Page 137 of Break Me (Brayshaw High 5)

Not if his eyes won’t be there waiting for me.

Not if I can no longer seek out his touch, hear his voice, or feel the depths of his heart.

Not if he’ll never reach for me again and pull me into his open and wanting arms.

Not if his love is gone.

As I sink to the bottom, and the blackness takes over, his eyes appear behind mine.

Suddenly, everything is right, because he’s right here.

He’s with me.

You die, I die, baby.

That’s what I tell him.

And tonight, under the summer moon we lay beneath, in the town we were born in, surrounded by the people that we love...

We let go of the hurt, and the pain, and the ache, and we do it together.

I love you, Royce Brayshaw.

Always.Chapter 38BassI can count on one hand the number of times I’ve cried in my life, and today, looking down at my baby sister’s beautiful face, it’s number four.

When I think back on our lives, the pain we lived, the darkness we saw, the end result, as much as it hurts to admit, was inevitable, but the path toward it, I’d never have fucking guessed.

All my life, all I ever wanted was to protect my sister, to make sure she understood how important she was to me, as a good brother would, but somehow, with those thoughts constantly sitting in the back of my mind, I dropped the ball. And this is where it brought me.

To the goodbye.

I failed her in more ways than I can count, failed myself, and I’ll never forget it.

Never ever forgive myself for it.

But I will be better for it. Because of it.

The memory of what happened here will never leave me, and the nightmares will only get worse, but I’ll find comfort in knowing my baby sister isn’t alone.

That she’ll be loved, no matter where she is.

That she’ll be safe and without fear.

That no one can ever hurt her again.

And if they tried, they’d have a hell of a fucking wall to get through to do it.

Because my baby sister... she’s no Bishop.

She’s Brayshaw.

Through and fucking through.Chapter 39BrielleI lift my hand to my brother’s bruised and busted face, and the tears he’s fought hard to keep locked in place slip free, my own following.

“Big brothers aren’t supposed to cry.”

“Little sisters aren’t supposed to die.”

“They brought me back.” My voice is a scratchy whisper, coated in a heavy layer of overflowing emotion, but my attempt to tease, to lighten the far too grim mood, works a little.

His frown deepens, but his lip twitches. “Yeah and thank fuck for that.” He trails the bruising on my cheek up to my temple. “What you did was reckless.”

My mouth pulls to one side and I nod. “I know.”

We both know I can’t apologize for it, because I’m not sorry.

His face falls and my lungs ache, but it has nothing to do with my injuries, and everything to do with what I know is coming. “You need to leave.”

His eyes snap to mine. “I won’t,” he swears. “If you say you need me, I won’t.”

“But...”

He sighs, his face tightening as he shakes his head. “But you’ve already said you don’t, and as hard as it is to admit, I believe you.”

I tilt my head to peek over his shoulder, and meet the eyes of not one, but four Brayshaws.

A low laugh leaves me, and when I wince, everyone winces with me.

My hand falls to clasp around my brother’s, and I look into the eyes of the person who taught me how to love and how to reach for more.

“I will always need you, Bass. No matter who I have...” I swallow. “Or who I lose. I will always need my brother, but that doesn’t mean you have to be here to be here,” I whisper. “You can go home without guilt and keep working on the happiness you’re chasing but have yet to discover.”

His jaw flexes. “You’re sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” I promise. “You’ve been sitting beside me for four days. I can’t imagine the new world you’ve found can run smoothly without you in it.”

His lips smash together, and he raises a teasing, dark brow. “You have no idea.”

“I object to that statement.”

We look toward the door to find the blonde he rode in with, and he sighs.

She walks in the room, and both Victoria and Raven push to their feet, making her smirk grow, but as her eyes come to mine, it smoothes out. She runs her tongue along her teeth, swallowing. “For the record, by helpless little lamb, I meant worried big brother.”

Bass’ brows pull but he doesn’t turn to look at her.

She licks her lips. “So, yeah. See you around, or hopefully, I don’t. No offense, I’m just sort of... trying to shake a stray.”

Bass rolls his eyes and I glance from him to her.