Her big brothers

Chapter 60: payback!

"How was lunch?" Noah asked me, still standing in the doorway of my room. Usually, he'd come in, but he knows I don't want to talk.

"Great," I say dryly, probably not as convincing as earlier with Liam.
"You sure? You seem...off" he says, shifting his weight to his other foot.

"Mhm," I reply, turning my head away from him. His concern made me feel like bursting into tears again. In that moment, all I wanted was to tell him everything that was bothering me and have him hold me and tell me that everything would be okay and that he'd fix it, to make me feel better. But I couldn't.

"What did you have to eat?" He asked me casually, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Oh uhm, a burger with fries," I say.

"That sounds so good," he says. "Now I'm hungry"

My brothers weren't health freaks whatsoever, but they would've told me if I was eating too unhealthy, so the fact that Noah said nothing made me feel slightly better.

I said nothing, and I hear him sigh sadly. "I can't apologize enough for what happened, Emma. I hate having you mad at me, it's the worst feeling I've felt in a while. I know my apology was shitty, but I hope you know both me and Alex regret what happened every day. I'm not trying to make you feel bad whatsoever, it was completely our fault, but he's been feeling horrible ever since. Neither of us is forgiving ourselves either." he said quietly, gently tapping his ring on my door frame.

"I know," I say quietly. "I know you feel bad, but I was, really hurt, and I still am. I'll forgive you eventually" I say quietly, using a much nicer tone than I have been since the last few days.

"That's okay," he says. "We're always here for you, you know that right?" He says lastly.
I nod. "Love you" he whispers, closing my door.

I check my phone. No text from Jamie.

Aiden: wanna play basketball?
Me: sure.

I was getting even better at basketball, and it was a great stress reliever for me. I head downstairs and wondered if I should eat something. My stomach rumbles again. That's when I thought, screw Jamie. I open the fridge and see leftovers of what my brothers had for lunch. I put it on a plate and heat it. I eat it and feel much better.

Aiden walks in while I'm eating. "Ready?"
"In a minute, I'm almost done," I say.
He grins. "You need all the energy you can get if you wanna beat me"
"Please, I could beat you in my sleep," I say smugly.
He rolled his eyes playfully. "You wish"

I finish eating, and I and Aiden play for almost 2 hours.
"I need.. a breather," I say, very much out of breath, collapsing on one of the chairs we have near the court.

"You totally cheated," he said, sitting next to me.
"How can I cheat at basketball? I beat you fair and square" I claim, while chugging water down my throat.

I check my phone and see a text from Noah.

Noah: can you come inside? We're going out.
I resisted the urge to text back saying I didn't want to go anywhere with him, I instead sent an "ok"

"Noah's calling me inside. Can we play later?" I ask Aiden.
He smirks. "You're just scared that your little streak will end and that I'll win the next round," he says smugly.

I grin. "Whatever floats your boat, brother," I say, throwing the basketball at him playfully before taking my phone and water bottle inside.

"Where are we going?" I ask Alex and Noah, seeing both of them dressed up, and sitting on the couch.

"You'll see," Alex says simply.
"I don't want to go," I whine.
"Well this has to be done, so go get dressed" Noah says sternly, raising a brow, silently telling me not to argue.