"But we're a million worlds apart."
Jared said softly into the mic.
Jared was an asshole, but he knew how to read poetry in a way that made people lean forwards slightly so as not to miss a word.
As he finished the poem, he took a dramatic bow, the audience cheering and yelling.
Zoe clapped along politely, shooting a glare at Connor, who was behind the counter.
He had already tried to talk to her, but she'd walked off without a word to Connor, who'd slunk back behind the drink counter with a scowl.
Luckily, Evan had been talking to someone else when that had happened, because Zoe wasn't in the mood to explain that Connor was her brother, and had wrecked her life throughout high school with his drug addiction and mental illness.
The bipolar disorder, she recognized wasn't his fault. That had been an unlucky roll of the dice. The drug addiction however, had been completely his fault, and was something she hated him for.
The older brother she'd idolized as a child would not have been so weak.
She had not been so weak.
Because even after all The nightmares that sometimes woke her up in the middle of the night sobbing because of the fear.
The anxiousness that made her jump whenever there was a loud noise.
The memory that made her crumple into herself when she got into arguments, afraid that it would escalate into something unbearable.
He had done that to her.
With his stabbing words, with his red eyes when he came home high and banged on her door screaming obscenities.
Most days when he was home she lock herself in her room and hide in her closet, their parents who refused to see anything more than the bickering of siblings.
All of this that she had endured, And still she had not turned to drugs.
Hadn't turned to something that would ease the pain but would have wrecked her life and the lives of the people she cared about.
Say what you will, but she'd had enough of Connor's shit to last a lifetime.
Evan had been shooting her inquisitive looks for the last hour, all of which she'd pretended she hadn't seen.
She didn't have the energy to explain who Connor was to her, and she why she hated him, nor did she have the patience to deal with Evan's optimism, a trait she normally loved him for.
And she knew exactly what he'd say.
"Maybe you could just give it another try?"
"He seems really nice now."
Because she hadn't failed to noticed the puppy eyes he was giving her brother, and she had every intention of stopping whatever it was before Connor broke him, just as he'd broken their family, and most every relationship since middle school.
Because she had seen the way Connor's eyes followed Evan, discreetly, but she had learned all his tricks long ago.
She had seen the shy smiles shared between them when Evan ordered his drink, and every time he refilled it.
And because she knew Connor all too well.
He would find some crack in Evan, and he would use that to control him, as he had with Zoe.
He would not break Evan.
Her sweet, sweet Evan, who still cried when he accidentally squished a bug, who didn't eat meat because he couldn't stand the thought of something innocent dying for his pleasure. Evan, who brought her ice cream and wine when one of her relationships ended and stayed up with her all night watching stupid chick-flicks.
No, she wouldn't allow that.
And when everyone had read their poetry and were packing up to leave, she pulled Connor, who looked plenty surprised and somewhat pleased, into a corner and put on her no-shit face.
"Leave him alone."
She watched as his features contorted into confusion and then realization as he glanced at Evan and then back at her.
"I wasn't going to-"
"Good. Don't."
She pointed her finger at him,
"Because I know you too well Connor, and you're not going to hurt him too."
Connor opened his mouth to say something, but she shook her head and walked away, grabbing Evan's hand and pulling him out the door.
"Is everything okay?"
He asked once they were around the corner and she'd slowed down.
She blinked away the tears and wiped her eyes, turning towards him with a smile.
"That was a really pretty poem, thanks for bringing me, Evan."
Se replied, hugging him tightly.
"I gotta get home, but you be safe okay?"
She said, kissing him on the cheek and walking away from a very confused Evan.
