Chapter 7
ANGEL SINCLAIR.
The noise of the door startles me a lot, but no more than Bryan flying at Tyler. In the blink of an eye, he is no longer grabbing me, but on the ground, getting his ass kicked by Bryan. My whole body is shaking, because I have never experienced anything like this before. No one has ever tried to force me into something as serious as Tyler just did. Oh my Good!
"What the fuck were you thinking of doing to her?", Bryan asks, after hitting Tyler in the face with a punch.
"I wasn't going to do anything she didn't want to do, partner. Angel was dying to give it to me," Tyler says.
"That's not true, is it, Angel?", Bryan's voice is low and urgent.
"Of course it isn't! That asshole was forcibly grabbing me!", I reply.
"You're a son of a bitch!", Bryan exclaims, "And don't call me your partner, because from now on I'm going to become your worst enemy," he threatens, holding Tyler down and grabbing the collar of his shirt.
I stare startled at the scene and Bryan stands up, grabbing my arm and pulling me out of that room. I sigh in relief as we leave and I can feel the heat taking over me.
"You don't stay here another minute. That bastard would have abused you if I hadn't arrived. We're going home now," Bryan's serious countenance intimidates me, but I can't show it.
"I'm not going home with you."
"It doesn't matter if it's with me or not, but you're going home. If you stay here, it's going to end up giving you shit."
"I'm not in the mood for anything else. I'm leaving Ashley and going home."
"Let's go. I'll walk you home.
"No need, I can go alone."
"That was a statement," he insists.
I just walk down the stairs and Bryan comes up behind me. Ashley looks at me with concern when she sees that I am not well and I just show her the car key, indicating that we are leaving. As agreed, Bryan comes following my car as I drive from Tyler's house to Ashley's house.
"What happened? Did Bryan cut it off cheap?" she asks.
"I wish he had," I reply, "That idiot Tyler tried to forcefully grab me right after I mentioned you and if Bryan hadn't arrived to stop it, God knows how I would be right now."
"Oh my God! How is he capable of something like that?" her expression is one of disgust, "Friend, I am so sorry I put you in that situation. If I knew he would act like that, I wouldn't even insist on this idiot."
"Relax, friend. No one knew he would act like that. You don't have to apologize to me.
"Honestly...what a slam!" she sighs, "And Bryan? He pulled a superhero act?".
"You had to see how fast he took off on Tyler. The two of them rolled around in a fight."
"That explains the redness on Bryan's face."
"Yeah. At least he did something useful, he saved me from an asshole."
"I'm sure from now on you two will treat each other like real brothers. He was overprotective today, like all older brothers."
I don't respond to that comment from Ashley, because I feel an oddness. Will Bryan and I treat each other like real brothers? I don't know. Maybe yes, maybe no... That only time will tell.
"Aren't you going back to the party? I'm already home, if that was the your concern," I say, as soon as we park our cars in the garage of my house.
"I wasn't even enjoying that shitty party," Bryan says, getting out of his car.
"No? It seemed that way to me."
"It felt wrong, then. Tyler is a bastard and I don't enjoy friendships with guys like him."
"You know, when I saw you two together, I imagined you complemented each other."
"Don't you ever dare think that. I would never do what he did today, regardless of booze," he says as we enter the house.
"After what happened, I think I'll leave the cheerleading to Ashley. I won't take any pleasure in cheering for that asshole's team, even though it's high school."
"You like that?" he asks.
"Of being a cheerleader? Yes, I do," I reply.
"You don't have to abstain from what you like because of him. Stay in the cheerleading squad, you don't have to leave. I guarantee you he won't be captain of the team for long," he speaks, quite firmly.
"What are you thinking of doing?".
"Never mind. Tyler messed with you. You're my sister and you're even younger than me," he speaks, touching a lock of my hair close to my face, "He bought a fight with me by getting in your way. That's what older brothers do, isn't it? They protect their siblings and earn points with their parents."
"Are you doing all this because we are half brothers?", the question automatically comes out of my mouth. Curiosity surely spoke louder.
"Of course. Why else would it be?", Bryan is looking into my eyes, but I quickly turn my face away and walk away, "Good night to you too, and you're welcome."
He goes up the stairs going straight to the hallway and I stay in the living room thinking about those last scenes. I go to the kitchen and get a cold compress. I go up to the bedrooms and knock on Bryan's bedroom door. He opens it in a few seconds and I hold out the compress to him.
"I think you're going to need it", I say, referring to the bruise on his face.
He just takes the compress and closes the door. I think this compress alone will be enough to improve Bryan's face. He took a chance and started that fight for me, even though he couldn't stand me. I hope he understood that this was a way of saying "thank you".