When Troy got home that afternoon, the twins ran up to him in greeting. "Hi Troy."
"Hey guys, how was your day today?"
They responded with 'good' and Lilliana looked around curiously. "Troy where's Bria?"
Troy's eyebrows scrunched. "What'd you mean Lil, isn't she here? She told me she came home sick, I thought Mom signed her out." The twins shook their heads so they all walked into the dining room to find Lucille. "Mom did you sign out Gabriella today?"
"No Bud, why's that?"
"Gabriella went home sick today and the office said a woman signed her out. So you haven't seen her?"
Lucille shook her head. "No not since this morning when you guys went to school." She could see the worry set on her three kids' faces. "Try not to get worked up, I'm sure everything's fine. She probably just needed a break or something. If we haven't heard from her in a few hours then we can start acting on it."
Troy had been in his room for coming on half an hour when he heard a quiet knock on the door. "Come in." Lilliana quietly entered the room and climbed onto Troy's bed beside him. She had become increasingly close to her older brother and felt comfortable with him. "What's up Lil?"
"I don't feel well."
"Alright how about we go down to Mommy and -"
Lilliana shook her head. "No it's not that. I'm scared for Bria. Do you think something bad has happened?"
Troy pulled his little sister onto his lap and stroked her hair. "I'm sure she's fine Lil. Maybe she just got caught up somewhere, you know how much she can get occupied when she's doing homework or reading a book." Lilliana nodded knowingly. "I'm sure she'll be back soon Angel."
"Can we go look for her?"
Troy sighed, "I don't think Mommy and Daddy would like that very much. If we don't hear from her soon then we can start looking but I'm sure she's fine and she'll probably be back by dinner ok?"
Lilliana nodded. "Ok Troy."
"How about I text her now and we'll see what she says." Lilliana nodded so he wrote out a message. Hey Brie, where are you? You said you came home sick. Lil and I are really worried. Please text me back and let us know you're ok
Troy and Lilliana were called down for dinner before he got a response so he shoved his phone in his pocket and they walked down to the dining room. After a while of talking, Troy felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, he pulled it out reading the message. Hey my cousins are taking me to California for a few days to meet family
"Gabriella said Scott and Blaire have taken her to meet some family in California so she won't be back for a few days." His parents nodded and went back to their conversation, content knowing Gabriella's whereabouts though Troy and Lilliana weren't very impressed with the limited response. He replied: I kinda wished you'd waited so we could've said goodbye or at least told us before you left
He felt a tug on his shirt and looked down to Lilliana. "Can you tell Bria I love you from me?"
He smiled, "Sure Lil." He sent the second message. Also Lilly says she loves you
A few minutes later he got two replies: I know sorry
Tell her I love her too
With that, Troy put his phone away and the Boltons continued on with their dinner.
When Troy was getting ready for bed that night, he heard another quiet knock on the door. Walking to answer it, he found Lilliana timidly standing there with the beloved carebears that she clung to. "Are you ok Lil?"
She nodded slowly. "I was wondering if I could sleep with you tonight 'cause Bria's not here and I'm scared to stay by myself."
He smiled gently at the little girl. "Of course you can Angel." He brought her into the room and set her on the bed tucking her in as she hugged her bears. "Hey Lil why do you love those carebears so much?"
She looked down and played with the bears. "When we were in Denver, it was one of the only presents we got. They came together and Mama said they were sisters like me and Bria were and wherever one went so would the other like me and Bria."
"That's sweet." He saw her yawn and looked at the time. "Alright Lil, time for bed. I love you and sweet dreams."
She hugged her brother. " I love you too. Good night Troy."
Troy's eyes widened but he tried not to make a big deal of the former statement despite the words meaning the world to him coming from his sister. He placed a kiss on her cheek before she drifted off to sleep.