31. Zane

31

ZANE

T he party is in full swing now and the house is alive with energy. Music thumps through the speakers, the bass shaking the floor beneath our feet. Archer and I are in the thick of it, surrounded by our brothers and fellow students, celebrating our victory. I've got a drink in my hand and we're laughing at some joke someone just made when I notice Levi pushing his way through the crowd, a stormy expression on his face.

"Hey, man, what's up?" I shout over the music as he reaches us.

"We need to talk," Levi says, his voice tense. He doesn't wait for a response, grabbing my arm and jerking his head toward Archer. "Both of you."

Archer and I exchange a look, the good mood slipping away as we follow Levi through the throng of people. We head upstairs, the noise from the party fading slightly as we close the door behind us in one of the bedrooms. Levi's agitation is palpable and I can feel my anxiety starting to rise.

"What's going on?" Archer asks. His voice is serious now.

Levi takes a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. "I just ran into Madison."

"What did she want?" I ask, not hiding my annoyance. Madison always brings trouble.

"She told me something… something big." Levi's eyes are intense as he looks between us. "She said Eli is our son."

The words hang in the air, heavy and shocking. I feel like the ground has dropped out from under me. "What?" I manage to say, my mind racing.

"She said Lyric's been hiding it from us. That Eli is our kid," Levi repeats, his voice tight with a mix of anger and confusion.

Archer looks as stunned as I feel. "Madison said that? How does she know?"

Levi rubs his hand over his face. "Madison said Lyric told her."

I slump onto the bed, trying to process what Levi just told us. "Why would Lyric keep something like this from us?"

Archer is pacing now, his fists clenched at his sides. "We need to talk to her, find out if it's true."

Levi nods. "Yeah, we need answers. How could she lie to us again?" His voice cracks, and I see the emotions in his eyes. He's always been more sensitive than me and Archer, so he must be so torn up that he could let Lyric get close again, only to find out that she's been harboring more lies.

My own head is a mix of anger, confusion, fear, and frustration.

As we stand there, the noise of the party still faintly audible in the background, I realize just how much is at stake. Our lives are about to be turned upside down and the only way to move forward is to confront Lyric and get to the bottom of this.

"We can't go over there now," Archer says, a dark look on his face. "We promised not to hurt Eli and I don't want to traumatize him by confronting her while he's asleep."

"First thing tomorrow morning?" I ask, grateful it's a Sunday so we don't have class.

"Yeah." Archer nods, a grim expression on his face. "She's such a manipulative bitch ," he growls, his arm sweeping out to knock a bunch of shit off his dresser, uncaring as his things clatter to the floor. "I'm so fucking pissed ! I can't believe we ever thought about trusting her after everything she's done to us!"

"She can get fucked," I mutter, a scowl on my face. "I don't care why she did it. She lied to us. She had plenty of time to come clean. She should have come clean right away, but she didn't."

"Why would she keep us from him?" Levi asks, pain in his voice as he holds his arms close to his chest. "That's our son. We lost out on nearly two years of getting to know him. We missed so much already."

Archer sighs. "I suddenly don't feel like partying," he says, looking at the mess on the floor. "Do you guys want to sleep in bed together like when we were kids?"

We don't usually sleep in the same bed anymore, having outgrown the need a long, long time ago, but tonight, it feels like I need my brothers with me, so I nod. "Yeah, let's just try to get some rest before we confront her tomorrow."

The three of us change out of our party clothes, ignoring the noise downstairs and get into bed together like when we were kids. As I drift off into an uneasy, restless slumber, my mind is filled with thoughts of the upcoming confrontation, wondering if we'll finally get a straight answer from Lyric for once.

Early the next morning, I wake with Levi's arm in my face and I push it away. I start sitting up and grumbling to myself as the sun streams directly in my eyes. The events of last night come rushing back and I lean over, head in my hands. We're going to have to confront Lyric today and I feel nauseated thinking about it.

Archer wakes up next, sitting up and stretching. Our eyes meet and we share a silent understanding, both of us nudging Levi awake too.

Once we're dressed, we head over to Lyric's dorm right away. It's only a quarter past seven, but she's already awake. I can hear the faint sounds of Bluey playing in the background.

Archer knocks sharply on the door, and Lyric answers it with confusion on her face.

"Hey," she says, her voice soft. "Didn't expect to see you this early. Are you guys here to kidnap me for our celebration party?" Her face is open and hope fills her eyes.

"We need to talk to you," Archer says, pushing past Lyric and entering her house. "Levi, take Eli and put him in his bedroom."

"What the hell?" Lyric asks, her expression changing from hope to horror in an instant. "What are you doing? Why are you taking my son?"

Levi lifts Eli and carries him into the bedroom while Archer and I face Lyric, blocking her from going after them.

"What the fuck is going on?" Lyric demands. "What are you doing? You can't keep me from my son!"

" Our son," Archer growls. "Or were you never planning on telling us?"

"What?" Lyric's voice has gone high-pitched, fear in her eyes. She swallows hard. "What do you mean?"

I point my finger at her. "Don't you dare play dumb, Lyric Shaw. We know the truth. That boy in there is our kid!"

Levi rejoins us, hands on his hips. "You lied to us. You always lie!" he says, his voice choked with emotion. "How could you keep our son from us?"

"How did you find out?" Lyric asks, shrinking in on herself.

"It doesn't matter," Archer spits out. "The fact is, you lied, again and again. Why did you lie?"

"I wanted to tell you!" Lyric shouts, wincing when Eli starts crying from the other room. "I wanted to tell you," she says, lowering her voice. Her eyes fill with tears. "The day of the pep rally, I was going to tell you," she confesses. "But you guys were busy with the prank. I couldn't bring myself to distract you. I told myself that I'd tell you after. But then everything went wrong…"

"You mean, when you told the police we were the ones responsible for putting dynamite in the drone and burning down the gym," Levi says, voice flat.

"I never—" Lyric starts, but I cut her off, getting into her face.

"You did. We saw you with them! Stop fucking lying!" I shout.

"Shh!" Lyric hisses. "If you upset my son, I'll call the campus police on you!"

"You mean our son," I remind her. "That kid is half ours!"

"I'm the one who raised him!" Lyric snaps. "I did it all alone! Do you know how it was, being the pregnant teenager? I was the town slut. I was the whore who couldn't keep her legs shut. I was shunned by everyone ," she hisses. "You have no idea what that was like."

"Oh, no idea?" Levi says, crossing his arms. "No idea what it was like to be shunned by everyone who used to care about you? We have no idea?"

Lyric flinches. "I didn't mean it like that," she says in a whisper. "But it was fucking hard , okay? So you don't get to come in here and act like you have any right to him!"

"Because you took that right away when you neglected to tell us!" Archer says, his anger rising. "You could have told us at any point. You could have told us when we first approached you! Or when we found out you had a kid!"

"I was scared!" Lyric said. "I didn't trust you. All you did was bully and harass me. I was trying to protect him."

"You know we'd never hurt Eli," I point out. "We said that time and again. We proved it. I don't understand why you think we'd hurt an innocent kid. You know what Levi and I have been through, Lyric! We would never subject a kid to that kind of shit."

"I'm sorry," Lyric says, her voice thick as she starts sobbing. "I handled it badly, but I didn't know what else to do! I'm doing all this on my own. I don't have any friends or support. You guys made sure of that! I had no one to turn to, so I did what I thought was right until I thought we could trust each other."

"Well, congratulations," Archer says, a cold look of fury on his face. "You proved that we were wrong to ever trust you."

Levi gives her a look of disgust. "I never want to see you again," he says.

"What about Eli?" Lyric asks, her voice weak.

"We're going to sue you for full custody," Archer tells her. "We have the money and resources. You're a single mother on a scholarship with a history of lying and sleeping around. We can provide a much better life for him than you can."

"Don't you dare take my son away from me!" Lyric shouts. Eli is wailing now and she moves to go get him.

"You took him away from us," I remind her. "Karma is a bitch."

"This isn't over!" Lyric says, storming into the bedroom. "But right now, I want you out of my house. Now!"

We leave, the threat hanging in the air. Lyric needs to understand what she did, that this is serious and she can't manipulate everyone around her.