I announce to Brody and Penny as I fall back onto his bed, "Your mum's pancakes are the best." It's now the next day and we've just come back to his room after Christina made us pancakes. Let me tell you, they were the best pancakes I've ever tasted. I can tell where Brody got his talent from.

"You won't be saying that after you've tried mine." He laughs.

Penny walks across the room to his CD collection and starts flicking through them. We're submerged in silence for a few moments, none of us saying anything. It's the day he promised to tell us what was wrong. We can't pretend everything's okay anymore.

"I guess I owe you both an apology." He drops his gaze to his bed, taking a deep breath before continuing, "I've been a crappy friend this past week."

Penny sits on the edge of the bed, crossing her legs, "can't argue with that."

My stern eyes meet hers. She shrugs, signalling to me that it's the truth. Despite her being right, I still correct her. "What she meant to say was you haven't been a crappy friend. We're here to deal with the ups and the downs, it's part of the job criteria. If everything were butterflies and rainbows it'd be boring." I reassure him.

He shoots me a grateful smile and scratches the back of his neck anxiously. We wait patiently for him to reveal the reasoning behind his sudden change of mood over the past week.

"The night we spoke on the phone I told you everything was going good because it was. We were all getting along the best we could considering the circumstances. It's hard to reconnect with someone you haven't seen in god knows how many years, but we made it work," he pauses, letting out a shaky breath.

The tears have started to well in his eyes causing my heart to ache. Penny covers his hand with hers in an attempt to comfort him. "I don't think I can say it without crying." He admits.

I want so badly to tell him that he doesn't have to tell us, but we can't help him if we don't know what's happened. He can't carry the weight on his shoulders alone. I know that talking to us about it will help him feel better even if it's just a little bit.

I say the first solution that comes to mind. "Don't say it then," he tilts his head in confusion. "Send it to us in a message."

He sniffles and agrees before grabbing his phone as he starts to type what he has to say. We leave the room, giving him some needed space, and go downstairs to help Christina with the dishes. He doesn't like to show people he's sad, that's one of the things I've learned about him. He's the friend in the group that boosts our spirits and is always there when we need him. I don't think he's used to the roles being reversed.

It doesn't take long for us to both get a message through from him. I wipe my hands on a towel before joining Penny on the sofa. My eyes scan over the text. My heart cracks with each word I read.

I don't really know where to start so I guess I should just start when everything went wrong. We had just gotten back from the restaurant that night when I called you. We were laughing at something that had happened in the car on the way back. The endless amount of Pepsi I'd drunk and the laughing didn't go well together. I had to rush to the toilet before I wet myself right there in the kitchen. That would've been embarrassing.

A chuckle emits from my lips. I wouldn't put it past Brody to laugh so much that he almost wets himself. Laughing is second nature to him. But when he starts it's hard for him to stop.

I came back down after and saw my dad and Caroline cuddling on the sofa. I found myself smiling as I watched them which is a first. It was the first time I'd seen them both together and not been reminded of when he and my mum used to do that. I didn't want to disturb them so I was going to go to my room, but I couldn't when I noticed that his hand was on her stomach.

My heart sinks, knowing what's coming. Brody's reaction over the past week starts to make more sense. My sympathy for him grows. It takes all my restraint to finish reading his message instead of rushing to his side.

I could see the adoration in his eyes from a mile away. You'd think he'd say it quieter if he was trying to hide it from me, but he didn't, he said 'I can't wait for you to come into this world, little guy.' I couldn't stand there and do nothing, so I said something. I honestly don't remember what it was that I said, I was so full of rage I just saw red. He had already replaced my mum with Caroline and now he was replacing me. I thought that I could build a relationship again with him, I thought he wanted me back in his life, but at that moment I knew I was wrong. I don't know when he was planning on telling me she was pregnant, probably before I got on the flight back home so I couldn't say much. But I know that the only reason he invited me to stay with him was so he could tell me she was pregnant and not feel guilty about telling me over the phone. I locked the door to my room until morning came and got on the flight back home without saying another word to him. I thought he would at least try to make amends, but he didn't even ask to talk to me. He doesn't care about me, he never did. All he cares about is his new family. He was just tying up loose ends by inviting me to stay with him.

I blink back the tears, shocked at how much his message hit me. So Caroline is pregnant. I can imagine how that would make him feel. His dad left him only to have another child with someone else...I'd be hurt too.

Penny drops her phone next to her. I see that she has tears in her eyes too. "Do you think he'll want us to go back upstairs?" She asks with uncertainty dripping from every word.

"I think he'll need us to go back upstairs."

When we see him sitting on his bed with his head in his hands, we both engulf him in a hug. We sit like that for a while until I break the silence. "When are you going to tell your mum?"

We pull back. I cross my legs as I wait for his answer. "I don't know how to tell her." He answers with a shrug. His honesty now that he's got it off his chest is comforting. He's back to his usual self.

"I can tell her if you want." Penny offers.

He shakes his head, his voice coming out barely above a whisper. "It has to be me."

I can't even imagine what he's going through right now. Christina's the kindest woman I've met and to know that her husband left her for another woman shocks me. She just filled with love. I don't know how she'll take the news. It could either go two ways, she could be angry that he's managed to find happiness again after ruining theirs or happy for him.

"Do you want us to leave you to tell her?"

He nods. "I'll call you tonight."

*

We're both sitting in Penny's room watching her phone intently for Brody's call when the door swings open, revealing Archer in his usual black attire. Even though he wears practically the same thing every day his appearance never fails to suck the air out of me. He always notices too.

"Mom wants you to go to the grocery store."

Penny groans and rolls her eyes, not even bothering to spare him a glance. I, on the other hand, can't take my eyes off of him. "Can't you see I'm busy right now?"

A crease forms between his eyebrows. "You're busy staring at your phone?" He looks at me as if he's talking to a madwoman and I stifle a laugh. Meeting his gaze causes my body to react impulsively. I swallow hard, trying my best to conceal my blush from Penny.

"We're waiting for a very important phone call," I tell him sternly. He raises his eyebrows and I smirk.

Her phone rings seconds later. She pushes him out of the room before scrambling back to the bed and answering it.

"How'd she take it?" Penny asks before he can say a word.

"Not how I expected."

I chew my lip anxiously, leaning closer to the phone. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

He spends the next ten minutes explaining to us in a very complicated way how she reacted. It turns out she was actually happy for his dad, Jonathan. She's happy that he's happy. The love you have for your partner never goes away. You always want the best for them. She told Brody that he should be happy for him too and not to think of it as replacing him. People grow and move on from their partners in life, Christina hasn't been replaced.

Just because he's having another child doesn't mean he won't still want Brody in his life. She revealed that she talked to his dad last night about everything after realising something was up with Brody. Jonathan promised her that he wanted to make it work with him and the reason why he didn't tell him Caroline was pregnant was that he didn't want to drop everything on him. He wanted to give him some time to adjust.

"Caroline's five months along in her pregnancy, the baby's due on March twelfth. He said he wants me to be there when he's born."

"Wow," is all I can manage to say. It must be a lot to take in for him. I guess you can hide anything with oversized jumpers.

"Are you going to go?" Penny asks just as she did in the library when he told us his dad had asked him to stay.

"I don't know." He answers honestly. "Thanks, guys, for today though."

"No need to thank us."

"I don't know what I'd do without you both." Penny and I both smile.

The door opens once again, revealing Archer with a disgusted look on his face.

"You was there the whole time?" Penny shouts. She grabs the closest pillow and throws it straight at his face only he catches it in his hands before it hits him.

"No, I came to remind you that mum needs you to go to the store."

Penny groans. I hear Brody laughing on the other side of the phone and try my best not to join him. Archer's amused eyes meet mine as he winks before closing the door.