Two nights later…
Ali opened her eyes when she heard her bedroom window open and snuck out of her bed, helping a drunken Brady in.
"What the hell did you drink and how much of it, Brady?!" Ali whispers, helping Brady sit down before closing the window. Ali yelped when Brady pinched her before he yanked her onto his lap and clamped a hand onto her mouth when she tried to yell at him.
"Don't wake them… the walls have ears." Brady whispers, lowering his hand.
"Why didn't you call me and tell me you were going partying tonight?!" Ali asks quietly.
"Because you'd want to come too and I wanted one on my own for once… aah! That mirror, it's looking angry enough to kill you!" Brady says, shouting the second part as he looked at his own reflection in the mirror.
"Shut up, damn it! Are you trying to wake Miguel?!" Ali growls, Brady lightly pulling on the hem of Ali's white cami and Ali batting his hands away. "Just… lie on your side." She says before they heard a knock at the door.
"Ali, you alright?!" Miguel asks, banging on the door, Ali keeping Brady from lunging at the mirror.
"Yeah, I just… I can't sleep, Miguel. Mrs. Harris was yelling again!" Ali says, shoving Brady against the wall and clamping her hand to his mouth.
"Brady Crockett, you are gonna be the death of me one day!" She mutters when Miguel was gone, Brady picking her up off the floor and putting her on the bed… and then looking at the mirror again.
Brady sat down and stretched out on the bed, Ali doing the same and the two facing each other.
"Amber's screaming again at night, isn't she?" Ali asks, the covers over her and Brady brushing his right thumb against her scabbed over lower lip and scratching at the scab, Ali gently stopping him.
"Yeah… started again after someone on Tv mentioned falling off of towers." Brady says.
"Damn…" Ali says, Brady seeing an old scar on Ali's forehead from when she was 10 and hit her head against the table on the St. Vitus Dance. "No one ever fully heals… the scars remain there, whether we want them to or not." She says, Brady resting his left hand on her right shoulder as he thought back…
Brady's head snapped up when he heard the screaming and ran into the living room, crouching down and seeing Ali's head busted open and a tooth missing.
"I heard Elvis growling and snarling and tried to find out why…" Ali says, tears streaming down her face as Brady pressed a washcloth to her head and Sonny ran in and over to them.
"She bashed her head and mouth against the table, I only took my eyes off her for a second." Brady says, Sonny trying to calm the two down.
"It's alright, accidents happen, kids." Sonny says, Brady picking Ali up in his arms…
"What I remember from that day was Amber yelling at Elvis for growling." Ali says, Brady snickering. "Elvis still growls at the neighbors sometimes?" She asks.
"If they step close to the boat, yeah." Brady says.
"Well, he's getting old… I worry about him at times." Ali says, trying to stay awake.
But the raven haired teen eventually closed her eyes and Brady kissed her on her forehead as the alcohol started wearing off.
When Brady woke up the next morning, Ali was still asleep and his phone chimed, Brady grabbing it and seeing a text from Amber.
'You hiding out at the Castillo house again?'
'Got drunk, somehow ended up in Ali's room.' Brady replies.
'I swear sometimes that you love her, the way you always run to her even when you're senseless!' Amber replied.
'Ha ha, Amber!' Brady replies, Ali stretching her arms out and opening her eyes.
"Amber trying to find where you are?" Ali asks.
"Doesn't need to… is it bad that if I'm not there in the morning, she knows the places to find me and can count them on one hand?" Brady says.
"Not really… we all need somewhere to hide when things fall apart." Ali says, her and Brady standing up.
Sneaking downstairs and around the back, Ali and Brady hugged.
"You sure you'll be alright getting back home?" Ali asks as they let go.
"Yeah… you worry too much." Brady says before he leaves.
'With good reason.' Ali thought before heading back into the house and upstairs to her room… only to hear Mrs. Harris yelling at Miguel for the noises she heard last night.
Miguel walked back into the house and to Ali's room, jumping back when he saw her with her old paintball gun and Ali crouched by her window.
"Go yelling at one of us, huh?! Take this you senile old bat!" Ali mutters, about to shoot the vase in the neighboring yard when Miguel stopped her.
"Ali, she's just a bit high strung." Miguel says.
"She's driving both of us crazy even though you'll never admit that." Ali says, standing up… and slamming her window shut to scare Mrs. Harris, who started yelling, both siblings laughing.
After getting cleaned off, Brady changed his clothes and looked down when he felt Elvis's head on his right foot.
"You alright there, Elvis?" Brady asks, crouching down and patting Elvis's head as Amber walked into the room.
"Was Mrs. Harris yelling when you were leaving?" Amber asks.
"I heard her as I walked off, yeah." Brady says.
"That crazy old bat." Amber says, Elvis growling in agreement as Brady stood up to his full height. "I do wonder about you at times." She says.
"I do act on impulse while drunk… and I think Ali likes Ryan a lot more than she's letting us know." Brady says, Amber nodding in agreement.
"He is a bit older." Amber says.
"Yeah… that'll send Mig off the rails, the age difference. That and he and Ali can't remember a time without each other in their lives, like us." Brady says.
At the Castillo house, Ali finally walked back downstairs after getting ready for the day… and stopped when she saw Miguel, his arms crossed.
"I know what you did last night, Alison Elena." Miguel says.
Ali pursed her lips and dug her nails into the palm of her left hand.
With siblings, the older one always knew what went on.
