Chapter 24: 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟑

BREE

“Geez, stop grinning,” Rose says to Jack who’s grinning at his phone- probably staring at his girlfriend's text.

Jack looks at Rose with the same grin, “jealous?”

“No.”

“Liar.”

Rose flips Jack off but he doesn’t care, he keeps his grin and goes back to texting his girlfriend. I let out a small chuckle.

We are at our apartment right now. Jack dropped by with a pouty face because Nora was still on her shift so he’s been waiting for her to get off.

“Are you meeting Nora tonight?” I ask Jack.

I know he is meeting Nora tonight but I still want to ask him. Talking about Nora makes Jack so much more happy. Anyone would agree that we have never seen Jack this happy even though he’s the brightest person in our group.

“Yup. I’m taking her out for dinner then we’re spending the night at my apartment,” he says, smiling, “I want to buy her a gift, a jewelry. Can you help me?”

“Of course!” I say, almost jumping, Rose smiles, “what kind of jewelry she likes?”

“She usually wears bracelets.”

“Why don’t you get her a charm bracelet? You could get it made and put your and her initials on it,”

“Oh my God, that would be so cute!" Rose says, “she will love that,”

“Really?” Jack asks.

“Yes!” Rose and I say at the same time.

“Okay then, I will go get it made tomorrow,”

Rose and I let out an exciting squeal which makes Jack laugh.

“Oh, I have to get ready,” Rose says, getting off her seat.

“Are you two going somewhere?” Jack asks.

“Bree’s not. I have a date,” Rose says and goes into her room.

Jack looks at me, “date? I thought she stopped dating,”

“John has been asking her for a while now,”

“John?” Jack frowns, “the guy she dated in high school,”

“They didn’t date. They went on one date,” I clarify.

“Right…” he trails off, “does she like him?”

I shrug, “I don’t know. She said he’s cute and caring,”

“Is she seriously over Ryan?” Jack whispers.

I give him a small smile, “what good would it do if she isn’t?”

“True..”

I wanted Ryan and Rose to date when I first found out Rose had a crush on him because out of all the people I had met, Rose was the perfect partner for him. But Ryan never showed any interest in dating her and the hurt look on Rose’s face whenever she saw his dates made me sad so I stopped mentioning her crush and pretended to believe her when she said she was over Ryan.

No matter how much Ryan shows that he does not need a partner, I don’t believe him. His whole life, Ryan was forced to grow up. He had to grow up quickly so he could take care of us.

After dad changed, mom did everything to bring him back to the person he was and Ryan took care of us. He would put us in the furthest room so we wouldn’t hear dad yelling and even tell us to put on headphones to cancel out the noises. He would take us on long walks to keep us away from dad’s wrath.

After mom passed away, dad stopped getting angry. He started coping with her death by getting drunk and Ryan had to take care of him.

Dad stopped caring about his business and it started going downhill. Ryan was too young to take control of the situation and couldn’t save the company.

I still remember the night I heard Ryan yell for the first time.

Jack and I were supposed to be asleep but we stayed awake because dad wasn’t home and Ryan was waiting for him.

When dad returned home, Ryan asked him where he was and dad ignored him. Ryan kept pushing him to answer him and started getting angry. Dad told him to mind his own business and Ryan blew up.

He started yelling and telling him to get a hold of himself and that he was just a kid that he wasn’t supposed to become a parent this young. He told dad that regretting being an asshole now wouldn’t bring mom back and that it was dad’s fault mom got sick and didn’t take care of him.

That’s when dad first raised his hand and hit Ryan.

Jack and I stood frozen on the top of the stairs when it happened. Ryan didn’t react, he didn’t flinch or said anything. I knew dad regretted it. His eyes showed it.

But he didn’t apologize. He went to his room and shut the door.

That night, when Ryan needed comfort the most, Jack and I started sobbing for him because he wouldn’t shed a tear.

Instead of comforting him, Ryan comforted us.

Ryan was thirteen when dad died.

Our custody was given to our relatives but they refused to keep us with them so Ryan was responsible for taking care of us again.

Throughout our life, whoever found out that Ryan was taking care of, we heard the same sentences over and over and over again.

“Oh, that poor child, it must be so hard for him,”

“You poor children, you shouldn’t have to go through this,”

“I feel so bad for you and your brothers.”

“I am so sorry you have to go through all of this,”

Everyone was sorry and felt pity that we were so young and were going through all this but no one ever said how strong we were. We were just poor little children who were left alone in this world.

At one point, I started believing that no one would give Ryan credit for how much he has done and took care of even at such a young age so I stopped sharing to people, I stopped talking to people.

Until middle school.

I told a certain black haired girl that my oldest brother was taking care of me and my other brother and that he has been for years.

“Your brother is so cool,” came out of her mouth.

Her first and genuine reaction was admiration. She was admired by the hard work Ryan put into taking care of us. And she didn’t fake it.

For the first time, I talked about how great my brothers were without anyone taking pity on us.

That day, as soon as I reached home, I told Ryan and Jack that I made a friend.

“How is she like?” Jack asked.

“Amazing! She said Ryan is so cool!” I told them, jumping up and down, “she was so impressed when she heard about us!”

“What’s her name?” Ryan had asked.

“Rosanna. But she said I can call her Rose because I’m her friend,” I said, grinning ear to ear.

I knew Ryan had built up his armor for whenever I mentioned Rose because he wanted to protect me. But slowly, later on, as we met her parents and Rose’s dad became Ryan’s mentor and helped him start his business, he slowly started pulling down his armor around the Graham family.

He speaks highly of Henry and Anna because they took upon the responsibility of taking care of me when Ryan and Jack started getting busy. Anna treated me like I was her own daughter and when she passed away, I was devastated.

After mom, Anna took the position as my mother and after Anna, Rose took that position.

Rose has always been protective of us. She makes sure to voice out how protective she is of me and Jack but doesn’t say how protective she is of Ryan- whether she has feelings for him or not.

Jack runs out of the apartment as soon as he gets the text that Nora is free. I send a text to Finn to come over.

Tonight we’re staying at my apartment because there’s a chance that Rose will spend the night with John.

Rose walks out of her room wearing a top and shorts, holding two dresses, one is a silk red dress and the other is a silk cream colored long dress.

“Which one should I wear?”

“Red one.”

She smiles, “you know me so well,”

I smile back and she returns to her room to change.

The bell of our apartment rings and I rush to open the door.

As soon as the door opens, Finn kisses me.

I smile through the kiss and kiss back, wrapping my arms around his neck. He picks me up and my legs wrap around his waist.

He shuts the door with his foot and breaks the kiss, “day by day its getting harder staying away from you, amore,”

My smile widens, “I missed you too,”

I kiss him again then get off of him.

“Why didn’t you let me bring food?” he asks as we take our seat on the couch.

“Because Rose has already cooked. She made pasta and her pasta is amazing,”

“Is Rose my competitor now?”

I smile, “no, you two can never compete with each other,”

“And why is that?”

“Because you both are different. You can’t take her place and she can’t take yours,” I say and place a soft kiss on his lips.

He hums, “fine, as long as she doesn’t steal you away from me- though, I will never let that happen,”

I chuckle then turn on the tv, putting on a random sitcom. Finn puts my legs over his lap, pulling me closer to him. I rest my head on his shoulder and we start watching the tv.

Our attention turns to the door when the bell rings again.

“Don’t open the door just yet!” Rose yells from her room.

“Okay!” I yell back.

“Was someone supposed to come?” Finn asks.

“John. He and Rose have a date,”

“What-”

Rose rushes out of her room, putting on her sandals, cursing when the strap doesn’t lock properly.

“You have a date with John?” Finn asks.

“Yeah,” Rose says, standing straight and puts on her black jacket, “why do you look so unsatisfied?”

“I just never pictured you and John together,”

“Well, what can I say? A woman has needs,” she smiles.

Finn stays quiet.

“Bye, Bree,” Rose says and pecks my cheek before rushing to the door.

“Bye, have fun!”

Rose gives me thumbs up before closing the door.

I look at Finn to find him looking at me with a confused expression.

“What?”

“What was that?” he asks.

“What was what?”

“Someone just kissed your cheek… in front of me,”

I blink at him, “it was Rose-”

“Why did that just happen?”

“It happens all the time,”

“Excuse me what?” Finn blinks at me.

“It was just a peck on the cheek. We do that to Arzo as well,”

“Is Faizan aware? I’m going to inform him,” he says and takes out his phone.

I let out a small laugh and grab his hand, earning his attention, “calm down, Finn. It was a friendly kiss,”

“I don’t like it,”

“I can’t believe you’re jealous of a peck, given by my girlfriend-”

“She is not your girlfriend. She is your friend. Repeat it with me. F-R-I-E-N-D.”

I stare at Finn for a moment then burst into a fit of laughter, completely falling on him.

“I don’t see any humor in this, amore,”

“Oh, my God,” I pant, placing my hand on my chest to calm myself, “you’re so jealous,”

“It’s still not funny,” he says while I continue to laugh out loud, “why is it so funny? I didn’t like that gesture, amore,”

I grab his arm, trying to calm myself down but I end up laughing louder.

“I-”

“Your face,” I cry between the laughter.

“My face probably tells how confused I am- and you’re laughing again,”

“I’m sorry,” I say through my pants but don’t stop laughing, letting my head fall on his chest.

He hums, “I should stop you and make you listen to me but..” He kisses my head, “you’re so beautiful, I just want to keep you close,”