"Yeah, you really missed me that much?" Callan chuckled, swinging his little sister a little and smiling into her hair.

Said little sister nodded into his dress shirt and gripped the back of his blazer.

Callan chuckled, "yeah? Miss my awesome cooking?" Brynn responded with another affirmative nod.

"And did you have nutritious meals while I was away?" The nodding stilled.

Callan smirked. "So all those boxes of takeout in the trash are because I told Ezra not to order them, hm?" Squeezing Brynn a little tighter, causing a small sound to escape her.

"Hm, that's what I thought."

Brynn changed the topic of conversation with something she'd wanted to tell Callan about since she got it. "I saw Derek and he gave me a stress ball."

"He did? Can I see it?" he asked. He loved it when she was excited about something. And after having so long not being able to share that excitement with, he intended to show her just how much he loved listening to her small things.

Brynn backed away and nodded. Thinking about where it was, she recalled stuffing it under a couch pillow last night, where it probably still was. "I'll go get it right now."

Callan grinned nodding, "you get it and I'll get out of this," he gestured to his suit, "before it permanently attaches itself to my flesh."

Brynn had already started walking away. She wanted to get it as soon as possible incase Callan lost interest and didn't want to see what she got anymore.

Once she was out of view, Callan turned to go to his room and loosened his tie as he did so with one hand.

Entering his room, he managed to fully undo his tie and rip it over his head.

Callan's room was rather simple. Walking in, you could see a large king sized bed with a large grey headboard against the right hand side wall. Matching the headboard, his sheets were entirely grey and his floor was a pristine white with a rectangular grey carpet in the center. His window was directly in front of the door with dark grey curtains and opposite his bed was a doorway with no door leading to walk in closet. The doorless doorway had two white chest of draws on either side. On the left side of this bed was the door to his en suite.

Callan made his way over to the chest of drawers and pulled the top draw. Inside was some useless paperwork which he started crumpling to the left side to reveal the wood underneath.

Callan traced his hand over the smooth hardwood before feeling the familiar hollow in it. Once he felt it, he pushed down lightly and the folded piece of wood came up.

Reaching into the back of his suit pants, he slipped his handgun out and brought it infront of him. He fiddled around with it and flicked the safety on before placing it into the hollowed out draw.

He folded the wood back over and pushed lightly on it again, clicking it back into place. Then he shuffled the useless papers around to cover the entire surface of the wood.

The second oldest Verlice rubbed at his eyes and temple, damning his older brother for taking him on this business trip. He knew how much the people they were meeting with bored him. It took everything not to shoot the man between his obnoxious eyes.

He trudged his way to his closet to discard his suit, choosing to leave them where he dropped them. He stood in front of his loungewear section in his briefs with his arms crossed, deciding what to wear.

He settled for grey plaid pyjama pants and a loose grey t-shirt.

Once dressed, he vacated his wardrobe to go find where his sister was at. He wanted to see the "oh so cool" stress ball, especially if it's got Brynn so excited.

Meanwhile, Brynn had just greeted Brayden in the living room where he was getting ready to wake their sleeping brothers up and scold them. Now she had retrieved the squishy ball from under the pillow and was making her way upstairs to show Callan, hoping he was still interested.

Which, might it be added, he was.

And, might it be added, he was also highly enthusiastic about her new possession. And he found it, in his own words, "the most coolest stress ball he'd ever seen."

However, the positive feeling that stuck with her for the majority of the weekend had to end. It had to. Especially when she had double Maths on Monday.

"Miss Verlice."

Ms Gren caught Brynn's attention, from where she sat in Maths trying to figure out what the hell she was trying to work out on the whiteboard.

Brynn almost gulped at the stack of papers in her hands, which she assumed were the booklets that were given out a few days ago. And they looked marked.

Ms Gren had just handed a student on the front desk theirs', and now it appeared she had Brynn's ready to give to her too.

Her black, stubby heels could be heard faintly on the scratchy classroom carpet as she got closer to the very back row where Brynn sat.

Brynn nearly flinched when the top paper was whipped off the pile in the teacher's left arm. The paper was placed on her desk in front of her.

Upside down.

Brynn bit her bottom lip, that wasn't good.

Ms Gren's lips twitched up at the child's nervous expression. Staring down at the anxious form knowing it would make her more anxious.

Brynn wanted to slam her head on the table. She didn't like Ms Gren in any way, shape or form but god, did she hate disappointing people.

Ms Gren finally stepped away and focused on the next victim on her list. This left Brynn to do as she pleased with the booklet in front of her.

And she did not want to turn it over.

But alas, she had to. She couldn't stay in the dark forever. Live the rest of her life unsure of whether she truly did bad or not.

Lifting a shaky right hand, she gripped the bottom of the booklet between her fingertips. Making sure that the five people on her right weren't looking, she turned it over.

21/80

She flipped it back over quickly and scrunched her face in defeat. She looked at those beside her, making sure they still weren't looking. Then she very bravely turned it over once again, flipping the front page over so she was on the first question.

5/6

Then the next question.

1/9

Then the others.

0

0

0

0

0

Then the second to last page. The questions Silas helped her with.

15/15

Despite her overall score, Brynn found herself suppressing a smile at this page. This was the page with the equations that they hadn't learned yet and she understood it after Silas explained it.

Her smile, however, stuttered when she read Ms Grens' note at the bottom of the page.

There was a red arrow pointing to each question I got right and Ms Gren's mocking ruby red ink read:

Do it yourself next time, Brynn.

Brynn could feel her stomach churn and eyes well up with tears. She could feel herself get mad inside at the tears building up in her eyes. It was just a small maths booklet. It wasn't like it was her GCSEs or anything.

It's just a stupid maths booklet, a bad score doesn't define you, she told herself whilst subtly drying her eyes with her blazer sleeve. She could feel her heart against her rib cage.

They didn't remain dry for long though when she heard Malcolm at the front, comparing his scores with everyone.

His cocky voice and words was all she could focus on. "Hey! Hey!" he whisper-yelled to the girl next to her. She looked, probably just as sick of him as Brynn was. "What?"

"What'dya get?" he nodded his head towards the paper in her hands. Her face reddened a little as she mumbled her answer, "fifty."

"Ha," he scoffed and held his own up, "I got seventy six." The girls face reddened even more which annoyed Brynn. Who did Malcolm think he was making other people feel bad for doing their best?

She lightly nudged the girl beside her, "that's really good, better than mine." She discreetly showed the girl her front page with the score on it.

The girl looked at it then Brynn with a sympathetic smile, "it's okay, I googled most of mine anyway."

Brynn gave her a tight smile, glad she wasn't the only one who didn't really know what they were doing.

"What you get, Brynn?" Malcolm watched the interaction with a grim face.

Brynn stayed quiet and focused on tucking her booklet into her book. She had to deal with Malcolm like most people did with the demons in their bedroom at three am; just ignore it and it'll go away.

"Oi, Brynn!" his hissing got louder.

Now Brynn felt overwhelmed, he was going to draw attention to her and her bad score. The familiar tears started to well back up in her eyes and she found herself raising her hand.

"Yes, Miss Verlice?" Ms Gren murmured from the front of the classroom, seeing Brynn's timid hand from her peripheral vision. She was still handing out the booklets.

Brynn tried to formulate the question as best she could. "Can I go to the bathroom, please?"

Now hearing Malcolm start 'oohh'-ing at her, it felt like she could physically feel his taunts adding on to her lists of things to be panicking about.

And she felt weak, like she did with Milo. Milo. Why is worrying about Milo on this list now? And why are her arms going numb again?

The old woman looked up from the booklets and to her student. The youngest Verlice.

Verlice, she grimaced.

Grimly nodding and wanting to continue torturing her students, she allowed it. Brynn could've cried in relief, but she didn't want that attention. Tears had already began forming in her eyes in class. This was embarrassing.

She got up as fast as she could without looking too eager; leaving the class to step into and wide, empty hallway. The second the classroom door shut behind her, she choked on a breath.

Successfully making it to the place she'd asked to go, which she found was thankfully empty, she went to the farthest toilet stall; not being able to stop her hands shaking as she bolted the door as best she could with the stupid plastic lock.

Her back slammed against the stall door as did her head and she closed her eyes, trying to stop herself from sobbing frustratingly.

No sound came out at all, any sound that was supposed to come out, transferred into body movements. A shaky chest and trembling lips.

Sliding down the too-cheery, blue-coloured door, she slumped further into it. No one felt more pity for the girl than she did. Knees tucked to her chest and hands frantically searching her blazer pockets for the green ball she believed could solve all her problems.

When all she found was her phone, she gritted her teeth in anger. She left the stupid thing in her bag.

Any anger in her head was towards the phone she held in her hand now and the best way to express that anger was to throw it into the wall next to her. So she did.

The second she did it though, she panicked. Shit.

It now lay on its front, not easing her panic in the slightest. A stray sob escaped and tear drops built up in the corner of her mouth as she reached out for the phone. The second she had ahold of the sides, she turned it over, sobbing in relief when she saw the perfectly intact screen which now shone with her lock screen.

Her basic, stupid, apple lock screen of some exploding fruit because she still hadn't changed it. She didn't know what to change it to. She just didn't know. She didn't know.

She didn't know what to do.

Her head still rested against the door and her right hand rested delicately on the phone as she thought about what she could do. Her chest and arms hurt.

She frailly lifted her finger over the cool screen and slid it up, revealing her home page. She knew what would be best to do right now. She just really didn't want to do the stupid thing.

---

Brayden felt his phone buzzing from his right jeans pocket.

He was currently sat in Zayne's office in their work with Zayne himself, Callan, Ezra and Andre- who was one of Zayne's most trusted Capos. They were going through the events of the business trip.

Well, they were. Now Brayden had detached himself from the chat to take his phone out of his pocket, frowning when Brynn flashed the screen. Because isn't she meant to be in class right now?

"Excuse me," he mumbled to his brothers and Tony, still focused on his phone. They acknowledged him but continued their conversation, except Zayne- who narrowed his eyes curiously towards the man. He didn't say anything though.

Brayden opened the office door, stepped out and then shut it behind him. He walked a few feet away from the doors to make sure that the call didn't disturb those in the office. Pressing the green button and bringing the phone up to his ear, Brayden answered.

"I hope we're not skipping class now, miss? That's Zaiden thing, get your own," he teased, grinning. That grin going down when he didn't hear a laugh on the other end of the call like he had hoped for, or an answer.

"Brynn?"

A deep, shaky inhale was heard from the other side, causing Brayden's worries and concerns to sky rocket..

"Brynn," he repeated more sterner.

When he got no answer again, he started walking back to Zayne's office. His hand had just brushed the door knob before he heard the inhale again and a small voice.

"Are you alone?"

He stood back upright, fully alert for anything.

"Yeah, sweetheart I am, where are you?"

He heard her take a few more teary breaths before she could answer, "'m in the toilets."

"What're you doing in there, hun?" There couldn't be anything serious happening at school, he would have already been informed if there was.

Brynn took a few moments, "I-I uhm," she took a long inhale and coughed. Brayden winced, feeling his worry increase tenfold and recognising a panic attack. "Take your time, Brynn, that's okay."

"I can't breathe, Brayden."

"Why can't you breathe, sweetheart?" he asked softly, trying to get to the bottom of the cause of her troubles- mainly so he could know whether he could strangle it or not.

"B-because 'm thinking too much," came Brynn's response.

"What were you thinking about?" Brynn took a few seconds to gain her breath, "j-just 'bout stupid things."

Brynn's voice crack at the end of her sentence was enough for Brayden to break. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming himself before speaking into the phone once again.

"You want to play a game?"

He heard a blubbering chuckle from the other end, "you sound like the ghost boy from 'Conjuring." Brayden chuckled, "yeah I did, didn't I?"

Brynn nodded on the other end of the call not caring that Brayden couldn't even see her.

"Can you name five things you can see right now?"

Brynn's brows furrowed at the request but she looked around nonetheless. "Erm..." she started trying to find five things she could name that were in the toilet stall.

"There's-," she took a breath, "there's a toilet, a- uhm- a toilet roll, the stall walls, my- uhm- my school shoes and I can see scribbles on the walls." She took a second, "really fancy."

Brayden chuckled and responded in an exaggerated French accent, "très très fancy, mon amour." Brynn let out a watery chuckle.

"That's really good, Brynn. I'm so proud of you, you're doing so well hun. Can you hear anything?"

"N-no it's really quiet," Brynn brought her knees closer, now self conscious about someone walking in.

"That's fine, don't worry hun. What about things you can touch? What are three things you can touch?"

"My phone, the- uhm- the door and my shoes."

"That's really good, sorellina. What are two things you can smell?"

"S-some soap and strong floor cleaner." The floor cleaner was much more potent when you were actually sat on the floor.

"Well done, sweetheart that was so good." Brynn felt like she'd done something good; her breathing had calmed and her hands weren't as unstable. Her arms still felt numb but not a sudden numb, more like an 'I'm-calming-down-from-a-panic-attack' numb.

After a few breaths, she felt humiliated. She'd just embarrassed herself in front of Brayden. "'M sorry for calling you in work I just-"

"Brynn, don't you dare apologise."

She shut herself up and Brayden continued. "How are you now?"

"'M fine. Can breath better," she rubbed her chest and winced at the sudden coldness from her phone screen. The tears from her eyes had poured onto the screen and now there was an uncomfortable wetness between it and her cheek.

"That's good, bambina. Do you want me to come pick you up?"

"No, it's fine," Brynn got out quickly, it wasn't that big of a deal. "Can you- er- can you promise me that you won't tell anyone else?"

Brayden was expecting this. "Okay, I promise I won't. Ring finger promise, okay?" Brynn nodded, "thank you."

"And if I promise this, you promise me you'll wait after school in an hour for me to come pick you up and take you for ice cream?"

"Yes- wait what?"

"Okay then," Brayden kept his voice gentle. "I'll see you then, I love you."

"But Brayden-"

He hung up.

---

Zaiden Verlice was pissed.

Raging, infuriated, enraged, fuming, seething, wrathful.

Pissed was an understatement to how he was feeling at this current point in time.

"Sid!" he bellowed from the middle of the corridor he was currently storming down.

Sid smirked from where he was at, trying to hide any fear he had creeping up his throat. Being in an empty corridor with an angry Zaiden Verlice was not where anyone wanted to be really.

He was at the end of the corridor, typing a message in his open locker, which he was now closing and his phone he was now pocketing. "Zaiden."

"Who the fuck do you think you are?"

Sid could practically hear the disorderly rage being imprisoned in Zaiden's voice. Choosing to ignore that though, he leaned against the left side row of lockers and crossed his leg over the other leg. He had finally got Zaiden alone.

"Zaiden, is there something wrong?" he asked, feigning pure innocence because honestly, what had he done that was so bad?

"Did you not learn from last time, huh?" Zaiden was getting closer and closer, now shrugging his backpack and blazer off his shoulders and slinging them angrily into the right side lockers carelessly, creating a booming bang.

Sid was half hoping the bang would notify a teacher of what was happening in the corridor. But alas, his half hopes were diminished when Zaiden came right in front of him, grabbing his school shirt and slamming him against the lockers with such a force that his eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

Zaiden held him so he was just barely on his tip-toes and his first curled into Sid's chest so hard that both of them swore his rib cage now had permanent dents.

Smirking, Sid leaned closer, "hmm, missed having you this close."

Zaiden grimaced his face away and brought him forward two inches before banging him back into the metal. Sid's head smacked the lockers the hardest.

"Shit," he groaned and winced, his vision started going black.

"What? That hurt?" Zaiden sneered getting a pitiful nod in return. "Good."

Sid laughed through his gritted teeth.

"You want to tell me what the fuck you've been doing to my sister?"

Zaiden was getting sick of his shit. Sid was getting amused. "Sister?" he mocked thought. "Oh Brynn! My new little friend."

Sid's cocky face was going straight through Zaiden. He tightened his hold and got his face closer, growling, "back off."

"Why so mad, Zaiden?" Sid fake pouted at him and that just made Zaiden want to punch him so much more.

"Do you need another reminder that you need to stay the fuck away from my family?" Sid shook his head, remembering the last time he was reminded. "No?" Sid shook his head again.

"Cus you're fucking with Brynn's head and I assure you, Sid," Zaiden lifted him a little higher and scrunched Sid's shirt so that the collar started choking him, "the consequences for that are much harsher than just vandalising Ezra's studio."

Sid's eyes widened as he tried to cower again from Zaiden's predatory face. He shook his head insistently again and tried to move out of the hold.

"Zaiden, babe, come on you know I was just joking," he chuckled nervously, his hands coming to wrap around Zaiden's wrists and thumbing over the latter's skin under his school shirt.

"And besides you didn't say I couldn't speak to your sister, did you? Hm?" Sid reasoned with a slow tone. "I was just trying to be nice and I stayed away from all of you. If you wanted me to not talk to her, you should've told me, yes? It's not my fault."

Zaiden paused for four seconds, then sighed releasing his hold on Sid and slowly lowered him down. "You're right."

Sid's feet touched the ground and he let out the hundreds of breaths he had in him. Zaiden gave him a small smile and started smoothing out Sid's crumpled shirt, "you're right, I'm sorry."

Sid nodded with him with a look of understanding, "it's okay."

"Yeah I should've given you a more clear explanation, you're totally right," Zaiden agreed, looking now understanding with a small smile. Sid nodded just as Zaiden started nodding too.

Zaiden's hands went back to his sides and his smile started to widen so much so that his teeth became visible.

Only a glimpse of them could be caught though because in an immediate second his face dropped and he'd decked Sid right in his face.

"Oh shit!" Zaiden exclaimed. Sid was now doubled over to his left, holding his bleeding nose and mouth crying in pain. Zaiden leaned down to his level.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, are you-" he gripped Sid's head of hair and slammed it right into his knee, causing Sid to wail, "oh shit I just did it again."

Sid slid down the lockers on his side. His left palm lay on the tiled floor as he slowly lowered himself in immense pain.

"Oh man I'm sorry," he kicked his heel right into Sid's stomach, making Sid's protective hand on his face go to that area. "God, my bad," Zaiden muttered, lowering himself even more to Sid.

"But you know what," he grabbed Sid's hair again to pull him up, "that's not your fault."

He pulled him close. "So I'll say it now and I'll say it once." Sid cringed at their close proximity and Zaiden's venom and straight face.

"Touch my family, I'll kill you. Fuck with Brynn again, I'll destroy you. Do you understand, Sid?" Sid nodded weakly.

Zaiden patted his shoulder twice then dropped him which Sid landed with a painful thump, "glad we've got that sorted."

"And get up," he spoke again, walking away, "you look pathetic."

He continued his walk, retrieving his backpack and blazer and pulling them on. Once they were on, he ran a clean hand through his messy hair to try and tame it.

As he rounded the corner, he saw someone exiting the bathroom. At first, choosing to not give a fuck about who it was, he ignored them. Until he saw their face.

Shit.

He clasped his knuckles behind his back to hide the bloody one.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

---

Oh also thank you so much for 160K guys!

<3