Forbidden

Outbursts

Luca

Luca put his fist against his mouth to smother a yawn. Next to him, Livy rubbed her eyes and glared at him before her mouth cracked open in a wide yawn of her own. They were sitting in the back of the cafeteria. Their lunch period had ended ten minutes ago, but neither were in any hurry to get back to class. They were only at school because his father forced them to go. He was afraid any deviation from normalcy would affect Brantley's chances of being returned.

Luca didn't have the heart to tell him the chances of that were already nonexistent.

"I know you've got to have an idea tumbling around in that big brain of yours," Livy said as the lunchroom began to fill with third period lunch. She poked at the pizza on her tray, its cheese hard and congealed.

Luca didn't respond. His gaze roved around the room, searching for the one person he thought might make him feel better. He was almost sure she had this period for lunch, but when the final bell rang, there was still no sign of Van.

"Do you really think right now is a good time to be thinking about your dick?" Livy snapped.

He whipped his head around to stare at her. She was a wild cat outside of these walls, but within them, she was always prim and proper. It was a carefully crafted image- even now she wore a pale pink cardigan over a white blouse with a peter pan collar. So, it was more than a little off putting to hear such crude language falling from pink, painted princess lips.

"Livy, just don't."

"I don't get you," she hissed. When she leaned closer, he caught the red lines across the white of her eyes. "You've been calm and collected since they took him."

"What good would losing my cool do? It wouldn't bring him back, and I'd be locked up with him."

"If that were my little broth-"

Luca slammed his fist on the table, making their trays and the kids around them jump. "But he's not. He's mine."

"Then stop being a coward and fight for him." Mascara colored tears leaked down her cheeks.

"Is that what you want?Another dead male relative? I guess once you lose one, we're all expendable."

Livy jerked back, her back rod straight. He held back the apology that sprung to his lips the moment the other words were out. She curled her manicured fingers into her palms, straightened them, curled them, and then stood. Without a word, she swiped the contents of their table onto the floor, the crash silencing the boisterous chatter in the cafeteria.

The petite teenager didn't wither beneath the stares. Instead, her lifted her chin and turned on her heel, leaving him sitting at the table looking like a fool. Only after they began to speak again did he leave.

No one stopped him when he exited the building. Many of the teachers were pack, and they wouldn't dare question a Brooks- well, a Forest might, but they'd never stoop so low as working in public education. His bag went into the back of his Porsche, and he peeled out of the parking lot with one destination in mind.

Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, he thumbed through his phone to check his text messages. There were no new alerts, but he checked Van's thread anyways. Frustration and anger burned in his gut when he saw no reply to his last message. He chucked the phone into the passenger seat and gripped his steering wheel tighter while he pressed the gas pedal to the floor.

There was some part of him that knew he was fixating on Van, on whether or not she was okay, because he felt helpless to save his brother. But there was another part, a larger part, that was genuinely concerned about her well-being. Far more concerned than he had any right to be.