baby bellinger / corey seager

38

    "I'm proud of you Cods," I say, hugging my brother while we walked to our rental car.

"What for?" He chuckles. "I didn't even make it past the second round."

"Shut up I'm still proud."

"I'm proud of you too Clo. You were pitching them perfect. I just wasn't producing."

"There's always next year," I say with a small grin.

My brother looks at me and smiles. I'm glad he wasn't super upset that he didn't win. I'm also super happy I didn't screw my pitches.

We get in our rental car and buckle up. We were meeting up with Corey and Alex at the mall so we could find the boys outfits for the rest of their interviews. Our dad had planned to go with us, but he opted on going back to the hotel instead.

"What do you think was going on with Dad's hand?" I ask my brother.

He flicks his turn signal on and shakes his head. "I don't know Clo. But whatever it is, it's something he doesn't want us worrying about so let's not push it that much further when we're with him."

I nod and lean my head back on the headrest.

"Cloe," my brother has a smile on his face when I look over at him.

"Yes?"

"You're not a virgin." He says with a smirk.

I slap him on his thigh, and we both laugh. "Well actually if you wanna get technical, my virginity was gone about three weeks ago." My voice drops, but I try and play it off with a smile.

Cody shakes his head. "No no no, that's not how it works. You and Corey love each other, and you trusted Corey enough to let him be your actual first time. That stupid fucker from the bar doesn't count. He ra- he forced you to Cloe. Corey was your real first time."

"You can say rape, Cody." He was shying away from the word because of the power it held behind it, but over the past few weeks, I've concluded that even though the word is strong, it's the only word that can be used to describe what Bryce did to me. It wasn't assault; it wasn't harassment; it was rape.

"It's basically the same thing Clo."

"If I can say rape so can you."

Cody shakes his head. "I can't. I can't use that word when I'm talking about my baby sister."

"That's what happened though! He raped me; Bryce raped me."

"Bryce? You know who he is?" Cody's voice rose to a shout.

God damn it. "I don't know him; I just remember his name." I make up a lie, trying to cover my ass so I wouldn't have to come clean about my rapist being the Bryce Harper.

My brother shakes his head while he pulls into the mall parking lot. He finds a spot and turns off the car. His head was in his hands as soon as the car had stopped. I put my hand on his shoulder and try and comfort him as best as I could.

After a couple of minutes, Cody picks his head back up and wipes his eyes. "I'm sorry Clo. I'm the one acting like a little bitch when I'm not even the one it happened to."

"It takes a toll on all of us. Corey acts out about it a lot too."

My brother pulls me into a side hug and kisses my forehead. "You are by far the strongest person I know. You don't know how proud I am to call you my baby sister."

I look up at him and smile. "Let's go in now. The boys are probably waiting." I say with a small smile.

We get out of the car and walk into the mall.