Part Thirty Three

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"Are you two ever gonna talk to each other?"
I dropped my phone onto my mattress and lifted my gaze to look towards my apparently now opened door.
Keegan was standing there, having opened the door all on his own without even knocking apparently.
My mind, heart and stomach were churning.
Zander lost it on Lane.
Eventually Keegan decided to drag him away.
Lane left with blood trickling off his face and no doubts that he would be having bruising.
And now Zander was gone.
He dropped Keegan and I at the house (yeah, I'd had to sit on my own Brother's lap because the boys only brought Jace's two seater Ute) and then he'd left.
My phone had remained completely silent for the last two hours.
Except, it wasn't completely one sided because I haven't tried to call Zander either.
Or text him.
Normally I was desperate to make sure there was no damage between us.
But right now, I didn't even know what to say to him.
What to think.
Ten weeks out of hospital and he was in an all out fist fight.
Keegan stopped me from seeing anything until the point he decided he had to stop his best friend.
I only got a glimpse of Lane's beat up face and gasping breathing before Keegan dragged Zander away and at the same time pushed me towards the waiting Ute.
Well, if Keegan wanted to trap me in my own bedroom, then I'd leave.
I uncrossed my legs and crawled off my bed, walking as soon as I straightened.
"What happened to staying the hell out of our relationship?"
I challenged as I yanked the door open further so I had room to get past my next older brother.
"Hey!"
Keegan's hand clamped down my wrist as I went to pass him.
"Let go of me!"
I growled, yanking against his grip.
"Come off it Bailey!"
Keegan grabbed my shoulders and spun me around, pushing me backwards until my back collided with the opposite side of the hallway walls.
I was trapped.
Nobody usually manhandles me.
The last person to do that was-
My heart squeezed.
My knees began to tremble and I wasn't sure they'd hold me up too much longer.
My lungs felt as though they were closing in on me.
It was hard to suck in air.
My vision began to swim before my eyes.
"What the hell's goin' on?!"
I couldn't move.
I couldn't pull my wide eyes off my Brother's face as he held me pinned against the wall.
Suddenly Keegan was hauled off me.
Gasping for air, I clutched at my chest that felt way too tight.
"Bailey?"
Arian's face swam before my eyes.
Suddenly he had two heads.
Two bodies.
A hand reached for me and I threw myself off the wall, bolting for the staircase.
"Bailey!"
Arian yelled after me.
His voice echoed in my head, but I ran faster.
I hit the stairs and took them three at a time, sprinting my way up them.
My world was collapsing around me.

I ran.
I ran until my lungs and my legs couldn't take any more.
Except, I didn't really even make it that far.
Falling to the sidewalk pavement on my knees, I gasped for air as the sobs took over.
Always one step forward and ten steps backwards.
Always.
My vision was blurry thanks to all the tears and I could feel so many more racing down my hot cheeks.
They were like a waterfall that had an endless supply.
"C'mon Dear."
Swiping the backs of my hands against my seemingly endless supply of tears, I blinked hard, trying to get my vision back into focus.
An elderly lady who I hadn't even seen coming, was hovering over me, standing just a few feet away.
"Time to get up off that floor."
She insisted.
"I-I'm f-fine."
I insisted, swiping yet again at my tears.
"Ruby doesn't leave no Evans broken hearted on the sidewalk, so c'mon."
The lady insisted, reaching a hand down towards me.
Even in my confused and emotionally burnt out state, I knew this lady who was practically holding herself up on a walking stick, wouldn't be able to help me to my feet, so I scraped my own self up off the rough sidewalk floor.
"You know the E-Evans'?"
I stammered, using my sleeve to wipe at my eyes and my nose.
"Of course."
The lady told me, a wrinkly skinned smile appearing on her face.
"I'm only the honorary Nanna."
N-?
I blinked at the lady in front of me.
"Excuse me?"
How the hell could there be a Grandma I don't even know about?
Especially an honorary one?
"Come with me."
The lady gestured with her free hand.
"I've never once left an Evans on the roadside and I don't plan to start now."
The words 'stranger danger' should have come to mind.
Except, what harm could a lady walking around with a walking stick bring?
Full of confusion, I slowly approached the elderly woman.

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