Finally, 3 cups of coffee and a bagel later, Ryan saw his brother enter the diner. He looked jumpy. Ryan was immediately on his guard. Trey spotted Ryan out of the corner of his eye and headed over with his head bent and the collar of his denim jacket pulled up.
"Hey man. I was afraid you wouldn't make it", he said to Ryan. Ryan noted that he was smiling but that his head was still down and his eyes nervously darted left and right. Ryan's eyes narrowed, but his face remained otherwise passive. Trey had never been so good at the poker face. His emotions tended to come flying out as soon as you hit the button.
"Hey." Ryan answered levelly, as Trey slid into the seat opposite. He was sure of it now. Something was up. Ryan smiled inwardly but without mirth at the casual greeting between the two, as if the past had never happened and this was just an ordinary meeting between brothers. The Atwoods had never been good with words. There was simply too much to say.
"So what's up?" he asked, getting to the point passively but directly. Cut the crap: the traditional Atwood approach. But he didn't want to anger his brother: he'd had experience of that, and he rarely came out on top.
Trey looked at Ryan, but seemed unwilling to make eye contact, his eyes darting from Ryan's eyebrows to his chin to his own cuff, as he picked a thread. Finally, he licked his lips and began to speak. "I… I'm in some trouble man," he answered.
Ryan sighed. This was getting old. He resisted the urge to simply get up and walk away, hoping he wouldn't regret it later.
"Trey, I've told you already, I'm not helping you with any more favours. I don't owe you anything." Finally, Trey's panicked eyes met Ryan's.
"I'm your brother, Ry. Doesn't that count for anything?" he pleaded.
Ryan tensed. "Not for whatever you're about to ask me for." He spat, unable to keep the sting from his voice.
"I just need some cash, just a loan. I just need to get them off my back", Trey begged, convincing himself as much as Ryan as his eyes continued to dart around the room, as if constantly searching for an escape. Ryan couldn't remember ever seeing his brother so jumpy, not even when the cops had caught them. Maybe that was what being in prison would do for a guy. Ryan didn't want this conflict. He reached into his pocket to get his wallet and pay the bill. Trey's eyes went greedily to few bills that Ryan pulled out and he grabbed Ryan's wrist. Ryan looked up, wary.
"I need this man. That family you're with, they're loaded, right? You can always get more." He argued, driven by the flash of cash.
Ryan felt his lips draw into a thin line at the throw away reference to the Cohens. "They don't owe me anything, and they sure as hell don't owe you." He responded coldly.
He felt something in his brother change as Trey slowly relinquished his grip on Ryan's wrist. His eyes focused on Ryan intently. There was something dangerous in them. Ryan had only ever seen those eyes focused on AJ. Something within him froze and his heart beat a little quicker. This did not bode well.
"Don't you owe me the chance to get on with my life?" he asked, the pleading tone slipping into his own voice, just a little. "You were going to give me my chance."
"I'm sorry Ryan. But this isn't just about you anymore. I needthe money, one way or another. Are you gonna help me, or not?" All pretence of warmth was lost. Trey needed something. He had brought Ryan here to get it.
Slowly but deliberately, Ryan shook his head. There was something ominous here. Ryan somehow didn't think it was going to be as simple as a yes or no answer.
"Then, I'm sorry, Ry." The finality in his voice sent further warning bells ringing in his head, but Ryan was powerless to react as Trey reached into his back pocket, and drew out a dull metal object.
For a moment it didn't click with Ryan. It was black, solid and unrelenting.
It was a gun.
A/N: love it or hate it, please review!