Three's a Crowd

The drive to San Francisco was long and arduous, of all the reasons Raven had to go back home this was the one she never wanted to be returning for. Looking out of the window as Brian pulled up in the driveway of her childhood home, Raven took note of the fact that it hadn't changed. It still looked the same way it did when she was there just a few months ago but oddly it seemed like everything had changed. Brian looked over at her as he switched off the engine.

“You ready for this?” He asked softly, squeezing her hand and Rae looked back at him, shaking her head solemnly.

“No, not really…” She whispered. “How do you prepare yourself to lose someone you love so much?”

Brian frowned, wishing there was something he could do to ease the ache in his girlfriend’s heart; “I’m sorry, baby…”

Raven nodded, squeezing his fingers before dropping her hold on his hand and moving to get out of the car.

Stepping out onto the gravel of the driveway, the redhead frowned as she looked around. The grounds surrounding her home used to be filled with laughter and happy memories of the good times she had shared with her family here but now it was as if the place was haunted by ghosts of her past. The door to her old home opened up and her brother stepped out, his shaggy black hair hanging loosely around his shoulders and his once bright blue eyes now filled with a sadness Raven knew all too well. He saw his little sister standing at the bottom of the wooden porch and took a deep breath; wiping his hands down the front of his black Iron Maiden t-shirt before holding his tattooed arms out towards her invitingly. Raven saw how vulnerable he looked and it hurt her to see him like that, Brandon had always been the strongest out of the two of them and now here he was standing before her and looking like a frightened child. She walked up the steps and threw her arms around her brother, pulling him in close to her as she allowed her tears to fall. Brandon let out a sigh and wrapped his arms around his kid sister, grateful to have her back home when the family needed her the most, when he needed her the most.

“I've glad you’re here, kiddo…” He told her, bringing his head back to look at his sister and offer her a slight smirk. Raven smiled and raised her hand to wipe away her tears.

“You’re an ass for not telling me sooner…” She scolded him, Brandon frowning at her as he shrugged his shoulders.

“Dad made me promise…”

Raven shook her head, pulling away from her big brother to look back at Brian who was retrieving their suitcase from the trunk of the jeep. The dark-haired guitarist glanced over at her, offering her a smile as he caught her gaze and Raven smiled back at him, grateful to have him with her at a time like this.

“I see Guitar Boy came along for the ride…” Brandon said in a low voice, Raven instantly glaring back at him.

“Don’t start, Brandon. Not today…” She snapped. “Brian is my boyfriend, of course he was going to come with me…”

Brian approached the porch of the Matthew’s home, dragging the suitcase Rae had packed for the both of them behind him. He nodded his head towards Brandon.

“Hey Brandon, sorry to hear about your dad, man…”

Brandon shrugged his shoulders, turning to walk back into the house; “Yeah, sure, whatever…”

Brian looked at Raven helplessly as her older brother made his way down the hallway towards the kitchen at the end of it and Raven let out a breath, looking back at Brian apologetically.

“I’m sorry about him,” She said. “Don’t take it personally, he’s an ass to everyone…”

Brian nodded his head knowingly. His last encounter with Brandon hadn’t exactly been wonderful, with the older male interrupting his time with Raven during Thanksgiving break at every given opportunity. The dark haired guitarist knew that his girlfriend’s brother wasn’t fond of him but that was something he would have to deal with because right now, he needed to be there for Rae when she needed him the most.

“Let’s head inside…” He suggested, Rae nodding her head in response before turning and leading the way into her childhood home.

Brian followed the redhead inside, dragging the suitcase behind him and instantly smiling as he noticed the hallway walls were covered in framed pictures of two smiling children, the small red haired girl with a cheeky grin and a mischievous sparkle in her brown eyes warming his heart the most.

“Hey, is this you and Ash?” Brian asked, pointing to a framed photograph of a young redhead clutching a cuddly tiger whilst holding hands with a young brunette, both of them dressed in matching Disney t-shirts.

Raven turned to look at him, glancing at the photo he was enquiring about and smiling fondly; “Yeah, that was taken after our trip to Disneyland. We drove dad nuts for those shirts…”

“You were cute…” Brian grinned, reaching out his free hand and lacing his fingers with Raven’s as he looked at her. “You still are…”

“You’re sweet,” Rae leaned forward, pressing her lips to his.
“C’mon, you can leave the case there. I want to go and talk to my idiot of a sibling…”

“Okay…” Brian nodded, dropping the suitcase beside the staircase before allowing Raven to tug him towards the kitchen.

The young couple entered the room to be met by a slim blonde standing in front of the stove cooking pasta and Brandon slumped in one of the chairs surrounding the kitchen table, pouring himself another shot of Jack. Brian glanced sideways at Raven who just shrugged her shoulders and moved further into the kitchen, addressing the blonde.

“Hey Summer…” The blonde turned around almost immediately, a bright smile on her pretty face as she looked back at Raven.

“Rae! Oh my gosh…” Summer moved away from the stove, opening her arms out towards the redhead and Raven dropped her hold on Brian’s hand to hug her. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you…” The blonde claimed, taking a step back to study the redhead. “Are you eating properly? You look like you’ve lost weight…”

Raven grinned back at her; “I’m doing just fine, Sum’. Well, apart from the obvious….”

Summer gestured to Brandon and rolled her eyes; “I told him to tell you but you know how stubborn he gets…”

“Yeah, I know…” Raven nodded, cutting her eyes at her older brother who just shrugged his shoulders as he took another shot of Jack. The redhead glanced over at Brian, moving away from the blonde to pull the dark haired guitarist towards her. “Summer, this is Brian…”

Summer looked at Brian, smiling instantly; “Oh, so you’re the Brian I’ve heard so much about…”

“Uh, yeah…” Brian nodded, offering his hand out towards Summer politely. “At least I hope I am…”

“You’re all she ever talks about…” Summer told him, laughing when she noticed Raven blushing as she batted Brian’s hand away and pulled him into a hug. “It’s good to finally meet you, Brian…”

“Yeah, you too, Summer…” Brian replied, the blonde pulling away from him and going back to the stove. “I’m just sorry that it’s not under better circumstances…” He added, his voice tinged with a sadness he felt for what his girlfriend and her family were going through right now.

“Yeah, about that….” Raven started, moving away from her boyfriend again to take up a seat opposite her brother at the table. “We need to talk…”

Brandon looked up at her, his eyebrows raised; “About what?”

“You know damn well what we need to talk about, jackass…”
Raven snapped, Brandon reaching for the bottle of Jack again but she pulled it out of his grasp. “Why didn’t you tell me about dad? Promise or not, I deserved to know!”

Summer bit her lip, turning the heat down on the stove and turning to glance at Raven and Brandon before looking over at Brian.

“You’re in a band, right?” She asked sweetly, Brian nodding in response but his gaze fixed on Raven who was glaring at her sibling.

“Yeah, we just got back off a promo tour around the States…” He muttered, Summer walking up to him and placing her hand on his arm making him look at her.

“Come and tell me about it, these two need to discuss some family matters…” The blonde gestured towards the door and Brian glanced back at Rae who caught his gaze and nodded, telling him without words that it was okay for him to leave her.

Summer smiled as he looked back at her and she took his arm, leading him out of the kitchen and down the hall towards the lounge leaving the two Matthews siblings alone to talk. Raven stared at her brother, watching him slosh the amber liquid around in his glass as he gazed at it. She folded her arms over her bust and leaned back in her seat, waiting for him to say something and when he remained silent for a few more minutes she let out a breath and kicked at his shin underneath the table.

“Ow!” He yelped, jerking in his seat and turning his angry gaze on her almost instantly. “What the fuck was that for?!”

“You deserve worse, you jackass…” Raven huffed. “I can’t believe you never told me…”

Brandon’s gaze dropped to the table; “I don’t break promises, Rae, you know that…”

“So, when exactly were you going to tell me, Brandon?” The redhead inquired, staring at him.

“I don’t know…” He shrugged, raising his glass of Jack to his lips and allowing the liquid to burn his throat before he looked back at his little sister. “He was supposed to be getting better…”

Raven sat forward in her chair, unfolding her arms and resting them in front of her on the tabletop; “Brandon, I need you to tell me just how bad all of this is. Please…”

She slid the bottle of Jack back to him, Brandon nodding his head as he picked it up and poured himself another shot. He stalled for a moment, as if to be searching for the right words to say to her and then he took a deep breath and started to speak.

“It’s bad, kiddo. Like way off the Richter scale bad,” He told her. “He was kicking its ass, you know? Taking his meds, going for his treatments and basically putting that mother fucker in a chokehold on a daily basis but then…”

“Then what, B’?” Raven pressed, desperate for her brother to finish explaining their father’s condition to her.

Brandon raised his gaze to meet hers, the sadness she felt inside reflecting back at her through his blue pools; “They found another tumor….”

“Another one?” Raven’s eyes grew wide. “How many does he have?”

“The first one was shrinking, with the treatments and shit…” Brandon explained. “Then he started getting these headaches and at first they thought that it was a side effect of his meds but then….”

“No…” Raven stood up out of her chair, starting to pace the tiled floor of the kitchen as she shook her head adamantly. “No. No. No. You cannot be telling me that dad has brain cancer, you just can’t…” She stopped suddenly, facing her brother. “Tell me that he hasn’t got it, Brandon!”

Brandon looked up at her sadly, tears beginning to form in his eyes as he shook his head at her; “I can’t do that, kiddo, because he has… The second tumor is on his brain…He’s got days, a week tops…”

Raven felt as though there was a weight crushing her chest as she suddenly started having trouble getting her breath. Tears started to spill out from behind her eyes, her knees giving way and she crumbled to the floor in a heap of limbs as she sobbed. Brandon rushed over to her, pulling her into his chest immediately and trying his best to offer her comfort and reassurance like a big brother should.

“I’m sorry, kiddo…” He whispered against her hair, pressing a kiss to her head as she clung to him. “I’m so sorry, I wanted to tell you sooner. I really did…”

Brian and Summer appeared in the doorway upon hearing Raven’s painful cries and Brian felt his heart breaking at the sight of the woman he loved in the arms of her brother sobbing uncontrollably.

“Rae?” He asked, Brandon looking up at him.

“Just give us a minute, will ya?” The blue eyed male snapped, Brian remaining in the doorway and staring at Raven.

“Is she okay?” He wanted to know, Brandon glaring at him.

“Our dad is dying, you dick! Of course she’s not okay!”

Summer immediately stepped in to play mediator to the situation, taking Brian’s arm again and gently guiding him back into the hallway; “Come on, honey, let’s just leave them be for a moment…”

“I just want to know that she’s okay…” Brian said, staring helplessly at Raven and watching as her brother held her close and rocked her reassuringly.

Summer glanced over at them, her lips pressed into a hard thin line before she looked back at Brian and forced a smile; “She’ll be fine, sweetie…”

Hours seemed to pass by, time dragging on slowly as Brian sat with Summer in the lounge of the Matthews home waiting for Raven or Brandon to make an appearance. The dark haired guitarist had fought hard against the urge to go comfort his lover on several occasions, each time he had stood up and moved towards the doorway Summer had suggested he wait a little longer as she was sure Brandon had it all under control. Brian wasn’t so sure but he listened to her regardless, safe in the knowledge that he was only a room away from Raven if she really did need him.

He rose from his seat, Summer watching him cautiously from her spot on the settee and he offered her an awkward smile as he walked over to the large black bookcases that lined the far wall of the large room. He stood there for a moment, studying the titles of the books that adorned the shelves before his gaze fell on something that warmed him to his very soul. There amongst all the leather bound first editions of classic literature and autobiography’s of various sports stars stood a framed photograph of Raven dressed in faded dungarees and a black t-shirt sitting on the hood of her dad's pick-up truck with the biggest smile he had ever seen on her face, her auburn hair pulled back into two neat pigtails and in her hands she clutched a large gold plated wrestling belt. The guitarist smiled at the young girl in the photo and in that moment he did something he had never done before, he pictured their children and how beautiful they would be.

“That was her sixth birthday…” Brandon suddenly appeared in the doorway that led into the lounge, slouching against the doorframe as he watched his sister’s beau stare at photographs from their childhood. “She went on and on at dad about how much she wanted to go to see his title match that day and he was adamant that she wasn't going to go but as usual she got her own way…” The blue eyed male explained, coming to stand beside Brian in front of the photograph. “She only had to pout and make her eyes go huge and he'd cave…” He added with a soft laugh. “Man, he's always been a sucker for those big brown eyes of hers…”

Brian turned to look at him, smiling knowingly; “He's not the only one…”

Brandon rubbed the back of his neck before shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans as he stared at the photo of his kid sister; “So, uh, I just took Rae up to her room. She’s all cried out…”

“Did you tell her everything?” Summer wanted to know, coming to stand beside her blue eyed lover and Brandon nodded solemnly, moving to wrap an arm around the slim blonde’s shoulders.

“Yeah, I did…” He pressed a kiss to the side of Summer’s head before looking back at Brian who was still staring at the photograph. “So, I guess you want to go join her, right?”

“If that’s okay?” Brian asked nervously, unsure of what the sleeping arrangements would be.

Brandon pointed towards the staircase; “First floor, second door on the left…. You can't miss it…”

“Thanks Brandon…” Brian nodded his head gratefully at the oldest Matthews child, offering him a friendly smile as he turned to make his way towards the stairs.

“Yeah, whatever…” Brandon shrugged his shoulders before turning to guide Summer back towards the settee and Brian let out a sigh, wondering why the blue eyed male seemed to have such a problem with him as he walked out of the room.

Brian pulled the suitcase belonging to him and Raven to the top of the stairs, dragging it along the hallway until he came to a door with a torn Sex Pistols poster plastered to it and a small wooden plaque that claimed that the room belonged to ‘Kiddo’. He knocked gently against the dark wood and patiently waited for a response before pushing open the door and stepping inside, dropping the suitcase down beside him as he looked around the bedroom that belonged to the woman who had captured his heart.

The dark red bedroom was lit up by the small bedside lamp on her wrought iron nightstand, the light casting shadows on the walls. Raven was sleeping on the bed, clutching onto Tigger as tight as she could, her auburn hair splayed out across the black linen of her pillows. He noticed she was wearing the faded Metallica t-shirt that he had given to her when they had first started dating and felt his heart skip a beat a little. It was a simple item of clothing but she made it look like the sexiest thing on the face of the planet.

Slipping out of his black sneakers, Brian walked over to the bed crouching down in front of her and allowing his long fingers to brush away stray curls of her hair as he watched her eyes start to flutter open.

“Brian?” Raven asked in a breathy rush and Brian smiled at her, allowing one of his fingers to fall to her lips.

“I'm right here, Bonnie, it's okay. Go back to sleep….” He whispered back to her, watching as Raven shook her head stubbornly.

She tried to sit up but he placed a gentle hand on her hip keeping her down.

“He’s dying, Brian…I’m losing him,” She murmured sleepily, Brian frowning as he slid onto the bed next to her. He pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her and pressing a kiss to her forehead.

“I know, baby, and I’m sorry,” He whispered, tightening his hold on her and smiling slightly when he felt her relax into his embrace.

“I feel like I’m lost in some kind of nightmare…” Raven muttered, her head falling all too easily to his chest and Brian kissed her forehead again.

“It’s okay, baby,” He soothed her. “I’m right here with you, every step of the way…” His lips brushed against her head once more, Rae closing her eyes as the sound of his steady heartbeat lulled her back to sleep. “You’re going to get through this, it’s all going to be okay…”