47.

PLEASE APPRECIATE THE AMAZINGNESS OF THE PICTURE. I HAVE BEEN WAITING TO USE IT. I KEEP IMAGINING THIS CHILD AS HAYES AND I KEEP LAUGHING SO HARD.

If you laugh, you think and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special.

— Jim Valvano

"I have regrets."

Hayes shifted in the sheets, her arms curling against her stomach as a feeling of pain hit.  She kicked her legs restlessly, striking Glen in the back of his thigh. "Did you hear me?"

"I'm sleeping," He groaned, pulling the comforter over his head like a child. "Go tell Austin."

"You're mean," Hayes whined, "I'm kicking you out. You can't sleep in my bed anymore."

"Yeah, yeah," Glen grumbled, not taking her seriously in the slightest. He had no problem falling back asleep as Hayes continued to complain to herself about how she ate too many cookies yesterday and now her stomach hurt.

Famous last words... death by cookies.

Oh great, her brothers will have a field day with this.

Eventually Hayes reluctantly got up, figuring someone would be in to make sure she was awake any time now so she had time to get ready for school. But ha, she beat them to it.

Once in the bathroom, splashing water on her face helped a little bit to make her more alert in the wee hours of the Thursday morning, but didn't do much to help her mood, as the crampy feeling was still happening. But also, who wouldn't be miserable about having to go to school?

Double whammy.

She returned to her bedroom for a sweatshirt to protect herself from the air-conditioner blowing cold, all the while cursing Glen for not having the same misfortune of needing to further his education today.

But Hayes was totally grateful that he was feeling much better, still on the upward trend of recovery.

How did she know that?

Because stupid Glennard farted at like 3 in the morning and woke her up by laughing his ass off at how loud it was that it woke himself up.

Which pretty much summed up the maturity of a male teenager.

So yeah, Glen was basically cured.

Hallelujah.

Hayes kept her arms tucked inside the sweatshirt and pressed firmly against her stomach to aid in relieving the pain, so the long sleeves just swung empty by her sides. She got to the edge of the carpeted stairs and decided to sit, doing a butt scoot down every single step.

If anyone happened to see her, Hayes wanted them to make no mistake about how miserable she felt right now, though they may not necessarily assume the reason why. Either way, maybe then they'd take pity and let her stay home.

Deep down, Hayes knew they would if she truly pushed for it. She was self-aware that right now was purely the teenage angst talking.

And the cookies.

How dare those chocolate chips betray her like that?

Finally reaching solid ground again, Hayes moaned with the effort of using her core strength to stand up, stubbornly refusing to use her arms for assistance.

These darn cookies did her dirty.

Moving slow and steady at the speed of a turtle, Hayes shuffled her way into the kitchen. It was the only room in the house that had the lights turned on, like a beacon to ships in the ocean. Made sense, as the brothers who wake up this early ran on coffee.

Crossing the threshold, she was taken off-guard at the sight of three of her brothers just... standing... there?

Whaaaaaat was going on?

Hayes eyed them all cautiously.

"Hi Sissy," Francis was the first to greet her as he practically hopped over to her, trapping her in one of his annoying hugs where he obnoxiously swayed them side to side. She had no time to protect herself as her arms were still tucked inside her sweatshirt.

With her vision blocked by Francis' body, Colton quickly rolled the papers up and stuffed it into the pocket of his gym shorts.

"You're being weird," Hayes slowly muttered, a wave of nausea hitting her when Francis let go. She quickly swallowed down the urge.

Oh no.

Francis stood in front of her, just staring at her with a happy look on his face and it was starting to freak her out. Hayes took a step backwards, glancing at her other brothers for some help.

"Francis, sit down," Austin ordered, breaking out of being a statue as he caught her SOS signal.

Francis obeyed as he pranced over to a seat, barely controlling his high energy as he sat down. He rested his forearm on the table as his knee began bouncing.

"Umm," Hayes' wariness didn't go away as she subtly took another step back to the dining room. Francis was never this hyperactive so early in the morning. Francis was the opposite of a morning person.

Her spidey senses were going off.

"Ignore him... we all do," Colton suggested, picking up his coffee mug and moving over to the table. He lightly smacked the back of Francis' head with a quiet, "Knock it off."

Francis protested the abuse, "hey!"

Austin busied himself with grabbing a new mug out of the cabinet and poured himself a cup of coffee. He took a sip, the caffeine giving his brain an instant kickstart back into gear. "Take a seat, Sunshine. What do you want for breakfast?"

"Umm," Hayes couldn't think of anything else to say as she was still unsure of what she had walked into the middle of. Her eyes darted around the kitchen, glancing at each of her brothers before a green swirly phone case caught her attention. It lay face down on the table, nowhere near the spot Hayes swore she left it last night... in her room.

Her brows furrowed in confusion.

How did... ?

Stupid Glennard.

"Sunshine, sit." More of a command that time but still wiggle room to decline.

Hayes chewed on her bottom lip, not exactly sold on sticking around for food. Especially when her stomach was cramping again. It didn't exactly encourage an appetite.

Her eyes trailed back over to where Colton was casually sitting, seemingly preoccupied with one hand scrolling on his phone and the other gripping the warm mug. He happened to glance up then, sensing her stare.

Whereas the girl would usually immediately drop her gaze to avoid eye contact, she maintained it, lost in her thoughts of hurt. Colton pressed his lips together as he tried to figure out the puzzle Sunshine presented. He just didn't know what he did wrong to be on the receiving end of her cold shoulder.

A large hand plopped down gently on top of her head, breaking up the staring contest between brother and sister. Hayes knew it was Austin by the way his hand trailed down the back of her messy ponytail.

Those weird vibes were still going off in her brain.

That was such a normal thing for Austin to do, something he hadn't done since Hayes ruined things on Tuesday.

Maybe it was her?

Was she missing something?

What changed?

Hayes was stumped but didn't ponder long as she quickly became distracted, her stomach still hurting. Her tiny fists pressed hard against her belly to counteract the pain.

Dumb cookies.

Dumb Hayes for eating the dumb cookies.

Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.

With his free hand, Austin presented the banana that he had grabbed for her from the bunch. Hayes scowled and turned her head. "Not hungry," she replied, the small whiff enough her make her gag.

Oh noo.

"You have to eat something," Austin stated. Not picking up on the reason for her stubbornness, because how would he know she had many, many cookies.

Austin began peeling the banana for her.

Oh heck nooo.

That smell did not agree whatsoever with Hayes' already heightened bodily senses system.

Hayes' hand came out from underneath the sweatshirt to cover her mouth as the overwhelming urge to vomit hit the girl full force. She instantly ducked away from Austin, with the plan to run into the unoccupied downstairs bathroom that was conveniently located right next to the kitchen.

Not even 6 steps away from where she was standing!

But she didn't make it.

Regurgitated chunks of all what she ate in the last 24 hours splattered, bits onto her clothes and a lot onto the tile floor.

"I'm so sorry," Hayes sobbed as she bent over, clutching her stomach. Her body raked with chills as she continued to retch.

Austin abandoned the banana on the counter and immediately walked over to her, wrapping an arm around her waist and gathering all the extra sweatshirt fabric that puffed out from getting anymore throw-up on it.

"It's okay," Austin's calming voice reassured his little sister, his free hand rubbing circles on her upper back. He could feel her sweat through the sweatshirt.

A chair harshly screeched across the tile right before the sound of someone else vomiting blessed their ears.

"Aw fuck, Francis," Colton exclaimed, jumping up to try and help his younger brother.

Austin turned his head to look over his shoulder, grimacing at the sight of Francis hunched over in his chair and Colton hovering beside him.

It appeared as though half the kitchen floor was now covered in vomit.

An exaggeration but definitely a third.

Okay, maybe a quarter.

Was it in their future to ever catch a break?

"It's not my fault," Francis moaned, curling in on himself towards his bent knees. He couldn't help it, they all knew he puked when other people did. Fran pulled the collar of his shirt up over his mouth and nose as if blocking out the smell.

Didn't matter though, as the damage was already done.

"It was the banana," Hayes blamed, struggling to take off her sweatshirt. It had gotten some splatters of yuckiness on it and she could smell it.

"Or the 20 cookies you ate," Austin corrected as he helped free Hayes from the giant piece of clothing. That was going straight into the washing machine or the trash. He hadn't decided yet.

Darn, her gig was up. Austin always knew.

But now that the cookies were out of her system, she felt better besides the sore throat from the actual puking part.

Now that her stomach was done revolting against her, Hayes even managed a tiny grin at her eldest brother.

"And the banana?" Hayes tried again with a sweet lilt to her voice.

The edges of Austin's lips twitched. He worked hard to maintain his neutral expression but his willpower wasn't up to normal strength.

Suddenly, the sound of laughter filled the kitchen space as Austin just gave in. It was a genuine belly laughter that made his siblings look at him like he absolutely lost his mind.

And maybe he finally did.

Maybe this was the straw that broke the camel's back.

His hands that were supporting Hayes shook with his laughter as he pulled her sideways into his embrace. Hayes looked up at him wide-eyed, unsure what the heck was happening. She could feel Austin's chest reverberate with his hearty laugh.

Seconds passed before Colton started chuckling as well. What else was there to do, but laugh in this situation?

They couldn't afford to cry, because then they ran the risk of not being able to stop.

What a morning.

"Hayes, Francis, you okay?" Austin calmed down enough to check on his siblings, making sure they were still in one piece. He managed to regain his control though some chuckles still escaped him every couple seconds. "Here, take your socks off, Sunshine. Don't want to track it throughout the house."

He let Hayes hold onto his forearms to steady herself as she stood on one foot. Hayes started to teeter over so Austin reached out and grabbed her upper arm to help. She pulled one sock off and Austin took it from her, repeating the same thing with her left foot. With both dirty socks in his hands, he made a bundle with the sweatshirt flipped inside out and then tossed it towards the living room, just out of the landing zone. He'd get it later.

"Fran, you good over there?" Austin asked again, this time glancing over his shoulder to catch a thumbs up and an accompanying groan from Francis. Austin continued on, "Colton and I will get this cleaned up somehow while you guys go take showers. Watch where you step, Francis. Okay?"

Once both kids safely extracted themselves from the scene of the heinous crime, Colton spoke up. "You good, AJ?"

Austin laughed quietly to himself, "Oh yeah. Don't worry about me. The wind is changing, Cole, I can feel it. It's gonna be a full day."

Colton just shook his head, as he took cautious steps to the pantry to find the extra supply of paper towel rolls that they were definitely going to need. "If you say so."

————

Glen sat on the third step from the bottom, patiently waiting for his eldest brother to arrive home. Austin had texted him exactly 18 minutes ago that he was on his way, so Glen approximated him to be walking in the door anyyyyyy minute now. His shoe tapped repetitively against the tile floor, shaking his whole body in effect. His hands twirled together anxiously as he waited... and waited...

When the front door finally clicked open, Glen hopped to his feet. "Hey, Austin!"

Having not expected such a sudden greeting, Austin flinched. "Jesus, fuck," he exclaimed, a wave of deja-vu washing over him. "Glen, buddy, what are you doing?" Austin panted, his hands planting onto the sides of his waist as he recovered from the startle.

That's one way to ensure his heart was pumping.

Glen cheesed widely, "Waiting for you!"

"I can see that," Austin stated, his hands lacing together on top of his head now. He took a couple steps, pacing as he got his breath back. "Good God, you and Hayes are going to kill me one of these days."

"At least you'll die happy?" Glen offered.

"Something like that," Austin grunted, standing still. He looked at Glen's grinning face and shook his head. Talk about seeing your life flash before your eyes.

Austin blew out hot air before walking off into the living room and to the den. He slid his backpack off his shoulders, leaning it on the floor against the desk. He figured Glen would follow, and so he did, trailing a beat behind him like a puppy dog. "How are you feeling, Smiley?"

"Good. Fabulous. Stupendous. Marvelous... I could go on and on," Glen replied, not hesitating for even a second.

"Yeah, I bet," Austin snorted, turning around to look at the kid again. Glen sounded pretty good as far as he could tell, and was back to his normally chaotic, energetic self. A healthy dose of chaos, not the haphazardous, on-the-line-of-delirious, loon that was seen the past two days.

Still though, the back of Austin's hand made its way to Glen's forehead, checking for a fever.

"I feel fine," Glen whined, backing away from the contact but Austin just looped his arm around Glen's neck instead and pulled his brother closer.

"Is that so?" Austin laid his knuckles on Glen's cheeks, right side then the left, just to be sure. His worrying nature made him function this  way, as one could never be too sure.

"Yes," Glen insisted as he tried to push away Austin's nagging hand, but was overpowered by his eldest brother and ended up stuck in a headlock. Both the boy's hands came up to grip Austin's forearm that was under his chin. "I'm perfectly fine or did the first fifty thousand times you made me check with the thermometer not count?"

Austin tousled Glen's hair before letting him scamper away. "It was only five times, and okay. I get your point."

"Finally," Glen huffed, before turning back on his trademark smile. "So, when are we leaving?"

Austin frowned. "We?"

"Aren't you going to Hayes' game?" Glen cocked his head to the side, channeling the puppy dog cuteness so similar to his sister.

"I am..."

Glen grinned again. "Great! I'm ready when you are."

"I didn't know you were going with me." Austin paused in the middle of taking his laptop out of his bag. He slowly finished what he was doing before propping his hip against the edge of the desk and crossing his arms and ankles. Glen now had his undivided attention.

"Well, now you do. Ready when you are, big man." Glen declared with snap finger guns.

"Glen..." Austin wasn't sold on the whole idea. He didn't want Glen over-exerting himself tonight when he should be recovering still. He wanted the boy to be okay to go to school tomorrow and going out tonight didn't make Austin too confident.

"Oh, come on, Austin," Glen threw his head back in exasperation, "You just agreed that I was fine."

He got him there, as apparent by Austin's reluctant agreement.

Before Glen could celebrate that he was no longer a prisoner of the house, Austin held up his finger. "On one condition." Glen went to respond but Austin immediately cut him off. "No buts, you either listen or you stay home."

Glen rolled his eyes, the grin unwavering. He was just so excited to leave these four walls and breathe some fresh air. "I was just gonna say okay."

"Sure you were, Smiley." Austin eyed his little brother, now realizing that he was already dressed and ready to go with shoes and everything. "Here's the deal. You sit with me for Hayes' game, no hanging out with your teammates. Then we'll go home afterwards. And, you do another breathing treatment before you go to bed."

Glen raised his hand to place it on top of his hair. "What-"

"Nu uh. What did I say?" Austin wasn't messing around. He would allow Glen to go with him as long as he stuck by his side. He didn't need his brother fooling around with his friends and getting sick again. If all proceeded as planned, In less than 24 hours, Smiley would see his buddies at school tomorrow anyways.

"Fine," Glen conceded.

"What?"

"Fine, I said fine. Can we go already?" Glen rushed, wanting to leave before Austin changed his mind.

Austin stole a glimpse at his wrist watch for the current time. "In a minute. Let me get changed and eat a quick bite. We have time," He assured.

————

Exactly 23 minutes and 47 seconds later, the two brothers were strolling out the front door.

Glen had passed the time waiting by counting the seconds in his head all the while staring Austin down as he ate a sandwich. The pressure heated up some when Austin used additional time to take all the lunch meat and bread back out of the fridge and pantry so he could make an extra sandwich for Dakota whom was out working later than usual on a project site. Glen sat at the table, tapping his sneaker against the tile until finally, finally, Austin grabbed his keys and wallet to leave.

Austin was happy to find that the kitchen didn't smell like a vomit fest anymore. Cole definitely had the smart idea to leave the kitchen windows open for the majority of the day.

That and the nice pine-sol scent when he mopped the floor really made a difference.

"Can I drive?" Glen asked, a pep in his step as he jumped off the front porch instead of walking down the three steps like a normal human being.

"No," Austin chuckled, swirling the keys around his finger.

"Why not?" Glen tugged on the passenger car door handle, but Austin hadn't unlocked the car yet. He nudged the front car tire with the tip of his sneakers, just for shits and giggles, until he heard the door locks release.

Austin waited until he got into the front seat and sitting comfortable to reply the obvious. "Because you don't have your permit yet." He put the keys in the ignition and turned the car on.

"Oh, good point," Glen pulled the door shut, and snapped his seatbelt into the buckle. "Can I get my permit?"

"No."

Glen turned his torso to face Austin and tilted his head to the side, trying to decipher if he was joking. He could have sworn Austin had agreed before. "Why not?"

Austin met his gaze. "Because I said so."

Ah, Glen recognized the teasing glint in his eldest brother's blue eyes. Basically identical to his own when mischief arose.  "Cool, cool, cool. Soooo, when can I get it?"

Austin chuckled, putting the car into drive and navigating the quiet streets of the neighborhood. "Slow your boat there, Smiley. First, you need to take the online driving test before you can get the actual permit. That and the drug and alcohol test."

"I know. I'm ready for it," Glen replied.

Austin glanced at him before returning his eyes to the road. He turned his blinker on, waiting for a car to pass before pulling out onto the main road, leaving the neighborhood behind them. "Yeah?"

"Yep! Fran even helped me study for it and everything."

Austin groaned, knowing exactly where this was going. "I'll find the driving book for you to look at. Remind me tonight or tomorrow."

"Why do I need the book when I have you?" Cue the cheeky grin on Glen's face.

"Stop listening to anything that comes out of Francis' mouth." Austin deadpanned, "No, I did not take the test for him."

"Moral support, Austin," Glen said, "Fran told me you give the best moral support, big bro."

Austin scoffed, though an amused grin appeared. "Don't bullshit me, Smiley. I'm much older than you. I know all your tricks before you can think of them."

"Alright, old man. Test me."

"What?" Austin's eyebrows dipped down as he came to a complete stop at a red light.

"Ask me a question. Test my brilliance."

"You sound awfully cocky there, Smiley." Austin thought about it for a second, his attention falling onto a yellow school bus that was chugging across the intersection. "Okay. What do you do when a school bus is pulled over with the stop sign out and the red lights flashing?"

Glen answered fast, "Stop, obviously, and wait until the bus moves."

"Okay, decent." Austin glanced around for more inspiration. "When do you wear a seatbelt?"

"Always."

Austin nodded, "Good." Austin eased off the break as the car in front of them started rolling again, the light now green. "What does a green light mean?"

Glen rolled his eyes. "Go."

"Excellent!" Austin ribbed, "And red?"

"Stop." Glen didn't hide the annoyance in his voice at his brother's jest.

"Very good. You have been studying." Austin replied, chuckling at his own humor.

"I'm being serious, Austin," Glen huffed, crossing his arms against his chest. Here he was trying to prove that he was ready to take his permit test, and Austin wasn't taking him seriously.

"Fine, fine. Here's a hard one. What about a yellow light?"

"Fricking floor it." Glen smirked, serving Austin his own medicine.

"Absolutely not. There goes your permit."

That backfired.

Glen's jaw dropped. "Austin!"

"Glen!" Austin mocked with a great poker face. "I'm being serious and you're just joking around."

Glen reacted out of habit and punched Austin in the right arm.

"Hey, don't punch the driver!" Austin warned, switching to his stern voice. "I'm actually serious. That's so dangerous, Glen."

"Sorry," Glen muttered, sinking back in his seat.

Austin's eyes flickered to his brother, returned to the road, then darted back to Glen as he swiftly ruffled the kid's hair. He didn't want to damper the mood for the whole night. "Ready for another question?"

"Sure," Glen grunted, still glum.

"This one is a test favorite. Pretty sure we all got this question when we took it. Which way do you turn the wheels when parking up a hill?"

"Uhmm," Glen chewed on his bottom lip as he took the time to think about it. This, he had no clue. "I don't know. There's no hills in Florida unless you count the garbage hill."

"No," Austin laughed, "Those don't count. It's important to know though, because here in South Carolina there are quite a few. I'll help you out. Uphill, you turn the wheels facing away from the curb. That way if the car moves for some reason, it backs into the curb rather than out into traffic." Glen nodded, understanding the explanation. "So what do you think about parking down a hill?"

Glen shrugged. "I dunno. Turn the wheels towards the curb?" It was a complete guess.

"Yeah, exactly that. See, good job, Smiley." Austin could tell by Glen's body language that he was frustrated with himself. So now he needed to cheer him up and knew just how to do that. "I don't think we have plans for Sunday..." Austin saw Glen perk up a little as he got the hint. "As long as you finish all your homework and make-up work that you missed, I don't see why you can't take the test then."

"Really?" Excitement lit up the boy's face.

Austin smiled, "Yeah, bud."

Glen settled back in his seat with a satisfied grin. "Sweet."

————

Glen, the social butterfly that he was, did not let a minute go by during the car ride without filling it with noise of some sort. Whether the radio that he turned on or his own voice, Glen was definitely making up for the past two days when he did nothing but sleep and suffer with social isolation.

Though it would have been the perfect opportunity, Glen did bite his tongue about mentioning the Colton issue to Austin. No more jumping in guns a-blazing. He wanted to see what Hayes was talking about that she said she read, in order to be absolutely 100% certain before approaching any of his eldest brothers. Glen was feeling extra sensitive about it, because it was Cole! He truly thought Colton would have told him if he was moving out and switching jobs. If not because they were brothers, then because Colton was his coach.

Glen kept hope that there was a simple explanation that would clear up the whole misunderstanding.

He didn't want Colton to leave him.

Austin and Glen were about five minutes out now from the Sacred Heart campus. It was only a 20 minute drive, but there was some more traffic than usual making the trip a bit longer.

Austin briefly wrung his left hand over the steering wheel, stealing a glimpse at his brother. He had gone quiet for a couple minutes now, except for a minor coughing spell, as the radio had a streak going of decent music. Austin approved of Glen's taste.

🎶Sometimes I give myself the creeps

Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me

It all keeps adding up

I think I'm cracking up

Am I just paranoid

Or am I just stoned?🎶

Austin reached over to the stereo system with his right hand and lowered the volume, catching his brother's attention as he looked over curiously.

"There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about," Austin chose his words carefully. "It's about the Bear."

Glen listened quietly, but didn't dare continue to look at Austin. His gaze dropped to the floor of the as his anxiety level began rising instantly.

Austin's focus flicked to his brother to check if he was listening. The nervous leg tapping proved that. "We haven't really spoken about what happened on Sunday, at all actually, and I wanted to see where your head was at."

Glen's facial expression went blank, not giving away anything. His lips pressed together, thinning out as he kept his head facing straight forward out the windshield now. He was not comfortable with this topic.

"Whatever you're thinking, you don't have to hide it from me," Austin said. "It's not good to keep it tucked away like that. You know that."

"I'm not thinking anything."

"Glen..."

"The Bear doesn't deserve anything from me. I don't care that he died." That statement alone told Austin so much where Glen was at. The boy was hurting even if he didn't admit it.

"That's not true."

"You don't know that."

"I know that you have a lot of pent up anger that comes at us all at once." Austin pointed out, "And I know that you've been doing really well with that lately. But I also know that sometimes its easier to just keep things to yourself and focus on Hayes instead. That's what you had to do your whole life."

Glen didn't like the attention his eldest brother was giving him. His shoulders tensed as he willed the conversation to end. That's how he survived all these years, staying under the radar meant him and Hayes were safe.

"We thought it'd be a good idea to sit down and tell Hayes this weekend." Austin revealed.

That got Glen to look back at his brother. "We?"

"Baker and myself, with you."

Glen leaned forward in his seat, his elbows propped on his knees as his hands ran through his hair. His head rested against the dashboard. That just stressed the poor kid out completely. "Oooooh fuck, she's not going to be happy."

"Smiley... Hey..." Austin stretched his arm over and rubbed the back of Glen's neck, feeling the tension building up already in his muscles. "We'll be there for her, just like we want to be there for you. That's why I brought this up."

Glen shook his head, his hair flopping around. The magnitude of what he had done was hitting him. He chose to keep this from her for four days. Four days. Holy shit, what was he thinking? "She's going to hate me, this is not good."

"Fuster Cluck," Austin cursed under his breath, as this was not going in the direction he wanted. The vocab word was something creative he'd picked up from Francis.

The odd swear cut into Glen's thoughts. He turned his neck to the side, revealing his squinty left eye from the palm of his hands. "Someone needs to wash your mouth out with soap."

For once, Austin looked like he was caught in a crime, his eyes widened momentarily before he laughed. "Of course you hear that, but when I tell you to clean up your room it's like talking to a brick wall?"

"Huh?"

"Exactly," Austin playfully shoved Glen's head down. They were parked in the parking lot now, but neither brother made a move to leave. Austin sighed, "Like I was saying, the whole point of me bringing this up was, one to tell you the plan, but mainly because I wanted to ask if you'd be interested in learning how to kickbox."

"Kickbox?" Glen furrowed his eyebrows. For some reason, the word just sounded foreign on Glen's tongue.

"Yeah. Baker would train you, if you wanted. He trained Kota way back when, and it comes in handy for him. I mean, you know how often D uses the punching bag in the garage."

Practically everyday at whatever time he felt like.

Literally.

Can't sleep at 2 am? Might as well work out.

But he was only allowed to blast Mabel during the hours of 9am to 9pm, which even then was pushing it kind of late for the respect of their neighbors so Austin usually asked that he cut off his stereo at 7pm, especially on a school night.

"Why?" Glen asked.

"To give you a safe outlet for all that anger and frustration and anxiety and sadness you feel. You don't like talking about it, I get it. So this is another way to help you process it. By beating the shit out of a leather bag."

Glen took a few seconds to honestly think about it before nodding. "I think I'd like that."

"You sure? Because Baker is all in, he's ready to start next weekend."

The more he thought of it, the cooler it sounded. Glen grinned, "I'm sure."

"Great," Austin murmured, "Baker will be happy to hear that. He's been wanting to spend time with you kids doing activities like that. Next thing you know, you'll be going to with him to CrossFit."

"Cool." Glen simply said, downplaying just how freaking thrilled he actually was. That'd be super cool.

With that, Austin shut off the engine and pulled the keys out. His fingers fumbled with the key ring as he thought of the other thing he wanted to bring up.

He had to speak fast though or he'd miss his chance because Glen was halfway out the door when the kid realized Austin hadn't moved an inch. The boy slowly sat back down in the seat, leaving the door cracked open as his leg dangled outside the car.

Glen looked at Austin expectantly, his pulse starting to race as he thought of other bombs Austin could possibly drop on him.

"There's one more thing," Austin said, making Glen's expression morph into unsurely. "I wanted to thank you for what you did this morning."

Glen didn't say anything so Austin felt the need to keep talking, "You know, for leaving Hayes' project on the table for us to find. It really meant a lot to me to read what she wrote and I don't think I would have seen it otherwise."

Ah, that.

Glen smirked. "I don't know what you're talking about, Austin."

————

Francis nearly barreled right over poor Glen who was minding his own business on the bleachers, earning himself a warning from Austin to behave.

Hahahaha, joke's on Austin. No silly warning would stop Francis' antics.

"You're alive," Francis cheered, his arms tightening to the point of almost suffocation around the kid's neck. "I missed you Baby Bro."

Glen coughed harshly from the sudden attack, having to be rescued by Austin who gripped Fran by the upper arm and pulled him all the way to his other side, away from Glen.

"Jesus, Francis," Austin snapped, "What did I just say?"

Glen wasn't bothered though, as evident by how his face lit up at the sight of his best buddy numero dos, even with the coughing fit. Just ignore the flushed cheeks from when he was gasping for air. "I saw you this morning, Francis." Glen's laugh was a little hoarse.

Both siblings were leaning forward to see each other around Austin's muscular build, and did their super-secret obnoxious handshake, complete with a fist bump explosion.

Guess it wasn't so super-secret anymore after doing it right in front of Austin.

"Yeah but like, we haven't shared a room in two nights. It's not the same with Dicky P." That earned Francis a quick smack to his thigh from Austin. He hated that nickname.

"Aw, you miss me," Glen grinned.

Francis shrugged as his face warmed. He quickly ducked his head, sliding his backpack off his shoulder and busying himself with finding something in it that he just happened to remember about and was excited to show Austin.

"What's this?" Austin asked, grabbing hold of the nicely maintained paper that Francis took out of a folder.

"My math test," Francis said proudly. He tapped at the grade circled at the top. "My fridge-worthy math test."

Glen leaned in against Austin's shoulder, being a nosy little brother. His eyes darted up towards Austin, curious on his reaction.

"An 87?" Austin looped an arm around Francis' shoulder, bringing him closer to press a chaste kiss to the top of his baseball cap. "Atta boy, Fran. Now just imagine what you could have gotten if you hadn't crammed the night before."

Francis groaned. "Yes, yes, we moved past that lesson."

"Always a good time for a reminder," Austin replied with a grin, knocking down the edge of Francis' cap.

Francis fixed his hat properly with a grunt. "Child abuse."

"Boy cried wolf," Austin retorted, settling back against the bleacher behind him. He briefly patted Glen on the back when he started coughing again.

See and that was why he wanted the kid to stay home.

It wasn't too late, as the varsity girl's game hadn't started yet. There was still 3 minutes left on the clock for warmups.

Glen suddenly jumped to his feet and scampered down the bleachers in a blink of an eye. The kid's lanky legs moved fast, nimble.

Austin followed him with his eyes, his lips tilting upward at the sight of his youngest brother greeting Baker in a enthusiastic hug. The brother had arrived just in time, coming straight off his shift and dressed casually in a pair of gym shorts and a hoodie. Just like Glen.

Glen was very animated as the two conversed, the boy talking with his hands, which Austin had noticed him doing more often. He was becoming more like Francis each and every day.

God help them.

————

The game was a blow-out for Hayes' team, a total dominating act on their part. As sucky as that meant for the opposing team since they were losing greatly, so greatly in fact that the mercy rule was implemented. That meant there was at least a 30 point difference so the basketball game became a running clock and ended pretty quickly after that.

That night, Hayes could honestly admit that she enjoyed playing in the basketball game.  For a change, there was no pressure on her besides having genuine fun. Reminded her on why she was playing in the first place.

Good timing too, because after Monday's game, this kept Hayes from being burnt out, keeping the candle burning for her enthusiasm for the sport just a little longer.

Fun. What a foreign concept for some student athletes now-a-days.

The rest of Thursday night passed relatively smoothly, meaning Francis and Glen only embarrassed their sister by calling out her name loudly from the crowded stance several times.

How many times?

Austin could count using just his fingers...

All his fingers.

Keeping the good trend rolling, Friday went swimmingly as well.

Swimmingly was Austin's optimism shining, because although the brothers were functioning  well together, there was a little girl who was continuing to try and hide in the shadows because there was something that still felt off to her in regards to her brothers.

Other than that hiccup, Glen had returned to school and impressively lasted the entire day, though his cough was still lingering which worried Austin. But the fever had stayed gone so the eldest brother didn't have a good reason to keep the boy home another day.

And, Austin kept his decision thus far that Saturday will be the night where he and Baker would sit and chat with Glen and Hayes about everything that has happened. Clear up the air that had gotten a little polluted this week.

But before that shindig could happen, the Powers siblings had to survive the 'day' portion of Saturday.

It was currently around that 3pm siesta time where they were all just chilling throughout the house.

Except Hayes.

And Baker.

Home alone for the weekend since Peyton had gone on a girls' weekend trip, Baker had come over and was able to persuade the girl to leave her hideaway and go on a walk with him. He played dirty, using Chubba to his advantage to coax Hayes out of her room. He was a genius, that man. Two for one, tire out the dog at the same time as bonding with his sister.

But that left the other siblings to find trouble.

Or was it trouble that seemed to find them?

"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peckers. How many pickled peckers did Peter Piper peck?" Francis strolled into the dining room to bother his dear brother, Smiley. The kid was being too productive with his school work and needed a break.

Glen blinked, replaying the tongue twister in his head. Something didn't sound quite right. He twisted around in his chair to face his brother whose main purpose in life was apparently to distract him. Glen was strong, he would resist the temptation to engage. "Dude, I'm pretty sure you said that wrong."

"No, I didn't," Francis defended.

Glen simply rolled his eyes, getting back to his studying. He was a man on a mission, eager to get all his make-up work and newly assigned homework done so tomorrow he could take the online permit tests like Austin promised on Thursday.

Suddenly an annoying presence was hovering over Glen's shoulder.

"Fran, go away."

"I'm bored," Francis whined. He had been playing video games by himself for hours now and all his online buddies signed off so now he had no one to be entertained by.

Glen tapped his pen against his textbook, his anxiety of getting the work done in time rising the more that Francis continued to stand there. "Ask Hayes to play with you."

"She's with Baker."

"Ask Colton."

"He's at the store"

"Dakota?"

"I like my life."

Glen paused. Couldn't argue with that one. "Fair enough. Austin?"

Francis tossed that idea around in his head, his head tilting to each shoulder. That may be a solution. "Maybe. He can't resist my charm."

"What charm?" Glen snickered, flinching when Francis suddenly blew air in his ear. "Screw you, Francis!" He exclaimed, catching the bait. Abandoning his work, he shoved his chair back and shot off after Francis who had taken off running.

Francis ran in a giant circle, through the living room into the kitchen then the dining room and back to the living room. He scrambled onto the top of the couch like how a cat sits, about as graceful as an animal that was exactly opposite of a gazelle, meaning not graceful whatsoever with his lengthy limbs. The very same couch that Austin was currently napping on.

Poor Austin, all the guy wanted to do was rest his eyes on the couch in the living room for longer than 10 minutes.

He should have known the peace and quiet and solitude was never going to last.

Austin kept his arm covering his eyes, praying that by some miracle his kid brothers would go do something else for just 2 more seconds.

That's all he asks.

Psh, yeah, right.

"What the hell are you doing, Francis?" Austin grumbled, not even needing to look to know who it was.

"Smiley was trying to hurt me!"

"Good," Austin grunted, roughly rubbing his cheeks before pushing up into a seated position, swinging his legs to the floor. Props to him, he didn't even blink an eye at the current circumstances.

"Good?" Francis cried out, "Good? What happened to your rule of not hurting siblings?"

Austin looked very unimpressed as his gaze flickered to Francis who was somehow stable on top of the couch backrest, crouched down with his right side pressed against the wall, and then over to Glen who was standing in front of him. The kid gave his eldest brother an angelic smile.

Boy, if that didn't scream double trouble.

"You know, I just have this feeling that's telling me you started it." Austin answered, sternly looking at the older teen.

Francis' mouth gaped open and closed, speechless at blatant accusation.

Glen nodded like a bobble head, laughing at his brother. He was easily entertained by his theatrics, making him wonder if Francis should have gone to theater school rather than baseball camp as a kid.

"Yo, I'm fucking starving. What's for dinner?" The stomping heard from above their heads got progressively louder as Dakota descended down the stairs. When he saw his brothers in the living room, he joined the group plopping down on one of the fancy schmancy chairs.

Glen wisely took a giant step to the left, away from Dakota's outstretched legs. He learned his lesson before when Kota had unsuspectedly kicked him in the back of the knee and gave him a dead leg. It wasn't a pleasant feeling that he yearned to experience again.

"Hey, Starving, I'm Francis."

The death glare almost made Francis pee his pants.

Austin looked up distractedly, having been checking his phone for updates from either Baker or Colton. "I don't know, it's your turn to pick." Austin belatedly answered Dakota's inquiry.

"No it's not," Francis immediately disagreed, climbing down from the backrest and taking a seat properly on the couch next to Austin. "I think it's Glen's."

Glen grinned. He could go for a burger or pizza or wings. Now that sounded good, crispy buffalo chicken wings. Yummy.

"Then ask Glen, Kota." Austin yawned, standing up and pocketing his cell phone. His tiredness made the conspiracy act going on slip right past him.

Glen's grin slightly faltered when he got the 100-degrees of hell stare down from Dakota. Another step to the left, far from Dakota's foot.

"Are you lying to me?"

Francis stood up, pretending to smooth out his wrinkly t-shirt. "No, I'm not lying to you. I distinctly remember that last week it was my turn and you went the last, last time. Cracker barrel, remember?"

Francis had heard Dakota mention it earlier in the week and took a risk.

Dakota's glare darkened as he tried to decipher the lie. Nobody missed Francis inch closer to the safety of their eldest brother. "Are you fucking with me?"

"I am not," Francis claimed.

"Francis, stop being a little shit," Baker drew the attention to himself as he popped his head in from the foyer. He stood in the threshold, his muscular arms crossed in his naturally intimidating pose. He, Hayes, and Chubba had just returned home from their walk around the neighborhood.

Francis flung his hands up in the air, but no one was paying attention to him any more.

Baker had his head turned over his shoulder, just barely catching the tip of a wagging golden tail as the dog disappeared up the carpeted staircase at the heels of their little sister.

"What was that?" Dakota questioned, his glare now a frown. He wasn't oblivious to Hayes' avoidance. He could have sworn he was in Hayes' good graces, too. He didn't understand these whirlwind teenage emotions.

"Any progress?" Austin asked, but the hopeful glint in his eyes diminished when Baker shook his head. Taking Chubba for a walk did not have the results either brother were looking for. Hayes held up her side of the conversation by answering with one or two words as much as possible. So basically Baker got nowhere with scaling the mental brick wall barrier Hayes had in place.

"Nope," Baker replied aloud, patting the wall before walking away to go wash his hands in the kitchen. He had the regal task of pooper scooper during the walk.

Austin followed him so they could talk in private, except it became a train of brothers when Glen trailed right behind Austin. No way was the kid going to stay in the same room as Dakota with only Francis as backup.

"By the way, Cole picked the dinner last week!" Baker outed Francis' evil plan just because.

"Why you gotta do that?" Francis complained, fully aware he was facing Dakota's wrath alone.

"Fuck you," Dakota hissed at the teen, his hands gripping the chair arms. "Hope you have fun in fucking hell."

"See you there!" Francis quipped, before immediately taking off like a bullet, straight out of the living room and up the stairs where he could safely lock his bedroom door from a grumpy Dakota.

"And we're having fucking Cracker Barrel!" Dakota's declaration could be heard throughout the house.

————

The hangry siblings had to wait another hour or so for Colton to get back home from food shopping before departing for dinner at the infamous Cracker Barrel, per Dakota's choosing.

He really wanted his chicken and dumplings, damn it.

Pushing closer to 5pm, which was early for the siblings to be eating dinner typically, everyone was ready to go.

Except Sunshine.

The bedroom door burst open in the brute Dakota fashion. "Get the fuck up, we're leaving."

"Bye," Hayes lifted her hand in a wave, not taking her eyes off the page of the book she was reading. She was situated under her comforter, curled up on her left side and very cozy, with Chubba laying sprawled out against her back. His paws were in the air as he had been snoozing.

"That means you too. Let's go." Dakota stepped into the room, in no mood to fool around. Not when food was involved.

"Not hungry," Hayes passed.

"I wasn't asking." The book was plucked from her hands and hid behind Dakota's back.

"Hey! Give that back!"

The bickering was starting to put Chubba on alert, the dog rolling over onto his stomach. His tail wagged against the pillows, ready to defend Hayes at a moment's notice.

"What's going on in here?" Baker came into the room to assist in retrieving their sister. Chubba's tail started wagging faster at the sight of his owner. "I got it from here," Baker said with authority, grabbing the book out of Dakota's hand and giving it back to the girl.

Hayes stuck her tongue out at Dakota. In return, he held up his middle finger which Baker promptly smacked his arm down. "What the fuck, man? Don't do that around her."

Dakota rolled his eyes and stomped his way out of the bedroom. "Just hurry the fuck up, will you?"

"What a grump," Baker commented, taking a seat on the edge of the bed next to Hayes' feet. Chubba popped up and took a protective step over Hayes' body before laying down again, right on top of her. His tail wagged on max speed as he nudged his wet nose against Baker's arm.

Pet me, pet me, pet me.

Baker began scratching behind Chubba's ear while peering down at his little sister. "What's going on, chickadee?"

Hayes shrugged, opening her book to find the page she left off on. She was just getting to the good part.

"Are you at a good stopping point? Everyone is getting kinda hungry, as you saw." Baker stopped petting Chubba, brushing some of Hayes' hair out of her face instead. Chubba didn't like that and shoved his face against Baker's arm demanding back his attention.

"He's always like that," Hayes muttered, using her own arm to move the pesky fly-aways out of her eyes.

"Not to you, I hope. Because then we'll have a problem, him and I."

Hayes shook her head no, shuffling around under the comforter and somehow ending up with her head on Baker's lap. She wanted snuggles.

Baker glanced down at her as she looked up at him, their blue eyes mirror images of each other. He chuckled, "Babe, I think you're missing the point. You gotta get up for dinner."

"I don't wanna," Hayes groaned.

"You may not wanna, but you havta," Baker teased, tickling her side and making her squirm. Not realizing how close to the edge she was, Hayes toppled off the bed. Baker quickly grabbed her arm, stopping the girl from falling completely. Instead of a hard drop, it was more like a smooth descent, sliding down Baker's leg until her butt reached the ground. The book fell beside her.

Hayes folded her legs into pretzel formation and crossed her arms, refusing to move.

"Did something happen or is this the teenager in you?" Baker asked, reaching down and lifting Hayes up from underneath her armpits. He wrapped his arms tight around her stomach in a hug. "If you ride with me to the restaurant, we can stop for ice cream after," Baker bargained

The pout on Hayes' face faded a little as she thought about it. "Baskin Robbins?"

"If that's what you want," Baker nuzzled his nose against her head. "As long as you brush your hair and teeth and change out of your sweatpants."

"Can I get three scoops?"

"Only if you get banana as your topping."

Hayes swiftly elbowed her brother in the gut at his mean joke, making him bark out a laugh. Of course, all the brothers knew of Thursday morning's incident in the kitchen. "Not funny," Hayes grumbled, though she couldn't help but grin at the sound of Baker chuckling.

"Yes, it is," Baker replied, pressing a kiss to her head.

————

Baker was in heaven, having both kids in the truck with him as they drove to Cracker Barrel. Hayes won shot gun, surprising all the brothers by her sudden presence when she sprinted down the stairs and out the house. Glen didn't have a chance.

The reason behind her madness was so she could sneak Chubba into the car with her, but Baker squashed that plan and brought the dog back into the house where he would more than likely take another snooze while awaiting their return. The golden retriever was the laziest guard dog ever.

Austin already knew the damn dog would be lounging on the nice couch in the living room. The one piece of furniture that Austin tried to keep dog-hair free.

It was a pleasant sound, the kids' voices mingling together. Even though Glen was the chatterbox the whole trip, Hayes sprinkled in some comments every now and then. Baker was in bliss, happy he could provide such comfort that Hayes and Glen felt like they could be themselves around him. It was a huge sigh of relief for Baker, especially with Hayes' odd behavior lately.

Cracker Barrel wasn't busy yet, in between the senior citizen crowd and the Saturday night crowd. So when the siblings arrived in their two cars, the hostess was able to sit their large group right away. They were led to a circular table in the far corner next to the decorative fireplace.

Hayes followed closely behind Baker's back, her head swiveling all around in amazement at the various knickknacks on the walls before tucking herself in a chair between Baker and Glen. She found safety in their presence.

Drink and food orders were taken as everyone pretty much knew what they wanted. Even Hayes, who asked for a glass of water and the chicken tenders with french fries as both of her sides. When she was done telling the waitress her order, she got the look from Austin but he didn't say anything about her lack of nutritious choices.

Hayes grinned.

Point for her!

"Just telling you now, only two scoops of ice cream with all those fries," Baker whispered in her ear.

Bye bye point.

Conversation picked up amongst the brothers as Hayes turned her attention to playing the triangle peg game that was on the table. After three attempts, she could never get better than having three pegs left.

"Can I try?"

Hayes glanced up, identifying the gruff voice as Dakota whom sat on the other side of Baker. He had been watching her as she worked out the puzzle, feeling this weird bit of guilt in his stomach from the way he acted earlier towards her.

Hayes quietly put back all the pegs on the wood game tray and slid the game on the table in his direction. Dakota reached his arm out and dragged it the rest of the way, past Baker who briefly looked down before returning his attention to Austin and Colton sitting across from him.

The girl leaned forward in her seat to watch Dakota do his thing. Her eyebrows rose in surprise when he finished with one lone peg left in under a minute.

Dakota settled back in his seat. Damn, he still got it.

Before Hayes could ask Dakota if he could teach her how to do that, their food arrived. Dishes were passed out to the respective diners... Dakota got his chicken and dumplings; Hayes with her chicken tenders and multitude of french fries. Even Glen got the hamburger he had been wanting, though it probably didn't taste the same as a true burger grill.

It was all good until her brothers decided to keep sticking their hands on her plate and stealing her fries, even those who had their own side of fries.

Hayes scowled, "Stop it, Glennard!" She punched Glen in the arm.

"Hayes, no." Austin scolded her, really trying to break that habit of hers and Glen before it got them in true trouble.

"He's taking my food!"

Glen blatantly did it again as she was whining about it.

"Glen, really? Both of you, knock it off." Austin warned.

This time, Baker caught the girl's fist before she could do some damage. Baker pushed his chair back and stood up, pulling Hayes' chair back too. He tugged her out of her seat, forcing his sister to switch chairs with him so now he was a human barrier between the kids.

He and Austin could never predict when the two of them would get into tiffs like this. Perfectly fine, partners-in-crime one second, and then the next bickering like cats and dogs. The weirdest thing about it all, was even when they were fed up with each other, Glen and Hayes still didn't leave one's side. They just continued to sit, pissed off at each other, together.

Hayes slouched down low in her new seating placement, crossing her arms with a frown. Baker switched their plates but the girl didn't make a move to touch her food.

"Eat up before it gets cold, Sunshine." Baker patted her knee.

She didn't do so, remaining a grouch as she stared daggers at the table.

Laughter broke out amongst the group over whatever the brothers were previously talking about. That just annoyed Hayes more for some unspeakable reason as she sunk further under the table.

"Why you being a grump?" Dakota questioned, bumping her shoulder with his elbow.

Well, wasn't he was one to speak.

Austin cleared his throat, choosing to ignore Hayes' behavior for the time being as he got everyone's attention. "I wanted to share with you guys an email I got from Glen's history teacher this morning."

Glen's face flushed as the siblings' gaze flickered to him. The kid hadn't known his teacher had told his eldest brother. Francis laughed at his embarrassment, going as far as poking his brother's reddening cheek.

Baker rested his arm around the back of Glen's chair. "What'd he do now?" He asked playfully. Glen was a high academic achiever in school, so whatever it was, was surely to be a compliment someway or another.

"Apparently, our brother has immensely impressed her with his test scores."

Colton already looked amazed just hearing that, and he didn't even know what the kid had done. "You impressed Mrs. Jasper? Damn, Glen, you must be my little history prodigy."

"I don't know, Cole, he may just have you beat as master," Austin said.

Colton sat back in his chair, holding a hand to his chest in disbelief. "What in the world did you do, Smiley?"

Austin looked at Glen, encouraging him to share the news.

Glen's eyes darted around the table. "I got an 100 on my test," he revealed, very much flustered.

"On two tests," Austin corrected him, wanting to brag about his brother's accomplishments. "Mrs. Jasper said she never had a student do that before in her 20 years of teaching."

"Damn baby bro," Francis enthusiastically whacked him on the back in congratulations. "Welcome to the fridge club."

"And, she recommended he switch to advance placement for next year." Austin added, proud of his kid.

Baker whistled, his hand tousling the back Glen's hair. "You got brains, Smiley."

Hayes rolled her eyes. Stupid Glennard doing stupid school things.

She aced her tests too, not that her brothers would know that since she hadn't told them. The score reports were crumbled up on the desk in her bedroom.

"Sunshine, sit up and eat your food," Austin told the little girl. He had given her enough time to pout.

"I'm not hungry," Hayes retorted, though she did push herself up so she was sitting a bit more properly. The girl felt a little self-conscious being in a restaurant and all.

"Did you even eat anything today?" Colton asked her, concern written on his face. Though he hadn't been home most of the day, he didn't remember seeing dirty dishes in the sink or food crumbs on the counter.

She scowled at him as she practically snarled. "Yes." Hayes didn't need her brothers to keep watch over every little thing she did, especially not Colton. He was leaving them in the dust anyways, what did he care.

"Hayes, last warning," Austin said, "Then the two of us will go outside and wait while everyone else enjoys their dinner."

Big whoop.

"I'm not even doing anything!" Hayes exclaimed.

Baker shushed her, turning his body to her so he could quietly talk her down from a fit without the entire restaurant listening in. He bent over, his forehead knocking against the side of her head as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

Just when Baker had soothed her ruffled feathers, Francis had to go and open his big mouth. "Sissy needs to go to Miss Manners school."

He winced when Colton instantly reprimanded him with an additional smack to the head. "Not the time, Fran."

That pushed her over the edge though, destroying Baker's hard work. "Shut up, Francesca!"

"Alright, let's go." Austin calmly laid his fork down and got up. He walked around the table to where Hayes sat and pulled her chair out. The girl looked up at him, wide-eyed in a panic, not moving to get up. She could feel Baker rubbing her shoulder but it didn't make her feel any better.

She didn't want to go outside. What happened outside? No, no, no... She didn't want to find out.

Austin crouched down so he could be at her eyelevel. He held no frustration towards the girl. The entire day she just wasn't acting like herself even more so than usual compared to this week and now the attitude at dinner was worrying him. When was he not worried about her? That was where his endless patience came in clutch, his face relaxed to not scare her.

"We're just going to sit outside in the rocking chairs. You're not in trouble," Austin promised. He held his hand out, this time, hoping, praying, she'd take it.

"Go," Baker squeezed her shoulder to prompt her. "Maybe you can talk him into buying another rocking chair for the front porch."

Hayes stared at her eldest brother's hand, seeing it as a truce.

Very hesitantly, she lifted her right hand and laid it on top of his. Her small hand swallowed up by his own when he gently clasped his fingers. His thumb brushed over the top of her hand before he tugged her up, out of her chair.

"Anyone touch her fries, you're buying her more. Got it?" He threatened, glancing at all his brothers.

Hayes didn't catch their responses as Austin began to escort her out of the dining area and through the gift shop to the outdoors. The temperature already dropped 10 degrees from when the siblings first arrived, a chill in the air making Hayes shiver and goosebumps mark her legs. It was approaching winter after all.

Humph. That was all Baker's fault, he made he change out of her comfy sweatpants.

Hayes dropped Austin's hand as she took her time walking along the sidewalk with all the rocking chairs against the wall. Might as well look for the pretty one to sit on since Austin didn't plan on going back inside any time soon.

Her fingers danced along the all the wooden armrests, until a juniper green caught her eye. She cautiously sat down, pulling her knees up so her feet rested on the edge. She gripped the bottom of the sweatshirt and lifted it over her bare knees so she looked like a rock.

Austin took the chair next to her, stretching his long legs out in front of him as he slowly rocked back and forth. He laced his hands together, resting them on his stomach as he took in the sight of cars in the parking lot. Just beyond, he could watch the cars zip by on the side road.

Silence encompassed the two of them, as Austin knew that the only way to get Hayes to speak what was on her mind was to wait it out.

So they sat in a peaceful tranquility. The breeze was making Hayes' loose hair strands wisp all around until it annoyed her to the extent that she needed to put the sweatshirt hood up.

For some unexplainable reason, that cracked her strong facade.

"You didn't tell me," his sister's voice was so soft it could have been lost in the wind if Austin hadn't been purposefully listening for it.

He tilted his head to look at her as his heart skipped a beat. He wouldn't assume what Hayes was referring too, as there were what felt like endless possibilities at this point. His mind immediately jumped to the Bear but this wasn't the reaction he would have expected. But this was Hayes... anything was fair game with her. "Tell you what?" He asked calmly.

Hayes tied the strings of the hoodie together, then untied them only to knot them together again.

Austin waited.

Hayes kept knotting and undoing and knotting and undoing. She pulled both strings so the fabric was now cinched around her face.

The hurt from being left in the dark was suffocating her.

"I know," Hayes whispered, ignoring his question, "And I told Glen. Glen knows too."

Austin frowned.

What in the world was she referring to?

"Glen knows?" Austin echoed, his eyebrows furrowing downward to match his frown.

Hayes sent an accusatory glare at her eldest brother. "We don't have secrets."

Oh, little girl, what you don't know...

But Austin also still didn't know what she knew.

"What are you talking about?" Austin's knuckles brushed against Hayes' arm causing her to shift away from him.

That stung. A reminder he was still on thin ice with his sister.

She didn't dare look at him again, too scared but needing to know the answer at the same time. "Are you leaving us too?"

~~~~

Extra long one to hold you over.

Ya'll know the drill. Semester is winding down super fast so extra time to write is sparse while I study for tests and complete projects that I've procrastinated. ~ 3ish weeks (month of May) pls :)

Promise, next chapter will have the bad news. Double dog promise.