Chapter 5

"Touché." I mumbled with a small grin. Very soon after that, I stopped outside the familiar house. I texted my brother and waited for him to come.

"You and your family close?" I looked at Tiffany, surprised at the question. "What?" She questioned. "Might as well get to know you while I'm stuck here, right?"

I laughed, "I guess we are. Not so much with my dad, though. All of us, in general, used to be closer when we were younger but yeah, we are close."

Tiffany nodded in response but didn't say anything.

"Are you and Charlie close? He said you guys stayed in touch even though you didn't live near each other."

"Charlie and I are close, sure. We talk, he's there for me, we joke around and everything. Ezra and I are closer though." Her voice was firm and eyes were locked straight ahead out the window as she spoke. She seemed distant whenever she was talking even though she was right beside me.

"Did Ezra live near you before he moved here?" I asked. "None of us know a lot about him. Ever since he moved here he hasn't been at school much until recently."

Tiffany thought for a moment before she continued speaking. It were like she were debating on how much to tell me. "He wasn't at school because he was with me. He use to live in Saratoga Springs until he moved here because my aunt and uncle got a divorce. Over the past months while he's lived here he'd always be in Saratoga visiting me and my mother."

"And now you're both in Long Grove so he's around more too." I noted, making sense of the situation. "Pretty clear you guys are closer."

Tiffany nodded, "He's just been by my side through a lot. Sure, Charlie was there too and I'm grateful to have him but Ezra understood things better because he was actually there when they were happening. Charlie could comfort me and give me advice but Ezra knows me better than anyone ever will."

I nodded. I was disappointed the conversation came to a stop because my brother walked out of his friends house and started walking to the car. I finally felt like I was getting through to Tiffany and didn't know if this conversation would come up again. Bad timing, Braxton.

"Uh, hey," my brother muttered awkwardly as he got into the car.

"Braxton, this is my friend Tiffany. Tiffany, meet Braxton."

Tiffany turned and looked at him. She narrowed her eyes. I was expecting her to say hello but she winced and looked away.

"What?" I looked at her in confusion.

She gave me a flat look that said 'can you not see what I see'. I was confused.

Braxton grumbled under his breath and looked out the window. "It's not a big deal. Not like I'm the only kid you ever seen do it."

"Never said you were." She replied dully to my brother, not looking at him. "Just not a fan. Don't mind me, though. Who am I to judge, right?"

"What are you guys going off about?" I looked between the two of them but they both simply looked out their own windows.

"Can we go home? I got stuff I need to do." Braxton gave me an irritated look, not seeming very happy.

"I'm not driving until one of you tells me what the tension is about." I raised my eyebrow and waited for an answer.

"He's your brother, it's none of my business." Tiffany gave me a tired look.

"Then why are you being pissy about it?" Braxton retorted, narrowing down his eyes at the back of her seat since he didn't have a clear view of her.

"I'm not," Tiffany held a straight face and emotionless voice. "I don't care."

"That explains your judgemental looks." Braxton muttered quietly but loud enough for us to hear.

Tiffany finally turned around to look at him, "Listen kid, I can smell it off you. I don't care what you do but for your own good you may want to stop before it ruins your life, okay? That's all I'm saying. Aside from that, I'm not judging you because I don't know you and I don't know what your deal is. I'm not a fan of these things so I truly hope you forgive me for cringing when I smelt it radiating off you."

"Ruin his life?" I asked as Tiffany turned around and crossed her arms over her chest. "What are you talking about? Smell what?"

"Oh come on, Ace." Tiffany looked at me and rolled her eyes irritably. "Are you really telling me you have never smelt weed before? This is the 21st century."

I looked at her in confusion and then looked at Braxton with wide eyes, "you smoke weed?"

Braxton leaned his head against the window, "Took you long enough to catch on." He was unamused and not fazed.

"Dude, seriously?" I looked at him in anger. "What the hell is wrong with you? You're really going to ruin your life by doing that especially after seeing-" I stopped myself. I shook my head and turned back around in my seat.

"Can we just go home?" Braxton grumbled.

I didn't say anything. I started driving in silence and started thinking about how it made sense. Some of his actions and his attitude all made sense but I didn't know how I was blind enough to not see it sooner. We were going to have to have a conversation later.

A short and quite uncomfortable drive later, we got to my house. Braxton rushed out of the car before I had even properly parked.

I looked at Tiffany as I took the keys out of the ignition, "am I a shit brother for not noticing?"

Tiffany looked at me and gave me a soft smile which took me by surprise but I kept my face neutral so she wouldn't see that. Tiffany never smiled - like, ever.

"No. He's a stupid teenager who got caught up in the wrong things with the wrong crowd. Smoking weed doesn't make you a bad person but it can lead to bad decisions that can cause a lot of harm." Once again, I noticed the distant look in her eyes. She was here but her mind was somewhere else. "Just talk to him. Try to get him to understand how dangerous it can be but don't beat yourself - or him up about it."

I nodded slowly and smiled, "you caught on right when you met him." My statement came out more like a question.

"I've been around a lot of different types of people." That was all she said before she quickly changed the subject. "So, what are we doing now, Ace?"

"Come on," I motioned towards my house as I opened the car door. "You can meet my other brother who I think may be easier to get to know compared to Braxton."

Tiffany looked a little hesitant but followed me inside my house anyways. Almost instantly, my youngest brother ran to me and hugged me.

"Hey kiddo," I smiled. "This is my friend, Tiffany."

Tiffany bent down so she was at his height and stuck out her hand with a small smile playing on her lips, "Hi there."

Colton looked at her with a toothy grin and ignored her hand as he gave her a big hug causing her to laugh as she almost fell over. "Hi, I am Colton. I'm nine years old and I'm really good at reading - oh and math."

Tiffany laughed as they pulled apart, "it is very nice to meet you, Colton. I think you're already my favourite."

Colton smiled even wider as Tiffany stood up. He grabbed her hand and started dragging her through the house, "Here! I'll show you the others."

Tiffany looked behind her shoulder and gave me a scared looked but was smiling as Colton pulled her along. I laughed and followed behind them.

"Guys, meet Noah's friend. She's a lot nicer than him," Colton grinned as he brought Tiffany into the lounge room where my other brothers except Braxton were sitting and playing video games.

"Oh, um hello." Tiffany shifted on her feet as she stood in the room like a deer in headlights, not expecting more guys.

"Hey, I'm Cade." He nodded at her, pausing the video game. "I've seen you around school. We have English together, I think. You're the new girl, right?"

"Yeah, I am." She smiled lightly.

"Well hello," my older brother, Adriel walked up to her and placed a kiss on her cheek which caused Tiffany's eyes to widen in surprise. "I am Adriel. The oldest and most charming of these fools. I can show you a good time of you let me." He winked.

Tiffany stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest. She narrowed her eyes, "has that ever actually worked on a girl?"

Cade snickered as Adriel feigned a look of disbelief.

"Cade and Braxton are fraternal twins, by the way." I mentioned as I took a seat on the couch and grabbed the bag of chips from Cade. "They're 11 months younger than me."

"I figured." Tiffany mumbled quietly as she came over and took a seat beside me.

"Why didn't you tell us you have a girlfriend, little bro?" Adriel came back to his seat and grabbed the Xbox remote as him and Cade resumed their game.

"When are you going back to uni, Adge?" I rolled my eyes, my voice light and joking. "We're tired of having you around."

Adriel reached over and punched me, "Shut up, my presence is always a delight. I can show you if you want a free test run, Tiffany." He winked at her again.

Tiffany scrunched her noes up, "I think I'm doing just fine without."

"Can we go play soccer," Colton started tugging on Cade's hand. Cade hummed before quickly destroying Adriel who was distracted in the game, then getting up. He picked Colton up in his arms and turned to Tiffany, "Bye. It was nice meeting you." He smiled.

"Bye Tiffany! Visit again soon, okay?" Colton beamed happily.

Tiffany nodded and smiled, "I will. Bye guys."

Adriel stood up and looked at the two of us with a smirk and his eyes narrowed. "Use protection, alright?" Then he left.

I coughed awkwardly and looked at Tiffany who looked stunned. Her cheeks tinged pink ever so slightly that it was hard to notice.

"So Cade is quite opposite of Braxton." She muttered quietly, breaking the silence.

I leaned back on the couch and popped a chip in my mouth as I put the bag between the two of us so she could reach it easily. "Braxton's always been the quieter one who keeps to himself. Cade's a good kid."

"I'm sure Braxton is too," she stated softly. "I mean... he probably feels like he's hiding behind Cade all the time, like he's just in his shadow. I get it."

I looked at her with my eyebrows furrowed. Was she referring to her relationship with Charlie? It made a bit of sense because Charlie was kind of like Cade whereas she was like Braxton without the drugs.

"You get it?"

She looked at me and cleared her throat. Tiffany sat up straighter, "I just mean it would make sense, being a twin and all. I... I don't uh - well Charlie and I had two separate lives, so I don't know." She looked away.

"Hey," without really thinking, I softly grabbed her chin and turned her to head so she was facing me. I tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.

I got lost in her eyes for a moment as our gazes locked. It was cliche and absurd because Tiffany would probably pluck all of my hairs out individually if I ever made a move on her.

I wasn't saying I wanted to make a move on her because I didn't like her like that. We just seemed to be growing into an odd and confusing friendship.

"What are you doing, Ace?" her voice soft and barley above a whisper. We were so close I could feel her warm, minty breath on my lips.

I involuntarily licked my bottom lip. Her eyes glanced down to my lips for the most brief second that I wouldn't have caught it if our eyes weren't locked.

"Noah, have you seen my- woah, sorry. Am I interrupting? Stupid question. Yes I am. My bad, I was just looking for my Ozil jersey."

Cade's voice pulled both of us back into reality. We instantly pulled away from each other, Tiffany awkwardly looking away as she rubbed the back of her neck.

I cleared my throat and sent a glare to Cade who rambled like an idiot before backing out of the lounge.

"You should probably drive me home," Tiffany stood up. "I have homework."

Without saying anything I nodded and stood up, following her to the front door.

The whole car ride was silent and kind of awkward with no sound except the radio playing stupid pop songs.

I didn't sleep much that night. All I could wonder was what would've happened if Cade hadn't walked in. Guess we would never know.