Always

Sat in the diner that her mom used to take them to, Brooklyn watched as Braxton played with his toy cars and glanced towards the door to see Jared walking towards them.

“Sorry I’m late,” he apologized as he reached the table, dropping a kiss on her head and chuckling as Braxton threw himself into his arms, “Hey buddy.”

“He misses you,” Brooklyn said.

“I know,” Jared replied, taking a seat and sighing, “I’m sorry, Brook, works been crazy, and... life just kind of got in the way.”

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not, when I moved out I promised that I’d still be there for you no matter what and I haven’t been,” Jared argued, “A lot has changed, but I’m your big brother and I should have made sure that both of you were my main priority.”

Brooklyn understood that Jared needed to have his own life and she wanted him to have that, but Braxton was too young to understand. All he knew was that his big brother was a constant fixture in his life, until he wasn’t and that wasn’t fair. After spending nearly two hours at the diner, they decided to check out the fair and climbed into Jared’s car.

“How’s work going?” Brooklyn inquired, breaking the silence that settled between them and glancing over as Jared spoke.

“It’s paying the bills, but I’m looking for something new,” Jared replied, “Haven’t you got the beach bonfire coming up soon?”

“I do, but I'm not going to be able to go...”

“Why not?”

“Dad's on late shifts at the minute, so I’ve been the one dropping Braxton off at Lindsay’s and making sure he gets dinner. He wouldn’t even let me go to the cinema to see a movie with Brandon and he made me give up my job there, there’s no way he’ll give me permission to go away for three days.”

“Let me talk to dad, okay?” Jared stated, earning a nod from Brooklyn, “Leave it with me.”

It was late by the time Jared dropped them off and Brooklyn put Braxton to bed, before heading to her room. Laid on her bed, she stared at the ceiling and finally fell asleep. Woken up the following morning by her phone chiming, she groaned and opened the new message from Jared.

‘Pack your bags, you’re going to the bonfire.’

With a grin plastered on her face, she got ready for school and dropped Braxton off at Lindsay’s house on the way. She had just stepped through the doors, when she spotted Brandon waiting at her locker and jumped on his back.

“Jesus, warn a guy next time,” Brandon said, though Brooklyn could tell that he was smiling, “Why are you so happy anyway?”

“Oh, you know, just found out that you’re going to have company at the bonfire.”

“No way... seriously?” Brandon added, setting her on the ground and watching her as she put her books in her locker, “I thought your dad said you couldn’t go because of his shifts.”

“He did, but Jared spoke to him and I guess he changed his mind.”

“This is going to be epic.”

The lessons before lunch flew by and Brooklyn made her way out into the quad to eat, surprised when she found Axel waiting with his friends.