Dear Mister Summers

thirty one

Sebastian planted a kiss on her forehead. "I'll buy you some time to get dressed." He picked up his pants off the floor, put them on, then walked away. He came to a halt by the door to look over his shoulder and smiled as his eyes landed on her stretching her body on the bed. "Could you stay here for at least a few minutes? I'd like to talk to him as well."

"Sure," answered Andin with a yawn.

He closed the door behind him and went downstairs. Sure enough, his brother was standing in the kitchen with his hands on his waist. He seemed to be focusing on the stove on the right-hand side.

He took a deep breath and greeted his brother. "Piers?" His voice sounded a little unsure.

His brother turned around, eyes widened. He blinked once. Twice. His lips parted as if to say something but for a while, there was no sound coming out of them. "Jav?"

Sebastian nodded, his jaw tightening as if he was trying his best not to break down right there. It had been so long since he had last met Piers. Since that day when he had discovered him and his girlfriend of three years on Sebastian's bed after coming home from university. Piers had shamelessly declared that woman found him irresistible and that Sebastian should not be so surprised that even his girlfriend fell for Piers's charm. Instead of throwing fists at his older brother, he simply turned around and walked out of the house. For a week he had not returned home and no one had known his whereabouts. When Sebastian finally returned, he was a completely different person. He was colder, more skeptical, and distant. He had treated Piers as if he had not existed and eventually Piers took off to Italy after another incident involving their other brother Draven had happened.

"What? How—" Piers shook his head, unsure what to say. "What are you doing here? How do you know I live here?"

"I was looking for you." He shrugged one shoulder and shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants. "Mom knew you had a freaky accident." His gaze dropped to the floor as one of his hands went to the back of his neck and scratched a not-itchy spot for no reason except for the fact that he was feeling nervous. "How are you feeling?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

The corner of Piers's mouth turned upward, forming a smile that looked nothing like those dazzling smiles he had always used on women but a genuine smile that only his brother could cause, a smile reserved just for his little brother. "I am fine. You know you do not have to come all the way here just because Mom asked you to."

Still having his eyes fixated on the ground, he said, "I would still come even if Mom did not ask." Then as if he just realized what he had admitted, he quickly lifted his head and his eyes caught his older brother grinning from ear to ear.

"Thank you, Jav." He turned around and pour black coffee from the kettle into two mugs then offered one to his brother. "You still take your coffee black, right? I personally like a little bit of sugar in it."

"Half a teaspoon?" inquired Javiet curiously.

Piers raised his eyebrows in amusement. "You still remember," he commented.

Sebastian was not sure how and why he remembered it. But he knew by heart that he actually recalled everything about his older brother. They had grown up together and spent at least a few hours every day together. They had been that tight. "I never forget," he finally said then took the mug and had a sip. "Actually," he placed the mug carefully on the kitchen counter and smiled, "I never forget anything about you, brother. And as much as I told myself that what you did to me and to Draven was unforgivable, I could not, for the life of me, bring myself to hate you completely. Yes, I was mad and I convinced myself that I hate you for so long but now, I don't feel any of those hate or angry feelings anymore. All I feel, all I know, is that I miss you, brother." He places one hand on Piers's shoulder and smiled.