Colette giggled and petted the back of his head. “That’s fine. You just keep me from going insane.”
He let out a sigh and a nod. “I can do that.”
“Alright, those are the teams then,” Nathan said. “The three of us will go to Brayden, Nikki, Colette, Alistair, Avery and Jaxon, you all stay and help Sicily.”
“Break!” Colette yelped, but no one moved. She shrugged and popped a grape into her mouth. “Screw you guys. It felt like a ‘break’ moment.”
After finishing up our breakfast, I said goodbye to Sicily, and then Nathan, Kyle and I piled into Kyle’s truck. I relented the front seat to Nathan, because sitting in the front with Kyle seemed a little awkward, but being in the back didn’t help much. The ride was totally silent, and there was a tension between Kyle and Nathan that I couldn’t quite pinpoint. Part of me wanted to ask, but the other part thought that might shatter the stasis, so I didn’t.
Eventually, we got to the park near Postings Proper High School, and Brayden’s car was already parked in the lot. Kyle parked next to it and Nathan and I started to climb out, but Kyle didn’t move. I managed to make it all the way out of the truck, but Nathan noticed me looking back at Kyle and climbed back into the front seat.
“You good?” he asked.
“He’s gonna hate me,” Kyle said. “He’s gonna feel like we’re ambushing him.”
Nathan nodded with a snicker. “Yeah, well, after what he pulled he should be a little understanding.” Kyle glared over at Nathan and I got nervous they were going to erupt, but Nathan seemed unphased. “Don’t look at me like that. We babied him a lot during the last six months and he fucking sold us out.”
“You promised me you weren’t mad,” Kyle said.
“I’m not, but I’m not going to tiptoe around him either. He owes us for what he did. The only reason I’m not beating it out of him is because you asked me not to.”
“I’ll kick your ass if you touch him,” Kyle hissed.
“Okay,” I interjected. “What the hell is going on?” Both Kyle and Nathan looked over at me with shock on their faces. “Last I checked, Kyle you didn’t even fucking like Brayden, and he was Nathan’s goddamn mini me. What did I miss?”
Nathan raised an eyebrow. “A lot.” He looked back at Kyle. “I’m not gonna hurt him. I know my dad manipulated him too, but if I go walking out there he’s not going to listen. We need you there, or this is useless. He’ll forgive you because if he doesn’t he’s an ass.” Kyle sat in silence, and all Nathan and I could do was sit there as well. Finally, Nathan put a hand on Kyle’s shoulder. “We have to do something or he’s going to drift so far away even you won’t be able to bring him back. You don’t want that. I know you don’t.”
Kyle shook his head. “No.”
“Then let’s go get him.” That seemed to do the trick and Kyle finally unbuckled his seatbelt. As Nathan climbed out of the car, he leaned in towards me. “This is gonna get weird, so just stand back.”
“Since when does he care so much?” I whispered back.
Nathan flashed me an indignant expression. “Like I said… you missed a lot.”
We walked around the car and followed Kyle further into the park. It was already shaping up to be a hot summer day, so the park was full of families enjoying the morning before it got too steamy. We stepped around everyone and made our way towards the picnic tables behind the initial playground, and Brayden was sitting on one of the tables facing away from us. Kyle did a stutter step when we first saw him, but kept going and when we were close enough, Nathan grabbed my arm to keep me from getting any closer.
Kyle walked up to the table and reached out to touch Brayden’s shoulder. To my surprise, Brayden almost immediately climbed down and threw himself into a hug, one Kyle returned with passion.
“Nathan, what’s going on?” I asked.
Before Nathan could answer, Brayden noticed us over Kyle’s shoulder and yanked himself back out of the hug.
“What are they doing here?” he asked. “You said it was just you.”
“They need to talk to you,” Kyle said. “They aren’t angry.”
“Bullshit. Nathan’s fuming,” Bryden barked.
Kyle looked over his shoulder and I looked over and saw Nathan was tense and glaring. I smacked his arm and he dropped a little out of it, relaxing his shoulders and attempting to calm his face.
“They just want to talk,” Kyle said.
“No.” Brayden turned around and started to walk away, but Kyle reached out and grabbed his arm and pulled him back. He snatched himself from Kyle’s hold, but Kyle reached out again, attempting to grab Brayden again. “Stop it. Don’t touch me.”
“Brayden, don’t do this,” Kyle said. “Just—”
Before Kyle could get any additional words out, Brayden shot his fist out, making hard contact with Kyle’s nose. When it happened, a look of horror flashed across Brayden’s face before guilt settled in. He tried again to walk away, but Kyle reached out and grabbed Brayden’s hand.
“Stop,” Brayden said, and it was weak, like he was begging. “Just let me leave.”
“You need to face this.” Kyle pulled, but Brayden swung again. That time, Kyle ducked out of the way, but then Brayden swung back with his other fist, hitting Kyle’s face again. I took a step forward, but Nathan pulled me back. “Brayden.”
“Just let me go!” Brayden screamed. “I nearly killed you!”
“But you didn’t,” Kyle replied. He had a firm grip on Brayden’s hand and refused to let go. Regardless of the hits he’d taken, he was standing tall, unphased. “I didn’t die. None of us did. We know that you were backed into a corner.”
All of the fight in Brayden deflated and tears filled the corners of his eyes. “I thought you were going to die. I thought I killed you. Just let me leave. I don’t deserve—”
“Brayden!” Kyle snapped. “Look at me.” Brayden slowly lifted his head and looked at Kyle. “Why am I still here?”
“I don’t know,” Brayden said.
“Yes you do,” Kyle replied quickly. “Didn’t I already tell you? I’m not going anywhere.” My whole body covered with goosebumps as Kyle placed both of his hands on either side of Brayden’s neck and looked directly into his eyes. Brayden’s hands came up to rest on Kyle’s wrists, and all at once I realized that ‘a lot’ hardly covered what I’d missed. “They aren’t mad. I mean, they’re mad at the situation, but they aren’t mad at you. They just want to talk. Will you talk to them please?”
“You won’t leave?” Brayden asked.
Kyle flashed a small, warm smile. “Where would I go?”
Brayden nodded and Kyle pulled his hands away from Brayden, but stayed close to him as they turned to walk towards us. With each step, Brayden dwarfed more and more between his own shoulders, but one he was close enough, I charged forward. He winced, but I threw my arms around his shoulders in a hug.
“Um,” Brayden said in my ear. “What?”