The Step Brother

Chapter 23

I'M ALIIIIVEEEEEE! Ok guys so in all honesty the only reason I'm updating this story is because it actually received a lot of attention for me and I might be a few years late but I still won't leave y'all hanging! But I actually really dislike this book, but if you guys genuinely enjoy it then I'm glad!! Please bear with me as I try to get back into the flow of writing. I also completely forget the entire plot-line of this story but I have bits and pieces in my head still and yeah uhm it was supposed to be REALLY long and I was planning on writing a sequel but I can't even remember 99% of the dumb shit I wanted to put in this SO I'm going to start wrapping up here (therefore please mind any and all plot holes) finish HOPEFULLY by the end of May/June and then churn out the second part! Please vote comment thought(I NEED FEEDBACK MORE THAN EVER) share whatever you guys want. So sorry for keeping y'all waiting BUT I hope you enjoy!

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A gorgeous, west-coast sunrise woke me up the next morning. Stirring out of Liam's soft embrace, I rubbed my eyes and looked to the front seat. Cort, who looked thoroughly exhausted, must've been driving non-stop for the past five hours or so. My mind juggled between letting him know I was up and potentially startling him, or just falling back to sleep. He seemed to catch movement in the backseat though because he spoke up only minutes after I had woken up.

"Brooklyn?" he muttered, trying to catch my eyes in the rearview.

"Hey," I replied softly, attempting a smile that turned into a grimace. "How far are we from home?"

"Less than an hour. Roads were empty at night so I sped."

I nodded in response, leaning back into the seat. The landscape around us was rocky and rose with mountains, reminding me of the recent trip where everything had started to crumble. An entire avalanche played through my head: my mom's marriage collapsing, Jeff ruining his relationship with Liam, me almost ruining my relationship with Liam. Everything was just too much. 

Cocking my head to the side, I looked over at Liam and Brenda who were still sleeping peacefully. They seemed so...unaffected by everything in their sleep. For the first time in a while, I felt at ease just watching them. 

"Thanks so much for this, Cort," I muttered after breaking out of my momentary trance. "I know it's so much more than you bargained for."

"What else are friends for if not to bring back runaway step brothers and brave gun-bearing psychopaths?" he joked, attempting to lighten an otherwise tense mood. I couldn't even stop myself from laughing even though it was way too soon to tease about. 

Being careful as to not wake them up, I climbed into the front seat. Cort would appreciate the company, I figured. 

"So what're you going to do when you get back?" he asked me. I knew he was genuinely curios and not prying, but I just didn't have an answer for him. In all honesty, I never had a plan. Jeff and my mom could still be in Colorado for all I knew, although I doubted that. It was more likely that they were away somewhere, getting divorce papers signed or my mom had gone to my grandmas or just anything. 

"Well, actually," I began, trying to piece what little information I had in my head. "My mom hasn't checked up on me, so I'm assuming her and Jeff didn't get home yet." Cort didn't respond. Slipping into another distracted state, I began to play different scenarios in my head of what would happen when I got home. What if Jeff was there, and I came back with Liam? What if my mom found out about Liam's mom? The 'what if's' continued on to infinity, each one carrying a heavy load of consequences and issues. 

In the distance, I spotted a green sign with a distance to Newark, a town right near ours. We were less than 30 miles away. Debating wether or not I should wake Liam up yet, I turned to Cort.