—Mike's POV—

I pulled a cigarette from its carton and put it between my lips, Lily put her finger on her lips, shook her head and pointed outside. I opened the French doors that closed off the garden from the living room and headed out, the night was cold, I regretted not putting a shirt on but I wasn't going to run inside and go and get one.

"What the fuck happened, Mike?" Her tone was accusatory and it boiled my blood.

"I didn't touch her okay, not without her wanting me to anyway" it didn't sound cocky which I was grateful for.

"Then why the fuck was she freaking out back there?" Lily hissed pointing her thumb over her shoulder to the house.

"I don't know, I don't know okay" I was beginning to grow tired and irritated with her accusations. "We were just in the middle of...you know..."

"Fucking" she said plainly and it threw me off how comfortable she was with the word.

"Right...and she she um, she just started screaming" she tilted her head to the side as if she was considering this, deeply thinking whether I was telling the truth or not. I almost thought she believed me.

"I know her, she doesn't freak out over nothing" she said after a while and I sighed, I could forget about her believing me I knew she never would.

"But I didn't do anything" I hissed. She didn't reply, she just took the cigarette carton from my hand and helped herself to a cigarette.

"Hm, help yourself" I muttered sarcastically under my breath. She ignored that too and put the carton back in my hand and the cigarette between her lips, she then came really close to me and touched the end of my cigarette with the end of hers, lighting hers. It was weird to think we were two cigarettes away from this being something completely different. A kiss.

"What happened these last couple of weeks?" She asked as she retreated a few paces and blew the smoke she'd collected, out of her mouth. I didn't know what to say.

"That's not my story to tell" I said firmly, it wasn't a complete lie, more like a cop out.

She shook her head "Fine"

We finished our cigarettes in silence, the night air chill didn't even bother me anymore. I kept seeing the way her eyes went from half closed and intense to wide and full of tears, what happened? Was it something I did? I had to talk to her.

I threw the cigarette to the ground but didn't step on it for lack of footwear. Lily finished hers a few minutes later and we headed inside together.

"I think I'll just crash on the couch tonight" it wouldn't be right to go and get back in the same bed as Leda and she was still in my bed and I didn't want to go sleep in her room so it looked like the couch was my only option.

"For real?" Lily raised an eyebrow, then shook her head. "Just come sleep in my room, jeez"

"But..." I started but she cut me off.

"You don't have to sleep in the bed, fancy pants." She rolls her eyes "You can take the sofa bed" I contemplated it, would Leda be cool with that? After the way she acted tonight I didn't think she'd even care but if she did surely she trusted me enough to know I wouldn't do anything to betray her.

"Okay, sure, thanks" she just shrugged and turned to leave, I followed behind her.

Her room was quaint, a single bed sat motionlessly on the far wall just under the window, the walls were an ivory colour, accented with a flowery pink border running along the middle of all of the walls, there was a small dressing table in the corner of the room, the usual objects didn't occupy it though. Cigarettes, lighters, condoms and even a small sex toy sat atop of it instead of the usual makeup, perfume and jewelry. It didn't surprise me to be honest, it should have done but it didn't and maybe that was me just being judgemental or maybe it was me just knowing better.

"Where do you wanna crash dude?" Lily asked, I was getting used to the fact Lily walked around everywhere half naked, it was hard not to stare at her chest when it was so blatantly naked and she was so comfortable and confident about it.

"Um, I don't mind" I shrugged. Looking at the pink fluffy rug my bare feet stood on. "I'll take the sofa bed" I said when she didn't say anything, she shrugged and pulled off her skirt right in front of me, it should have surprised me that she wasn't wearing underwear but surprisingly, once again it didn't. I pulled out the base cushions of the sofa to make it into a bed and moved one of the cushions so it could act as my pillow.

"There's a blanket in the closet over there" Lily said and I nodded and headed over to the closet, pulling out the blanket I felt her presence behind me. I didn't turn immediately, her fingertips skimmed over my back and I shivered, I turned finally.

"You're tense" she whispered lowly, she held my cheek for a second and then stepped even closer to me, part of me was screaming to step back and another was screaming to step forward. She let her hand slide from my cheek and down my neck to my chest. "Let me help you" her eyes flickered with something I didn't understand.

"How?" I asked even though I almost knew what she was suggesting.

"I can make you forget" their was a smirk in her voice but her expression was intense and genuine, no smile or smirk present, just pure seriousness.

"N-no" it came out strangled and not the slightest bit confident. She put her hand on my crotch and my heart rate began to speed up, our eyes locked on each other, she could tell the affect she was having on me. She brought her lips closer to mine, hovering a slither of an inch away, I was beyond tempted to just lift her off of her feet, undo my fly and fuck her hard against the closet doors behind me.

I mean, she was already naked for me.

But Leda's face popped up into my head and I knew I couldn't, I couldn't live with myself if I did that. I cleared my throat and took a step back, feeling a little disappointed but a lot proud.

Her face fell a little and then a fake smile fluttered across her face. "You passed the test" she giggled but it sounded bitter and wrong "I was just checking you wouldn't fuck over my best friend. You passed." Her smile got more and more tense as she spoke and it was beyond obvious that she was lying but I spared her feelings and said:

"Oh, good" trying to sound as genuine as possible.

"Well, goodnight Mike"

"Yeah, goodnight"

----

—Leda's POV—

I awoke before the sun rose, feeling cold and alone. I felt beside me and the sheets were empty. Where was Mike? I looked at the clock on the night stand and saw it read: 6:01am, oh god it was far too early, my eyes felt swollen and sore and my throat hurt a lot. I was confused.

I rolled out of bed unwillingly and groaned, my eyes stung as if I'd been crying almost all night. Suddenly I remembered, my outburst, that's why my eyes hurt, that's why it felt like I'd swallowed glass. Oh no, Mike! I had to find him and apologize.

I rushed into my room and pulled on the nightgown that hung on the back of the door. I had to find Mike, I had to, shit I've fucked up so badly.

I rushed down the stairs, almost tripping over my own clumsy feet. He didn't seem to be downstairs, I checked the living room, the kitchen, the dining room I didn't know we had and even the downstairs bathroom. Where could he be? I slept in his room so maybe he felt bad and crashed in my room to give me some space? I headed back upstairs to check.

No sign of him anywhere.

-----

—Mike's POV—

The sun was high in the sky when I woke up and I could smell the distant aroma of coffee coming from downstairs. I dragged my zombie body into reality and got up off of the sofa bed, my neck aching from sleeping funny. I stumbled sleepily down the stairs, last night still lingering in the back of my mind as if it was haunting me and in a way I guess it was.

When I entered the kitchen Leda was sitting at the breakfast bar, a cup of steamless coffee in front her, her hands loosely cupping around it, her eyes low and I wondered how long she'd been sitting there like that. I stood in the doorway unsure of myself, I wanted to go to her and hug her, to ask if we could put it behind us or ask what it was that got her so worked up but I didn't dare so instead I stood there and watched her.

She brought the coffee cup up to her lips and held it there for a while before taking a sip, her eyes raised and she spotted me in the doorway, the cup slipped immediately out of her hands and smashed noisily against the floor, her eyes didn't move from mine though.

"Um, I'm sorry...I jus-" I started

"I couldn't find you" she breathed "I thought you left" her brows furrowed.

"Why would I do that?" I asked confused. Neither of us made a move towards the other, we both stayed planted to our spots, our eyes heavily penetrating each other.

"I could think of a hundred reasons why." She smiled sadly, "Mike I'm sor-"

"It's okay, you don't have to be sorry." I dismissed her apology she looked around awkwardly.

"I do, I want to, I am sorry" she tucked her fiery red hair behind her hair and blinked a couple of times as she took a heavy breath. She jumped down cautiously from the stool, ignoring all the sharp pieces of coffee cup on the floor and headed over to me. "Just let me be sorry" she whispered.

"Okay, apology accepted" I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head, her whole body tensed and I was beginning to think I was the problem. "Can I ask something?"

"Sure" she said cautiously, afraid of what I was going to ask.

"Why did you freak out? What happened?" I asked afraid of what her answer would be.

"I saw him, Mike. It was so vivid, like watching a movie, I was so afraid." Her voice was a whisper, a broken whisper.

"Hey hey, it's okay, it's okay" I soothed, I expected her to start crying but she didn't. I leaned in to kiss her and she turned her head the other way. I tried not to let the pain of rejection sting me, but I couldn't help it. It hurt.

"Um...I'm going to go get dressed" she said her eyes vacant as if her mind was somewhere completely different, I looked at her confused, she was in criminal damage shorts, fishnet tights and a Metallica tank top—clearly already fully dressed, why did she need to get dressed again?

My head was beginning to pound, I thought that things would be really good when we got away from my dad...but somehow they were worse—or just as bad, I don't know. I needed to get out and go for a walk.

—Leda's POV—

I needed to get away from Mike, not because he'd done anything wrong, not at all. I just couldn't be around him right now, he was too forgiving, he was almost too perfect and I felt such a mess, I didn't want to ruin him. I knew I would.

"Hi," I said quietly as I opened Vic's door, he was stood at the window, looking out. I wondered what fascinated him so much about what was outside. "Sorry, I should have knocked" I went on. He turned around and smiled, his eyes lighting up a little. He gestured for me to take a seat on the bed, I still found it weird how he'd spoken finally but would now only talk occasionally and not all the time, as if it was more comfortable to be silent. I headed over to the bed and sat down, crossing my legs and watching Vic head over to me. He sat opposite me, mirroring my position but his eyes stayed down low, as if he didn't want to look at me, the thought confused me, had I done something wrong?

"Are you okay, Leda?" he asked the question like he knew the answer and I couldn't decide if that was irritating or endearing.

"Yeah...I'm fine why wouldn-" I was about to ask why he would think I wasn't fine but then I remembered:

screaming, lots of screaming, my screaming, my vocal chords hurt, my eyes burned with tears, unshed tears trying to creep out and overlap the ones that were already steaming hot and running down my skin. Shouting, arguing, people asking questions, those beautiful sad chocolate eyes peeking around the doorway.

"Oh" I said, figuring it'd be stupid to finish my previous sentence—and I also couldn't think of anything intelligent to say.

"Did Mike hurt you?" Vic asked almost like it hurt to ask, he lifted his head slightly, his eyes tense and squinted like he was preparing himself to hear an answer he didn't want to.

"No, oh god no, Mike would never hurt me" I replied honestly.

"You were screaming..." he pointed out, nervously, as if he didn't want to bring it up in case I didn't want to talk about it. It was lovely how considerate he was.

"I had a few flashbacks, I just...I'm fine though, it was just like..." I trailed off, unsure of how to put it into words or how to explain it, no one would understand.

"...having a nightmare but in the day" he finished my sentence and my jaw dropped to the floor.

"Yes, exactly like that" I breathed, gobsmacked. He understood, how did he understand so well? "Are you familiar with those?" I canted my head to the side, I wanted to know everything about him, I wanted to be able to read him like an open book, but he was so closed off and independent and mysterious so I had to settle for asking questions and hoping he'd give the answers I wanted.

"Yes," he started "A little" he shrugged like it was no big deal.

"What do you see?" I curiously asked

"My mom," he sighed "She was beautiful" a bittersweet smile lit up his face. "I sometimes see you, too" he added.

"Me?" I pointed to myself subconsciously as if he wouldn't know who I meant. He nodded and I bit my lip—uh-oh.

"It's weird, there's always two of you, the person you really were and the person I wished you'd be." he lowered his eyes like he couldn't make eye contact while being honest—honestly, I think he was afraid of hurting my feelings. "The real you would hit me and the made up you that I glorified would help me back up" he went on as if he was thinking out loud.

"Oh, Vic..." I said sadly, my heart breaking, this was why Vic was so easy to be around, because he was already broken and since I was beginning to break I understood that. The only catch was, I was the one who broke him.

"That was a while ago though, you moved away and I never saw you again and things slowly faded" he shrugged. "And then my dad brought you home..." his eyebrows creased.

"How could you fall for me when I was so cruel to you? You were really happy...and kind...and I ruined you" tears threatened, it was audible in my voice that I was going to cry soon.

He shrugged again "I don't know," he started and stopped as if he was pondering that "You were mean to me, but I could see in your eyes it wasn't because you enjoyed being mean, you just had no other way of letting everything out. It was the wrong way, but it helped you a little I guess" his expression didn't change, it stayed impassive, his eyebrows dipped low over his eyes but other than that no emotion showed on his face and I was desperate to know what he was thinking, feeling, anything.

"So you're saying you let me be mean to you because you thought it was helping me?" I asked to make sure I was getting the right end of the stick. He nodded. In a fucked up way it was kind of sweet, he was only a little kid, as was I, and he was so selfless while I took all my anger out on him, he thought it was helping me. My heart melted.

My emotions literally took over my body, I threw myself forward and crashed my lips against his, the shock was evident in his posture, he was stiff and unmoving but then all of a sudden he relaxed a little and began to kiss back. He cupped my cheek with his hand and tucked my hair behind my ear as his lips danced across mine, I pushed off the hat he was wearing and ran my fingers through his hair—he hadn't flat ironed it today so it was straight up to his jaw and then it fell to his shoulders in waves, it was different and unusual to see on him, not what I was used to, but I honestly loved it—it was soft and I gripped the back of his head gently, molding our lips together, flicking my tongue against his lips for access to the inside of his mouth, he opened his mouth to allow me access and our tongues worked together. The kiss was hot and needy, almost desperate, but the kind that still gave you butterflies.

The most exciting part was that it was so wrong and I knew that. But deep inside me I also knew it was right.

Maybe I'd made a mistake...maybe I'd chosen the wrong brother.

Notes

This made me really happy to write :)
TEAM MIKE OR TEAM VIC, YO?
I'm still undecided on my team. THREESOME. —don't get your knick-knacks in a twist young darlings, I am only kidding.
Tell me your thoughts!!! And also what you would like to see happen! (And I'll try and make that happen for youuuuuuuuu) :)
I have already decided how this is going to end, muahaha. But it's not ending yet so, woooo.
Thanks for reading you little minx's. <3