Backyard Serenade

eleven - why worry by set it off

Colton drops me off in front of my house. "I hope everything is okay," he says, "call me when everything clears up."

I reach over the armrest and hug him. "Thank you so much, Colton. And will do." He unlocks the car door and I sprint out.

Well, I sprint five steps before falling on my face. "Autumn Eve! Are you okay?" Colton asks, genuinely worried. I throw my thumb up in the air and sprint into the backyard.

"Brandon!" I call after I spot him sitting on the wooden swings. He has his head in his lap, hands braced on his neck. His brown hair, which he had not bothered to style this morning, is staggered in a million different directions. My best guess is he's been running his hands through it, a sign that he's stressed about something.

Calmly, I walk down and sit on the swing next to him. The swing creaks under my weight, but if it can hold Brandon, than it can hold me. I shake his shoulder since he won't raise his head. "Brandon, what's wrong?"

Shock courses through me when I see a trail of tears steadily flowing from his eyes. "S-she broke up with me," he stammers as more tears slip out. "She s-said that the guilt of fighting with you carried over t-to me, a-and that she couldn't do it anymore."

"Oh, Brandon." My heart breaks for him. "I'm so sorry I caused this and–"

"Don't. J-just don't. Don't blame yourself because I was the ass. It was wrong for me to keep that from you. I-if I hadn't, I would still be with her." Brandon bites on his lip to keep it from trembling.

I embrace him tightly. Tight enough to show that even though we were going through a rough patch, I will always be there to glue back the pieces. "Brandon, you were just being an ass to protect me, and I love you for that. But, you can't act like that, give people a chance and don't assume anything. Do you understand?"

He lifts his head from my shoulder and nods. Smiling, I wipe the tears from his eyes and say, "Tell me about Lacey, what do you see in her? I know she's my best friend and all, but I want to hear your point of view. Then, you have to tell me about what just happened earlier today that way we can work it out."

The tears are gone, but the aftermath of his breakdown was just beginning. "S-she's so sweet and nice t-to me. Also, she's very pretty, brave, smart, and so many other things. I've liked h-her for a year or two, o-or three."

Brandon takes a deep breath while I yell, "You haven't told me that you've liked my best friend in three years? Three years!"

"I was worried y-you'd react like that," he shakily replies. Regaining his composure, he continues, "Yes, I've liked her for that wrong. The day before Thanksgiving break, I told her my feelings. Surprisingly, she said she liked me too. We started seeing each other more and more while you were off with Colton presumably. A-Autumn, I really like her, now I've lost her. I don't know what to do."

Dry tears stick to his face as he finishes his confession. I pull him into another hug. "Brandon, we'll figure it out. Lacey just needs some time, I know it."

I can feel him smile into my shoulder, an indication that Brandon knows everything will be okay in the end. He lifts his head off of my shoulder. "What would I do without you?"

"You'd die because you wouldn't know how to deal with your issues," I say, giggling.

We talked for a long time, and near the end of our sibling bonding talk, Brandon brought up Colton. "So, how's this Colton guy?" Brandon scratches the back of his neck.

Biting down on my lip, I turn away from him so he wouldn't see my cheeks blaze in the pink fire called blush. Turning, I mumble, "Oh, he's doing fine. Very fine, I think."