In a never before seen and never to be seen again moment, Zane Dryer had been rendered speechless. His hands fell limp at his sides, his blue eyes distant, lips parted. He was reeling in shock, not able to grasp a coherent thought as he watched me slowly starting to back away from him. If I were to take off now, I may be able to get out without having to get into further detail on the matter.

If the person standing before me had been anyone but Zane, I would have run the minute the words slipped. The minute part of me that still cared for the boy in front of me is what kept me from splitting then and there. Once my words sunk in and registered in Zane's mind, I knew I was going to get an ear full. He had spent the last two years on the debate team, he knew how to put up and win an argument. Anything I said in a defense to what I had done, he would have a logical response to.

"What?" he eventually managed to get out.

I kept my eyes trained on the entrance of the school, calculating how long it would take to get to it before Zane could catch me. When I came up with nothing but bad outcomes, I dropped my head and leaned into the wall next to the trophy case.

"I don't want to talk about this here, Zane." I said, peeking through my fingers to see his expression. He still looked to be in too much shock to say much more.

After what seemed like a decade of him staring blankly at the end of the empty hallway, his eyes drifted in my direction and rested on me for a few minutes before he spoke.

"Your jokes are as shitty as they were five years ago." he snapped through his grinding teeth.

"Jokes? You think I'm kidding?"

"Mark wouldn't be that stupid." my heart lurched into my throat as Zane jumped to his older brother's defense. Maybe it would be best to leave it alone and let him believe I was lying. I disliked Mark, but I wouldn't go as far as saying I hated him. For that, I had no desire to make his younger brother view him in a different light or hate him for a mistake he made.

"I want to see him." Zane's voice was strained. He looked and sounded as if he'd been in a shouting match with someone for the last hour.

"Liam?"

"The baby." he nodded. "I want to see him."

As I shifted on my feet, my head against the wall, I could feel tears starting to sting my eyes. If Zane was demanding to see the baby, it meant that any trust he had in me telling the truth had dissipated. I honestly wanted no more than to go home and spend time with Liam, tell him every reason I still loved his father and uncle and the reasons I refused talk to them.

"Why are you crying? Are you okay?" the disbelieving tone in Zane's voice was gone by the time he outstretched his hand in a comforting gesture.

"I'm just tired." I rubbed my eyes. "Didn't get a lot of sleep last night. Liam kept me up."

My words weren't a lie in the least. The infant had been crying what seemed to be nonstop for the last two nights. Any time I finally put him down to sleep, something as quiet as a cricket stirred him awake and he would start crying again. Mom had gotten a milk substitute with all the nutrients the baby needed from the doctor's office Saturday morning. Being my responsibility, she only taught me how to prepare the substitute once and left me to care for Liam on my own. I had sat him on my lap for hours researching how to get him to sleep soundly and what may have been keeping him up. He finally got to sleep a few hours before school this morning.

"I can give you a ride home." he suggested.

I ran a hand through my hair, "I'll just wait for Kenn-"

"Do you honestly think she'll want to leave anytime soon?" his voice was quiet. I walked back down the hall to the gymnasium. I caught sight of McKenna instantly and frowned. She was with Leo on the second bleacher, looking a little too comfortable for me to walk over and tear her away.

I crossed my arms over my chest and threw a sideways glance at Zane.

"You remember where I live?" I asked. He nodded, forcing his hands into the deep pockets of his dark jeans.

We walked toward the door with a silence that was bordering on being uncomfortable until we broke through the front doors of the school and off campus completely. I waited until we were halfway across the parking lot and to his car to send a text to my best friend letting her know where I went. I knew she probably wouldn't see it for at least another hour, but I didn't want her to start freaking out if she somehow remember before then.

Zane opened the passenger side door before walking around the car and climbing into it himself. I hesitated, glancing around the car to be sure this wasn't some sort of prank and Marcus wouldn't appear out of thin air. I ducked my head and sat down once I was sure the coast was clear.

I laid my head against the cold pane of glass, crossing my hands on my lap.

I knew the real reason behind Zane's sudden interest to drive me home was to see Liam; to confirm whether I was lying or the baby really was his brother's. As I turned my back to the younger boy in the driver's seat, I let my eyes flutter shut and forget about the chaos that would come for a little while.

*

I did everything in my power to keep Zane from coming up to the house with me upon pulling into McKenna's usual spot. I tried rushing out of the car, but wasn't too surprised when I looked over my shoulder to find that he was jogging up the porch steps after me.

It wasn't until I unlocked the front door and pushed it open that the shock of the situation settled in. Zane was about to see his nephew, and I knew for a fact he'd be analyzing every little thing about the baby in hopes of being able to tell if Liam was really Mark's.

"Mom, I'm home!" I called, waiting for Zane to step in after me to shut the door gently. I heard my mother's footsteps nearing the living room, her voice a quiet buzz as she spoke softly to the baby.

I walked over to take Liam from her the moment she poked her head out of the hallway, staring down at him with a warm smile. Her eyes widened a fraction when they fell on Zane in front of the door, looking as if she'd seen a ghost.

Taking Liam, I propped him up in my arms and kissed his forehead. Mom reached over and fixed his small onesie with a questioning look.

"What is he doing here? Why did you tell him but not his brother?"

I avoided her questions as best as I could. "Has he been fed?"

"Yes." Mom nodded, clearing her throat as she started to back down the hallway. "I'll give you three some privacy."

Zane stared after her for a while. "I feel very unwelcome."

"It's not that she doesn't want you here." I assured. "She just wanted me to tell Marcus before anyone else. I. . . I can't do that, not yet."

His expression softened, eyes on the baby in my arms.

"You weren't lying, were you? This is really Mark's baby, isn't it?" he shut his eyes. I knew he was hoping when he opened them I'd be gone and that everything he'd just been told and was seeing was a dream. Forcing them open again, he crossed the room, stopping a few feet away. He craned his neck to get a good look at Liam's face, currently pressed against my breast. I shifted him a little, nodding in encouragement.

I saw any hope that the baby may have just been mine and had no relation to him vanish when Liam opened his eyes and stared at Zane.

"You don't have blue eyes." he observed, running a hand through his messy, dark locks. "Shit."

I sat on the edge of the couch, running my thumb across Liam's rosy cheek as I waited for Zane to go on. There wasn't much I could say, this entire conversation would depend on the questions he asked and the answers he expected.

"What happened? H. . . how did he end up in your hands if he's my brother's?" he eventually choked, falling on to the far end of the couch, so he was leaning against the arm.

I bit the inside of my lip. "We were in his room, Mark and me. We had started making out and I wanted to-"

"I don't really want to hear about the whole sex part of it."

"There wasn't any sex, Zane. Let me finish." I snapped. "I told Mark I needed to go take birth control in case. . . in case anything did happen. When I came out after a couple minutes in his bathroom, I found Liam in a carrier on the bed and your brother gone. There was a small sticky note attached to the handle of it asking for whoever found the baby to not tell Marcus. But she would have to know I had been in there in the first place, she-"

Zane cut me off. "She left the baby in there knowing you were still in the room when Mark took off. That would mean she was watching you guys."

I shook my head, opening my mouth to respond. Liam didn't give me the chance. He started crying, fingers grasping my thumb. I stood immediately, bouncing him in my arms as I walked back and forth in front of the TV to try and calm him down. Zane watched us in silence, his eyes slowly beginning to shield his emotions. It was something they had done since he was a child, a way to protect his feelings from his parents and the world.

As much as I disliked the fact it was Zane who found out about Liam first and I'd have to explain that I didn't want Mark to know as soon as he got over the shock of the situation, it felt kind of nice to have someone know about the baby and what happened. Maybe I'd be able to trust Zane as I would never trust his brother again; maybe I wouldn't have to do this alone.

***AN***

Hope you guys enjoyed! 

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~ChasingMadness24