“When someone is crying, of course, the noble thing to do is to comfort them. But if someone is trying to hide their tears, it may also be noble to pretend you do not notice them.” - Lemony Snicket
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Annie blinked a few times before deciding to sit next to Mike, surprised at his last and only statement. She decided to ignore it and check up on her brother. "What's this all about? And what happened to your face?" She asked.
Mike's expression darkened for a second, but he didn't answer his sister's question.
Annie sighed, "Fine. Let's talk later if you don't want to talk about it now. Let's fix your face first."
She sighed once again, stood up and headed to the bathroom to get the first-aid kit. She went on one of the drawers in the bathroom and took out the medium-sized, first-aid kit. After taking it, she sat beside her brother and started treating his busted lip and the misbandaged hand. She made sure to apply the antiseptic gently over his busted lip, and made sure to be wary since they were swollen.
After treating her brother, she stood up and was about to return the kit when Mike held her wrist and pulled her back the sofa, slightly scaring the girl since that was the first time that her brother had acted rough on her.
"Not so fast, young lady. You've got some explaining to do," he said and helped her sister sit back down. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose -- an attempt that he had taken a liking into just to calm his nerves. He started, "look. I'm sorry if I scared you, but just listen to me for a second, okay? I just want nothing but the truth right now."
"Okay. What's this all about?" Annie asked, shrugging, but deep inside, she was utterly curious as to why her brother was acting that way. She had already brought down her poker face as soon as Mike pulled her down when she stood up. From that moment on, she knew that he mattered business at the moment.
"Do you really want to know?" He asked, trying reading her sister's expression. Annie knew then that something was terribly up. It was rare that her brother was in a bad and serious mood, and when he is, she knew that it was a big deal considering the happy virus that he is.
She nodded her head in response.
Mike sighed this time. "I got into a fight today, with my friend," he admitted slowly, looking down, as if he was remembering the scenes from the fight.
"Is it one of your SOS friends?" She inquired
"It's 5SOS, and yes. I fought with one of them. Do you want to know the reason?" He asked, looking up this lime.
Annie nodded. This time, the questioning look was evident in her face as she was clearly confused right now.
Swiftly, Mike took out a bracelet from his pocket and placed them above the coffee table. Annie immediately stiffened at the sight of her friendship bracelet. Her hand unknowlingly flew to her hand and realized that she had lost her bracelet, so she knew that it must've been the bracelet that she found in the school's hallway yesterday.
"Mind explaining what this is?" Mike asked, more like demanded, with a very serious expression on his face.
"How'd you get this?" Annie asked, ignoring her brother's previous question.
"I saw this at your room," Mike glared at her, "Will you shut the hell up and answer my damn questions?! Answer me!"
Annie flinched from the authority from his voice. Mike shouted again, "How come you never told me that Kaiden was K?!" Annie flinched from his voice again and lowered her head in shame, her usual tough exterior breaking down. Her vision started to get blurry as she felt her massive tears threatening to fall.
"You should've told me from the very beginning! If you did then I could've handled it back then! What do expect me to feel after knowing that my friend was the one that hurt my sister?! Huh?!" He continued to shout as he was really angry over the fact that his sister kept a grave secret from him.
He remembered those times when he would come home from school, only to find his sister locked in her room. When he had opened her door, he found her curled up on her bed, most of the time, crying, as if traumatized.
Annie slowly looked up at his brother's face and sobbed, finally letting her tears out, "You don't understand. I didn't want this to happen either," she tried reasoning out.
Mike immediately softened after seeing her cry and pulled her sister in a tight embrace. He was still angry at her, but he still tried to calm himself as he rememberd the countless times he saw her sister depressed because of her past.
He soothed her and when she finally calmed down, he said, "Stop crying, okay? What will the boys at school say when they see you like this? You'll definitely lose your admirers." He tried to joke out, which seemed to work as Annie cracked a small smile at his seemingly failed attempt.
"Go to you room and rest. Tell me what really happened when you're ready okay? Promise me you will," he told her and took out his pinky finger.
Annie smiled and pinky promised with her brother. She was about to head to her room like her brother suggested when she recalled what Ashton and Calum told her this morning at her English class.
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Flashback:
Their professor decided to dismiss class fifteen minutes early since the topic was finished earlier, and just decided to give them their free time.
On the other hand, Ashton and Calun were both busy packing their bags when Annie confronted them.
"You know you guys, if you're planning to sigh allthoughout the class, you should plan to move your seats. Stop trying to burden other people who were clearly trying to concentrate to class." She hissed, her eyes burning holes on their heads at her intense glare. She watched as Ashton and Calum flinched at the harshness of her voice, and sighed. She was actually trying to say it in a normal way, but it came out showhow harsh.
Ashton sighed again for the umpteenth time, "We're sorry, Annie. It's just that we were having a very bad morning."
"Yeah," Calum added, "Two of our friends fought with each other this morning. We didn't mean to be all gloomy today, but we really care for our friends. Yeah, we had arguments before, but today was difference. Everything was just... intense," Calum explained, his eyes hazing for a bit indicating that he was replaying those events in his mind. He continued, "It's just that... Let's just forget about it. You wouldn't understand anyway. We're clearly burdening you so we'll exchange seats first thing in class tomorrow, if that's fine with you Ashton as well?" Calum looked at Ashton, who nodded, understanding.
End of Flashback
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"Mikey, do you happen to know any Ashton and Calum, by any chance," she asked, a slight heavy feeling starting to build up on her chest.
"It's been a long time since you called me Mikey," he said and playfully rolled her eyes, remembering the old times when he and Annie would hang out like the brother and sister that they are, whilst they had massive fun. Annie, on the other hand, grew flustered, as she remembered that it had been a while since she last called her brother by her very own nickname.
"Just answer my question," she slightly demanded, still flustered.
"Why do I have such a fiesty sister? Tsk. Yes, I know them. They're two of my best friends. Why do you ask? Do you like one of them?" He asked her, though his last question seemed to be the most important to him.
Her assumptions were proven correct as his brother confirmed it. Now, she knew that her new friends were a part of the 5SOS group that her brother had begged her to meet the other day, and that Mike was one of their friends who fought with 'Kaiden.' Now, she was wondering that maybe 5SOS wasn't so bad after all, especially now that she new Ashton and Calum.
'Except Kaiden,' she thought.
"In that 5SOS group? Why do you even named your group like that. It sounds really weird. It's not even like you guys are in a band or something," she further asked and inquired, slightly curious.
"Yup, they are, and why do you care? It's a cool name, and it stands for 'Five Seconds of Summer.' " Mike crossed his arms, challenging his sister, "Wait, do you know them? Is that why you're asking?"
Annie smiled sheepishly, "Well, they're in my English class, and they're actually my new friends," she told him the last part unaudibly, but Mike was still able to hear it thanks to his big ears.
"Really?! Oh my god! I'm so proud of you! After 746528197 years, you've finally found friends!" He pulled her for another hug and did a slightly weird celebratory dance, which mostly consisted of butt wiggles. He fist-pumped, "Wiiie! This calls for a celebration. Come on, let's go out tonight. It's been a long time since we last went out."
Annie simply rolled her eyes at her brother's over reaction, but complied as she headed to her room to get ready.
'It's been a long time since I saw her smile genuinely. I promise I'll protect you Annie, I won't let anyone hurt you again.' he told himself, and stood up, heading to his room excited for his bonding time with his sister, wanting to get ready as well as he saw his sister disappear to her room.
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Author's Note:
Wouldn't you want Mike sa your brother?? <3 Another update here! What you do think of the story so far? Anyway, her past will be revealed in maybe the next two to three chapters. Please do comment, vote and fan! I really appreciate it!