24.

"I can't breathe."

Colton led Glen into the kitchen, forcing him down onto the chair. "Yes, you can Smiley. Deep breaths for me."

"Cole," Glen couldn't get the words out, making him even more panicked. His hands were shaking as he tugged on his shirt, as if that would help him get air in.

"Shh, you're okay," Colton gently guided Glen's head down between his knees. His long fingers wrapped around Glen's wrist, feeling his racing pulse. "That's it, just breathe, buddy." The kid was panicking big time.

The front door slammed shut, alerting Colton that Dakota and Hayes made it inside. Well, hopefully it was them. His focus had been on removing Glen from the situation, leaving Hayes in Dakota's capable hands. He could only hope that Dakota was also capable of being the bigger person and not escalating the situation.

"What the...?" Francis entered the kitchen at the same time as his other siblings. He had been in the shower, missing the chaos that just occurred outside. He was beyond confused right now.

"She left." Dakota said to Colton, giving Francis no context as he sat down at the breakfast nook across from Glen. He tugged Hayes onto his lap. She remained silent besides the occasional sniffle as her tears slowed down. She leaned back against his chest, her eyes never straying from Glen's body. "He okay?"

Glen had never freaked out like that before. It was like a demon had possessed him. Kind of freaked Dakota out, if he was honest with himself.

"Panic attack, but he'll be fine," Colton replied, running his fingers fondly through Glen's hair. His breathing had already drastically improved from just a minute ago. "Good job, Smiley, slow down." Colton spoke softly.

"Will somebody please explain?" Francis asked. He didn't like not being in the know and he was already upset over the fact that Glen and Hayes ran off by themselves. They could have at least taken him with them, or involved him somehow. But yet again, it was the kids against the brothers.

Francis was frustrated because Glen seemed to keep forgetting that they weren't the only ones affected by this. Everyone sitting in the kitchen was affected.

Waking up one day to find out your little brother and sister were missing. That your mother ran off. That was what Francis had to deal with.

Every day asking himself why didn't mom take him, too? Didn't she love him?

He didn't have the luxury of forgetting. No, day after day he was reminded that he no longer had two of his best friends with him.

Missing. But never presumed dead.

The false hope was killer.

A never-ending nightmare that he lived every. Single. Day.

So yes, he was frustrated and angry and high-key annoyed at Glen right now.

But damn, he also was so concerned for him. Glen looked like he went through the wringer.

"Lotte was here." Colton answered, glancing over his shoulder at Francis who stood behind him.

"Is she still here?" He looked around as if expecting her to be in the kitchen, too.

"Fuck no," Dakota responded, "Good riddance, too. Hope she never fucking comes back."

"No more talking about her right now." Colton gave Dakota a look to shut his trap. He didn't need Glen to be triggered again.

Dakota put his hands up in mock surrender before wrapping them around Hayes' stomach. Although the heat was on in the car, the girl was still cold to touch. No wonder she was always wearing their sweatshirts, the girl got cold so easily.

Nothing that a warm shower couldn't fix, though it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. It didn't look like she planned on leaving Dakota's protection until absolutely forced.

Colton sighed, squatting down to catch Glen's eye. "How you feeling, Smiley?" His breathing had slowed down even more, practically back to normal.

Glen roughly rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms. "I don't know, I don't even know what..." He took several deep breaths of air to collect himself. "I'm sorry Colton. I didn't mean to lose it like that, please believe me. I'm sorry."

Colton gently grabbed Glen's wrists, pulling his hands down. "It's been a rough day," Colton said, "Why don't you go take a shower, get out of your uniform. I'll make you some food to eat when you're done."

"No food. My stomach hurts," Glen groaned, feeling nauseous at the thought of food.

"You'll feel better after your shower, trust me. Shower, eat, then bed. We can all talk when Austin comes home tomorrow. Deal?"

Truthfully, Colton didn't have a single idea on how to handle what that fiasco was. That's why Austin was the boss, so Colton could be the brother to his siblings.

Glen stared at Colton trying to decipher out if he was angry or not. He found it hard to believe that Colton was just going to let him go for the night. Not a single punch.

The kid knew he messed up big time.

Was being grounding really their only punishment?

His eyes darted to his sister who returned his stare. She didn't look scared of him anymore, just worried. Confused. Trying to make sense of the world through broken pieces of memory.

If he had to guess, she was trying to remember when Charlotte had visited the Bear's house. He doubted she'd ever remember though. It took himself some time to even realize it and he was older than her.

"Go on," Colton nodded to the stairs, "Go wash up."

"Okay," Glen mumbled, giving in. He accepted Colton's help, gingerly standing up when a wave of exhaustion hit him like a truck. Panic attacks were no joke, which he knew from dealing with Hayes. But to experience one himself was another experience.

"Oh, before I forget and Austin chews my head off. Phone please." Colton stood up, calling his brother back for a second. Glen handed his device over with no complaint before shuffling out of the room. "Hayes, you too, Sunshine."

When Colton looked over at his sister, he saw a 'deer in headlights' expression that slowly morphed into a innocent smile. "Let me guess, you don't know where your phone is."

"Not a clue," Hayes admitted, making Colton shake his head. The eldest brothers still haven't decided whether or not it was a good thing that she wasn't attached to her phone. Today though, today proved it was a bad thing.

Francis watched his tear-stained sister for a couple beats before turning his questioning gaze upon Colton. Why had she been crying?

Feeling his brother's stare, Colton looked expectantly at him. He knew Francis wasn't going to let this go. Not when siblings were involved.

"Colton," Francis said, his arms crossed with his right index finger tapping against his upper arm. His impatience was obvious.

"Francis," Colton replied, showing Francis his back as he walked to the fridge. A cold bottle of water sounded extremely refreshing right now.

"Will someone tell me what just happened?"

"Chill, court reporter," Dakota chuckled, propping his chin on top of Hayes' head.

Francis ignored Dakota, waiting for Colton to explain.

Colton sighed as he shut the refrigerator door. "Well, Francis, what you just saw was post-confrontational Glen after losing his mind at Charlotte."

"What?"

"You heard me." Colton cracked his neck before walking back to the open seat where Glen had been sitting. The night officially aged him to an old man. He was wiped out.

"Why are you being difficult?" Francis complained, dramatically raising his arms up and then slapping them against his legs. "What happened? Why was she even here? I didn't hear her knock or anything." He was feeling hurt that Lotte didn't want to say hi to him.

Colton's eyes flickered to Hayes before returning back to Francis. He didn't want to talk in front of Hayes.

But of course Dakota missed this memo and had no filter. "Glen fucking laid into her, Franny. You should have seen it."

"Dakota, shut up." Colton blatantly said, watching as Hayes drop her chin down to her chest to avoid his gaze. She clasped her fingers together, twiddling her thumbs.

"Wait, I wanna know what he said."

"Not now." Colton replied.

"But..."

"I said, not now."

Francis didn't like that answer and turned to Dakota who happily obliged.

"She fucked up, Fran. She knew this whole fucking time where Jane had run off to." Dakota said, his hands moving to enclose Hayes' twitching fingers. He gave them a light squeeze before hugging her tighter. The comforting motion contrasted with the dark look on his face, telling how he really felt.

Hayes took a shuddering breath as she struggled to control her emotions. She really didn't want to cry again, it was giving her a headache.

"Is that true?" Francis felt his stomach drop. His brothers have been trying to tell him and Emerson his whole life that Charlotte only had herself in mind. He had been resistant, wanting to think that Lotte loved them and wanted to be their sister. But, now he just felt like a complete idiot.

"Thanks a lot, Kota," Colton snapped. Hayes flinched, not used to the harshness coming out of Colton's mouth. Dakota quickly laid a kiss on her head, quietly reassuring her that she was okay.

"Cole, is what he said true?"

"She didn't deny it," Dakota pointed out.

"Cole?"

Colton took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He didn't want to crush Francis' heart any more than it already was. But there was no way around it. "Possibly, Francis. It is very, very possible."

————

Blue eyes.

Her eyes.

The eyes that made no one doubt they were all siblings. Except Lotte the potty.

She had evil green eyes.

"Sunshine, let's pick up the pace here!" Colton shouted from downstairs. They were on a time crunch that morning since Dakota needed a ride to work before they went to school.

Hayes groaned, watching herself in the mirror as her lips turned down into a frown. She didn't want to go to school.

She just wanted to stay home, all bundled up in sweatpants and a hoodie, and wait for Austin to come home. She missed him.

Oh yeah, and Emerson, too. Apparently, he had a concussion from getting hit in the face with a baseball so he was on bed rest for the rest of the week. Another prisoner stuck in the house. The more, the merrier.

"Sunshine!" Colton called her name again.

"Coming!" Hayes automatically replied, though not moving. She watched herself purposefully try to smile. It looked as fake as she felt doing it.

Knuckles rapped against the open bathroom door startling her a little. In the mirror, she could see Francis' reflection staring at her.

"You okay, Sissy?"

Hayes turned to face him, dropping her arms that had been wrapped around her stomach. "Uh huh," she replied.

Francis narrowed his eyebrows at her, "that wasn't very believable."

"You're not very believable," she retorted.

The two of them locked eyes, both refusing to be the person to look away first.

"If I count to three and you're not down here, you're grounded for two weeks!" Colton threatened. "One!"

Hayes puffed her cheeks out, channeling her inner chipmunk before blowing a raspberry. Francis' eyes went wide in surprise before he bent over in laughter. She let out a breathy laugh watching her brother's reaction.

"Two!" Colton was annoying. "Francis, I hear you. Get your ass down here!"

"We're coming!" Francis replied, rolling his eyes at his bossy brother. Hayes cracked a grin at that. Francis mirrored her look, happiness now seen in her blue eyes replacing the dullness. "Let's go Sissy, before Cole blows a gasket."

"I'd pay money for that," Hayes joked, walking past Francis and to the stairs.

"It's not pretty," Francis said, remembering how just yesterday Colton just about went berserk. "Yeah, I don't think I want to see that again anytime soon."

Somehow Colton managed to erase most of the distraught expression from his face as soon as he picked the kids up. They had no idea how bad it was.

The frown instantly returned to Hayes' face, dropping her mood again. Stupid, too soon to joke about that.

Hayes stepped off the last step, stopping right in front of Colton who was looking very unamused at her.

"Love you, Sissy," Francis whispered, kissing the side of her head before swiftly walking outside to wait in the car. Colton had the 'teacher' look on his face and Francis wanted no part of the impending lecture.

Hayes chewed on her lip as she stared at Colton's dress shoes, waiting for him to say something, anything. She didn't like confrontation but it was sure of a heck better than this silence standoff.

"I made you a chicken and cheese sandwich for lunch," Colton held up the brown bag as a peace offering, "with two cookies."

Hayes' head snapped up. She squinted at him, trying to figure out his plan here. "Two cookies?" It was very suspicious, especially since she was suppose to be in trouble.

"It could be none," Colton replied, shaking the bag a little. It was his attempt to let Hayes know that Colton didn't hold yesterday's mistake against her. He had already talked with Glen some more that morning and smoothed his nerves over as well.

The last thing Colton wanted was for the kids to not feel comfortable coming to him anymore.

Catching him off guard, Hayes ignored the cookies and stepped forward. She wrapped her arms around his waist in a hug. "I don't deserve them," she declined, her voice slightly muffled against his dress shirt.

Colton returned her hug, getting a whiff of shampoo as he laid his head on top of hers. "The fact that you said that, makes me think that you do deserve them."

"No, I don't." Hayes shook her head in denial. "Why don't you hate me?"

Huh? Colton frowned, lifting his head up to stare at the top of her head. He gripped her right arm, forcing her back a step to look her in the eyes. "Sunshine, what are you talking about?"

"Yesterday was one of the worst days of your life and it was because of me. You should despise me!"

"That's a little dramatic, don't you think?" Colton chuckled, before sobering up. "Listen, was I fucking worried out of my mind yesterday? Absolutely. Was I angry? Yes. My baby siblings decided to disappear off planet earth for 5 hours under my watch. But despise? Oh, Sunshine. One thing you need to remember, is my love for you outshines all other emotions, period. I love you so much that everything else pales in comparison. And I could never, ever hate you. Now, do you want the cookies or not?"

Hayes was a stunned for a moment by Colton's proclamation before slowly nodding her head. It took another moment for the rest of her body to respond. Hayes snatched the bag out of his hand before he could do anything with them, like eat them himself.

"That's what I thought." Chuckling some more, Colton picked her backpack up off the floor and held it open so she could put her lunch away. "One more thing," Colton said before Hayes could run out the door. She watched him stick his hand in his pocket before pulling out a cell phone with the familiar green swirly case. Her phone. "This remains on and in your backpack the whole day. But don't be playing on it. I'll take it back after school."

Hayes immediately straightened at the seriousness of his voice.

"Today is a new day. Let's not make the same mistake, yes?"

"Yes, Colton," Hayes replied. She would never ever ever make that mistake again.

"Good," Colton turned her around to put the phone in the front pouch of her backpack. Spinning her back around, his hands landed on her shoulders. "I love you, Sunshine."

Hayes grinned at him, "love you, Colton."

"You better," he teased, flicking her nose. "Now let's go. We got a full day of learning ahead of us." He patted her butt as she walked past him to the door.

"Yay." Sarcasm at its finest.

————

"Hey, Smiley, how was school?"

The boy ignored his eldest brother, making a straight path to the fridge to look for food.

"That good, huh?" Austin said, eyebrows raised at the lack of response. Was he talking to a brick wall or his brother?

Glen still didn't answer him, shutting the fridge after taking out a water.

"Glen, I'm talking to you." Austin stepped in Glen's way, stopping him from getting to the pantry. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Nothing," Glen grumbled, going to walk around Austin but stepped back again when he stuck his arm out.

"Nothing? Then maybe you need to go back outside and try again. Maybe fix this attitude of yours." Austin retorted, already at whit's end. He had no tolerance for this behavior. "Don't forget about our talk tonight and it won't end well if you keep going like this."

The last thing Austin expected was this acting out from Glen to greet him when he got home from school. He would have thought the boy would be groveling at his feet for forgiveness. Where was his kid brother, Smiley?

Glen sighed, dropping his gaze to his feet. "Sorry."

Austin observed him, wondering if he was truly sorry. He seemed to be tossing an apology out for something or other every time they spoke lately.

"Let's try this again, shall we?" Austin wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt and watched Glen nod. "Hey Smiley, how was school?"

"Boring," Glen replied, scratching one arm before crossing his arms against his chest. "Colton said I had to sit out the first game of the season tomorrow because I'm grounded."

Ah, Austin had forgotten the basketball season started Thursday for the teams. He was curious to see how Hayes was handling that news.

Speaking of his little sister, only Glen came inside so she must have still been outside with Colton and Francis doing God knows what.

Austin felt bad for them, but knew he couldn't do anything. He grounded the kids and they needed to know that he set the law of the house. It was for their own safety.

They did the crime, they serve the sentence.

"I'm sorry to hear that, buddy." Austin said sympathetically.

Glen shrugged, this time successfully sliding past Austin to continue his hunt for a snack.

"Dinner will be ready in 20 minutes so don't shove your face with food."

"Got it."

"And family meeting after dinner." Austin reminded him again before adding, "is your homework done?"

"Yup." Glen nodded. Since he had to sit out at practice, Colton didn't give him much of a choice. He was able to complete the majority of it. Pure torture if you asked him.

"Good, one less thing to worry about."

The front door slamming shut interrupted whatever Austin was going to say next.

"Hey!" A girl's voice complained, loud and clear coming from outside. Sunshine!

Austin could feel the slight twitch of his lips, the automatic response to hearing his sister.

"My bad," Francis laughed, opening the door again for his sister. "Forgot Glen wasn't behind me."

"Hey!" Glen exclaimed from beside Austin. They could hear Francis' remark from the kitchen. "You're an asshole."

Francis' grinning face graced Austin in the kitchen, their little sister following behind. "Hey Austin, welcome back," Francis hugged him, "Cole went for a walk, FYI. Something about something, I wasn't really listening. Where's Sonny?" He spoke so fast, not taking a single breath.

"Sleeping," Austin replied, mentally patting himself on the back for keeping up with Francis' thoughts, "don't wake -"

"Too late!" Francis ran off to go do exactly that. His bestest friend was home!

Austin shook his head. Francis was a special, special child and he loved him.

A little body ran into his stomach, snaking their hands around his waist as well as stealing his attention. "Austin!" Hayes cheered. No matter what mood she was in, she always was happy to see him. "I missed you."

"Hello Sunshine," Austin full-blown smiled now, "What were you doing outside for so long?"

"Francis is an asshole," she offered as her explanation.

Austin immediately tugged her ponytail as reprimand. "Woah, we don't speak that way, babe."

"Glen literally just said the same word," Hayes complained, tilting her head back to pout at Austin.

Austin kissed Hayes' forehead, briefly closing his eyes as he hid his frustration from the kids. He was too tired and stressed for this nonsense right now. Standing tall once again, Austin cleared his throat. "Okay, here's the deal. If I hear another curse word from either of you, there will be consequences."

"But Dakota swears all the time!" Glen argued.

"You're not Dakota, are you?"

"No." Glen scowled. Indeed, he was not Dakota. Some may say that was a blessing.

"I heard my name," speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Dakota strolled into the kitchen, smacking Glen hard on the back as he passed by him to take a seat. He couldn't pass up the opportunity to see his siblings get yelled at.

"What the hell!"

"Glen, what did I just say?" Austin was becoming very irritated.

"Wash his mouth out with soap," Dakota smirked, leaning back in the chair, lacing his fingers together as he rested his hands behind his head. He was enjoying riling up his sibling a little too much, much to Austin's disdain.

Austin ignored Dakota, staring pointedly at Glen, "Why don't you go chill out in the living room until dinner?"

"Can't I go to my room?"

"Living room," Austin left no room to argue. It wasn't a suggestion. He wanted to keep an eye on his little brother. Something was still off with him.

"Fine," Glen huffed with a roll of the eyes. With a bag of chips in one hand and a bottle of water in the other, he walked out of the room.

"Someone's got that attitude." Dakota snickered at Glen's receding back.

Austin took a deep breath in before releasing it, letting go of the stress that was building in his shoulders. "So, where were we?" Austin cupped Hayes' face, his thumbs brushing over her flushed cheeks. "Why were you outside, again?"

"Because of Francis," Hayes whined, her bright blue eyes locking onto Austin's, "he locked me in the car."

"How did he do that?" Austin's voice held a little amusement whereas Dakota snorted. He already knew the answer because he had done it to Francis when he was younger. It was a classic move.

"The stupid child locks."

————

Hayes was the last one into the family room, which meant she had the toughest decision to make.

Who should she sit next to?

"Sit down, Sunshine," Austin said, spoiling her big decision. If the siblings hadn't noticed, he wasn't in a playful mood tonight.

Hayes obeyed, taking the open space between Glen and Emerson. All through dinner she had been fascinated with Emerson's newly acquired shiner. She couldn't stop staring at it and asking him a bajillion questions.

She had a black eye once. It was no fun.

"Finally," Dakota muttered under his breath. His arms remained crossed against his chest as he was slouched down on the couch, the perfect portrayal of a disgruntled sibling. Moody Dakota.

"I was in the bathroom," Hayes sassed back as she got comfy. Since the morning, her stomach pains were progressively getting worse so she was kind of agitated from being in pain all day.

Dumb period. Mother Nature was the absolute worst.

She wiggled around, accidently kicking Glen in the thigh before Emerson gently restrained her against his side. One, to keep her from accidently hitting him or Glen some more because she was so antsy-pantsy and two, he missed his sister and wanted to snuggle.

Emerson was most definitely a sucker for snuggles from his little sister.

Austin cleared his throat before any more bickering could break out. He pushed off of the fireplace where he had been casually leaning while conversing quietly with Colton, and took a seat in the la-Z-boy chair. But he didn't relax, his body remained tense as he perched on the edge of his seat. He propped his elbows on his knees, his fingers forming a chapel to which his chin rested on.

"I think we can all agree that these past couple days have been a shit show, for lack of a better term. But what happened yesterday, was completely unacceptable." Austin purposely looked at each sibling to make sure they understood the seriousness of this. "Now, Glen and Hayes, you've both received your punishments so we don't need to talk about that. What I really want to know is why? Why did you think it was okay to walk off campus? Glen, how about you start us off. Tell us what happened."

Glen grimaced when all eyes fell to him. "Umm, I don't know." He choked out.

"Not an answer," Austin said, "Help me out here. What made you decide to run away?"

"But we didn't run away," Glen immediately declined, like he'd been doing this whole time. Running away meant they had no plans of returning, which was absolutely not true. Glen meant to be back by dinner, but unironically lost track of time.

"Then what would you call it?" Austin asked, "Because from my understanding, you got a text message, which we'll talk about in a second," Austin held up his hand to stop Francis from butting in, "and then after school you and Hayes just took off without telling anyone. Does that sound accurate?"

Glen reluctantly nodded. Once again, Austin proved that he basically knew everything about what was going in his siblings' lives. Nothing got by him.

"Good, now can you fill in the gaps for me?"

Hayes nudged him with her foot, giving him a tiny smile of support when he glanced at her.

Glen sat up straight, focused only on Austin and not his other siblings. "Okay, well at lunch yesterday, Lewis sent me a message. Umm, it was a link to some newspaper back in Dead Oak. But it said that, uh, it said that our grandfather had been arrested." Glen scratched his arm, uncomfortable.

"Holy fuck," Dakota whistled lowly. Not that it actually mattered to him because screw their grandfather, but no one told him that part. Things were getting juicy now.

Ignoring Dakota, Austin held Glen's gaze, nodding his head for him to continue. "Well, I read it and all, and I just felt so hurt. Blindsided. Like, I couldn't understand why, why no one told me. You know? Stephen didn't even tell me. I just thought he'd tell me." Glen rubbed the back of his neck before clasping his hands together to stop his fidgeting. "Did you know about it, Austin?"

"I did," Austin admitted, "Probably only an hour or so before you found out. Stephen called me at the hospital."

Any ounce of hope Glen held suddenly dropped from his face. "Why didn't he tell me?"

"The plan was to tell you and Hayes when you got home from school. No one could have predicted that someone would have leaked it to the news."

"That's a suck-ass excuse," Glen grumbled under his breath. He felt completely betrayed at being left in the dark.

"Language," Austin warned.

Colton jumped in before the tension rose, "So you saw that Vincent got arrested and decided to leave?"

"I don't know," Glen picked at a imaginative thread on the couch, "I was surprised and I guess it was impulsive. I just needed to get away from everything. It all felt like it was too much."

The brothers took in his response, chills running through their bodies at how similar he was to Dakota. It was only a couple years ago when it was Dakota who wanted to escape. Austin wasn't sure how deep these feelings ran for Glen, but he knew something had to change; and not one of the brothers were going to ignore Glen's possible cry for help.

"It was my idea to leave school," Hayes broke the silence, receiving confused glances from her brothers.

"What?" Glen snapped his head to the side to look at his sister. "Don't say that." Glen looked at Austin, "Don't listen to her, she's lying. It was my fault."

"No, I told Glen to meet me at the red gate or I'd go without him." Hayes insisted.

"What are you doing?" Glen hissed.

Hayes avoided the dirty look he was sending her because she was taking the blame. But she was ruining his plan! He was trying to get her out of trouble.

Glen huffed, "Austin, I swear it was all me. Hayes had nothing to do with it. She just did what I said."

"Hayes is 13, bud." Colton said, briefly rubbing his mouth as he observed his youngest siblings, "While I don't believe she was the mastermind behind leaving campus, Hayes is old enough to make her own decisions. She still chose to leave with you when she could have said no."

Hayes pouted, sensitive to Colton's indirect chastising.

"I completely agree, Colton" Austin added, "You both know the difference between right and wrong and I'm seriously still just taken aback right now on what made you guys think it was okay."

"I didn't think," Glen sighed, rubbing his face in defeat. "I'm sorry, I didn't think it through, I just did."

"And that's the problem, Glen. You have got to think before you act." Austin emphasized, "This wasn't the first time its happened, either. Don't get me wrong, I understand a lot has changed and it is very overwhelming. I get it, I really do. And I think you're doing a great job. But buddy, we have to work on this. And yelling at Lotte? That was uncalled for, no matter how upset you are at someone."

"But-"

"No buts, Glen." Austin cut off his protest.

Glen frowned, slouching back in his seat at the reprimanding he was just given. He got the message.

"I have an idea," Colton said, trying to alleviate some of the beating, "From now on, Smiley, when you start to get overwhelmed or stressed or angry about something, text Austin or myself, and we'll help you think it through, okay?"

"Fine," Glen said barely audible.

"While it's heartwarming to see the babies protect one another, can we rewind to the whole arrest part?" Dakota interrupted. "When the fuck did that happen?"

"Yeah, is the man guilty?"  Francis asked. He'd been quiet most of the evening after chatting with Emerson upstairs. There was a lot to process from the past week.

"Did he say why he did it?" Emerson didn't deny that their mother was bad news, but to kill her? No one deserved that. He always wished that she would have come back home one day and tell him she loved them. That she was sorry for leaving him.

He yearned for a mother's love.

"Perfect leeway into what I wanted to talk about next." Austin rubbed his hands together before crossing his arms. "This is what Stephen told me, what we were going to tell you all yesterday. Monday night Vincent Merling turned himself in for the murder of Jane. He was immediately taken into custody, obviously, since there was a warrant out for his arrest. Now, the next step is for him to go in front of a judge which is suppose to happen tomorrow. Stephen expects him to plead not guilty which then means there will be a trial."

"Do we have to go to this trial?" Glen asked, looking aghast at the thought of seeing the Bear again.

"I don't think so," Austin wasn't totally sure and Stephen didn't say anything, "But we don't need to worry about that just yet."

"I don't want to go, I was just asking," Glen clarified.

"I wanna go," Hayes hesitantly said, shrinking back into Emerson's side at Glen's glare. "I'm allowed to want to go," she said quietly to Glen.

"Any reason why?" Colton asked curiously.

Hayes opened her mouth before closing it and shrugging instead.

"We can talk about it later, baby." Austin informed her, not wanting to have to settle a disagreement between the kids. Though that didn't mean he wasn't intrigued by Hayes' decision.

"Sooooo, can we address the other elephant in the room, now?"

"And what's that, Dakota?"

"Can I be excused first?" Hayes squeaked in before Dakota could elaborate. She guessed what was coming and didn't really want to listen to this.

Austin's gaze softened at the sight of his sister, her eyes were glistening. "Sunshine."

"Please," she said quietly.

"Can I also be excused? I'm in the mood for ice cream," Emerson said, exchanging a look with Austin. It was probably better if someone stayed by Hayes' side.

"Sure, baby," Austin nodded, dismissing both of them. Hayes hopped to her feet, Emerson getting up after her.

"HayHay?" Glen gabbed her hand before she could walk away. He couldn't decipher what she was thinking. It worried him, that they could be losing their bond. He didn't want to lose her.

Hayes paused, her eyes glued to her feet. She didn't want to show him her vulnerability. "I'm okay, G," She replied, "promise."

Emerson laid his hand on her shoulder and gave Glen a reassuring smile that their sister was alright. Glen gave him a grim smile in return, gently squeezing her hand before letting her hand slip out of his grip.

Dakota gracefully waited until Emerson shut the window-panel, providing the family room with a sound barrier to the rest of the house. "The fuck is Lotte's angle now?"

Austin exchanged a glance with Colton before addressing his younger brothers. "I know you guys are upset..."

"Don't bullshit us, Austin." Dakota cut him off.

Austin sighed heavily, "Fine. I talked with Charlotte on the phone today and I'm giving her one last chance to set the story straight. She's coming over Friday night at 8 after she gets off work."

"Why does she need to come, Austin?" Glen ran his hands through his hair in a rising panic, "I'm telling you the truth! Why are you listening to her?"

"Hey, hey, I told you I believe you," Austin got up and changed his seat to be next to Glen. He cupped the back of Glen's neck, pulling him closer while at the same time preventing him from fleeing. "I believe you. I just want to hear her side of the story. I can't let this go without knowing what happened. Without knowing if I could have prevented this." His thumb brushed the baby hairs at the base of Glen's neck as he kissed his messy mop of blonde hair. "It has nothing to do with not believing you."

Austin's guilt was eating him alive. He felt like this was all his fault and he needed to figure out the truth once and for all.

"Did mom really drug you and Hayes?" Francis asked Glen quietly making the room freeze. Well, this was not where Austin expected the conversation to go.

Glen appreciated that Austin hadn't told his brothers about it, that he was able to make this decision on if he wanted to share or not. Though, it wasn't much of a decision too make since he screamed it for the whole world to hear last night.

He glanced up at Austin to see him looking at him, waiting for him to answer. It was his choice.

Glen nodded once, his fingers curling into fists as he waited for Francis to be horrified by him. Now they'd all finally see him for what he really was, a weakling who couldn't protect himself nor their little innocent sister.

But that was far from what happened next.

Instead, Francis surprised everyone by suddenly standing up. He walked to the opposite end of the couch to where Glen sat, sitting on the armrest. As he moved, Austin observed him carefully, seeing a trail of tears slipping from his eyes.

Francis draped his arm over Glen's shoulder, bumping Austin's previous hold. He ducked his head so it knocked lightly against Glen's.

"I'm so sorry, baby bro," Francis murmured, his low voice raw with emotion, "I'm sorry I wasn't there. That I couldn't protect you from her. Please forgive me."

The frustration he previously felt at his younger brother no longer existed.

Then, Colton's feet appeared in Glen's view as he kneeled down on one knee. He covered Glen's fists in his hands squeezing once. "We love you, Smiley. No more secrets. Let us fight your battles with you."

Finally, shuffling noise caught Austin's attention as the remaining brother in the room slowly approached. Dakota felt totally out of his element, as shown by his hesitant steps.

Austin could see it plainly written on his face. Dakota was scared to say the wrong thing, to do the wrong thing. Usually he was on the opposite side of the affection, the one fighting against being loved upon by his brothers. He was designated troubled sibling.

But it was like looking in the mirror as he stared at Glen and he knew he couldn't let his past repeat itself in his little brother. He wouldn't let the demons haunt Glen. Different nightmares, but all the same.

Dakota stood in the space that remained between Colton's and Austin's bodies. His hand shook a little as he started to reach out before he made a fist and let his arm drop to his side.

Grow some balls, man.

Trying again, this time with no tremor, Dakota ruffled Glen's blonde hair before laying his hand on his shoulder.

Then in true Dakota fashion, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Nobody's ever going to fuck with you again, Smiley."

A threat to the world and a promise to his baby brother.