Chapter 3. Memories and Forgiveness

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As Layla finished her homework she thought about how skittish Warren had been about why he never talked about his sister. Although she knew it had a lot more to do with him just forgetting, she never mentioned it to Warren. She was afraid that if she tried to pry to much then he would go back to his old sulky self. But as she thought about it more, she decided that giving it a shot and losing was better than having two siblings unable to look each other strait in the eye. Even though Chris seemed alright on the outside, Layla could sense some uncertainty. So she decided that after she was done with her homework she would go and see if she could help.

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After some pacing infront of the building Layla finally got up the courage to knock on the door.

"Hey Layla! How's it going?" Chris said as she opened the door.

"Hey Chris! Is Warren here?" Layla asked nervously.

"Yeah. But I think he's on the roof. There are some stairs down the hall if you wanna go up." Chris said nodding down the hall.

"Thanks." Layla said as she turned towards the stairs.

The 15 second climb seemed like forever to Layla as she inched closer to the top door. As she opened it she could see the reason Warren would wanna be up here. There was a beautiful view of the city with a perfect background of stars.

"Hey Warren." Layla said softly as she walked over to the crate that Warren sat on.

"Layla? What are you doing here?" Warren said as he half smiled.

"Just wanted to see what you were up to. Nice view." Layla said as she sat on another crate that was on the roof.

"Yeah. I like to come up here at nights and watch the stars. It helps me forget everything."

"Like Chris." Layla said taking a leap of faith.

"What makes you say that?" Warren asked quickly.

"You don't have to lie, Warren. I can see that there's some uneasiness between you two." Layla said taking yet another leap of faith.

"Nothing gets past you does it?" Warren said with a small smirk.

"Nope. Now spill."

"Well, to tell you the truth, I really look up to Chris. She's been there for me when no one else was. I can remember on my eighth birthday, before my dad got really evil, he took me to the circus. That was probably one of the last great times I had with him. He got me a hotdog, some popcorn, and even a little stuffed tiger since I liked it when the tigers jumped through the ring of fire." Warren sad referring to the raggidy stuffed tiger currently on his bed.

"That's not surprising." Layla grinned.

"Yeah. He used to call me his little comet." At this Warren closed his eyes had smiled. Layla tried to savor the moment, on account that Warren almost never actually smiled.

"But then, he started talking to this guy in a black overcoat. Then he said he was going to get something and that's the last time I saw him for five years.

"Oh Warren! I'm so sorry! I can't believe he did that, andon your birthday too!" Layla said squeezing Warrens hand that had somehow come to rest in her own.

"Yeah. I justsat there in the bleachers until one of the janitors called my mom and told her what happened. Since she was a little under the weather that day, Chris drove down and picked me up. Ever since that day, she tried to be as much a dad to me as she could."

"Sounds like you two were really close. So, what happened?" Layla asked.

"One day she took me on some errands for mom and while we were at the store she got into an argument with some guys that looked like some of my dad's henchmen. When they left she told me that they were just mad about where she parked. But that night I woke up and herd some rustling in Chris's room. When I got up to see what it was I saw that her window was open and she was gone. I guess she just had enough of me like and left like everyone else." Warren sighed.

"How could I ever not be able to put up with you?" Chris said at the doorway to the stairs.

"How could you just come back and pretend that I don't remember! I remember every single second of it like it was yesterday! I looked up to you and you just left!" Warren shouted at her.

"Would you just settle down and let me tell my side of the story?" Chris asked trying as hard as she could to keep her cool. "I wasn't completely honest with you about those two guys. They were our Dad's henchmen and they said he wanted me to come live with his side of the family. When I said no way, they came that night and took me. I've been living with dad's side of the family unable to come back ever since." Chris said.

"You better not be lying!" Warren said igniting his hand.

"Why would I lie to my favorite little brother?" Chris said smiling.

At that Warren ran over and gave his sister the biggest hug he could give. Chris then returned it with a bear hug. Literally. As they continued to hug Layla quietly slipped down the stairs and out of the building.