Chapter 26

It was several hours later; Elena had been moved to her own room and will be at the hospital for a couple of days. She was just waking up from the sedative; she looked around the room and saw Trey being the only one in there. He was sitting in the chair next to the bed, his head resting on his folded hands.

"Trey?" Her voice cracked; her throat dry.

He sat up straight pulling the chair as close to the bed as he could. "Hey Kiddo." He took her small hand in his large rough hand. "How are you feeling?" He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"My head is killing me." She croaked, looking so sad and pained.

"You hit it pretty hard." He leaned over and placed a kiss on her forehead, sitting on the edge of her bedside.

Elena's eyes teared up, looking away from her brother. "Are you mad at me?" She whimpered, a tear rolling down her cheek.

Trey guided her chin so she can look at him; he wiped the tear away with the pad of his thumb. "Hey; no, no I"m not mad at you Kiddo. I'm just...I'm sad that you thought you had to do this to yourself. You're a beautiful young girl Elena."

She blinked away a few more tears. "If that's true; how come Jenny and her friends are so mean to me? She goes out of her way to tell me how fat I am and stuff. After a while I started to believe her."

"Well she is completely wrong. And I know Sandy and Kirsten will be talking to her and her parents tomorrow."

Elena started to shake her head. "No no, it's gonna make it worse."

"Elena hey, no, I promise you no matter what; it will be okay. You have a whole clan that will protect you; you just have to tell us from now on when something is going on." he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

She nodded sniffling slightly. "I was having such a great birthday; I had to go and ruin it."

"I'm sure when you get home; we can pick up where we left off." He offered her a small smile.

"Where is everyone else?" She asked him as she sat up a little in bed.

"Kirsten and Sandy went home to grab a few things for you but will be back shortly; Seth and Ryan went to take Taylor, Summer and Caitlin home so they will be back soon."

She frowned slightly. "I always ruin everything. I was looking forward to Caitlin sleeping over."

Trey straightened up. He didn't like hearing her put herself down so much. "Elena Nicole, I want you to putting yourself down. I understand that you were looking forward to it, but Caitlin isn't going anywhere. I'm sure she can sleepover next weekend. But your health is priority right now."

She just nodded again, she hated that she put everyone through so much. "You look tired." She pointed out. She saw the time on the clock that was hanging over the door. "It's really late."

He nodded smiling at her slightly. "I am a bit tired."

Elena scooted over to one side of the bed. "You can lay next to me if you want." She smiled hopefully. It was more for her than for him, so she hoped he decided to.

Trey kicked off his sneakers and laid on his side facing his little sister. Elena snuggled as best as she could to him. She took in his scent; the very familiar scent she missed over these years. The one that wasn't masked from the odor of alcohol.

Elena was feeling very tired again as her eyes started to close. "Please don't leave us again. Please."

Trey placed a kiss on her forehead. "I won't Kiddo. I won't." His eyes also feeling heavy and started to close.

Ryan and Seth had returned to the hospital at the same time their parents had. It was about 11:45 at night, and in the children's ward; the visiting hours weren't as strict as long as they were quiet. The four of them walked into Elena's darkened hospital room, seeing Trey and Elena both sleeping next to each other.

Ryan smiled to himself. He was thankful that he was able to pull Trey away from that drink earlier because if he hadn't, this sight in front of him, probably wouldn't be happening.

Kirsten turned to Ryan and Seth looking exhausted. "You boys should go home, get some rest." she said in a hushed tone.

"Are you sure?" Ryan whispered, not wanting to disturb either of his siblings.

Sandy nodded stepping in. "Yes Ry, you boys need sleep. You can come back in the morning."

Both boys nodded exchanging hugs with their parents. "Are you both staying the night?" Questioned Seth still in a hushed whisper.

"Yes we both will, I'll take the couch and your mother will be taking the cot the nurse brought in." Sandy motioned towards the small couch in front of the window.

The boys said goodbye one last time before heading out.

OCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOC

Ryan and Seth arrived home about ten after midnight. Ryan noticed a dark figure of a person sitting on the front steps. The boys approached slowly and cautiously. "Hello?" Ryan called out.

The mystery person walked into the light, revealing himself.

"Luke? What are you doing here?" Seth asked with a hard tone; but realised Luke looked sad, and guilty of something.

"Summer called me…" He looked between Ryan and Seth, landing his eyes on Ryan. "She told me about Elena and how-" He paused. "How Jenny was bullying her." He paused again seeing if either of them were to say something, but their silence allowed him to continue. "I know I haven't been the best of friend to either of you-"

Seth scoffed, cutting him off. "Yeah...try a jerk."

Luke took a breath. "I know, and I truly am sorry for that...there's no excuse for how I treated you or anyone else. But I truly am sorry for that and for my sister."

"Thanks…" Ryan said, just feeling exhausted and surprised. "But...why now? I mean I'm curious on what changed your view on things."

"I just had a realization on things, and I saw my baby sister first hand, treating another kid like they were nothing and I realized she learned that from me, and I want to change that. I want to be a better person. And hearing that my sister is the main reason why your sister is in the hospital…" He shook his head, losing his words.

Ryan walked over to him, standing in front of him for a moment, then placing a hand on his shoulder. "I appreciate you saying this Luke, I really do. Have you talked to your sister? Ask her why she targeted Elena?"

Luke shook his head. "No, she's at a sleepover, but, tomorrow I will talk to my parents about it and we will talk to Jenny."

Seth still was shocked about his change of heart; he didn't see it coming. He nodded towards him. "Thank you Luke, um, yeah...uh do you wanna come in?"

He shook his head. "No, but thanks though, I have to get home. Again I am really sorry."

Ryan nodded and offered his hand to Luke; mending the past and starting fresh.

The boys went in the house after Luke left. "So did that just happen?" Seth asked as they headed to the kitchen.

Ryan chuckled, still a bit shocked himself. "Yeah I think it did; but it's a good thing."

"Oh I know it is, it's just...I have never seen Luke like that before, it was different...but I am kinda glad that feud is over."

Ryan pulled out two water bottles from the fridge, handing one to Seth, and opening his. "Yeah...me too. I just hope Luke can get his sister to stop messing with ours."

Seth took several gulps of his water and nodded his head. "It just really pisses me off that someone would target Elena like that, I mean, this girl made her feel like she was fat...she's tiny; how…"

"I know man I know." Ryan patted his shoulder, then a neon green envelope on the counter caught his eye. He walked over to it and held it in his hands. There was no return address on it, but he knew the handwriting. "You gotta be kidding me."

"What? What is it?" Asked Seth as he looked over Ryan's shoulder. "It's a card for Elena, probably for her birthday."

"I know that, but it's from my mo-Dawn. It's from Dawn." Ryan nor Elena consider Dawn their mother anymore; that title fully goes to Kirsten. "She really has the nerve to send her a Birthday card. She hasn't done anything for her birthday for years, but now...when we are finally happy, she has to pop in like this?"

"It's just a card Ryan…" Seth said, "Besides how do you know it's from her?"

"I know her handwriting Seth. And it's not just a card. She left here that night we had dinner and we hadn't heard anything from her, except when mom and dad got the paper for her to sign over her parental rights. I don't know Seth...I just don't know. But Elena doesn't need to know about this." He stalked towards the trashcan.

"Hey wait-you can't just do that. What if...what if you just read it first? See what it says. Then you can decide if you want her to have it or not."

Ryan though about for a second. "Okay fine...I'll think about it. But please don't say anything to Elena until I decide."

"Of course bro, my lips are seal...and my eyes will be any moment; i'm exhausted."

"I hear you there. I'm gonna head to bed."

The two boys went up stairs and got ready for bed. Ryan is still getting used to his new room in the house; he actually likes that he is in the house and not in the pool house. He feels more apart of the family being under the same roof. The two brothers said goodnight to each other and went to their own rooms; where they both fell asleep almost instantly.

A/N: Sorry it took so long for this chapter! I know my updates are far between but thank you for being patient with me! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Reviews are very much appreciated! Thank you! - Paige