Page 12 of Three Stepbrothers Save Christmas

“I’m sorry, just come inside, and we will talk about it. I’m worried about you; we all are.”

“Well, good job I’m only your problem when you are here. Leave me alone, Ryan.” I try to open the door again, but he stops me again.

“Little Kitten, listen.”

“No!” I yell as I reach up and push him away from my car. “You listen. Fuck you, Ryan, fuck you all!”

I take advantage of his shock and jump in the car before driving away quickly, only narrowly missing him. I can see him shouting as I look in the rearview mirror, but I continue to drive. Needing to get away from him as quickly as possible.

I don’t get far before I have to pull over as the tears have started, and I can’t see the road properly.

Why the hell does no one ever take me seriously? Just then, when Ryan laughed in my face, it hurt. Once again, proving that no one has my back when I need them. I’m so tired of being the one people think has it all together and doesn’t need any help. Maybe I’m tired of people leaving all the time. Even Jaz isn’t around as much now. I know it’s not her fault; she is in therapy once a week and has anxiety when out and about after everything she went through, but I miss her.

I rest my head against the steering wheel as I take a deep breath and try to calm down. I have a performance in a little over two hours. The last thing I need is to have red, puffy eyes. I take a few slow breaths and try to calm myself.

Breathe in and out, push it all down. Put all emotions away and replace your mask because no one cares enough to notice. Smile and pretend everything is just fine, as you always do.

After a few more deep breaths, I sit up straight and wipe my eyes. Pulling down the sun flap, I look in the mirror to check my make-up hasn’t run and force a smile.

There, no one will ever know; keep smiling and being the happy, sweet girl they want you to be.

I put the car into gear and pull away, heading to the dance school, telling myself I have this. No one needs to know that inside, I’m drowning and can't see a way out.

8

Ryan

Shit. Me and my big fucking mouth.

What the hell was I thinking laughing like that? I should have known better. She caught me off guard with the comments from Ethan. He isn’t like that usually; in fact, he’s the complete opposite when it comes to the female sex; he never knows what to say to them. I should know I’ve been his wingman since he was sixteen. I’ve watched him make a fool of himself for ten years, so hearing him being so forward with Verity was hilarious.

I pace around the lounge for the umpteenth time, trying to figure out what to do. I know I need to check in with her, but when I tried to call her phone, it went straight to voicemail. Usually, it does that when she is at school, so hopefully, she has gone straight there to prepare for her performance tonight.

“Hey!”

I turn to Ethan's voice and rush for the kitchen, where I find him chucking his keys on the counter as he walks over to the coffee machine.

“Do you want one? I need something to keep me going,” he calls as he turns around to look at me. “What’s happened?” he asks, his face dropping.

“I fucked up and upset Verity.”

Ethan looks at me for a moment and smirks.

“Did you try it on with her?”

“No, you idiot. She came in here yelling for you. It seems her boyfriend is avoiding her, and it’s all your fault. I told her she would probably be better off without him, and she blew up big style. Yelling about how it’s fine for us to turn up and screw everything up, then leave again so she is on her own.” I rub my face before looking at my brother. “When I tried to get her to calm down and come inside to talk to me properly, she flipped and screamed in my face ‘, fuck you, Ryan, fuck you all,’ before driving off like a mad woman.”

“Shit. What the fuck did you say to make her flip like that? That woman never swears!” Ethan yells at me as he slams his empty mug on the side. He’s right. I have never heard her curse before.

“I laughed when she told me what you had said to her about showing her what it’s like to sleep with a real man. I wasn’t laughing at her, but she took it the wrong way and then all hell broke loose. I don’t know what to do,” I admit, pacing around the kitchen as Ethan rubs at his face.

“You are right, you know,” I admit, turning to look at my brother.

“With what? Her boyfriend being a cheating dick? Because I know I’m right about that, especially now.”

“No, but I will come back to that.” I start, knowing there must be more to that story. “You are right about her being lonely. Everything she said came back to the fact that she would end up here alone while we all went off to live our lives. Everything boiled down to no one giving a shit about her.” I lean on the counter and look at my brother, who nods.

“I know. I think she is spending more time alone than we realised. Something is going on, and I don’t like it one bit.”

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