Tiny Crown

Chapter 15

She stared back at him, hoping something would come to mind other than his name. She could only think of his name because she recognised the voice and Evan had said he was called Nathan.

“You fucking liar,” hissed Nathan as he turned to his brother. “I knew it.”
“Nathan…”
He turned back to Emilia. “What has he done to you?” Emilia blinked, not sure how to respond. “Emilia, I’m your friend, you can tell me if he’s done anything, he can’t hurt you. He’s not really my brother.” Nathan sounded sort of aggressive, there was a sort of anger behind his words.

Evan could hurt her. If he really wanted to, he could. She didn’t want to make him angry. And so could Nathan. Nathan knew about what their mother was doing. In fact, thinking about it, it had sounded like Nathan had wanted his mother to succeed.

“I don’t know you,” she whispered. Nathan’s aggression seemed to melt away and his shoulders slumped.
“What do you mean?” he asked with a furrowed brow.
“The last date she can remember is January 17th,” said Evan, looking down and closing his eyes.
“I didn’t ask you,” spat Nathan. Why was he so angry at Evan? Because Evan lied. That was why.

Nathan ran his hand through his hair and nodded to himself.
“You lied to me,” he said. “You lied to me and to Mom, we’re family and you just lied to us. Why are you trying to protect her? She’s...” Nathan looked back at Emilia and seemed to realise something.

Emilia had also realised something. Even though Evan had said that his brother was her friend, he was not. He cared more about his mother’s plan by the sound of it and that plan was to kill her.

“She’s like you.”

Nathan said it with a disgusted expression, as if the mere thought of it put a bad taste in his mouth.

“Only because she hit her with a car,” said Evan. “That’s why she can’t remember anything. She’d remember you if she hadn't been hit with a car.”
“And you’re saying it’s Mom’s fault now?” Nathan seemed more offended that his mother was being insulted.
“Well you mentioned Mr Miranda telling her that she reminded him of me. And then she started saying all of these things and I overheard them at dinner and she decided to do that.”

“She said it was for the best!” yelled Nathan. “Mom always knows what’s best.” Emilia pulled her legs to her chest and hugged them. Her chest was starting to hurt.
“Are you just going to trust that?” asked Evan, there was anger in his voice again. Emilia closed her eyes. “She decided it was for the best that I stayed here with Aunt and you saw how that went.”
“Yeah, you fell down some stairs and fucked yourself up and Aunt Chelsea ran off not long after. What did you do to her?” Emilia wished they’d stop arguing, they were loud and her chest hurt. Her heart was beating too quickly.

“I didn’t do anything.” Emilia opened her eyes again and looked at Evan. The emotions had gone, all of the anger had vanished.
“Are you lying about that?”
“Nathan, I know family means a lot to you, but Mom-”
“What? I really don’t see what’s wrong here other than you,” he said sharply. “You’re not even my brother, just my half brother.”

Evan physically recoiled from his words, taking a step away from his brother. His half brother.

“Please, stop.”

The two of them looked at her. “Just stop yelling and arguing, please.” Emilia looked at Nathan and then to Evan. “Please, just stop.” Her chest hurt, her heart was still beating too quickly and she couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t tell if it was her heart problem or an anxiety attack or both. She couldn’t stand sitting here. She couldn’t deal with it. Emilia pushed herself off of the kitchen counter and landed on her feet. Standing up had made it worse, now she felt light-headed too. Slowly, she sat down on the floor.

“Leave.”
“No,” said Nathan, shaking his head as he unlocked his phone. “I’m calling Mom.”
“Leave now or I’ll make you leave.”
“You wouldn’t hurt me,” said Nathan. Both of them were oblivious to Emilia.
“Why wouldn’t I?” asked Evan. “You’re just my half-brother. And Mom’s going to know whether you call her here or call her walking home so just leave.”

Nathan looked as though he was going to protest but as he looked at Evan and their eyes met, he decided against it. He left quickly. Both of them flinched at the noise of the door slamming shut.

“Emilia…” he started, stepping towards her. “I’m sorry.”
“My chest hurts,” she whispered. “I… I…” He gently shushed her as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him so she was sitting on his lap. Closing her eyes, she rested her head against his chest. Part of her wanted to scream and cry but she didn’t have the energy to.
“Hey, you're going to be okay,” he said softly. “Just match my breathing, it's just an anxiety attack. Everything will be fine.”

Emilia tried to do so but she struggled.
“My chest hurts,” she whispered. “My heart…”
“Just breathe,” he said, speaking softly again. He moved her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. “You are going to be fine. I don’t know why Nathan’s doing any of this, if anything, it should have stayed between me and her. He didn’t… he doesn’t need to get involved. But he can’t hurt you. And neither can my mother. Neither of them can hurt you.”

And somehow, Emilia could believe him.