Stevie didn't talk to anyone that week. She avoided Zander at all costs, and the only time she talked to Kasey was to tell her to leave her alone.
Even when her brother Leif came for dinner on Wednesday night, Stevie made no attempt at conversation with him. Usually, Stevie would have tried to talk to Leif all through dinner, and usually, she wouldn't get much for her efforts.
Leif, at 27, was very focused on his career. Stevie didn't really know exactly what he did, he had never told her. Dinner was always riddled with phone calls, text messages and Emails that he just had to answer. He didn't come home very often. None of her Brothers did anymore.
Finn was in market research. From what Stevie understood, he was very good at has job. He was- as he put it- one of the youngest to ever achieve his level of success. He was 25, and Stevie supposed that it was quite probable that he was so successful, he had always been smart.
James came next, he was 23, and Stevie didn't know how he had even gotten in to collage. He as a bit… all over the place. He was still at collage. No one knew if he would ever make it out…
Stevie had been closest to Ben- before he'd ditched her for collage. There was a four and a half year age gap between them, but that had never stopped them from getting on so well. For the first year he'd been away, Ben had sent regular emails to Stevie, they had talked often on the phone, and although Stevie had hated that he'd gone away, the constant updates had made it a little easier.
And maybe, them being away made it easier for Stevie to hide. She spent more time in her room that week, than she thought she had ever spent there in her entire life.
Kasey had been persistent in her attempts to talk to Stevie, but, aside from the 3 classes they shared, Kasey hadn't really seen Stevie all week. So she had spent the week making every effort to calm the looming wall of gossip, but, Stevie and Zanders breakup seemed to be of interest to everyone, and nothing she could do would stop the interest.
By Friday, Stevie was well aware of the stories surrounding her break up, while normally she ignored the whispers, this week they seemed particularly harsh. She couldn't count the number of times she had almost taken out one of the girls watching her and whispering.
By Friday Afternoon, Mrs. Baskara had become more than worried about her daughter, but getting anything out of her was impossible as she just wouldn't talk. What had worried her the most was that Stevie was at home ALL the time and she rarely left her room. So, after a long discussion with her husband, about missing the conference they were supposed to attend or staying with Stevie, she made the only choice that she felt they had, call in Stevie's brothers.
On Saturday, Kasey decided that she'd had enough of her best friend sulking, and marched over to Stevie's house in a determined mood.
She was worried she had the wrong house when a tall, burly guy opened the door.
"Can I help you?" he asked kindly.
"Um… Yep, I'm Kasey, Stevie's friend? Is she home?" Kasey peered up at the older guy, noticing that he looked just like Stevie.
Suddenly the first guy was pushed out of the way by a second. "Your Stevie's friend? Come in!" the boy pulled Kasey in, sitting her down on one of the living room couches. "I'm Ben." He said, with a bright grin, "Stevie's brother."
On the couches opposite her, Kasey was faced by 4 male versions of her best friend, all looking at her eagerly.
"Stevie's not here right now." The first boy explained.
Kasey blinked, "wait…" she said, confused. "Stevie has four brothers?"
The first boy didn't skip a beat "I'm Finn, and this is Leif, James and Ben."
They didn't even seem surprised that she had no idea who they were.
"We are looking for information." Ben said, leaning forward slightly.
"On Stevie." Leif clarified calmly.
"What sort of information?" Kasey clutched her skirt nervously.
"Our mother has employed us this weekend, to find out what's wrong with Stevie." Ben stated.
"You don't know?" Kasey said in disbelief.
The four looked quizzically at her.
Kasey let a breath out, and got comfortable before starting. "Do you know who Zander is?" she asked.
Four confused looks met her, before Ben suddenly brightened. "He's in the band with her, right?"
Kasey bit her lip, they knew nothing. Absolutely nothing. "Yes, but they've been dating for the past 6 months. Or at least they were, until they broke up on Monday."
"Stevie had a boyfriend?" Leif exclaimed in horror, "Is she even old enough to have a boyfriend?"
"Well she's got to be like… what? Fifteen now?" James guessed.
"She's seventeen." Kasey responded, annoyance lacing her tone.
The boys all looked shocked.
Kasey took a deep breath to calm herself down. No wonder Stevie didn't talk about her home life, or ever invite Kasey over.
"Look." Kasey said, "Stevie, loves Zander. And when I say loves, I really mean it. If you think of every great love story in history, Stevie and Zander love each other more than all of them put together. So if she seems a little off, I think she has reason to."
The four boys in front of her gaped at her, moths hanging wide open.
"When she gets home, from where ever she is, you better have a box of tissues and a lot of open arms. Because she hasn't cried all week, and if she doesn't crack soon, I think she'll explode. Give me your phone." Kasey held her hand out to Leif.
He placed the phone in her hand, bewildered.
She typed something in before handing it back. "Text me when she cries." She said shortly, getting up from the couch.
"Wait!" James exclaimed, grabbing her arm.
Kasey rolled her eyes, "What?" she questions.
"You're just going to leave us here? With our sister who could start crying the minute she walks in the door?"
Kasey nods, "I've done all I can. Now it's up to you." She shrugged. "Good luck."
Kasey gave a curt nod and left, she sat down solemnly on the steps leading down the apartment block. She could only hope that now Stevie's brothers would grow brains and help their little sister. Stevie wasn't going to cry around Kasey, that was a given. Now, all Kasey had to do was talk to Zander.
The four stood gob smacked for minutes after Kasey left, uncertain of what to do.
"So." Ben finally breathed. "We missed a lot of her life."
They all nodded.
"Does anyone know the name of the band she's in?" Finn asked quietly.
They all shook their heads.
"Ok," Finn started, "What do we know?"
"She's seventeen." James offered.
"Apart from that!" Finn exclaimed.
"I don't even remember her seventeenth birthday." Leif muttered.
"When was the last time any of us had a proper conversation with her?" James questioned.
"I talk to her sometimes over email." Ben offered.
"What does she say?" Finn asked eagerly.
"Not much anymore." Ben admitted.
"What's her favorite color?" Leif didn't expect an answer.
"How long do we have until she gets back?" James asked.
"So, its 5 now she said she wouldn't be back till late… we probably have at least an hour." Leif concluded.
"I think we should look in her bedroom. See what clues we get." James suggested.
"As long as we don't get caught." Ben reminded him.
"Right." James agreed. He took off straight away marching determinably in the direction of Stevie's room.
They all stood outside the white door, nervous. The canvas on the door red 'Stevie's Room' in black paint over a painting of a stormy sea. None of the boys could remember the last time they had seen the inside of their sister's room.
Ben was the first to put his hand on the door knob, turning it slowly. The door opened silently, swinging open to reveal a blue room.
They all peered around the door frame, opposite them was a small window over a neat white desk. The blind was up, allowing the light to dance through the crystal hanging from the top, breaking in to hundreds of tiny rainbows around the room.
Stevie's school books were stacked neatly on the desk next to her laptop. Her bed was neatly made, the coverlet was designed to look like a stormy sea and fairy lights hung over the head board.
It was a lot neater than they expected, and a lot more girly.
Ben was the first to make a move, he bounded over to the large cork board on the wall next to Stevie's desk. The board was covered in pictures, certificates and hanging trinkets. Ben uncovered one certificate, and triumphantly announced, "Her bands name is Gravity 5!"
"Hey look!" James exclaimed after joining his brother, he pointed to a picture, "She's wearing a dress!"
"Actually," Ben corrected him, "She's wearing a dress in a lot of these pictures."
"She's smiling in a lot of these pictures." Finn pointed out.
Leif picked up a neatly folded letter from the bed side table. The letter was worn, and had clear tear stains on it and the hand writing was neat.
"Listen to this guys," Leif said quietly.
'Stevie,
I know your mad at me, but no matter what I will still write love notes to you.
This isn't about the fight, I can't write down my apology in a letter, I wouldn't know what to put.
So, I'm going to tell you all the reasons I love you. So that way, you'll always know.
I love you because you make me think, you challenge me. You're not like any girl I've ever met, you have no interest in following me creepily or flirting with me incessantly.
I love you because you still have more of an interest in music than me. And I admire that.
I love that I don't need to look in a mirror anymore, because you interest me more than a mirror ever could.
I love that you're so protective of your friends, and I love that you always look after us
I love the way you laugh, and the way you smile.
I love that you don't care what people think.
But most of all, I love spending time with you, I love it when you tease me and when you take off your high heels as soon as we walk out the door and carry them around all night. I love every second of our dates.
Stevie, I don't ever think it will be possible for me to ever stop loving you.
Love,
Zander.'
"And the letters dated July 21st. almost two and a half months ago." Leif finished.
"Well, that clears that up." James remarked.
They all nodded awkwardly. Leif folded the letter up silently and placed in back on top of the books he'd found it on. They stood awkwardly, scanning the room for any more possible clues.
James had ruffled through some of Stevie's schoolbooks, "She only gets A's" He announced. "And she is REALLY smart."
"Does that really surprise you?" Finn asked, "She was always smarter than all of us."
"So what now?" Leif asked quietly.
"At least we can be sure he did love her." Ben stated.
"He does love me." And voice said from the door.
They all spun around to face Stevie, who was leaning against the door frame.
"Just because we had a fight doesn't mean we don't still love each other. What are you doing in my room anyway?" she didn't even look mad.
"Don't hurt us!" James shrieked, shielding his face with this arms.
Stevie looked only slightly bemused, she shrugged, "I'm not going to hurt you, James."
James looked confused, "you're not?"
Stevie shook her head, "Just go."
"Stevie…" Ben trailed off, awkwardly.
"No." she said. "Look, I don't know how you found out, and frankly, I don't actually care. But I do want you to leave me alone."
"You didn't even tell us you had a boyfriend." Leif said, sounding slightly hurt.
There were so many things Stevie wanted to say to that. That she hadn't told anyone, or that not even the rest of the band knew until a few months ago. "You weren't here to tell." She shrugged.
"So will you tell us now?" Ben asked.
"Tell you what? You already know we broke up." she twisted a brown curl round her finger and stared at her boots.
"About him, about everything." Ben wasn't sure if he was allowed to touch her, would putting his hand on her shoulder, get him in trouble? So he just took a small step forward.
"Believe it or not, I actually don't want to talk about it." Stevie responded dryly.
"You can't hold it in forever." James admonished.
She snorted, "I'm not holding anything in."
James and Ben looked at each other with matching looks, "Denial." They both cried.
"I am NOT in Denial!" Stevie shrieked as Ben picked her up.
"Yes, you are." James touched her nose lightly.
She glared at him. "Put me down Ben. I'm fine." Stevie drummed her fists on her older brothers back.
Ben plopped her down on the couch in the living room and sat down next to her, closely followed by the other three.
Stevie covered her eyes with her hands. "Can't you guys just leave it alone?" she questioned.
"Nope." Ben said, putting his arm around her. "It's ok to cry, you don't have to pretend it doesn't hurt all the time."
Stevie had been forcing herself all week not to cry, telling herself that it was no big deal.
"You were always stubborn as a kid." Leif put in, "when you were five and you broke your arm, you didn't cry then either."
Stevie took a deep breath, she could feel the tears prick the back of her eyes menacingly.
"Bottling up all your emotions won't help things." Finn rubbed her back gently.
By this point, Stevie would usually have throttled all of them. But today, she didn't have any energy left to fight. She didn't have the energy to hold back the tears, or to forget the one person who loved her totally unconditionally.
So she cried.
None of her brothers had expected such a response, and for a moment they all froze, before kicking in to over drive.
The Stevie they remembered didn't cry, they had never witnessed such a total surrender on her part before.
Leif pulled out his phone and found Kasey's number.
The sounds of her sobs making his heart ache, he wrote,
'She's crying.'
A/N: Thank you for reading everyone :). I hope you enjoyed this chapter, or if you didn't, that's ok, just please tell me why.
Thank you to those who reviewed:
LordofthePandas- thank-you for being a devote follower! I appreciate that! thank you for your advice, I am attempting to fix the first chapter right now :)
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