Chapter 13

CHAPTER13

“So, what’s the plan?” Jonathan asked as he dropped down on his bed with a satisfied sigh.

“You mean besides ignore you?” Sebastian asked as he grabbed his iPad off his nightstand and settled in for the night.

“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” Jonathan asked as Sebastian looked for the book that Uncle Jason mentioned in class today.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Sebastian assured him as he went to buy the book, only to realize that he didn’t have anything left on the gift card that his parents gave him for his birthday.

“You need my help,” Jonathan pointed out while Sebastian lay there, determined to ignore him and-

“Is Mikey sick?” Jonathan asked, making him frown.

“Not that I know of,” Sebastian said, wondering what the hell his brother was talking about, only to remember that she ate his mother’s meatloaf for dinner and-

“Her mother takes her to the doctor a lot,” Jonathan said, sounding thoughtful as everything in Sebastian went still.

“She has another doctor’s appointment?” Sebastian asked, biting back a curse as he shoved the covers aside to go check on her, only to find himself watching as their bedroom window was shoved open and the teenage girl who was about to go quiet on him climbed inside.

Every few months, her mother scheduled her for another doctor’s appointment, and every time it happened, Mikey would go quiet. She didn’t smile as much, tease him, or make his life a living hell and he hated it. He didn’t know what the appointments were for, and he didn’t ask her, afraid that it would push her away and he couldn’t stomach the idea of her going through this alone.

For the next week, she’d do anything to avoid going home. She’d hang out at his house, the batting cages, Uncle Jason and Aunt Haley’s house, and even school if that meant that she could avoid going home. When she was home, Mikey stayed in her room, skipped meals, and barely said a word to anyone.

He hated those appointments.

Mikey didn’t say anything as she made her way across their bedroom and neither did he. As soon as she toed off her shoes, Sebastian was holding the covers up for her. Without a word, Mikey crawled in bed with him and curled up on her side facing him. Sebastian tucked her in before wrapping his arm around her and pulled her closer.

“Dad’s not going to like this,” Jonathan pointed out with a resigned sigh as Sebastian shifted to get more comfortable.

“It’s fine,” Sebastian said, kissing the top of Mikey’s head as she pressed her forehead against his chest. “Everything’s going to be okay,” he whispered as he closed his eyes.

He was tempted to ask her about the appointment, but…

He knew the stubborn pain in the ass well enough to know that she would either ignore him or grumble something as she shoved the covers aside, climbed back out of his bed, stole his new sweatshirt, and disappeared through the window so that she could be miserable alone and that was the last thing that he wanted.

So, instead, Sebastian pressed his lips against the top of her head one last time, pulled her closer, and-

Bit back a wince when the little brat took that as an invitation to get more comfortable by placing her cold feet over his before releasing a heartfelt sigh moments before he felt her relax in his arms. Telling himself that everything was fine, Sebastian closed his eyes and fell asleep with the girl who meant the world to him in his arms.

* * *

Friday

“I’m gonna fail,”Mikey mumbled weakly as she sat there, unable to look away from the worksheet covered in red pen.

“Probably,” Sebastian said, not really sounding all that concerned that she just got every problem wrong.

“How is this being supportive?” Mikey mumbled absently as she took in all that red covering her answers and-

“I would have at least given you a smiley face,” Jonathan said, shoving the rest of the brownie that he stole from her in his mouth before plucking the red pen out of Sebastian’s hand and drawing the saddest smiley face that Mikey had ever seen on her paper. “There, isn’t that better?”

“I really hate you,” Mikey said with a sniffle as she sent a hopeful look at Sebastian to find him staring at the band-aid on her arm.

“It’s getting late, guys. Why don’t you call it a night?” Reese said, drawing her attention to find him staring at the band-aid with the same worried expression that her mother got every time she got her blood drawn before he cleared his throat and forced himself to look away.

With a mumbled, “Goodnight,” Mikey grabbed the worksheet that was making her even more depressed and made her way upstairs where she took one last look at her worksheet before tossing it on her desk and headed to the bathroom. Ten minutes later, she was dressed in her pajamas, checked on her baby brothers, and headed back to her room, past her bed, and straight for her window.

From there, she climbed onto her roof and closed the window behind her as quietly as humanly possible before she made her way to the edge of the roof, carefully lowered herself onto the stack of pallets below, and after making sure that the coast was clear, she made her way across the street. That was followed by climbing onto the porch roof and making her way across it before she pulled herself up onto the small roof above it.

A minute later, she was crawling into the dark bedroom, closing the window behind her, and quickly making her way across the room. After making sure that Uncle Trevor wasn’t coming, Mikey toed off her shoes, climbed into the small bed by the far wall and curled up next to the teenage boy who always made everything better.

* * *

Saturday

“What did we talk about?”came the heavily sighed question that had Sebastian’s life flashing before his eyes as he lay there, really hoping that his father was in a good mood as he opened his eyes and-

Where the hell was she? Sebastian couldn’t help but wonder as he glanced from the empty spot on his bed where Mikey should be curled up next to him, to find his father standing in front of his bed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he released another sigh.

“I was hungry!” Jonathan snapped, drawing Sebastian’s attention to find his brother curled up in the fetal position, pressing his hands against his stomach as he turned to bury his face against his pillow as he released a pained groan and a weakly muttered, “Kill me.”

That was followed by their father releasing a curse as he walked over to Jonathan’s bed and pressed his hand against his forehead. “You’re burning up,” their father murmured as Jonathan turned his head so that he could glare up at their father as he snapped, “Of course I’m burning up! I’m dying!”

“What did you eat?” their father asked, sounding resigned as he pulled the covers the rest of the way off Jonathan while Sebastian lay there, trying to figure out what was going on even as he glanced around the dimly lit bedroom, looking for Mikey.

“A meatloaf sandwich,” Jonathan muttered, only to follow that up with a groan as he turned his head and buried his face back against the pillow as he pulled one hand away from his stomach so that he could gesture for his father to get on with it.

Sebastian was just about to shift his attention to their bedroom window when he saw his father go still. “Meatloaf sandwich?”

“I was starving,” Jonathan muttered against his pillow, only to follow that up with a pained groan and a muttered, “Dying.”

“When did we have meatloaf?” their father asked, frowning down at Jonathan.

“We had it Thursday night,” Jonathan muttered against his pillow as he once again gestured for their father to get on with it.

“That wasn’t meatloaf,” their father said, making everything in Sebastian go still as he added, “That was pot roast.”

Sebastian watched as Jonathan turned his head and noticeably swallowed as he mumbled, “That explains so much.”

“Why don’t we go give Uncle Ethan a call and see if he can meet us at the hospital to have your stomach pumped?” their father suggested with a sympathetic wince as he leaned down and scooped Jonathan up in his arms and quickly headed for the door, only to pause long enough to throw over his shoulder, “Get rid of the pot roast.”

“Already on it,” Sebastian said, Mikey quickly forgotten as he shoved the covers aside and moved to climb off the bed when he heard it, a soft grumble seconds before Mikey was crawling out from beneath his bed.

That was followed by a sigh as she stood up and-

“You’re evil,” Sebastian bit out as the little brat tore a pained grunt from him when she climbed over him so that she could snuggle beneath his blankets with a sleepily mumbled, “You knew this.”

* * *

Sunday

For a moment,Mikey considered climbing back into Sebastian’s bed, but she didn’t want to take the risk. Somehow, she’d managed to sneak into Sebastian’s room for the past three nights and she didn’t want to push it, which was why she was climbing onto her roof at five in the morning with the hopes of passing out in her bed for another three hours before she had to get up.

Really looking forward to crawling back into her bed, Mikey bit back a yawn as she pushed her window up and-

“Wrong house,” Mikey murmured with a hopeful smile that quickly disappeared as the large men sitting on her bed waiting for her only glared.

When Uncle Trevor and her stepfather didn’t say anything, Mikey decided that perhaps this would be a good time to make a run for it. With that in mind, she swallowed hard, nodded, and absently gestured behind her as she said, “I’ll just be going now.”

That was followed by another nod, clearing her throat again and turning around only to realize that she wasn’t alone.

“This is going to be so much fun,” Uncle Jason said with a satisfied sigh that actually terrified her.

“What’s going to be so much fun?” Mikey asked, licking her lips nervously as she risked a glance back at her room and felt her stomach drop when she realized that they were gone.

“Oh, that can’t be good,” she mumbled weakly as she looked back at Uncle Jason and-

“I have to admit that I’ve really been looking forward to this all week,” Uncle Jason said with a satisfied sigh as he finished throwing her over his shoulder and carried her to the edge of the roof that overlooked the backyard.

“Umm, what exactly have you been looking forward to?” Mikey couldn’t help but wonder as he shifted her in his arms and-

“This.”

-dropped her over the edge.

Before she was finished releasing what she felt was a justified scream, her stepfather caught her. Willing her heart to stop pounding against her chest, Mikey swallowed hard as she mumbled, “I’d really like not to do that again.”

“And I’d really like to know why you were sneaking into your room at five in the morning,” Reese said as he shifted her in his arms.

“Because four was too early?” Mikey said with a hopeful smile.

“Fair enough,” Reese said as he turned around and-

“Now, where were we?” Uncle Jason, who’d managed to climb off the roof in the last thirty seconds, asked on a heartfelt sigh as he reached over and grabbed her.

“You were letting me go back to bed, assured that I’ve learned my lesson?” Mikey suggested, really hoping that they took pity on her.

“I’m afraid that I can’t do that, Mikey,” Uncle Jason said as he shifted her over his shoulder, earning a pained grunt that he easily ignored as he made his way around the house.

“You really could, though,” Mikey pointed out.

“And miss out on all the fun?” Uncle Jason asked, making her frown as she suddenly found herself placed down on her feet and-

“Run.”

“But I don’t want to run,” Mikey mumbled sadly, only to stumble back as she struggled to remember how to breathe when he said, “Baseball training has just begun.”

* * *

Why wasMikey curled up in the fetal position at the end of his bed? Sebastian found himself wondering as he glanced from the small teenage girl mumbling, “I don’t want to do any more pushups,” to herself to-

Oh, crap…

“Do you know what I’ve been thinking?” his father drawled, drawing his attention to find his father standing by his bed, glaring down at him.

“I’m a good girl,” Mikey mumbled sadly to herself, only to follow that up with a sad little sniffle that had Sebastian swallowing hard as he glanced back at his father.

“No,” his father said, shrugging that off as he dropped down on the desk chair with a satisfied sigh. “I was thinking that since the two of you like spending so much time together that it was only right that Sebastian join you and the other delinquent for your morning training sessions.”

Sebastian opened his mouth to talk his way out of this mess only to find himself wondering about something. “The other delinquent?”

Nodding, his father said, “He should be joining you soon,” as his lips pulled up into a smile that left Sebastian struggling to remember how to breathe.

* * *

“You needto learn how to share,” Cole muttered when the teenage girl, who clearly didn’t appreciate him, grumbled as she continued hogging the covers.

“Why are you still here?” Chloe demanded as she shifted more violently than he felt was necessary only to give up trying to get comfortable and rolled over onto her back so that she could glare at him.

“Why are you hogging the bed?” Cole countered as he gave up waiting for her to share the blankets and rolled over onto his stomach with a grumbled, “Brat,” when she tried to shove him off the bed again.

“Because you’re not supposed to be here?” Chloe said, making him sigh heavily as he turned back over and-

“No, he’s not,” came the cold words that had Cole going still and swallowing hard as he looked up to find Chloe’s uncle standing in front of the bed along with his father.

Before Cole could say anything, and he really didn’t think that there was anything that he could say at the moment to save his ass, his father was reaching over and wrapping his hand around his ankle and-

“Let’s go have another talk.”