They Don't Know

Summary: Brad admits to his best friend that he hasn't spoken to his parents face to face in years

Brad Cooper walked over to his door and swung it open as soon as the urgent knocking started. As soon as it opened, his best friend flew at him, her slender arms wrapping tightly around his neck. He could smell the cinamon spice scent of her shampoo as she pulled away. and he let himself relax in the familarity of his best friend. The woman who was pratically his sister. "Thanks for coming." He spoke, giving her a weak smile.

"Of course!" She told him, unwinding the scarf that she had around her head as she closed the door. Her brown hair fell about her gently and she pulled off her sunglasses, green eyes studied him worriedly. "What happened?"

He swallowed hard and led her over to take a seat on the edge of his bed. "Lucas asked why I didn't want my parents at the wedding and I couldn't even tell him. I don't know what to say. How do I tell him that I haven't seen my parents in years, since my sister, Krista died? How do I tell him that my mom and dad don't even know I'm gay?"

Britt didn't hesitate in pulling his head to her shoulder. One of her hands ran through his hair comfortingly while she held his hand in her other one. "I don't exactly know what to tell you, Brad. But if you and Lucas are getting married, don't your parents deserve to know? Maybe they'll be accepting of you."

Brad shook his head miserably, throat closing up as his emotions got to him. "You don't get it!" He yelled out in frustration, hands clenching tightly in his hair. "I'm the reason that my sister is dead!"

She frowned at that. "Brad, sweetie." She stated, shaking her head. "I don't understand what you're saying. How are you responsible for Krista's death?"

Her friend's head lowered and he hunched in on himself as he recalled how everything had changed.

Brad grinned as his sister's arm laced through his as she led him into the club. She did it with an air of confidence that Brad himself could never quite manage. He was eighteen and his sister was taking him out because he'd graduated high school and gotten a full scholarship to the college of his choosing. His twenty one year old sister had gotten him a fake id and everything.

"Mom and dad are going to kill us if they find out." He couldn't help but warn as they took a seat at the bar.

Krista rolled her eyes, flipping riotous, raven curls over a bare shoulder. "Mom and dad have no say, okay? You and I are both legally adults."

"Yeah, but I still legally live with them." He answered, chewing his lip as the rather handsome bartender placed their drinks in front of him.

"Only for a couple more months!" Krista argued as she downed her tequila.

The siblings just had a fun night, dancing. They never expected what would happen when they got into the car. All he'd had was a beer. He didn't even feel buzzed as he got behind the wheel of his sister's beloved jeep. He never expected that a car would hit on the passenger's side, right where his older sister was sitting.

The rest of the night was a blur. He remembers being rushed to the hospital and being unable to see his sister. He recalls the doctor's saying he's fine except for a few bruises. It's only when his parents get there that he learns that his sister had died on impact.

The following weeks are hard and Brad feels unable to deal. The house is quiet, too quiet. And his sister's childhood bedroom has become like a shrine. He feels as if his parents can barely look at him. So that's when he decides to leave. He was supposed to leave for college, anyway. Why not go just a little bit earlier than he'd originally planned?

So he hadn't seen his family since then. Krista had also been the only one in the family who knew he was gay considering he never thought to tell their parents.

Britt stared at him in shock as he finished his story, mouth open in an O. "Brad, you can't possibly blame yourself. Someone else hit you two. The accident wasn't your fault."

Brad shook his head. "Then why does it feel like it?" He wondered sadly, tears stinging his eyes as memories of his dead sister resurfaced.

She didn't reply. Instead, she just continued to hold him.