© Copyright 2012

All work is property of Leah Crichton, any duplication or reproduction of all or part of the work without explicit permission by the author is illegal.

Alexa couldn't hear her, but Devin's face dropped then twisted into a combination of hurt and anger. She used the back of her arm to wipe away tears that came. Alexa stepped forward and put an arm around her shoulder.

Sawyer, Sebastian, Robbie and Lane were all doing an impromptu acoustic song as a way to thank the pool party patrons for their attention. The plus side was, it made the crowd finally stop the lunatic style screaming.

“Are you okay?” Alexa said.

Devin could not speak. She shook her head no as Charlie grabbed on to her sleeve. “C'mon Dev, let's get out of here.”

Rachel made a face and pointed to the stage, “don't you guys want to hear the song?”

Devin shook her head, her blonde hair fanning around her face.

“Damn,” Rachel said.

Charlie looked down at her phone, her fingers flying across the keypad before looking up at Steve. “We need to leave,” she said.

Steve nodded, made some kind of hand signals to the others and they began their pursuit of the exit. When they were outside the gate, Devin mumbled something about her legs being jelly and collapsed down on a planter that flanked the pool entrance. The rose color which was normally so pronounced in Devin's cheeks flushed leaving her incredibly pale. She looked up at Charlie, “Did you know?”

Charlie looked at her high tops rather than her sister and kicked at the ground with her toes. “I only found out yesterday. Sawyer needed Sebastian's help. He told me about it when he got home.”

Devin frowned, biting on her bottom lip, trying to make it stop trembling. “Why didn't you tell me?”

Charlie's lips formed a thin, straight line as she sat herself next to Devin. “Because it's not my place to. Sebastian is the one with the big mouth, not me. This is kind of between you and Sawyer.”

Alexa sucked in a breath. She'd never been and never would be jealous of Devin but Charlie's words were a reminder that she did share him...in a way. She linked her hands together and uttered a silent prayer that Devin wouldn't ask her the same question. Did you know? Fortunately for her, Devin was preoccupied with admonishing Charlie.

“You should have told me!”

“Why Devin? So I could see how upset you are about it? You're growing up. I can't protect you from everything. I can't keep you so sheltered that the world doesn't deliver a few blows every now and then. It sucks. I know it does to feel like he's betrayed you. But I knew it was coming out today and you need to hear this from him. Not me.”

“He lied to me.”

“Not the case,” Charlie said. “He wasn't forthcoming as he should have been but he didn't outright lie. Does Sawyer ever talk about his past?”

Devin shook her head.

“There's probably a good reason for it,” Charlie continued. “Listen, we should go. Seb doesn't like me standing around in public. Thinks I'm like a sitting duck or an open invitation for a lynch mob. Besides, Steve has to get back to the stage to get them out.”

After witnessing the craze first-hand, Alexa couldn't blame Sebastian. Would Sawyer feel that way too if things between them got more serious?

“Fine,” Devin stood, brushed her hands on her thighs and started to walk toward the car. It was easy to tell she wanted to hold her head high and saunter out of there with an air of confidence she didn't feel but the stupid cast impeded her ability to do it.

“Drama,” Rachel whispered in Alexa's ear. “Gotta love it.”

No. Alexa didn't love it. Devin was upset. There was nothing to love about that. As they walked back to Charlie's car, Charlie barely held her head up, her fingers texting like mad. She finally looked up. “We need to stop by the studio.”

Devin pouted. “I want to go home.”

Charlie eyed her sister sympathetically. “It will only take a second.”

The drive was filled with the most uncomfortable silence Alexa had ever witnessed. The only sound was the occasional sob from Devin. She wanted to comfort her but coming up with something appropriate to say was harder than she thought. Where would she start?

Charlie's eyes were fixed on the road, Rachel was picking at her cuticle, inspecting her nails and Devin rested her head on the side of the window because Charlie didn't bother taking the top down.

They pulled into a relatively empty lot and as they stepped out of the car, the distinct sound of Sawyer's bike engine caused everyone's heads to snap up in unison. He had it parked and the kickstand down in seconds, removing his helmet and setting it on the seat.

His eyes were wide, alarmed as he took a tentative step forward. “Dev,” he said.

Devin kept her head down, refusing to acknowledge his presence.

“Devin,” he said louder. “C'mon sugar, talk to me.”

The anger, the betrayal, the hurt Devin felt sparked to life as she clumsily moved forward on her cast. She held her palms forward and shoved Sawyer hard in the chest. “You lied to me!” she yelled.

Charlie's eyes darted from side to side. “Maybe we should give them a minute.”

The girls began to walk to the door when Devin's voice froze everyone in their tracks. “We don't need a minute, there's nothing to talk about.”

“Yes,” Sawyer said. “There is.”

“You aren't who I thought you were!”

Alexa's chest tightened. Her heart pulled in two very different directions. Knowing Sawyer's secrets, she didn't blame him for not revealing his troubled past but knowing what it was like to love Sawyer, in any capacity, she could only imagine how Devin must feel.

“I am exactly who you thought I was,” Sawyer retorted. “Come with me. We'll talk.”He moved to grab Devin's arm but she twisted her body out of his reach.

“Don't touch me!”

“Go with him,” Charlie encouraged.

“I don't know him!” Devin yelled.

“Fourteen year old girls,” Rachel whispered. “The whole world is coming to an end.”

“Shut up,” Alexa scolded. “You're seventeen. Three years older and not a lot wiser than Devin. Besides, look at the pity party we had when Marcus Linderberg broke up with you.”

“That was different.”

“It was no different,” Alexa said. “Not at all.”

“Darlin' you can't avoid this forever,” Sawyer said. “Come with me. I want to talk to you.”

“I want a million dollars and a friend who is not a liar!”

Sawyer looked up to the sky, maybe for some kind of divine intervention on his behalf. Alexa could tell he was getting frustrated. She moved forward and stood between them, facing Devin.

“Listen,” she said. “Before you say anything else or refuse to go. Sawyer loves you more than anything probably. He made a mistake, yes, but don't all of us make mistakes? I know I do. Just give him the chance to explain things to you and if you don't want to speak to him after that, it's only fair. But at least you won't look back and something wonderful you threw away in a moment of anger and wonder what if you'd just let him say his piece.”

Up close, strands of Devin's hair were stuck together like glue, maybe because of the salt in her tears. She sucked in a breath. “Fine,” she said, resigned. “I'll go.”

Sawyer wordlessly handed over his helmet and Devin snatched it from his grasp. She marched to the bike without looking back and awkwardly threw her pink cast over one side. Sawyer looked at Alexa. “Thank you,” he said.

She nodded and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Welcome. Good luck.”

Devin's arms wrapped around his waist so damned tight, he was almost positive she was trying to squeeze the life right out of him.

His hand went to her arms and loosened them. “I'll crash the bike if you break my bones, sugar.”

“Fine by me, then we won't have anything to talk about.”

Ah, Devin. Always with the zesty flair to her pissed off. She reminded him of... him. He didn't bother responding, instead starting the engine and rolling forward before opening it up and ripping down the road.

Devin, unlike Alexa was a little more of a risk-taker and she liked to go fast. Sawyer felt the helmet between his shoulder blades and he knew she was resting her head against him.

As he drove, he thought about the last couple of hours. Coming forward with the truth about Sadie was good but he should have warned Devin somehow. Given her a heads up. He'd blindsided her and now he was feeling like a real piece of crap for doing so.

He kept driving until he reached one of the many local parks, which wasn't too busy. Surprising since it was a weekend. He stopped the bike under the shade of some trees and waited until he felt Devin dismount from behind him before getting off himself.

When he turned to face her, it was clear he made a big mistake. “I'm sorry,” he blurted out.

“I don't care,” Devin said.

“Yeah, you do. If you didn't, you wouldn't be so fit to skin me alive right now.”

She didn't argue, instead crossing her arms over her chest and clenching her teeth together.

“Let's go and sit down. You're almost due to get the thing off, yeah?” he nodded to her cast. “Don't take any chances with impeding it's progress.”

Devin raised a brow. “You sound like my doctor.”

“You listen to him, yeah? Listen to me and come and sit down.”

She sighed reluctantly but followed him to a solitary green space surrounded by large trees which offered the most privacy Sawyer could get these days, aside from being in his apartment. He helped her sit and flopped down beside her.

“I didn't mean to hurt you, sugar,” he said.

Devin picked at a thread that was loose on the seam of his jeans, near the knee. He didn't mind so long as she didn't unravel anything. “Well you did.”

“Are you mad at me for not tellin' ya or are you mad that I have a sister?”

He wasn't sure which was the bigger bee in Devin's bonnet. Was she just pissed that he withheld something so crucial or was she upset because as far as she knew, she was the closest thing Sawyer had to a real family?

She looked up at him and her blue eyes reminded him of Sadie's golden ones, that often spoke to him, telling him he'd let her down. “Truth?” she asked.

“Truth,” he said.

“Both. I guess.”

Sawyer nodded. Double whammy. Two times the jackass. He sucked in a sharp breath, felt in his pocket for his smokes. He found the pack, but not before his fingers settled on Alexa's birthday gift to him, his mini cube. He suppressed a smile, thinking now was not the time to be hung up on Lex. He pulled out a smoke, lit it and inhaled before speaking again. “Doesn't change how much you mean to me, you know that right?”

Devin shrugged.

Sawyer considered the events of his summer so far. He'd had to deal with emotional baggage he'd long ago locked away and the more it came to light, the more emotional baggage got added to the load. He'd have enough for a cargo plane soon. He'd been forced to speak about things he'd never thought he would, feelings and such. Devin deserved to hear them. She'd been nothing but honest about herself and how much she cared for him. Offering the same to her was the very least he could do.

“Hey,” he said. “Nothing will ever change what you mean to me. Understand?”

Devin chewed on her lip. “Why didn't you tell me?”

Here we go he thought.

“Sadie's real screwed up,” he said. “So am I.”

“No,” Devin shook her head in disagreement, “you're not.”

“Yeah darlin' I really am. Growing up I didn't have what you have. I didn't have anyone who gave a shit. You complain about your mom sometimes being overprotective. That's what a mom should be like. Mine didn't protect me, Devin. Bad shit happened to me and Sadie.” His eyes widened and goose bumps surfaced on his arms, just speaking it out loud but he continued. “I only ever wanted to protect her, same as I would protect you. You remind me of what Sadie might be like if she were normal and maybe that's why I'm so--,” he paused, “so careful about what happens to you.”

Devin looked him right in the eyes. “What happened?”

Sawyer didn't know the best response, without a mental breakdown like he'd had with Alexa so he simply lifted the hem of his shirt, revealing his stomach and all the small circles that dotted his skin. “Cigarette burns,” he said. He moved some hair out of his eye to show a scar that was near his hairline, “beer bottles broken over my head. My stepdad liked to drink and use me as his punching bag.”

Devin gasped as her hand flew to her mouth. “I'm sorry.”

“Don't be,” Sawyer said. “I'm over it. But you can see why I don't like to talk about it, yeah?”

Devin nodded.

“Good,” Sawyer said. He stretched out and settled his back on the grass with one hand cupped behind his head so he could see the clear blue sky.

Devin followed suit and rested her head on his chest and in that moment, he knew he was forgiven but he asked anyway. “Are things between us okay now?” He couldn't stand the thought of her saying they weren't.

“Yeah,” Devin said. Her hand splayed on his stomach, like she thought having it there would do something to erase the painful scars. “Yeah, we're okay. I'm sorry I got so mad at you.”

Sawyer wrapped his free arm around her shoulder. “Don't be sorry. I'm pretty resilient.”

“Twenty questions,” Devin said, her tone finally easing from pained to playful.

Twenty questions was a game they played often, it started last year on tour. There was only so much TV, Xbox, even reading one could do before they went crazy which is why they resorted to games like I spy and twenty questions and the license plate game. In twenty questions, you fired off random questions at your opponent. The first person to pause for more than a moment, or who repeated a question, lost.

He smiled. “Go.”

“One place you want to go that you've never been.”

“Australia. One thing you can't live without.”

“Friends like you,” Devin said back. “Favorite food.”

“Anything with parents,” he replied. “I'm a meatatarian. Favorite color.”

Devin held up her cast clad foot for a beat. “Duh, pink. What's your favorite Bach's Revenge song?”

“To play or to hear?”

“Play.”

“Lovely little dangerous. Favorite fairytale.”

“Sleeping Beauty,” Devin replied. “Favorite sport.”

“Beer pong.”

“That's not a sport.”

“You should have been more specific, then. If you could have any super power what would it be?”

“I'd want to be Superman or Supergirl so I could have stopped that bullet.”

Sawyer squeezed her arm. “Good answer, sugar.”

“My turn,” Devin said. “Are you in love with Alexa?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I think I am. Are you okay with that?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I am. What is Sadie like? Tell me about her.”

Sawyer stopped and blinked while Devin waited. He knew he was taking too long but it wasn't until Devin through her arms up in victory that he was willing to admit defeat. She turned her body to his, like Sadie often did and asked. “Seriously, is she like you?”

“Curious, huh?”

She nodded.

Sawyer sat up and offered her his hand. “C'mon,” he said. “I'll take you to meet her.”