"Hey Dex, move over for a second." I watched as Grady pushed Dex to the side, stalking straight towards my brothers and I.

"Dad, stop!" Sophie shouted from behind him. Was he going to say something embarrassing? I didn't understand what he was doing.

At least until he pulled his elbow back, then collided his fist with my brother's face. Alvar, not Fitz. I screamed slightly in shock, and Fitz was immediately ready to fight back. But before we could do anything, Grady had Alvar pinned with his hands behind his back, calling over a police officer.

"Dad, stop!" Sophie was beside Dex, her face a pale green. Dex was holding her tightly, I didn't know whether it was to comfort her or keep her from getting to her dad.

"What is he doing?" I exclaimed to Sophie. She was shaking, but my brother was getting pinned to the ground by her dad. I needed an explanation.

"He kidnapped my daughter!" Grady shouted, the police officers stopping their approach in shock.

"This is a good thing, Sophie." I heard Dex whisper to her.

"It's going to make everything worse." She whispered back.

"My brother's not a kidnapper!" Fitz exclaimed incredulously.

"I didn't do anything." Alvar screamed, his voice breaking in fear. Grady pushed him harder into the ground, fire in his eyes.

"Yes you did, you little fucker."

"Sir, we're going to have to ask you to get off of him." When Grady didn't move, they forcefully pulled him off my brother, then also grabbed my brother before he could run. "You say he kidnapped your daughter?" He nodded. Dex pulled Sophie forward.

"We're bringing you three in for questioning." Another officer said.

Dex started pulling Sophie along after them, but I stopped them.

"What is going on?" I asked her, my voice shaking with fear. "What is he talking about?"

She looked up at me sadly, tears gathering in her eyes. I could see the pity before she even said anything.

"Alvar's part of the Neverseen." My mouth dropped as she continued to walk after them. Fitz was behind me instantly, holding me up when my shock tried to test me down.

"She's lying, she's lying, she has to be lying." I turned towards him. My favorite brother, my best friend was lying about my favorite brother. "He's not evil."

But Fitz was pale, staring after them. He looked down at me slowly, shaking his head.

"What is it?" I asked slowly, scared for what he would say, what he'd reveal.

"Remember when Sophie called your phone and I answered? When she was kidnapped? She said something, and I'd forgotten about it, but now... he was there, Biana. She said she'd gotten kidnapped and he was there too. I didn't believe her because Alvar had been texting and calling us. But if he was with her and she believed he was kidnapped, but he was still able to talk to us, he had to have been in on it, right?"

I remembered then, too, how he had told us about the call. He would've believed if, if she hadn't mentioned Alvar being there, just because she sounded so much like Sophie.

Alvar, he must've known that we wouldn't believe it was Sophie after she said that, furthering the lie that she was dead. So all her friends would give up on her.

But he wouldn't do that. My older brother, the one who always picked me up when I fell, always comforted me, always let me dress him up and do his makeup because I didn't have any sisters to do that to, he wouldn't do that.

What reason would he have to kidnap my best friend, make me think she's dead? Not only would he not do that, but he wouldn't do that to me.

Would he?

Alvar was arrested. My entire family was called down to the jail and given the news. He was found guilty for her kidnapping, for involvement with the Neverseen. Guilty for blowing up Dex's house.

He actually did it.

I laid in my bedroom for the rest of the day, and the day after that. Even if it wasn't summer break, my parents would've let me skip school, skip everything, and just wallow all day long.

I was perfectly content to spend another day doing nothing, when there was a knock on my bedroom door. I mumbled a half-hearted "come in," not even lifting my head from my pillow.

I heard a light gasp from a woman's voice, that definitely was not my mom. I lifted my head slowly, the voice feeling familiar yet foreign. Maybe because I hadn't talked to anyone in days, hadn't responded to calls or even texts.

"Sophie?" I asked, surprised by her appearance. She looked just as rough as I felt. Her hair was greasy, pulled back in a low messy bun in an attempt to hide it, and there wasn't any makeup on her face, showing off the dark circles that have probably been growing under her eyes for months.

She walked quickly over to my side, sitting down on my bed beside me. I pushed myself into a sitting position next to her. I didn't know whether or not she had gone to see Fitz yet, or if she would at all, but I knew I would be the better choice. Fitz would blame her, take his anger out on her. I'm smart enough to know that my brother being a convicted kidnapper had nothing to do with her, just that she was the victim. He works with those people, so he's already just a bad guy. It took me a while to admit it, but it was all I'd been thinking about as I laid by myself.

Sophie crawled under the covers beneath me, smoothing out my fuzzy pink blanket from where it was in a tangled mess on my bed. I scooted into her side, leaning my head on her shoulder. I felt her arm wrap around me, pulling me in close. Her grip was tight, like she was scared if she let go I would pull away and start blaming her.

"I'm sorry," was all I said.

"Why are you sorry?" She turned her head towards mine, looking at me in confusion.

"For my brot-Alvar. For what he did to you. For not realizing how crazy he is."

"Biana, none of that's your fault. I should be the one who's sorry. I shouldn't have told Grady, then you wouldn't know and he'd still be the best brother ever to you." I snapped my body towards hers, my eyes wide in shock.

"No, Sophie, that's completely insane! You shouldn't hide that to spare other people's feelings! He kidnapped and tortured you! And he could lead the police to the others, you should've told people sooner! That's what you should be sorry about."

Her lips turned upwards slightly in thanks, pulling me tighter next to her. I squeezed her back, just as tightly.

"What if," I started after a while, "I'm just like him? I was always more similar to him than Fitz. What if I become some psycho kidnapper too?"

I had been debating saying anything, worried what Sophie would think, but she's my best friend. She'll always be there for me, and I for her.

"You're not, Biana." She grabbed both sides of my face, making sure I was looking at her. "You're nothing like him with this. I know you would never do that to me, to anyone. You're too good for that. And Alvar... he's tricky, with this. Obviously he's a bad guy, but he's also not. He was nice to me when I first met him, and even if it was an act, he was kind to me when I was kidnapped." She groaned, pulling at her hair in frustration. "This just proves the whole black-gray-white thing. Like no one's truly good or bad, they're all gray blah blah blah?"

I laughed, remembering the assignment for English Sophie and I worked on together. Even though we hadn't had any of the same classes, we still worked on any similar assignments together. Around February, we had a project revolving around the book we'd read, trying to define good and bad. Sophie and I had been as unserious as possible while still trying to get a good grade, writing about how "no one is truly good, nor bad." Our teachers actually loved them and gave us high A's.

"Yeah, I guess." I responded. "It feels better to hear you say that. Even if you're just saying it to make me happier. That you don't think he was all bad. He wasn't. I never thought he'd do anything like this, or even close."

"I never thought he would either, if that helps at all. He's genuinely always seemed like a great guy. Better than Fitz, at least." I laughed again.

Sophie somehow always knew exactly what I needed, how I needed this to be made lighter. I was glad that, no matter what happened, I have a friend like her. Hopefully, I'll have her for a while.

boom boom bam. things are happening, and i'm hoping to be able to wrap this up soon. i saw this a lot but i've lost like all motivation so i'm going to try and get it done quickly while still putting in all the details i want and giving you guys the kind of story you deserve. thank you so much for reading and sticking with me through all this!

Avery, out ->

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