the secret » david dobrik au

F O R T Y - E I G H T

The headlights switched off as David yanked the keys out of the hole. We sat for a second, staring into the emergency room entrance. David was trying to decide whether or not to say anything, so I did.

"If you don't have a reason to go back immediately, you could stay."

"I'm obviously not leaving," he grabbed my hand. "Look at me, Ev."

I glanced over at him, though I felt spacey and distant and like I wasn't really in his car in the hospital parking lot waiting to see my suicidal brother.

"There's nothing I won't do for you. Today and every day. I'll come through for you every time," he reassured me, his grip on my hand tightening. "If it's thirty years down the road and we haven't talked in years and you call me, I'll be there. You're something special, Ev. Really something special."

And I started crying all over again because that was all I ever needed from him. Reassurance. All I ever wanted was for him to tell me that he'd be there for me, and even if he was gone, he'd never be far.

"Don't cry, baby," he sighed, opening his car door so he could come to my side. He tugged at mine, but it was locked. I flipped the switch and he finally yanked it open, unbuckling me and pulling me out of the car. He wrapped me in his arms and pulled me to his chest. "Don't cry. I love you. You know I love you."

"I'm just sorry," I whined. "I'm sorry because you're literally the best and I just cannot have anything good without fucking it up."

"You're too hard on yourself. Listen, I want to talk to you about this, but right now, we should focus on Simon, yeah? When I take you back, we can talk about this."

He was right. It felt selfish of me to be crying over my dead (or not-so-dead) relationship while my little brother was in the hospital. We called Lydia for the room number, then ventured into the hospital. David led the way, and we ended up at a small waiting room on the fourth floor where Lydia, my dad and his new wife sat, nervously tapping their feet.

Lydia looked up when she heard footsteps, her face puffy and red. She stood immediately and wrapped me in a hug. "Thank God you're here. I'm freaking out. I'm freaking the fuck out."

"What happened? Where is he?" I asked.

"He's in his room sleeping. I don't even know. I told you I thought he was acting weird, but I didn't think he was acting weird like that, you know? I thought he was just doing a teenager thing," she cried. Her eyes shifted to David, who was awkwardly standing behind me. "You brought David."

"My roommates are gone for the weekend. He's the only one who could bring me here," I lied, because he most definitely wasn't. I could've called anyone, but I wanted him.

"Hey, Lyd," he gave her a quick hug.

"Thank you for bringing her," she whispered because she thought I couldn't hear. "You're probably the only one who could calm her down right now."

"Of course," he shrugged like it was no big deal. He kept an arm around Lydia's shoulders as he turned his attention to my dad. "You must be David and Brandy. I'm David, too."

My dad stood and shook his hand. "Thank you for bringing her. You her boyfriend?"

"David—" Brandy warned.

"Something like that," David looked back at me with a subtle smirk that made me smile. "You know, I think she's the best girl I've ever met. I don't think you can get much better than Evan."

He was bragging about me because he wanted to make my dad feel bad for leaving; that much was obvious. He always had my back. My heart swelled as he smiled at me.

"She must take after her daddy."

Son of a fucking bitch.

D A V I D

I knew that putting Evan and her dad and the girl he cheated on her mom with in the same room wasn't necessarily a good idea, but there was nothing I could do about it.

I tried my best to keep her distracted, keep Lydia between them, keep her happy. She was tracing patterns on the palm of my hand with the tip of her index finger. I hated the feeling; I was way too ticklish for it, but watching her lightly smile as she traced each of the lines made me deal with it. It calmed her down just like playing with the lion on her necklace.

It didn't help the situation when David said, "We're gonna have to discuss Simon's living situation once we're sure he's safe."

It was so silent you could hear a pin drop as both Lydia and Evan scrambled for words. David tried to say it quietly so Evan wouldn't hear, but she heard. I knew she did, because her once gentle and loving touch on my hand was suddenly angry and aggressive.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," Evan was the first to speak. It was a bad idea, letting her continue, but I did. She deserved to speak her peace. "You have not wanted us since the moment we were born. All you have cared about for the last six years was fucking Brandy and that fucking little idiot child of yours, who by the way could never compare to me or Maddie or Simon. You don't get to step in here now and act like you care about Simon's wellbeing when you don't even visit him. You don't even call him. He's not fucking living with you."

"He tried to kill himself living with Lydia. She's a little too young for this," he tried, and his girlfriend or wife or whatever held his hand, almost forcing him to back down.

"He tried killing himself because of the shit you did!" she raised her voice and I cringed, grabbing her thigh to try and calm her down. It didn't work. "You've started all of this! If you could've just left Mom peacefully and not made her feel like she was completely unlovable and worthless, maybe we could've turned out a little different. Did you know I was thirteen and fourteen years old, driving to the grocery store alone because Mom couldn't get out of bed? I was taking Maddie and Simon to school every morning and parking in the visitor's parking lot when I wanted to go in."

"You could've called."

She was baffled at that, her eyes widening and her jaw dropping, "That's not even fucking true! You made it perfectly clear you wanted nothing to do with us! If we called, we'd end up stuck with you and your little girlfriend, so believe it or not, I'd rather cook every night and clean and figure out how to pay bills. I'm the one that had always been there for him, I'm the one that has done everything for him, and Lydia has sacrificed her entire life to take care of him, so no, he will not be coming to live with you and your homewrecking whore wife and your ugly kid. He's really fucking ugly, by the way."

I picked her up out of her chair and started carrying her out of the waiting room.

"Really fucking ugly!" she yelled over her shoulder to emphasize her point, and I shook with laughter. Lydia, thankfully, followed behind the two of us.

"You're gonna get us kicked out," she whisper-yelled at her niece, sending fake smiles at the nurses who glared. "Go to 438. Simon's room. We have to be quiet in there. Can you use your inside voice, Evangeline Grace?"

Evangeline Grace stuck up her middle finger at her aunt in response. All felt right in the world.

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!!!! Hopefully i can convince one of my friends to get mexican with me........ if not...... good luck charlie

xoxo abby