My Girlfriend's Brother

Chapter 6

"Noah, give me back my Oreos!" Reece hissed, as he glared at Noah.

Noah being the annoying little s**t he was, grabbed a piece and took two bites and finished.

“Okay,” he said, after swallowing the Oreo. “Let me just have one more bite.”

He took another Oreo and shoved the whole thing into his mouth. He chewed it and swallowed it down with milk.

“Okay, last one, I prom-”

Reece let out a noise of frustration. “Don’t you have a home to go to,” he snapped.

Reece frowned as he saw Noah tense up and his Oreo paused mid-air.

Noah threw the Oreos over to Reece, who barely caught them as the younger boy dashed away. Confused, he grabbed one as he followed Noah into the living room. He watched from the doorway. Noah was talking to Clark, who was more invested in what was happening on his phone than paying attention to the kid who was in the middle of a meltdown.

“Clark?” Noah asked.

Annoyed, Reece went to the couch and grabbed a pillow, throwing it at Clark. The boy finally peeled his eyes away from his phone to look at Reece, with an eyebrow raised.

“What?”

“Noah is trying to speak to you.”

Clark sighed as he looked at Noah. “Can I help you, Noah?”

“Can you please take me home, please? I forgot I’m grounded and it’s nearly six and she’s going to send someone to check to make sure I am home.”

“Of course, I’ll take you home Noah,” Clark said as he sent someone one more text before he slipped his phone into his pocket. He stood up and groaned a little, as he looked at the three teenagers sitting around the table, heads stuck in their textbooks.

“You three need a break,” Clark said, nudging Mitch with his foot.

Mitch scowled as he swatted Clark’s foot away.

The girls both nodded, groaning as they stood up. Reece swore he heard their bones c***k.

When Mitch didn’t move, Ella used her foot to poke him. He didn’t respond and she kept doing it until he looked up at her scowling. “What, b***h?”

“Get in the f*****g car is what, asshole,” she replied, smiling.

Mitch looked around the room and sighed, as he nodded, standing up.

“Where exactly are we going?” he asked, as he followed the group out to the car.

Reece and Clark were the last ones out of the house and they watched as the four of them argued. Reece looked over at his best friend. “Having them trapped in a car in this heat, while they’re hangry and studying isn’t a good idea.”

Clark ran a hand through his hair and shrugged. “How bad could it possibly be?”

Reece stared at him before pointing at the four of them who were standing near the car, all of them arguing. Well, Kiera, Ella and Mitch were, Noah was trying to calm them down.

Clark gave him a smile and shrugged. In the car, Noah hadn’t stopped fidgeting and it was getting on Reece’s nerves.

“Noah,” he snapped when he had finally had enough. “Knock it off.”

Noah pouted as he ran a hand through his pale hair. “No,” he deadpanned. “I can’t.”

Ella smiled as she ran a hand over his arm. “Noah, we can stay with you if you’re that nervous,” she said, softly.

“You all can,” Clark said, as he turned onto Noah’s street. “I have something to do. I’ll pick you all up later.”

He stopped in front of Noah’s house and no one got out as they stared at him.

“What about Reece?” Noah said, eyeing the boy in the passenger seat.

“Yeah!” Reece said, throwing his hands in the air. “What about me?”

Clark turned to look at his best friend, a look of annoyance on his face. “You stay with them. What else?”

Reece glared daggers at him as Clark urged them to get out of his car. The dark-haired boy stood put, crossing his arms over his chest. “How about no?”

Clark scowled. “How about yes? Your ass isn’t coming with me.”

“Why are you being so f*****g shady?” Mitch grumbled as he eyed Clark, whose phone was buzzing away in his pocket. “I mean, more so than usual too.”

Clark turned around in his seat, glaring at the four of them in the back. “I need all of you to get the f**k out,” he snapped. “Reece, don’t f*****g kill them.”

“Guys,” Noah said, smiling as he rubbed the back of his head. “I’m grounded. That means no friends and no Reece.”

"Aww, I get my own category, I'm touched," Reece said, leaning over and pinching his cheek. Noah swatted his hand away as he rolled his pretty green eyes.

"Well, we're here, deal with it," Mitch said. His phone went off and he frowned as he answered it climbing out of the car and walking off towards the house.

"What's the worst that can happen?" Kiera said gently. She kissed Noah on the cheek and climbed out of the car, dragging Ella with her.

Noah stayed seated, biting his lip as he eyed his house.

“Let’s go, Noah.”

Reece turned to eye the boy who glared at him, despite turning a few shades of red. He stormed out of the car and Reece laughed to himself as he followed him inside.

“You’re late,” Cameron said, as he and Noah appeared in the living room. “And you have friends over. They’re not allowed over when you’re grounded, you know this Noah.”

“Well,” Reece said, as he walked past Noah and took a seat on the couch, putting his legs on the glass table in front of the couch. “Our driver went MIA, so you’re stuck with us. What’s on TV?”

Cameron scowled at the group, before muttering something to himself and storming out of view. Reece heard his feet thud on the stairs and then the faint sound of the door being slammed shut.

"Noah!" Kiera yelled as she bounced on the spot, turning to face her boyfriend. "Can you help us study?"

"Oh yeah. How did the exam go?” Reece asked, looking at the group who were scattered across the living room.

"Well, the first one was hard because we didn't have Noah's help because, well, y'know. He is smart. But the last two have been easy because we did have his help," Kiera said as she sighed and plopped down on the sofa.

Noah smiled as he looked at his girlfriend. "Sure. I'll help. What exam?"

"English lit. Poetry," Kiera said, and Noah nodded.

“Make yourselves comfortable. I’ll go get my notes.”

Reece watched as Noah disappeared around the corner. He looked at his sister and she seemed to be having some sort of mental conversation with Ella. Reece watched the two girls for a solid five minutes and they seemed to be communicating with their eyes and hand gestures.

What disrupted them was when Mitch’s phone rang. He checked the caller ID and he scowled as he picked up the call and disappeared around the corner. Reece pulled his own phone out to scroll through his amusing Twitter feed and looked up when Mitch returned, glowering.

“I need to go. I’ll be back soon.”

Before anyone could say anything, he had already walked out of the house.

Noah came back down the stairs, arms overflowing with notebooks and loose sheets of paper. He dropped them on the marble table and smiled. He frowned, looking around. “Where’s Mitch?”

Cameron walked past him, and without saying a word he left the house. Noah had watched his brother leave and then a sad smile appeared across his face.

“Mitch left,” Ella said, peeling her eyes away from where Cameron had walked past. “Said he needed to go and that he would be back soon.”

The trio made themselves comfortable around the table and Reece got bored quickly. He turned his attention to the TV and played The Big Bang Theory. After an hour, Kiera groaned as she stretched.

“Reece, open the window. I’m sweating my balls off.”

Reece scowled but did as his sister said because he was getting overly warm too. He slumped back to his seat and looking down, he saw Noah’s bare nape and the urge to scare the boy while he was in a deep trance was too overwhelming. But, before he could, Kiera scared him.

"This weather is killing me!" Kiera cried, her eyes landed on her boyfriend as she smiled. "I could really go for an iced frappe right about now."

"Grounded," Noah said, looking up at her and smiling weakly.

“She's not here. And you need to get out of the house as much as you can before your dad gets back too," Kiera said as she kissed his cheek lovingly.

Reece was interested in his Twitter timeline again when he felt eyes on him. Peeling his own eyes away from his phone, he saw the two girls staring at him and Noah had his head in a book.

"No way," he deadpanned. "I want to rest, I'm f*****g tired."

"I'm paying," Ell said, flashing her credit card.

Reece weighed the outcomes before nodding. Free food was always the best outcome. "Get the f**k up, Noah.”

Noah nodded, wincing as he closed his book and stood up. Reece looked down at the table at all of the notes scattered across it. He eyed how colourful, neat and organised everything was. He did this? No wonder they kept saying he was smart. It looked like he studied every day and actually put time and effort.

All the notes were handwritten. There were big pages, small pages, sticky notes and flash cards. All colour-coded and certain parts highlighted.

Reece peeled his eyes away from the table and walked out of the house, sliding into his flip-flops. Halfway through their walk, Noah had yet to say a word and it concerned Reece. He was always a hyperactive little s**t, so why had he not said a word?

“Okay, what’s wrong, Noah?” Reece asked, stopping and turning to look at the boy. Noah was looking down at his shoes, so all Reece could see was the top of his pale hair.

"Nothing," he said, looking up. The sun was shining in his eyes, so Reece moved where the sun was and it no longer hurt Noah’s eyes. "I'm fine."

Reece’s eyes landed on the tips of Noah’s ears, which were turning red. "Is it because you're grounded? Or because your dad and Cameron are back?"

"It's nothing," he repeated, smiling. "I'm fine."

Reece didn’t believe him, but he didn’t say anything. He eyed his neck, relieved to see the bruises beginning to fade. From what he could see on his arms and legs, Noah didn’t have any more bruises.

"Noah. Are you okay? Like one hundred percent, okay?" Reece asked, eyeing him.

"I said I'm fine," he forced out a laugh. “Why are you asking me so many questions?”

"Reece!"

The taller boy stopped down his track as he recognised that voice. He turned around to see Claudia, Louis and Jog standing there. All three were in tight black shirts and jeans. Claudia had her dark hair pulled into a tight ponytail and large black shoes on.

Noah turned around, his eyes going wide. Reece sighed as he moved to stand in front of Noah. They didn’t need to see him.

“What?” Reece asked blankly.

"He's waiting," Claudia said and Reece rolled his eyes.

He didn’t understand why she always had to kiss his ass. There was no need for it.

"No."

"You know exactly what'll happen if you say no. Little ol' Fraust gets it," she replied. Her face softened when she mentioned Fraust. She tilted her head, trying to get a look at Noah, and Reece tensed.

But at this point, he was getting sick of having Fraust brought up every single time he refused to do something. Burn this building or Fraust dies. Have someone pick lighters up for you or Fraust dies.

"He said he'd keep him out of it. I kept my end of the deal, he has to keep his," Reece deadpanned.

He froze when he felt hands on the back of his shirt. He whirled around to see Noah shaking ever so slightly and he grabbed the back of his shirt.

“Noah?” Reece asked, frowning. “Noah, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he said, clearing his throat. “I’m fine.”

“Noah, I am not in the f*****g mood. What’s wrong?”

Noah looked to his left and Reece copied him. He saw the two boys, Beau and Curtis. He believed they were called watching the duo with interest.

Reece looked down at Noah, who had his eyes glued on his shoes.

Reece turned to look at the trio, who had also been watching them .”You need t piss off, Claudia.”

She frowned as she sighed. “I’m sorry. I can’t. Get him, boys.”

Reece’s eyes widened as John and Louis both came rushing at him. He barely had time to push Noah onto the grass to stop him from getting hurt as he dodged a punch from Louis. He kicked him but was caught in the stomach by John as he punched and kicked Louis.

Ducking a punch from Louis, he kicked John, spun and knocked Louis's feet out from underneath him. He grabbed John, punching him in the nose. He jumped onto John’s back and smashed his hand into his nose.

John threw him off and he roughly hit the ground. He barely dodged Louis’s kick as he got to his feet and punched Louis. He heard the c***k of a bone break.

Reece let out a noise of frustration. He had just wanted a f*****g drink!

John attacked him again and he punched him in the nose once again. He winced when Louis got the upper hand and punched him twice in the torso.

“Back off!” Claudia yelled.

The trio paused and Reece went straight to Noah, who had watched the fight go down from the grass. He had fallen but not gotten back up.

“Are you okay?” Reece asked as he eyed the boy.

“Me?! Are you okay? Who are they!?” Noah yelled, as he accepted the extended hand and stood up.

Maybe they were going easy on me? That thought just pissed me off and I punched them again.

“Reece,” Claudia said.

He turned around to stare at her. “Think about how you act. Especially when Fraust is mentioned. He knows how important they are to you and he will not hesitate to use them against you.”

She walked away, and John and Louis followed after her. Reece felt an odd sense of satisfaction as Louis had to limp away.

The two eyed one another before they continued their walk to McDonald's in silence.

“So,” Noah said when the building came into view. “Who’s Fraust?”

Reece tensed. s**t. He had hoped that would be the one question Noah didn’t ask. He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, wincing as his torso extended. “It’s complicated.”

"Reece, have you joined a gang?"

He rolled his eyes. "No, I haven't joined a gang. Those are just rumours."

"Then who were they?"

"Just some bad people."

"But you know them. Does that make you bad?"

Reece stopped in front of McDonald’s and looked down at Noah. "Do you think I'm bad?" he whispered.

He thought about it for a good minute before replying. "I think bad people can do good things. And good people can do bad things. It's just how life is."

Noah walked inside and left a confused Reece outside. Was that a yes, or a no?

Reece went inside and found Noah in the queue, so he pushed past to stand beside the shorter boy. Reece had to find a way to keep . . . Fraust safe. He could find a way to be around him all of the time, but that would cause suspicions as everyone would notice.

Or, Reece could do as he said. He snorted at his own thoughts. Sure, when he was younger and more naive, he hadn’t asked enough questions. But, now he didn’t want to do it anymore. And he wouldn’t give him a way out.

When it was their turn, Reece ordered the drinks in large. He looked down at the smaller boy and sighed. “Noah, do you want food?”

"She said drinks only," he said, frowning.

Reece sighed dramatically as he patted his head.

"She's paying. Get food. What do you want?"

"Nothing. Just a drink."

"Jesus, Noah. Just get something.

"But she said drinks only," he said stubbornly.

"Then get food and I'll f*****g pay!"

"Small fries," he whispered after a while and Reece rolled his eyes at him.

Even though his place was full to the brink, he had heard his stomach growl.

"Frank!" Reece yelled. At the mention of his name, Frank turned around.

He grinned as he walked over. His brown eyes landed on Noah and he looked at Reece, who shrugged. Frank wasn’t someone you assumed worked at McDonald's. Not with his buzzcut hair, muscle tattoos and piercings. But he did, and it worked out well for Reece.

"Reece!" he said, smiling. "My man. How ya been?"

"Fine. Get me our normal drinks, let me pay for that with a card and two large fries and two Big Macs paid in cash.”

"Hey!" Noah said, annoyed. "I said small."

"Yes. And I'm not deaf, I heard your stomach," Reece deadpanned.

Niah scowled as he turned away from him, but he noticed the tips of his ears turned red.

"He's new. Who's he?" Frank said curiously.

Reece’s eyes narrowed as Frank scanned Noah up and down. Well, let’s just say Frank had a type and Noah was it.

"No one important. Keep the change." Frank didn't say anything.

He handed Reece the receipt and he dragged Noah to the other queue.

"What was that about?" he said and Reece ignored him. "Fine. Be rude."

Reece scrolled through his phone to pass time and when their number was called, he grabbed the brown bags and dragged Noah to an empty seat on the second floor. If he took Noah home right now, the girls would also want his food and Noah wouldn’t say no and he would stay hungry.

Noah reluctantly took a seat, eating his fries. Every few seconds he would look round and he tensed when he spotted someone. Reece raised an eyebrow as Noah moved so he was sitting beside him rather than across him.

“What are you doing?”

“Please,” he whispered. “Let me just sit next to you.”

“And if I said no?” Reece asked, eyebrows raised.

“I would move back across,” Niah replied, tense.

“No,” Reece said, looking around trying to figure out why he was so scared, but nothing seemed to scream danger. “You can sit beside me.”

Noah nodded, slowly, as he focused on his food.

“Noah, are you okay?”

“Peachy,” he replied as he shoved some fries in his mouth.

Reece’s phone rang and he ignored the way Noah jumped as he answered it.

“Hello?”

“Have you died? Because that's the only excuse I'll accept about why you're taking forever," Kiera deadpanned. "You better not have hurt him, Reece."

"Relax, woman, your boy toy is fine. We're eating, we'll be back at ten." Kiera was going to say something, but Reece hung up on his sister.

Reece finished his food before Noah did, and while he waited, he checked his messages. His finger hovered over his messages with Noah, before he clicked on Clark’s.

Clark:

Dont kill them

When Noah finished, he binned their bags and Reece groaned as he stretched. Halfway across the second floor, Reece felt hands on the bottom f his shirt.

He turned around to see the top of Noah’s blonde hair.

“Noah?” he asked, slightly amused.

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing?"

"It's busy. I'd rather not lose you." Reece sighed as he turned back around and Noah’s grip on his shirt tightened.

They got to the top of the stairs, and Reece pried his hands away from the back of his shirt and held his hand instead. “I don’t need a wrinkled shirt,” he muttered.

Noah shrugged. Reece saw the way his eyes landed on his knuckles. Noah used his thumb to rub them, he ignored the small shiver that went down his spine.

“Your knuckles are always bruised and bloody,” he said, and Reece shrugged as they went downstairs.

Even if this was the only McDonalds's in town with mini-fans on the table, it was still ridiculously busy as they dodged multiple people.

Reece dragged Noah past Frank, who had spotted them and their intertwined hands. He frowned but said nothing.

Outside McDonald's, they bumped into Cameron, and Reece hated ever leaving the house.

"You're grounded, and why are you holding hands with Reece?" Noah stared at his brother, who was with two other boys.

"I am grounded. Thanks for that. And I'm not holding hands with Reece."

"You're still holding hands with him!" Cameron said.

Noah looked down at their hands, then up at Reece. He went slightly red as he snatched his hand back. Reece fiddled with his pockets and pulled out a cigarette. He was about to light it when he realised both boys were staring at him. He ignored them.

"Go home, Noah. Before mum finds out," Cameron said.

Reece frowned. Was that a threat or a warning?

Sure, she was the sheriff. And he never listened to the law, so it made sense if she hated him. She also knew about his complicated issues with both her sons. So, even more, the reason for her hating him. But, why did she have something against Noah?

Any parent would be lucky to have him as their child. He was good at school, everyone loved him, he was nice and sweet and was an attractive boy.

They had been the perfect family, before Cameron and their father had left town.

"Reece. Come on," Noah whined.

Reece looked around to see his cigarette in need of ash, and Cameron and his goonie had disappeared.

The two walked back to the house, with Reece holding the drinks. The entire time, Noah didn’t say a word.

In front of the house, Reece stopped Noah. “Noah, are you okay?”

“You’ve asked me if I’m okay more times than I can count, today.”

“Reece shrugged. “You’re not being yourself.”

Niah smiled and Reece couldn't help but smile back. “I’m fine, thank you. Now, let's get the drinks to the girls. They've almost melted.”

Reece handed Noah the drinks as he had decided to stay outside on the porch. He heard his sister scream in delight inside. A few moments later, Mitch walked past Reece into the house without a hello. He ignored him and sat on the stairs, leaning against the bannister.

Reece didn’t realise when he had fallen asleep.

But he had Fraust,

"See, Reece. This is what happens when you don't listen," his deep voice said. He was right beside him. He could feel his hot breath on the tip of his ear. Just where Noah’s would go red when he lied or blushed.

"You said you wouldn't do anything,” he hissed. “I did what you said! You promised!"

He turned around to glare at the man. His dark skin was shining, his darker eyes emotionless. They always said the eyes were the window to the soul. He hoped that phrase wasn’t true. His eyes held nothing.

"Yes. But Fraust looks so cute when he's withering in pain," he said, and Reece bit his lip.

Faust tried to move away from him, but he was so small and the reason for his nightmares was too strong. He grabbed his pale hair and Reece’s eyes widened as Fraust’s green eyes teared up as he tried to get him to loosen his grip. "Wouldn't it be a shame if he died because you slipped up?"

Reece jerked away to see Noah a few centimetres away from him, a blanket in hand. His pale hair had fallen across his forehead and his green eyes were wide.

"Noah!" Reece groaned in annoyance, pushing his face away. "What are you doing?"

"You fell asleep. I just put a blanket on you and put a pillow behind you, so you wouldn't hurt your neck."

Reece groaned as he stood up, rubbing the back of his neck. He was glad to see Noah safe, and not in harm’s way. “You fell asleep and I didn’t want to wake you up,” he whispered.

Reece scowled as he realized it had gotten darker, and the sun was beginning to set.

“Clark is here. So is everyone else.”

"And everyone is?" Reece asked, stretching.

"Cameron, Kiera, Ell, Mitch and Clark.”

Thunder erupted, Noah squealed and Reece frowned.

Looking up, the sky seemed fine. There were no signs of a thunderstorm, but when he turned around he saw the huge black clouds that stretched across the sky behind the house.

Oh yeah, it was definitely going to storm. Reece looked over at Noah, who was looking at the clouds nervously.

"Let's go inside," Reece said as he placed his hand on the small of Noah’s back, urging him inside.

Oh, this was going to be interesting.

~*~