Chapter 31: 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟑𝟎

BREE

“Hi, Nora,”

Nora looks up from the cashier at my voice and a soft smile takes over her face, “oh, hi, Bree.” She says, “what can I get you?”

“I’ll have a coffee, thanks and also, I was wondering if you weren’t busy, we could talk,” I say and catch the moment she freezes, “it’s nothing to be scared of. I just want to have a friendly talk, I promise,”

Her body relaxes a little, “yeah, of course. Um, I’ll be off my shift in ten minutes,”

I smile, “okay, great.”

I take my coffee and make my way to one of the empty tables to wait for Nora.

I’m really not here to scare her off. Ryan is enough for that. I just want to make sure she’s actually happy with Jack and likes being with him.

No matter what, Jack is my brother and I want to make sure that what he thinks is actually true and not something he’s making up because he likes her so much.

I hate to admit but I’m starting to understand Ryan’s gestures. Though, he goes too far sometimes.

But I don't only want to make sure that Jack is happy, I want Nora to be honest with me if she has anything I could help her with.

Nora quickly makes her way to where I am with a cup of her coffee and takes her seat across from me.

My eyes quickly catch her wrist which is decorated with a beautiful charm bracelet containing Nora's and Jack's initials and few small charms. A smile takes over my lips.

“Is everything okay?” she asks, then immediately her eyes fill with worry. “did something happen with Jack? Is he okay? I haven’t checked my phone yet-”

“Don’t worry, he’s fine,” I reassure her, chuckling, “calm down,”

She sighs, “sorry, it’s just.. I sometimes don’t get to see his texts when I’m at work so.. I got worried.”

I smile, “I understand. It’s okay. I just wanted to talk to you and make sure everything is going well. Not only for Jack but for you, too.”

“Oh, everything is great.”

“Are you just saying that because he’s my brother?”

“No, no, I promise.” She says, “everything is amazing with Jack, better than I could have imagined.” A soft smile takes over her lips as she continues, “he’s really understanding and knows exactly when to say the right words even when he’s trying to make me laugh. We get into arguments but we fix it. He makes efforts too.”

“Are you happy with him?”

Her smile widens, her face brightens, “happiest,”

I smile back, “good,”

“Oh, since we’re talking about Jack..” Nora starts, “I was wondering if you could tell me if there’s something Jack wants. I want to get him something for Christmas but everytime I ask him what he wants, his answer isn’t exactly something I can buy,”

I chuckle, “I’m not really sure if I know what he wants, to be honest. But I do know that whatever you give him, he will cherish it because it’s from you.”

Nora smiles again but differently this time. Her smile shows not only affection but something more beautiful than that.

Nora and I continue talking for a few hours. She talks about her goals and mentions that Jack wants her to move in with him so she’s closer to him. I don’t miss the easy smile that takes over her lips the moment my brother’s name leaves her mouth or when she thinks about him.

Her eyes lit up when I tell her our childhood stories whether they’re embarrassing or wholesome, she listens with interest, her eyes shining with affection.

Her attention wavers when the bell above the cafe’s door rings again. She turns her head and catches the moment Jack walks in with his hands tucked in his pockets.

His eyes scan over the reception area as if he’s lost then as soon as he looks around and spots Nora, his whole face brightens, a huge smile takes over his face and he hurries over towards our table.

“Hi, love,” he says before leaning down and kissing her.

I turn my head away from the PDA and sip on my coffee.

“H-hi,” Nora stutters, “Bree’s here,”

I turn my head back as Jack pulls up a chair and says, “hello, sister,”

“Hello, brother,” I say, “do you mind keeping the PDA low when your sister’s around?”

He grins, “I won’t do it. Just close your eyes,”

“Great. Thanks for the advice.”

“You’re very welcome,” he says and puts his arm around his girlfriend, “so, what are you doing here?”

I raise an eyebrow, “are you only allowed to come here?”

He hums, “I wish but unfortunately, no.”

“I thought you’d be late at work,” Nora says.

“I finished everything early on. I think Ryan is still in disbelief,”

“I would be, too,” I say.

He smiles, “I’m flattered.”

My attention goes to my phone when it rings. I pick it up and find Rose calling me.

“Hello?-”

“I want to go drinking, where are you?” Rose says as soon as she picks up the call.

I blink multiple times, “I.. I’m with Jack and Nora at the cafe,”

“Great. Invite them too. More the merrier. I’m picking you guys up,”

“Wait- why do you want to-”

“Be there in ten minutes,” she says and hangs up.

I stare at my phone, processing what just happened.

Rose wants to go drinking…

She never wants to go drinking like this. Yes, she drinks when we’re together but Rose always makes sure she’s sober so she can make sure everyone else is safe. The last time she went overboard was in college and because…

“What happened?”

I look up at Nora’s voice, “oh, um, Rose is picking us up. She wants to go drinking.”

“Really? Rose?” Jack asks, his face showing pure shockness, “I can’t remember the last time rose said she wants to go drinking,”

“Me neither…”

ᯓᡣ𐭩

Something is definitely wrong.

“Rose, I think you’ve had enough,” I say as Rose finishes her fifth drink.

“I’m fiine.” Rose repeats after every drink then orders another.

“I like this version of Rose.” Jack grins, also drunk but not as drunk as Rose.

Rose grins and shows him a thumbs up while I hit him, “don’t encourage her! She has a low alcohol tolerance!”

“No, I don’ttah” Rose says, frowning then focuses back on finishing her drink.

“Rose, I think Bree is right. You shouldn’t drink so much,” Nora says, her voice etched with the same concern as mine.

“You guys worry too much,” Rose says then quietly whispers, “you shouldn’t.”

I stare at her, trying to read her face and find out what’s bothering her but she won’t look at me. Everytime our eyes locked, she quickly looked away as if she was scared I’d read something.

“Don’t worry, I called backup.”

My eyes snap to my brother, my heart skipping a beat at his statement, “what backup?”

“Behind you.”

I turn around and spot two familiar men walk into the club, both dressed in their work attire.

“You called Ryan?” I grit out and Jack has the audacity to grin.

Rose being drunk is complicated enough and now, Ryan will see her in this state. She will regret this so much tomorrow morning.

As Ryan approaches us, my eyes find Finn’s and I catch the soft smile that spreads across his face, making his face ten times more beautiful-

“What the hell?!”

Our attention snaps to Rose when Ryan takes the drink from her hand and throws it away.

“Hey! I paid for that!” Rose protests then goes to order another drink but the bartender freezes when Ryan sends a glare his way. Rose notices and hits him- though, her hit is sloppy considering she’s drunk.

“Is Rose drunk?” Finn asks.

“Dude, are you just catching up?” Jack says in return while Ryan orders a bottle of water.

“I thought we were coming to collect you.”

Jack frowns, “collect me? What am I? An object?”

“No. A very annoying drunk manchild who sings out of key songs.”

Nora and I suppress our laugh at the visual image of Jack that Finn just gave us while Jack just stares at him dumbfounded.

Jack starts whining to Nora like a child that Finn is making fun of him and Finn makes faces as Jack clings to his girlfriend. In the background, Rose starts speaking  Italian, most likely saying very beautiful phrases to my brother while he continues to tell her to drink water and sober up.

I decide to go and quickly use the restroom while Rose continues to challenge my brother by ordering another drink.

As soon as I exit the restroom, my back gets pinned to the wall, a startled gasp leaving my mouth. I look up and my body relaxes as soon as my eyes meet dark brown ones.

“Hi, amore,” he smiles, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“You scared me,” I breathe out.

“My deepest apologies,” he says and leans in, giving a soft kiss, “I missed you,”

I smile, “really?”

He hums, trailing his nose across my jawline, “do you know we haven’t met all day until right now?”

“You were busy.”

“Are you blaming me, amore?”

“I would never.”

He hums teasingly and I suppress my smile.

“I have a question,”

He places a soft kiss under my jawline then pulls away, “yes?”

“What are you doing for Christmas?”

“I’ve spent every christmas with you and your brothers, amore,”

“Except last year.” I say as he lifts his hand and caresses my cheek, “You went to Rome.”

“Yes because a certain headache was going to join you and I was afraid I may end up murdering him.”

I frown, “Jay?”

“Please don’t say his name, amore. It irritates me.” He says, his finger trailing down my neck to my shoulder, his eyes tracking his movements, “He irritates me.”

“Why did you want to murder him then?”

His eyes lock back with mine, his hand slowly trailing down my arm, “is it not obvious? I hated every time he was near you.” He rests his hands on my hips, “I hated him because he got to touch you,” he leans in and places a kiss on the side of my mouth, “and kiss you while I couldn’t.”

“You must’ve really liked me.” I quietly say, lifting my head up, trying to get my face closer to his.

“Tsk. Not like, amore.” he whispers, his lips hovering over mine, “obsessed.” He whispers and kisses me.

My arms wrap around his neck as I kiss back. We feel each other smile through the kiss, our bodies flushed against each other as we make out in the dark hallway-

“What the fuck.”

Our eyes snap open and we quickly pull away the moment we hear those words from someone familiar.

For a second, neither Finn or I turn to the owner of the voice and just stare at each other, breathless.

Finn turns around first then I slowly turn my head and face my brother, Jack, to find him staring at us with his jaw on the ground and Nora staring at us eyes widened.

“Jack-”

“What the fuck were you doing kissing my sister?!” Jack bursts, “do you know she’s my sister?! Are you fucking kidding me, dude?!” his outburst soon turns into disbelief, “I can’t believe I just caught my sister kissing one of my best friends. What the hell? Does Rose know?- does Ryan know?!” his eyes widen as he starts panicking, “Ryan is going to kill you. You’re done. Rest in peace. We’re done. We’re getting killed.”

I stay frozen while my brother freaks out, cutting off Finn from speaking and continues to voice every scary thought of mine.

“Jack!”

Jack’s panicked rambling finally comes to a stop when Nora calls his name and earns his attention.

“Calm down. Breathe.” She softly tells him, holding his hand and demonstrating how a person breathes. After my brother calms down, she pats his hand, “stay calm and let’s hear what Finn and Bree has to say, okay?”

“Right.” Jack says, nodding, “that’s right. Very smart, love,” he clears his throat then turns to us, “so, what the fuck?”

“First of all, I know she’s your sister,” Finn starts, “second, I know Ryan will most likely kill me, that's why we haven’t told him anything yet. Lastly, I am not messing around with her. I genuinely care for her and want this relationship to work and I will do everything to make sure she’s happy and safe. You have my word.”

Jack studies Finn for a whole moment then his attention turns to me, “do you really like him?”

For some reason, I can’t form words so I just nod.

“Even though you know Ryan may go crazy when he finds out?”

“But… I’m happy with him so..” I trail off, hoping that my brother somehow understands what I can’t form into words.

Jack’s eyes move back and forth between Finn and I with a serious look.

His eyes finally settle on Finn and his next words are coated with warning, “I better not see a single tear in her eye because of you. Got it?”

Finn nods, “got it.”

“Good,” Jack says and my body relaxes.

“Congratulations.” Nora says with a sweet smile.

I smile back, “thank you,”

“By the way, when you reveal your relationship to Ryan, make sure I’m present,” Jack says and grins, “that will be a fun day,”

“Sure,” Finn says.

“We should head back now,” Nora says, “Ryan sent us to find you two. Rose is about to pass out,”

“Oh my God,” I quickly rush back to where Rose and Ryan are, everyone else follow behind me.

When we reach them, Rose has her head resting on the bar, her arms covering her head while Ryan nonchalantly uses his phone beside her.

“What happened to her?” I ask.

“She got tired of protesting and put her head down,” Ryan says, without looking up from his phone.

I step closer to Rose and gently rub her head, “Rose?”

She slowly turns her head, opening her eyes and looks at me, “yes?”

“Are you okay?”

“I.. I don’t know,” her voice cracks at the end of the sentence.

“Let’s go home, okay?”

“Okay..”

Rose slowly gets up from her chair. A second passes and she trips, I quickly grab her arm while she grabs the end of the bar.

“Shit- sorry,” she says under her breath, grabbing her head, frowning.

“It’s okay,” I reassure her then look at Ryan, “Ryan!”

He looks at me with an unfazed look, “what?”

“Carry her to the car. She can’t walk.”

“No.”

I glare at him but of course, it doesn’t work on him.

“It’s fine, Bree. We’ll call John, he’ll take her home,” Jack’s voice reaches us.

Ryan’s eyes snap behind me to where Jack is and I can feel Jack grinning back.

“Oh, right, right. John would be more than happy to take Rose home,” Finn joins in.

They know what they’re doing and they know that it’s working because without another thought, Ryan tucks his phone in his pocket and picks up Rose in his arms.

I wait a second, thinking Rose will protest but surprisingly she doesn’t. She stays quiet, dropping her head on his shoulder. Ryan visibly freezes for a second before turning around and heading towards the exit.

“She’s going to regret this in the morning,” I voice out my thoughts.

We quickly follow behind them and exit the club just when Ryan puts Rose in his car.

“Finn, take Bree and drive Rose’s car back to the apartment,” he says after closing the passenger door.

“Got it.”

“Um, do you think it’s a good idea for you to take Rose back?” I carefully ask.

Ryan glances at where Rose is seated, dozing off before saying, “she won’t remember,”

I stare at his profile for a moment.

He looks… different.

“Alright then,” Jack speaks, breaking the silence, making Ryan look away from Rose, “then we will accompany Bree and Finn,”

“Fine,”

Without another statement, Ryan gets in the car and drives away and we follow them in Rose’s car.

The drive back to the apartment is very quiet. Even Jack doesn’t say anything. Finn and I keep exchanging awkward glances, not knowing whether or not we should say something.

We decide not to.

When we reach our apartment building, Ryan’s car is already parked outside. We get out of the car and Ryan carries a passed out Rose to our apartment without saying anything.

Jack and Nora take the elevator to Jack’s penthouse after we reach our floor. I quickly unlock the door and lead Ryan to Rose’s room.

He gently puts her down and leaves while I tuck her in properly. Rose frowns in her sleep then lets out a small sigh, slowly opening her eyes.

“What..” she looks around the room, “what happened?”

“Nothing. You’re home.” I softly say, reassuring her.

I don’t know if she heard me or has realized she’s in her room. She lays her head back on the pillow, glances at her room door for a second then closes her eyes to go back to sleep.