Chapter 100: Chapter Three

Demetri

If my brother didn't lay off the drama soon, I was going to put my fist through a wall. Everything seemed off. Either that or I was developing diabetes or something.

Or possibly it was too much estrogen, considering I'd been surrounded by so many chicks lately, Alyssa being one of them, but still. My spider senses were off.

I knew when something was up, and something was up with Alec. I mean, he was walking around smiling.

That should have been my first clue. He never tried to be anything. He just was. So when he tried in the emotions department, it literally meant he didn't have his shit together.

I knocked on his door and waited for him to answer. His impromptu idea with the late night swim interrupted what was supposed to be our man talk.

I was going to take him aside, pretend to get in a fight with him, punch him in the face, and then ask what the hell was wrong with him.

Then he had conveniently left with Nat, and I didn't see him until later that night. By then everyone was lurking around, so I couldn't very well call him out on his shit.

But now I was out of time. He and Nat were going to hang out since it was Sunday, the one day we got off from filming. It was the only way Alec and I agreed to do it.

We needed our privacy for one day. I mean, I could swallow a whale and bribe Jaymeson to hump a mermaid and we'd still be camera-free.

I knocked again, this time harder. We needed to have a chat before he disappeared again.

Dude, the guy needed hearing aids.

I swear he was turning senile.

“Alec! Hurry up, Nat's going to be here…” I pushed open the door to his room in the Seaside Beach House expecting to see him pacing the room trying to get ready.

Instead, the shower was still on.

I walked over to the door with every intention of pulling out my camera and getting some good stuff for bribery purposes, when I heard his voice.

“No, that doesn't make me feel better!” He cursed violently. “Are you kidding me? Two million? For what? For her to maybe keep her mouth shut? For her to possibly back down?

“You've got to be shitting me. I'm not handing out a penny until you get it in writing. Do you hear me? In writing. She can't say a word. Not one damn word. If she does, I'll sue her.

Whoa. Someone's been watching way too much daytime television and clearly needs to lay off the caffeine. I slowly backed up and walked over to the bed.

I knew in our business it was typical to get blackmailed, and I knew that Alec had his own share of crap this last month with some groupie claiming he got her pregnant.

At any rate, brothers stick together, and I needed to help him out. It was the least I could do after everything he'd done for me.

Wait. When I thought about it, he didn't really do much except for steal my girlfriend, get me addicted to drugs… On second thought…

“I don't care if she has him on her side! It's ridiculous and you know it! You know how screwed up this is. And it's not my fault that the details are blurred!”

What happened? I told myself not to jump to conclusions. I knew Alec. He was even-tempered, calculated, and sometimes indifferent. He thought before he acted. He was always in control.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a prescription bottle. Shit, not this again. I picked it up and read the label, exhaling as I looked over the familiar brand.

He was back on antidepressants.

Bad sign.

The minute the bathroom door opened I held up the incriminating pill bottle and threw it at his chest. “What the hell?”

“Hi to you too,” Alec said in a hoarse voice. “Snooping I see.”

He moved to the desk where he had strategically laid out his reading glasses, guitar picks — all in color-coded order starting with date of use — and lastly, his pills.

To say that he was a control freak would be putting it mildly.

He was addicted to order the way I was addicted to… well, used to be addicted to getting high, so let's just go with taffy for now, or Alyssa, maybe sex.

I waited for him to stop counting before saying, “It's not snooping when it's out for everyone to see, including your super-paranoid girlfriend who just happens to be the daughter of a shrink.

Alec set the pill bottles in his nightstand and cursed. “I just. I—”

“What? What did you do?”

Bitter laughter bubbled out of him. “What didn't I do? That should be the question.”

“Not following.”

“I didn't do a damn thing. Not technically.”

“What's technically?” I asked, not sure I wanted to know the answer. “And when did this happen… technically?”

“You don't even know what we're discussing.” Alec cursed and jerked open his dresser. Again color-coded. He pulled a shirt over his head and tugged on some jeans.

I shrugged. “Sure I do. Someone's blackmailing you.

Alec swallowed and looked away. “Right.”

“Dude.”

“It's not a big deal.”

“Since when is two million dollars and enough antidepressants to kill an elephant not a big deal?”

“Since I said it isn't,” he snapped.

I tried a different tactic. I walked over to him and put my arm around his shoulder, bro-love style. “How can I help?”

Alec laughed sadly. “What? You Superman now?”

“I was thinking Spiderman, but Superman does have x-ray vision…” I smirked and thought of Alyssa. Down, boy.

“You can't fix this, Demetri.” Alec's voice caught as he said my name and looked down at his shaking hands. “Nobody can.”

“Not even you?”

He swallowed slowly before lifting his gaze to meet mine. “Not even God.”

“Oh.”

“Right.” He snorted. “So, thanks, but no thanks. I'll burn in Hell by myself. I'd die before I took my little brother with me. I've already done enough to you.”

“And what about Nat?”

Wordless, he got up from the bed and cursed. “Angels don't belong with demons.”

Well, so much for the movie quote game, I could have rocked him on that one. Instead, the rage-aholic slammed his hand against the door and cursed.

“It's too late anyway.”

“But—”

Alec held up his hand. “I'll figure it out. I always do, right?” There was that damn forced smile again. I couldn't fix it.

I could only nod my head and hope to God that he wasn't going further into the rabbit hole. I knew depression. I knew drugs. I knew anxiety, and I knew that look on his face.

Unless you had help, there was no happy ending.