Strung

“You ready man?” I heard the screen door slam as Alec bounded down the stairs. Interesting choice of clothes. He wasn’t blending in. Not one bit. Rocker skinny jeans, a graphic shirt, converse and a beanie. Yeah… way ta look LA dude.

I understood though. Why try to blend in when everyone already knows anyways? It’s why I wore ripped jeans and put my man necklaces back on as well as my leather bracelets. Who the hell cared that we didn’t fit in? We had Nat.

I didn’t realize I said ‘we.’

As in she was both of ours.

Until I got into the car.

“Let’s go.” Alec got into his car an unlocked the doors. The drive to school felt tense. But then again, I knew it would be. Alec got zero sleep if his stomping through the house was any indication last night.

And me, well, let’s just say between telling the giant bear I was living with to calm the hell down and trying not to panic over the fact that he was that bent out of shape over something involving my girlfriend — it was almost enough for me to want to reach my arm down that toilet and snatch up those drugs.

Hey, I didn’t say it was a pleasant mental picture.

I settled for a Coke Zero at six am.

Soda. I was drinking soda in the morning.

And they say drugs can kill you.

My cell rang in my pocket. Swearing at my publicist’s number, I pulled it out and barked into the phone. “What?”

“Damage control.” He coughed. “Just let it roll over but it’s worse than you guys suspected. The media’s making it out to be that she’s AD2’s newest plaything.

“ I’m sorry, what?” I roared. “How the hell did that happen?”

“Look, Demetri, it will blow over. It always does. Jamie Jaymeson was just found walking out of a hotel with three girls. Three, Demetri. Trust me, once that video goes viral, you’re good.”

I cursed into the phone then hung up.

Mature. I’m aware.

“How bad?” Alec asked quietly.

“Bad,” I croaked.

“Atlanta bad?”

I snorted. “Worse, man, so much worse.” I turned around and bit my lip as I thought of exactly what to tell Nat. “I don’t know how to say this, or even how to warn you.”

“Just say it,” Alec spat. If I had pills I would have given him one.

I gave my brother a glare before reaching for Nat’s hand and kissing it. “The media’s cooked up a pretty ridiculous story. It’s not going to be an easy day.”

Nat’s tilted her head and spoke softly, “What kind of story?”

Alec swore under his breath while I explained. “One where you were seen kissing one brother one night, only to be seen almost kissing the other the next night.” I left out the part in the middle about us sharing her for sex or playing with her for sport. She was too innocent to get it. I didn’t want to share ugly with her; I wanted to protect her from it.

She was silent for a few minutes then asked, “So they labeled me a whore?”

Alec slammed on the breaks and put the car into park smack dab in the middle of the road. Aw shit. The bear was back. Good job Nat. You poked it.

Alec’s eyes were furious as he seethed. “Don’t you dare ever call yourself that. Do you understand?”

Nat’s lower lip trembled; she gave a quick nod and folded her hands in her lap.

I reached out and touched Alec’s arm, trying to calm him down, hoping that he’d realize he was scaring the shit out of the girl he was supposed to be protecting.

The girl he would have chosen for himself, had I not stood in the way. I wasn’t stupid. Okay, so I wasn’t that stupid. And funny thing about being sober, you notice a lot more than you used to. Like the way that within twenty-four hours my brother had turned into a rageaholic who speared fish for dinner and wore war paint across his face.

“So what’s the plan?” Nat asked. All normal. As if I hadn’t just told her that her life was semi over.

My mouth dropped open. “How are you not more upset?”

She shrugged. “I missed breakfast and didn’t have my morning coffee. I have no energy to be upset.”

Alec cursed again and reached into the glove box pulling out a protein bar. “You gotta eat, Nat. You were sick this weekend.”

Aw cute, he was going to be such a good wife some day to a very lucky woman… The dude needed like… sugar or something.

While Nat nibbled on the bar I explained, “You’re my girlfriend, people know that. We’ll just have to do some damage control. And don’t be seen alone with Alec.”

“That won’t be a problem.” Alec put the car in park, turned off the ignition and jumped out.

Nat looked like she was about three seconds away from bursting into tears. Shit. Damn it Alec! He never left me in positions like this. It was both aggravating and… invigorating? I don’t know. It was like he trusted me to make it better. He trusted me when he wasn’t in control. And I kind of liked the rush of stepping up to the plate.

“He feels responsible.” I sighed, reaching for Nat’s hand. “He’s not mad at you.”

She nodded as her eyes pooled with tears. Quickly, she averted her gaze and grabbed her bag.

“Nat, look at me.”

I placed my hands on either side of her face. “You have to be brave, okay?”

She took a deep breath. “Okay. I can do that.”

“That’s my girl.” I hopped out of the car and opened her door.