Such a Typical Thing

A one night stand and a photograph made it's way to you;

I found no answers, and the day was relatively boring.

By the end of it, all of the guys were sitting outside in lawn chairs with their beer, and to my surprise, Matt let me join in on the drinking. I never had to keep my drinking habits from him, but it felt weird being around him when I was severely intoxicated. But when I plopped down, he'd handed me a beer. I figured it was partially due to the fact that he'd already had a few himself.

I looked around the circle of inhabited chairs. Alex was slightly pink in the cheeks and smiling. Grieco wasn't drinking, neither was Evan, and Jack was on the bus. Everybody else had a drink in hand.

My eyes caught Danny's. Our gaze held for a slow moment before he blinked and looked away.

I had spent all day trying to remember what had happened the night before. As far as I could tell, I hadn't married a hooker, and I hadn't pulled out my own tooth. But still, I wondered.

I could close my eyes and see us sitting in the grass. I could still smell the warm scent of his cologne, but that was all. It was like a big blank until I was with Jack.

It was a warm night, but I was in shorts and a sweatshirt, which was unzipped. I was slouched down in the chair, my feet propped up on a cooler. I sighed, taking another drink. Mild conversation was going on, but nothing in depth.

Jack stumbled out of the bus and through a wad of something at me. It landed in my lap and I picked it up. The lacey fabric in my hands was very familiar. In fact, it was mine.

"You left those in my bunk last night," Jack announced.

All eyes turned to me.

"What?" Matt asked through clenched teeth.

"Oh hey, Matt! I didn't see you sitting there," Jack said awkwardly with a laugh. He quickly started up the steps of the bus, but Matt was quick behind him, grabbing his collar and pulling him back.

As soon as the initial shock of what had just happened wore off, I realized that I was sitting there, holding up a pair of my underwear, displaying it to the nine guys in front of me. I quickly tucked them under my thigh.

"What the fuck happened last night?" my brother demanded, his face a strange color of redish-purple, a color I had never seen before. He looked from Jack, whose collar was still clenched in his hand, to me. I looked down at my lap.

When I looked up, Matt was still staring at me. Rian and Alex were holding back laughs. Grieco and Vinny were staring down Jack, either wanting to kill him or wishing they'd had the chance to sleep with me. Zack looked indifferent, and Evan just seemed confused. Danny, though...

He looked mad. He looked hurt. And then he looked at me and I looked away immediately.

After the silence, Matt decided he didn't need an answer as to what had happened. He had known since Jack threw my underwear at me.

"You fucked my little sister," Matt said slowly, deliberately. He pushed Jack a bit, letting go of his collar.

"C'mon man," Jack said, putting his hands up in his defense.

"You fucked my little sister," Matt repeated, more venously, pushing Jack again, harder this time.

"It's not like it was even the first time!" Jack said, looking around a bit, hoping to make a run for it.

"What?!" Matt roared, turning his enraged glare onto me.

"Matt, I-" I started to explain, to settle him down. I was cut off though when Matt slammed Jack against the side of the bus.

Rian and Alex jumped up quickly and rushed to Jack's aid, pulling Matt off of him. I jumped up too, but remained where I was. In all the action, Alex had knocked over his beer.

"How many times?" he asked.

"What?" Jack asked, sounding slightly confused.

"How many time have you slept with my sister?" Matt's voice seemed calmer.

"I don't know, maybe seven or eight." Jack shrugged, moving away from the side of the bus.

When Rian and Alex has pulled Matt away from Jack, they let him go completely. That was their key mistake.

The second the number had escaped Jack's lips, Matt's fist made contact with Jack's jaw. Nobody moved at first; they were too shocked, me included. Before anyone could react to the first punch, Matt took the opportunity to punch Jack again, this time in the eye.

By then, the shock had worn off and everyone was on their feet, rushing to Matt and Jack. It took Rian, Alex, and Zack to pull Matt away, who by that point was all swinging fists. Once he was out of reach for punches, he began to kick, making contact only with Jack's shin. Vinny, Evan, and Grieco pulled Jack onto the bus, getting him out of Matt's sight.

I wasn't the only one left in the circle.

Danny was staring intently at the ground, still seated. He was leaning forward, his elbows on his knees, staring downward.

"Danny," I said, taking a step towards him. He shook his head once before standing up and walking in no direction in particular. He was out of sight quickly.

Pushing my hair back, I started walking too. I turned in the direction that Rian, Alex, and Zack had taken Matt in their rush to get him away from Jack. They hadn't taken him far, just to the other side of the bus. When I got closer, I could hear them talking.

"What do you mean I can't castrate him?!" Matt asked, sounding shocked.

"Matt, he needs his dick. Calm down. I don't think it will be inside Remy again anytime soon," Rian told him in a hushed tone.

"And besides, if you cut off his dick, you'd be in jail and he could still finger her, if he wanted. And if you were in jail, then you couldn't beat him up again!" Alex sounded a little too enthused about the idea of Matt being in prison. Actually, the idea of my brother in prison was very amusing.

From the silence that ensued, I had a feeling Matt was staring Alex down for mentioning the possibility of Jack fingering me. Which he had, but Matt didn't really need to know that right this second.

"Either way," Rian said after a long pause, "It happened, and you can't go back and protect her, Matt. Remy's a big girl, she can take care of herself."

I smiled at the fact the Rian, my best friend, thought of me as an adult. Having spent the last five years around Rian, Jack, Alex, but not so much Zack, most times, they still seemed to view me as the wide-eyed, mostly innocent fourteen year old that they'd first met. Well, obviously Jack didn't view me as that too much anymore, having slept with me so many time. But for the most part, Alex was just as protective over me as Matt was, well, except Alex wasn't about to punch someone for sleeping with me. Rian, who was my best friend, was naturally protective over me, but knew that I could handle most anything.

I stepped around the corner to face them. Matt, who was sitting on a case of some sort, stared me down, looking more disappointed than angry. I looked down at my feet for a split second before taking a deep breath.

"Can you give us a minute?" I asked, smiling hopefully. Rian and Alex nodded. I didn't know where Zack had gone. Alex clapped Matt on the shoulder before walking off, and Rian hugged me tightly.

Once they were gone, Matt looked over at me. He nodded and slowly, I walked over to him and slid into his lap. He wrapped his arms around my waist and hugged me tightly.

"Are you mad?" I asked after working up a fair amount of courage.

"Am I mad, yes. At you, no."

"Good, because you're scary when you're mad," I told him. He chuckled.

"You could have told me. You didn't have to keep it a secret."

"I didn't want to hurt you. And I didn't want you to think I'm a slut."

"You are, by the way," he informed me.

"Thanks," I said with a scoff.

"That doesn't mean you're not my little sister."

"You've got a point," I told him. "No more punching guys I sleep with though."

"Sounds fair enough," he said with a shrug.

"I mean, like Rian said, I'm a big girl, Matt. I mean, I lost my virginity when I was sixteen. I think I can handle Jack Barakat."

"I know you can." Matt sighed, resting his head on my shoulder. "You grew up too fast. You make me feel old."

"Well, you are my older brother," I said with a laugh, nudging him. He laughed in agreement.

"Now, out of my lap, you're crushing me," he said, standing up and causing me to fall out of his lap. I scowled at him and he wrapped his arms around me in a hug. "I love you, Rems," he told me, kissing the top of my head.

"I love you too, Matt, now please let me go," I pleaded lightly. "I'm going to text Oakleigh and ask if I can stay with her tonight. I think there might be too much tension in the air on the bus. Danny's pissed off too for some reason."

"What happened with Danny?" Matt asked, frowning slightly.

"I have no idea. He came up to me this morning and I know something happened, but I just don't remember it."

Matt sighed one of his signature "what the hell did you do now?" sighs and shook his head.

"Just don't get pregnant," he said, walking away. I smiled to myself and watched him go.