice comes through. I blink and look up to find him. He's looking down at me. "Are you alright?" I shake my head, "I didn't hear a thing." He smiles down at me, "I know, I'll fill you in later." A surge of gratefulness rushes over me.

"Little sis." I look past Daniel and see Will smiling at me, a crooked one. He was sad. He's been making that face ever since he was a little boy, every time mom made him apologize to me for teasing me. Daniel had a similar one, slightly more crooked and much cuter.

"I thought we could go somewhere?" Will asks, his smile still on his lips. I shrug, "I guess." Will holds out a hand and helps me off the couch. I look down at my shorts and a baggy shirt and decide that this will just have to do. Hopefully, Will doesn't want to take me somewhere fancy. He turns to Levi, "Come on, brother." Levi gets up. Will wraps his arms around Levi's shoulders, giving him a slight hug. He wraps his other arm around my shoulder, hugging me to him. I feel the cold leave my body. I feel my heart swell with love for my brothers. We're still a family. Broken, but still there. Two missing pieces, but we're still together.

There's a numb pain still throbbing in my heart, but I haven't felt like this in a long time. Will let go of us and we head out. "Where are you going?" Dwayne asks as we reach the door. "We're leaving, I figured we needed some family time," Will says opening the door for me and Levi. Amanda smiles, "That sounds like a good idea. You guys need each other." Will nods. Levi is the first to leave, I follow. Will drove us to the ice cream place down the street. We used to visit the ice cream shop with mom and dad.

The chairs and tables are brightly coloured. The walls are decorated with bright ice cream toppings. The lady behind the counter is dressed in an apron covered in a pattern of bright red cherries.

"How can I help you?" She asks, sounding tired. Well, that broke the happy mood. Will didn't seem to mind. "I'll have a chocolate ice cream with nuts." I felt my heart clench. Dad's favourite. "I'll have lime ice cream," I ask, trying to smile. "I'll have a vanilla one, please." The woman nods and starts working on the order.

Levi and I sit down at one of the tables in the back. "Are you doing alright?" I ask Levi. He shrugs, "The Greene's are nice. The teachers are all sympathetic." I nod slowly. At least he was moving on. That's more than I can say.

"I'm more worried about you." He says softly. I frown, "I'm fine." He shakes his head, "You're camped out in your room all the time. You're not going back to your studies, Anina has been asking about you and you even sent that boyfriend of yours away." Levi looks up and takes his ice cream from Will.

I reach up and take my ice cream from him. "Wait, Anina was asking about me? Catharina's daughter?" Levi shrugs, "Yes, she says her mother has been missing you." I sit back in my seat. I have forgotten about them. "Maybe you should go by the studio." Will encourages. I don't respond. I used to go there every moment I could. Catharina is the one who pushed me to follow my heart. Her studio was my escape. Maybe they have a point. I should go back. I could use the distraction.

"I can always drop you off there," Will says, reading my mind. I give a slight nod and lick my ice cream. "How about you, Will?" Levi encounters. Our big brother shrugs. "I continue to go to my classes." He sends me a look. I let the jab slide and send him a smile, "I'm sure it's the parties you're getting back to." Will sticks out his tongue at me. I laugh, I haven't seen him acting this way in a very long time. Not since I caught him putting worms in my lunch box and I told mom. After we ate our ice cream Will drove me to the studio. "You'll have to call someone else to pick you up, Levi and I are going to do something fun." Levi and Will were both smiling widely. I nod and turn away from them. I look at the brick building before me. My heart raced and ached at the same time.

My mind filled with memories about the times I came here to clear my head. Gosh, how could I have stopped coming here? This was my life. Apart from university and Leo, that is. The white double door swings open and a red-haired girl comes into view.

"Lindsey?" The girl asks, excitement in her voice. She rushes over and throws her arms around me. "I've missed you." She pulls back and smiles at me, "Are you hear to dance? I was done, but I can come in and dance with you, only if you'd want?" I bite my lip, "I don't know, I am not sure, I was just." I shake my head, "I just wanted to come by."

"Mother will be so pleased to see you." She grabs my hand and leads me into the building. We pass classes in session, music filling the hall. Large windows with blinds give us a slight view of the girls dancing. "Anina, please, I should go." She ignores me and keeps pulling me further down the hall.

She opens the door at the end of the hall and pulls me inside. At the desk is a middle-aged woman, her red hair streaked with white. Her face was pulled into a frown and she was frantically working on something. "Maybe we should come back later," I whisper to Anina. "Mother, look who came to visit," Anina says, her hand still wrapped around my arm. "I'm busy my dear. Bernadette quitting is making the studio schedule all messed up." She sighs and looks up.

Her whole face lights up and a smile settles on her lips, "Lindsey." She jumps up and rushes over. She embraces me and plants a kiss on my cheek. "It's like you were sent from the heavens." She pulls back and leans against the table. "Tell me you're back, I need an expert." I smile, "I was just dropping by."

"Where have you been my dear? We've missed you." Catharina comments, moving back to her chair. I frown, "You didn't hear?" They both seem confused. My throat tightens. I haven't said it out loud. I want to cry. I try to swallow, but there's a lump that doesn't want to go down. "My parents-" I choke down the lump and try again, "They uh-" Catharina frowns, "Are they alright my dear?" I shake my head, the lump cutting off my air. I start breathing heavily, my chest aching.

Anina tries to calm me down by rubbing circles on my back. Catharina was by my side and saying soothing words, but I had to say it. I had to say they were gone. I tried again and again. They begged me to stop and calm down first, but I had to say it. They are gone. Forever.

"They were in an accident." I manage to get out between shallow breaths. "They're gone." I choke out and start sobbing. It was much harder than I thought. There's a burning pain in my chest and I wish Will never brought me here. Anina and Catharina both wrap their arms around me, rocking me to calm me down.

After a while, the pain was less and the tears were dry. Catharina was still holding on to me while Anina went to make us all tea.

I said it.

They are gone.

Forever.