As Lily walked quietly up the front path, she peered through the window.
Brax was pacing, hands interlocked atop his head as he stopped now and again, turning to Ricky who had her phone clutched to her ear.
Heath was sat beside Bianca at the table with his head bowed but his hand reaching across and resting on Darcy's arm. Lily felt a pang in her chest at the sight of her niece crying.
Kyle and Casey were stood side by side against the back of the couch. One was texting and one was also on the phone speaking quickly.
Lily sighed, knowing she had to go in, but regretting now not telling anyone where she was going.
Taking a deep breath she put her hand on the doorknob and pushed.
…
"Don't be mad" she opened with, shutting the door behind her and hearing a collective sigh of relief bounce round the room.
"You better have a damn good reason why not" Brax fumed, snatching his phone from Ricky and chucking it on the table.
Lily opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off by Darcy launching herself at her aunt.
"I knew you'd be okay!" she cried, burying her face in Lily's chest
"I'm fine Darce"
Heath stood up, his jaw set as he turned to his daughter
"Alright Gromit you promised once your aunt was home you'd go next door and put your PJ's on"
"I'm going" she sighed, squeezing Lily once more before disappearing across the hall.
"It's almost midnight, you went out for your 'milkshake' nearly 5 hours ago!" Brax yelled
"Don't say it like that! I did go to the diner! Ask Chris!"
"Then where the hell have you been!"
Brax ran a hand over his face in an attempt to calm himself down. Ricky, sensing this was a sibling situation excused herself and Bianca into the kitchen to make coffee.
"Brax I don't really-"
"-oh no, you're not getting out of this one, you tell me where you've been and you tell me now"
"Please, can we just do this in the morning" Lily begged, tears of emotion and exhaustion threatening to spill over.
"Lily d'you get how worried we've been?" Casey demanded, pushing himself off the couch
"Yeah" Kyle agreed "When you'd been gone nearly 2 hours Brax went to the diner looking for you, Chris said you'd left ages before and an old couple sat in there said they'd seen you arguing with some man who had dragged you off somewhere!"
Lily bowed her head and closed her eyes "It isn't what you think?"
"Isn't it?" Heath snorted "Because after that it sounded a hell of a lot like you'd been kidnapped!"
"Well I am a Braxton"
"D'you seriously think this is funny?" Brax snapped
"Apparently not" Lily muttered
She shrunk back as he took a step forward "Just tell me where you've been"
"The hospital" she admitted quietly.
"What?" Casey blurted "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine Case?"
"What happened?" Brax demanded
"It's nothing to do with me"
"Then why were you there?" Heath cut in
"Because I was asked to be there"
"By who?" Kyle questioned
Lily looked round at them in exasperation.
"You're seriously not gonna let this go until the morning?"
"No chance" Brax answered smoothly
"I was with Benny" Lily told them finally "He was the one I was arguing with outside the diner, he asked me to go with him and I did, I'm sorry I didn't call or text but I was a bit too busy to okay? Now I'm going to bed"
Heath caught her by the wrist as she went to pass him.
"Get off me!" she screamed, making the 4 men jump
"Hey easy!" Brax ordered, taking her gently by the shoulders "Lil, come on, what's going on here?"
She stood shaking her head at them, tears silently sliding down her cheeks.
Brax sighed, pulling her into his arms "Come here kiddo"
She collapsed against his chest, winding her arms tight round his waist as he stood with his chin resting atop her head.
"What the hell's going on?" Heath asked in a bemused tone
"No idea" Casey and Kyle said in unison.
…
Once she'd calmed down, Lily was sat between Casey and Kyle on the couch sipping a hot chocolate.
Brax was sat beside Heath on the table in front of them, while Ricky and Bianca disappeared next door to check on Darcy.
"I'm not mad anymore kid" Brax began gently "I'm just worried about you, you're sure you're alright?"
"Yeah, I went to the hospital for Benny, not me, I'm fine"
"Well why was Benny there?" Heath questioned "And why did he drag you with him?"
"The police called him…we had to go and identify a body okay?"
Brax shut his eyes and rested his head in his hands.
"Shit" Casey breathed "Leo?"
"It wasn't him" Lily told them hurriedly "But it was so weird…just this person lying there on a slab…"
She trailed off, feeling Kyle's arm wrap around her shoulders.
"I'm sorry Lil, you shouldn't have had to do that, Benny had no right making you go" Brax growled
"He didn't! I agreed!"
"So that's not why you were arguing outside the diner then?"
"It was…but I agreed to go, Brax he was a mess, he thought his brother was dead!"
Heath coughed and muttered something like 'shame he isn't'
"You don't mean that" Lily told him "Remember how good he was with Darcy after Connie died?"
"Oh come on Lil, he was using Darce to get closer to you!" Heath cried
His sister chuckled, rubbing the bridge of her nose "You sound like a teenage girl" she informed him
"Cut it out, the pair of ya" Brax ordered "You text Maddy, you text Spencer, you go to bed. Got it?"
Lily nodded, getting to her feet with a sigh.
When she reached the door leading down the hall she stopped and turned.
"I really am sorry you know" she said quietly "I didn't mean to make you freak out"
"We know kiddo" Brax told her softly "Just…don't scare us like that again okay?"
"I make no promises, I'm a Braxton" Lily joked, winking at them before disappearing down the hall to her room.
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The next morning Lily dragged herself out of bed and got dressed, frowning at herself in the mirror as she ran a brush through her hair before piling it into a messy bun atop her head.
She groaned as she shuffled into the living room, grabbing an apple on her way to the door.
"Late night catching up with you by any chance?" Kyle asked sweetly, looking up at her from his guitar
"Get bent" she replied smoothly, hoisting her bag over her shoulder
"I love you too baby sister"
"Don't call me that, I'm not a baby"
"Naww don't be like that" Kyle teased, playing a few chords as he laughed.
Lily tossed a pillow at him "Do I look like I'm in the mood?"
"Drink a red bull, you'll be fine"
Casey appeared from the shower, towelling his hair dry as he wandered around in his trunks looking for a top.
"Lily? Shouldn't you be at school by now?" he asked distractedly, shoving Kyle off of the couch as he searched.
"I'm going, I'm going" she moaned "Honestly anybody would think education actually mattered"
"See you later…baby sister" Kyle called as she walked out
"Bite me" came the sarcastic reply as the door swung shut behind her.
…
"Oh my God Lily Braxton I swear down I'm gonna throttle you!" Maddy exclaimed, jumping on her friend as they met by the school gates.
"I'm sorry" Lily laughed, pulling out of the hug "But I'm alright"
"So are you gonna tell me what happened last night?"
"It doesn't matter"
"The hell it doesn't! You were abducted!"
"Maddy I was not abducted, besides I'm back now aren't I?"
Before the girls could bicker any more, Spencer came jogging out of nowhere, throwing his arms round his girlfriend so that they both stumbled slightly.
"What happened to you?" he cried
"Nothing geez, you two are so dramatic" Lily mumbled, feeling uncomfortable now a large majority of kids had stopped to look at them.
"Dramatic? Lil you went missing for nearly 5 hours!"
"Exactly 5 hours, not 5 days, not 5 weeks, months, years…5 hours" the girl sighed
"Where were you?"
"Spence it really doesn't matter" Lily said firmly, closing her eyes and shivering at the image of the morgue, and the body on the slab.
"Hey you okay?" Maddy asked quietly, resting a hand on her friend's arm
"Yeah…yeah I'm alright"
"Was it Leo?" Spencer sighed finally "Did you sneak off with Leo last night?"
"What? No! Spencer he's out of my life now!"
"I'm just worried about you"
"I was with Benny okay? I went to the hospital to identify a body that they thought was Leo, but it wasn't…now can you two just drop it, we have exams in a few weeks and I need to focus!"
With that Lily turned and took off into the school, leaving the other two speechless behind her.
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"I'm sorry, I had no idea"
Lily looked up from her textbook to see Spencer stood over her with an apologetic smile on his face.
"Sit" she instructed tiredly "Look Spencer, as selfish as this is gonna sound, I need to focus on me right now, and these exams"
"Are you breaking up with me?" he frowned, reaching for her hand across the table
"I don't know" she groaned "It's just…you thinking I'd run off with Leo after everything that's happened between us"
"I'm sorry" Spencer said again "Lil I was just worried about you"
"I know"
"So are you breaking up with me?" the boy asked again after a while
"No" Lily told him decidedly "But can we just stop talking about him?"
"Deal" Spencer agreed, leaning over and pecking her cheek "I've gotta run, but I'll see you later?"
She nodded with a smile, laughing as he jogged out of the library, almost taking out a group of first years as he went.
…
At the end of school, Lily crammed all her books into her bag and wandered out the front to wait for Spencer so they could walk home.
As she settled on the wall beside the gates, her phone vibrated. Taking it out she squinted at the screen in the sun. Unknown number. But as she studied the digits, her forehead pinched into a frown, it was Leo's number.
'Meet me at the beach, I have something for you'
The teen scoffed, closing the text and shoving her phone back into her pocket
"He's got a nerve" she muttered, swinging her legs slightly as she sat looking round at everyone leaving.
She raised her hand in a wave, spotting Darcy heading off down the path with a group of friends, all on their way to the diner for milkshakes no doubt. Bianca's car was still parked out the front so there must be a meeting going on after school.
As the crowds of kids began to thin out, Lily let out a sigh, jumping slightly as her phone buzzed again.
'Sorry babe, Mcguire wants to keep me behind to go over some English, I'll meet you later? Xx'
The girl smiled, texting back quickly, reassuring her boyfriend they'd meet up later. Slowly she slid from the wall, picking up her bag she began walking home alone.
…
As she passed the steps leading down to the beach she stopped, remembering Leo's message.
Groaning at her curiosity, she pulled out her phone once more, sending Brax a text to let him know she would be late home – she didn't need a repeat of last night that's for sure.
Once it had sent, she locked her phone and started down the stairs and onto the sand.
She spotted Leo eventually, pacing beside the upturned fishing boat just next to the pier.
"You're alive then" she observed shortly, folding her arms as she approached
"Don't sound so disappointed" he smirked
"You know me and your brother had to identify a body they thought was you?"
"Really? Oh man that's so cool!"
"You're sick…why am I here anyway? Where have you been?"
Leo grinned at her, turning back towards the bushes behind them he disappeared momentarily. When he came back Lily gasped.
Clutching on to his hand, and dressed in a tiny pair of dungarees with her hair done up in pigtails, was Sophie.
Dun Dun Duuuuuun. SHOCKER RIGHT THERE! Haha hope you liked the chapter, I've got ideas forming so just be patient with me and they'll come Review and stuff, let me know how you're liking it! Love you guys!