Please listen to No Air - Jordin Sparks Ft Chris Brown for this chapter.
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"Drew?" I asked with worry in my voice. I took in his disheveled appearance and blood shot eyes. Before he said anything he just closed the space between us and hugged me, it took so much effort for me not to burst into tears right then and there. We both knew that he now knew the truth about us.
He slowly took a step back and gave me a sad smile as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Sorry about that, I don't know what came over me. Uh- I'm sorry for just dropping by but we need to talk"
"Uhh-" I was at a loss for words as I looked between him and Alena who was now starring at us. He followed my eyes and saw Alena sitting on the couch, I watched as he gave her a small smile and waved "Hi Alena."
"Hi" she whispered embarrassingly. I knew she was confused about who he was and what he was doing here. I opened the door wider for him to enter. I restarted the movie for Alena and increased the volume of the TV for her, "Alena please stay in here and watch the movie, we'll be in the kitchen okay?"
She nodded in agreement as she got comfortable to watch Frozen again, she knew by the tone of my voice that I was serious and she didn't question it. I walked past Drew as he followed quietly behind me.
"Would you like anything to drink?" I asked as I watched him take a seat at the dining table.
"Just water please."
I opened the fridge to bring out the glass bottle of water, before going to the cupboard to grab two glass cups. I was going slower than normal because I was trying to buy some time to figure out what to say to him. I placed the items down on the table as I took a seat directly in front of him, he waited patiently until I was ready.
As I picked up the glass bottle my hands were shaking, I tried to calm myself down but it wasn't working. He calmly put his hand over mine, taking the bottle off me to pour the water in both cups.
"Thanks" I whispered.
He let out a sigh, "My- our dad told me everything"
I opened my mouth to question what was said but he lifted his hand up "Please, let me get it all off my chest first?" He asked, I nodded in agreement as I sat back and listened.
"I saw the way you looked at him, at first I didn't think anything of it until you ran out. After you had run he just stood there frozen in shock. I knew at that point that something wasn't right. Everyone left soon after that, so when it was dinner time I confronted him. The fact that my mum; step-mum, didn't react showed me that she obviously knew the truth. I got into a heated argument with them, I was so angry that they hid this information from me."
He let out a shaky sigh as his eyes started to water again. I took the opportunity to ask the questions that was bugging me, "Drew, how do you not remember our names though, or our memories, what about the photo that dad made us?"
He let out a sad snicker "I had an accident when I was twelve, I hit my head hard enough to almost get brain damage but luckily enough I didn't. I was in a coma for two weeks, the doctor said I'd have short term memory loss but somehow not all of it came back. I don't remember anything that happened in my life before then." He said in between sobs, "I'm so sorry, I let you down. Had I remembered, none of this would be happening to you."
He placed his head in between his hands as he let out a cry. I quickly got up to sit next to him to rub his back slowly "None of this is your fault Drew"
He let out a deep sigh as he tried to control himself, he then reached into his pocket to pull something out. I had managed to control my emotions until I saw the object in his hand, "I found that same photo in my parents' room, the one that mentions You, Alena and I in it." I let out a shaky sigh as I reached into my pocket to retrieve the same photo to show him. My eyes were beginning to water and I didn't have the strength to control it anymore.
He grabbed my photo as he read the message on the back of it, "I remember seeing a photo of the three of us years ago, when I asked them what happened, they told me you guys died in an accident with our mum. I should have questioned it but I just believed them. I didn't think they'd lie about it."
"I went through all the storage boxes until I found a photo album of all these photos of us. I grabbed the album and threw it on the table in front of my parents and demanded why they didn't show me these when I was trying to regain my memory. He claims he was just trying to protect me from heartache. Dad finally opened up Avery, there's so much you don't know about what happened. He did try to search for you guys, several times. He had a private investigator who found where you guys were, but didn't want to blow it by showing up in case mum moved you guys again, so he was writing letters to you instead, didn't you get them?"
My mind was blown at this point, I looked at him in shock as I shook my head in denial.
'What letters is he talking about?'
Somehow the image of my mum came into my mind, she must have hid these letters from me. The thought of that was making my blood boil in anger, how could she do this to us? I couldn't hold back anymore as I started to cry, he got up from his chair and pulled me up into a hug. I have no idea how long we stood there but he didn't question anything, he just stood there holding me, supporting me.
"Avery? Are you okay?"
I broke away from Drew's embrace at the sound of Alena's voice. "Hey Alena, there's someone you need to meet"
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Our little family reunion went a lot better than anticipated, Alena was beyond excited that she now had an older brother. She was even more excited when she found out that Michael was her half brother but she knew not to say anything to Michael because he still didn't know.
I felt like a small piece to the puzzle of my life was put into place but there were so many other pieces missing. I needed to talk to Jaxon, I knew I fucked up but I also knew that I was in trouble with Noah. The messages didn't stop coming, he kept trying to contact me to remind me that "he can and will find me"
Jaxon had successfully ignored me all week, not even looking into my direction, he even changed seats in English class so that he was now in his original spot across the room and not in front of me. That probably hurt the most. By Friday lunch time I was determined to talk to him, I needed to talk to him. To tell him everything.
I watched as his group were laughing with each other but he just absentmindedly played with his food. I excused myself from my friends as I slowly made my way to where he was sitting. As I reached his table he looked up only after Lucas greeted me, "Avery! What's happening girl?"
"Hi Lucas" I looked at Jaxon as he regarded me closely, "Can we talk, it's important?" I asked
"I'd rather not" he whispered
I was taken back by his response, I thought he's a least given me the courtesy of hearing what I had to say.
"Dude, what the hell?!" Lucas said with anger in his voice as he creased his eyebrows.
I smiled at Lucas before shaking my head, "It's ok Lucas. Have a good day guys"
With that said, I walked away. I didn't look back and refused to acknowledge him any further after this point. I walked over to my friends and grabbed my empty tray, they didn't question what happened because they knew. They could see it on my face. As I was walking to the bin I stopped in my track as my phone beeped,
Fri, Mar 18, 1:25 PM
Noah: I'll see you soon baby
My hands must of given way on me because my tray had slipped, landing on the floor as the bang echoed through the cafeteria. I nervously looked around until my eyes locked with Jaxon who had leaned forward as he stared at my phone. Clicking it off I placed it in my pocket before picking up the tray and disposing it. With that done, I quickly walked out of the cafeteria and straight to the bathroom. I ran into one of the empty stalls and let out a silent cry. I knew it was definitely time to leave but I couldn't just leave without telling my friends, they deserved that much.
After gaining the courage to go back into the cafeteria, I sat down and stared at them all.
'Like a Band-Aid, just rip it off'
"Guys, there's something you need to know about me" I watched as they all stopped what they were doing, giving me their full attention.
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I told them everything, from me racing, the lie about having parents and then topped it off with how Noah was tracking me down. I was ready for their anger but instead I received a group hug. It took a lot of effort for me not to cry right there. They weren't too happy after I told them that it was time that I left, the boys were convinced that they could take care of Noah for me but they didn't understand the level of crazy he was.
I had the weekend to pack our things and leave, I also had to figure out a way to tell Drew and Bianca. It was going to be hard because Bianca has helped me so much, then there's the case of just being reunited with my long-lost brother.
I waited patiently for Alena to come out of school, I didn't stay in the usual spot because I didn't feel like standing awkwardly next to Jaxon. I watched as Alena came running to me with a smile on her face "Jonathan is having a sleepover for his birthday tomorrow night can I go?"
"Hi Alena, how was school?" I sarcastically said. She let out a giggle, "I'm sorry, I'm just excited" I let out a laugh as I placed a protective arm over her shoulder and walked beside her to our car. It was actually a good idea for her to have the sleepover, that way I could pack in silence and she could have her last get together. As soon as we got home, I made dinner for us and sat down across from her. As she started to eat I knew I had to tell her the truth.
"Alena, we have to leave this town"
She stopped raising her spoon midway and dropped it slowly, "Is it because of the bad man from the other town?"
Man, I forgot how perspective she was. I slowly nodded with a frown, upset that I let her down.
"I'm sorry, I promised we would stay, I failed you" I lowered my head in shame. I heard her push her chair out before walking over to me to hug me, "You didn't fail me. You'll always be my hero Avi"
She pulled back slightly to look at me, "What about Drew?"
"We are going to have lunch with him before your sleepover tomorrow night. We'll talk to him then"
I watched as she sat back down to continue eating, "How do you think he's going to take it?"
I shook my head slowly, "I'm sure he'll understand"
'He is definitely not going to take it too well'
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A/N: Hit that like button! Xx 🤗
Next Chapter: Avery says her goodbyes, makes amends with her mum. Alena gets to have one last sleepover at Jonathan's house for his birthday
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