Chapter Text
3.48
"Oh? Hey, Kyle. What are you doing here?" Amber asks as she walks outside. "Getting a moment's rest." "Here?" She asks as she sits down beside him on the ground. "My spot on the roof's been compromised." He answers her, to which she smiles. "That only means that people like being around you." "Doesn't mean I want to be around them." He answers her with a sigh, to which her smile drops.
"You seem tired. Almost drained... Did something happen?" "I'll manage." "Do you want some assistance with 'managing' it?" She asks him, to which he looks at her. "I just hit a bump, is all. I'll be fine." "Are you sure? I don't mind helping you in any way whatsoever." She tells him, which makes him turn his body to face her. "You should focus on your wedding. I have Luke begging me to let him help me. Co is practically waiting for me to ask. And Dylan's ready to jump in too. Should I require it, they'll have it more than covered." He says, to which a little smile appears back on her face. "They love you." "...I wouldn't call it that... You make sure to make your wedding day the best day you could possibly have. One you can only smile at and smile every time you think back at it." "I'll try my best." Amber says just before the door opens, drawing their attention towards it.
"No, I haven't talked to him..." Sabrina says as she walks outside, making the two of them look at her. "Well, he's avoiding me." She tells the person she's in conversation with on the phone with a sigh. "Yes, barely even looks at me anymore. He's not even subtle." "Uh... We should go. Amber whispers to Kyle as she looks back at him, to which he nods. "We should." He tells her as he quietly stands so as not to disturb Sabrina. "Mom, I know what you think of him, but- yes, I know, but- well, yes- I know." Sabrina argues with her mother, making Amber and Kyle look at each other before Kyle offers her his hand, which she takes with a smile. "Yes... I'm sorry, I will apologise to Brenda."
"Well, that sure sounded tense." Amber says once they are back inside. "It did." Kyle agrees as he thinks it over . "What are you thinking about?" Amber asks him as they start walking. "Just something Dylan said." "Dylan? About Sabrina?" "Yeah..."
_____
"Dylan." Kyle says as he and Amber enter the breakroom, making him and the others look at them. "Hm? Did something happen?" Dylan asks, to which Chloe groans. "Why do you need to be so negative?" She asks him, to which he shrugs. "I have a question." Kyle asks, which makes Dylan look back at him. "Then ask it." He says before he frowns. "You're wondering if you should..." Dylan says, to which Kyle nods. "Unless it's about me or my last few years..." "It's not." "Then ask away. I don't mind them listening in." Dylan says with a shrug and a little smile.
"Who's Brenda?" Kyle immediately asks, which makes his smile disappear in an instant. "She's here?" "No." "Oh, great." He says with clear relief. "She... Brenda ... She's a horrible person." "Horrible?" Nora asks him, surprised to which he nods. "What? No! Brenda's just Brie's little sister." Chloe says, confused, to which Kyle looks at Dylan. "I see..." "What's going on?" Amber asks as she looks at Kyle. "I already told Kyle about my opinion of Sas-Sabrina's sister." Dylan explains to her. "Which clearly isn't positive." Nora says, to which Dylan nods. "Yeah..." "What? Huh? No. Brenda's just Brie's sister. How could you possibly dislike her?" Chloe asks him, to which Dylan looks down. "If you have a good relationship with her, so be it. But I don't." "I don't get it. She's Brie's sister, you know her since- well, her birth basically." Chloe tells him, which makes him look at her. "Her being family doesn't make me like her." He says to her before he looks over at Amber and Kyle, who are looking at him with a little smile.
"What?" "Oh, nothing." Kyle answers him while Amber's smile grows. "It's cute that you call Sabrina's sister your family." She tells him, to which he sighs. "I've known her my entire youth, give me a break." "And yet, you don't like her." Chloe says as she crosses her arms. "Why?" She asks him, which makes him look back at him. "Why are you so defensive? I'm not insulting Sas... Sabrina, am I?" "No, her sister." "Don't make it sound worse than it is. I'm not saying the woman's a monster." "Woman?" Nora asks him, eyebrows raised. "She's just a bad person." "'Bad'? How so?" Zander asks him, concerned, to which Dylan shakes his head. "Doesn't matter." "What? No, it does. You can't just say someone's 'a bad person' and don't clarify afterwards." Chloe tells him, annoyed. "I can and I will. No need for you to look for what I know she hides behind that innocent look." "'Hides'?" Chloe asks, now clearly concerned. "Just know that she only shows her true colours when she wants something from you. Believe me when I say she won't leave you alone until she gets it." Dylan tells her. "Well, what does she want from you?" Nora asks him, to which he looks down. "Doesn't matter, she won't get her way."
"But... Does Brie know-?" Chloe starts, which makes him look back at her. "No. She knows I'm not fond of her family and they aren't that fond of me. That's all she knows and should know. It's all you should know too."
"Huh? D-Did something happen?" Sabrina asks as she enters the room, which brings attention to her. "Oh, hi Brie. No, don't worry about it." Chloe tells her with a smile, to which a sad look forms on Sabrina's face.
"I was talking about Aly." "Alsie? Is she okay?" Sabrina asks, to which he nods. "She is. It's her boyfriend. He's in the hospital." "What? What happened?" She asks him worriedly. "Oh, don't need to worry. He's fine. Well, now he is. He was attacked on his way home from work. They tried to mug him, he put up a fight, so they beat him up." "Wha- I'm not supposed to worry at that?" "He can defend himself. The thugs had it worse. He would have walked off unscathed if they hadn't ganged up on him three to one, though. Even got hit with a baseball bat. Those things do some serious damage. Broke a rib due to that thing." Dylan tells her, to which she nods. "I'm gonna call Alsie." She says as she takes out her phone. "You still have her number?" He asks her, which makes her look at him. "Did-Did she change it?" "No." "Then I do." She answers him with a small smile before she leaves.
"You're welcome." Dylan says to Chloe, to which she frowns. "What for?" "Making Sabrina believe you didn't speak about her behind her back." Kyle tells her as he walks over to Dylan and sits down next to him. "I must say... You never fail to intrigue me." "How so?" Dylan asks as he looks at him. "How easy it is for you to lie." "I wasn't. I was telling the truth. Sure, it happened a couple of days ago... But it did happen." "Hm... Yet, you still came up with a story to tell her in an instant." "Well, I was contemplating telling her. She loves my sister." "Yeah, that was obvious. But... It does make me wonder... Do you have 'stories' to tell every one of us if necessary?" Kyle asks him, to which he grins. "Of course not, but I do have a lot of experience with improv for that." "Of course you do." Kyle tells him with a small smile.
__________
"What? No crawling through the window today?" Kyle asks as he opens his front door. "No..." Luke answers with an uncomfortable smile. "Well, I'm guessing this isn't an ordinary visit. Come in."
"So... What is it?" Kyle asks as they sit down on the sofa. "It's just... I was thinking..." Luke starts as he looks down. "About me?" Kyle asks with a worried tone. "Well, yeah." "Okay... And you came to some conclusion? I imagine that's why you're here this late." "Late?" Luke asks before he looks at his phone. "Oh... I didn't realise it's already past midnight..." He mumbles before he looks back at Kyle. "I'm sorry." "Don't be. I was awake anyway." "Right..."
"Well? Are you going to spit it out or am I supposed to drag it out?" Kyle asks him, to which Luke sighs. "It's just... I... Uh... Well..." "Luke, for crying out loud, say it already." "Did you lie about your injury?" Luke spits out, which makes Kyle's eyes widen in response before he frowns. "What? What's there left to lie about?" Kyle asks as he fiddles with the bandage on his arm. "You shouldn't do that." Luke tells him before he shakes his head. "Not this one. When you said you fell through that floor." "Oh." "Yeah. You didn't fall through any roof, right?" Luke asks, to which Kyle looks down as he continues to fiddle with the bandage. "I hadn't thought about it until today. But then Dylan talked about his brother-in-law and how he broke a rib thanks to a baseball bat... Lindsay's famous bat broke..." Luke explains before he sighs deeply, his fear and concern blatantly obvious. "But... It broke before you fell... But then I remembered when you were hurt because you fell off the stairs... That was before her bat broke and also back then, you looked way too hurt." Luke continues before he falls silent for a moment, preparing himself for the answer to his own question.
"Did... Did it break because she used it to hurt you?" He eventually asks Kyle, who freezes in his tracks. "Did-" Luke starts, but stops himself when Kyle looks back at him and slowly nods. "She-? Huh... I don't... She did do that? She actually did it?" Luke asks him, with a mix of surprise and concern. "Yes." "Then... What truly happened? That time, and when you fell through the floor." "Do we have to?" Kyle asks while turning his gaze away from him. "No. If you really don’t want to, we won’t. But please talk to someone about it . Someone else should know." Luke tells him, but gets no response. "Maybe Cody? Or Dylan?" Luke asks, to which Kyle looks back at him. "Don't tell them." "Wha- No! I'm not telling anyone about this. But they're your friends, aren't they?" "No need to worry Co." "What about Dylan?" "He can't know. He- Just don't tell him." "I won't, I won't."
"There isn't much to say about it anyway." Kyle mumbles, to which Luke frowns. "Not much? How about why she did it? How much did she hurt you? And yet she's able to act like she didn't." "She... She isn't a bad person." Kyle tells him, to which Luke sighs. "Kyle... I've seen her place through photos and videos she posted. That bat... She kept it mounted on the wall in what I assume to be her personal gym." "One of the two she has, yes. Does it matter?" "Let's assume you did fall off the stairs... That bat is kept downstairs." Luke tells him, to which Kyle stands, making Luke look concerned at him . "I need a drink if you want to keep talking about this." Kyle tells him before he walks off.
"Oh, hello, Inu." Luke says as he sees Inu run towards him. "How are you doing?" Luke asks the ferret who climbs up the coffee table. "I'm worried about your dad..." Luke says as he offers Inu his hand to sniff. "Hey, what are you doing?" He asks as Inu puts his head in his sleeve. "He's checking if you have a snack hidden somewhere." Kyle answers as he returns with a beer and Neko on his shoulder. "A snack? Why would I hide it in my sleeves?" "Beats me. Please allow him to check your other sleeve too, he'll get frustrated if not." "Oh, sure." Luke says as he offers Inu his other arm, who quickly sticks his head in the sleeve.
"So... Uhm..." Luke starts as Kyle sits back down. "I did fall down the stairs," Kyle tells him before he takes a sip of his drink. "I see... Then how...?" "Does it matter, Luke?" Kyle asks him with a sigh. "To me, it does. But... If you don't want to talk about it..." "She was angry, I walked away so... she followed." Kyle explains as he looks down while fiddling with his bandages. "All the way up the stairs?" Luke asks him, to which Kyle nods. "I was on my way to the bedroom; I stopped walking when she came screaming after me. Next thing I knew... I was lying on the ground at the bottom of the stairs. Inu and Neko nudging me to move."
"Where was she?" Luke asks him. "I don't know. In bed, I suppose." "She went to bed after attacking you and seeing you fall down the stairs? You were unconscious!" "I know, Luke." "I don't- How could she do that? How was she able to sleep?" "She's not a bad person, Luke." "Why do you keep saying that? How is what you described not the actions of a bad person?" "Just... Leave her be." "Will you break up with her?" "No." Kyle answers him, to which Luke sighs. "I don't- She hurts you. Why do you want to stay with her?" "She's in pain. You can't expect me to leave her like that. I care for her." "Well, it's clearly a one-way stream." Luke says, to which Kyle sighs. "You don't understand, I know. But... Please, just let her be." "How do you expect me to do that?" "I can't demand you to do whatever I want you to, that's why I'm asking. I'm not leaving her, so let her be." Kyle says before he looks at him. "Okay... But I'm not going to be nice to her." Luke says with a groan. "I'm not asking for you to be fake. Ignore her if you have to, but leave her alone." "All right. But... I want you to promise me something." "I don't like making promises." "Well, you'll have to now." Luke tells him, to which Kyle sighs.
"What is it?" "Promise me that whenever she hurts you... No matter how small any of those wounds or bruises may be... That you'll tell me." Luke says, with a sad face. "Luke..." "Please... I don't want you to be alone with this. I won't tell anyone, not even Mom, if it'll make you do this." Luke tells him with watery eyes. "...Okay." Kyle says before he looks down. "I... I promise... I'll... tell you." "Oh, thank God." Luke says before he takes hold of Kyle and hugs him tightly. "Luke!" Kyle complains as his body tenses. "Sorry." Luke says while he lets go of him, making Kyle stand. "It's okay. I know it's just your emotions getting the better of you." He says before he pets Neko, who crawled towards his neck.
"Uhm... do you want to spend the night?" Kyle asks, to which Luke smiles. "Only if it's no burden to you." "Wouldn't have asked if it were." "Then, I would love to." Luke says as his smile grows. "Well, come on then, I know you need your beauty sleep." "I do, actually... I don't do well with little sleep." Luke tells him as he stands, and Kyle shakes his head with a small smile before walking off to lead the way.