Page 3 of Greased

His face is cleanly shaved, unlike his fathers.

His eyes are a vibrant blue that tugs at something in my chest. My gaze darts back to his father’s. The same icy orbs stare back at me.

The strangest feeling comes over me, sending a shiver down my spine. Kind of like déjà vu.

I feel a hint of recognition but I can’t place it. Why do these men look sofamiliar?

I shake myself out of my stare down of these two blokes and look over at Mum. She has the strangest look on her face.

“What’s up Mum?”

The entire room seems to stay silent for what feels like forever but is most likely only moments. I can feel the gaze of the duo on the couch locked onto me but I keep mine on Mum who can’t seem to decide where to look. I watch as she tries to find her words but each time she opens her mouth, they fail her. She exhales, rubbing her hands over her face and braces herself like she’s going to, finally, begin speaking.

“Scarlett?” The rich American accent shocks me. My name rolls off his tongue like he has used it a million times before.

My head snaps over to Blondie who slowly starts rising out of his chair. Tears start to well in his eyes and in that moment it clicks. Those eyes are the exact same as mine. I eye him wearily, slowly taking a step back.

“W-who are you? Mum, what’s happening right now?"

I stumble as I glance back over at Mum who now has noticeable tear tracks all over her face. I then finally take notice of the bodyguards standing either side of the door I just walked through. What the fuck is going on right now?

Blondie slowly makes his way over to stand in front of me. I have to tilt my head to look up at him. While I’m not short by any means, this guy is well over 6 feet.

“There is no way.”

“My baby girl."

The deep husky voice makes me snap my head over to the other guy.

At this rate, I’m going to have fucking whiplash. Another man with an American accent. Fuck what is it with these blokes? And ‘baby girl’? I don’t know who this guy thinks I am, but I’m certainly nothisanything. Both him and Mum make their way over to me. I take a further step back. I slowly feel my fight or flight start to ramp up.

My head darts around as I eye all the exits in the room, cursing under my breath as I realise the only one is the doorway behind me. Unless I wanted to jump out the window. I don’t know if I’m that desperate yet.

“Scarlett, I’m sorry baby. Um, I, ah...”

She begins to stumble over her words as her eyes bounce between the three of us.

The man places his arm on my Mum’s back and my eyes zone in on where his hand meets her. I then slowly take in their body language as Mum continues to stumble on her words as she tries to answer my ‘what the fuck’ question. Not once in the last ten years have I ever seen Mum remotely show any kind of intimacy with a man. Not once.

“I don’t really know how to explain myself, Scar but ah…

Mum’s gaze finally meets mine. Her eyes are bloodshot. The waterproof mascara that she put on this morning looks like it has put up a fight to stay on her lashes after being rubbed with a tissue.

“Rhodes.”

Blondie chokes out. My gaze snaps to him as my eyes widen.

“Sorry, what did you just say?” I look at the guy in disbelief. Why the fuck is he mentioning my dead brother?

“My name is Rhodes.”

My eyes remain locked on him for a moment as I try to process what he’s saying. His name is Rhodes. Okay. A chuckle escapes methat slowly develops into a full on laugh. “If that’s your version of a joke,” I pause, trying to collect myself, “You aren’t very funny mate.”

“He’s right Scar. This is your brother, Rhodes and your dad, Ren.”

“Yeah, nice try Mum. It's not April Fools yet.” I say, shaking my head.

“I’m not joking baby. They are here. They are alive.”

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