The professor was teaching when I felt my phone vibrate. Who could it be? Everyone knows that I am at school. I secretly looked at the caller ID. My mom? Why is she calling? "Miss Macbeth. Phones are not allo-" Ignoring the professor, I accepted the call. "Yes? I am in class. Why did you-" I was interrupted by my mother's sob. "Nessa, it's Ethan. He-" That was all it took for me to leave everything behind and run out of the classroom to my car, tears brimming my eyes. No. This can't happen. Not today.

I reached my car when I remembered that I left my bag, which had my car keys, in the classroom. Great! I was going to head back, as fast as I could, when I saw Stefan standing in front of me with my bag. I snatched the bag from his hand, took out my car keys, and sat inside the car. Stefan opened the passenger door and sat inside. Without asking any questions like why was he sitting inside my car, I drove off to the hospital, without caring about the speed limit.

I reached the hospital gate when I turned to Stefan. "Park the car," I ordered him. Before he could ask any questions, I stepped outside the car and ran inside the hospital towards Ethan's room, tears flowing down my cheeks. I was not ready to lose him. Not yet.

I reached Ethan's room, only to see the eyes that I have been waiting to see for over a month. A smile made its way up to my face. He was there. Awake. Beside him, was my mom. I could understand that she has been crying. My so-called dad was standing near the window, a huge smile plastered on his face. At least he was happy about something. They still hadn't noticed me.

I could feel my insides jumping with happiness. I went and sat on the chair outside the room to calm myself. That's when Stefan came towards me, panting. "Are you okay?" He asked. Without thinking about anything, I pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. I looked up to see his confused face. I just grinned. Then I slowly stepped back and entered Ethan's room.

"You are the biggest idiot I have ever seen." I almost shouted. Everyone's head turned toward me. "Don't you dare pull a stunt like that ever again," I warned as I walked towards him. He just sat there, confused. "Am I allowed to punch him?" I asked my mom. She just raised her eyebrows and shook her head. I angrily went towards him and rather than punching, I pulled him into a bear hug. "Let's never do that again, okay?" I whispered. He just nodded and smiled. "I agree." He said and hugged me back.

I felt like the happiest person on this planet as I was back in Ethan's embrace. No problems. No sadness. I never wanted that moment to end but we were interrupted by my mom clearing her throat. I stepped away from the bed, the grinning like a cheshire cat.

A doctor entered the room. "Now that you are awake, we would run some diagnosis. You should be free to go in about a week." He told us. My parents thanked the doctor and they all left the room, leaving me and Ethan alone in this room.

"I am never going to let you sleep, you know that?" I asked him. He just chuckled. "Happy Birthday sis!" "Thanks, bro!" I chuckled. "Sorry, I didn't get you a birthday gift." He sighed. "No need. You waking up is the best birthday gift I could ever ask for." I smiled. "Does Shirley know?" I asked him. He shook his head. "I don't think she wants to. I mean, she would have moved on." "Are you kidding me? That girl stayed in the hospital almost 24/7 and you are telling me that she moved on?" I asked him. His eyes widened. "24/7?" He asked. "Yeah... Who do you think stayed at the hospital at night when I couldn't?" I raised my eyebrows. "You slept in here?" He asked, guilt clear on his face.

"I am your sister. Where else would I sleep?" I smiled as I leaned and kissed his cheek. Then I took out my phone and was about to call her Shirley when the door opened. Shirley stood there, a huge grin plastered on her face. I stood up and walked up to her. "I'll leave you guys alone." I wiggled my eyebrows as she turned into a tomato. I made my way outside, only to see Stefan still sitting here.

What is he still doing here? I walked up to him and held my hand in front of him. He gave me a confused look. "My car keys." I glared at him. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he handed me the keys. "Thank you for bringing me my bag and my car keys, before, even though you didn't have to. You are free to go back to school." I told him as I walked over to my mom, without giving him a second glance.

"I am going to tell him," I told my mom. She just gave me a confused look. "I am going to tell Ethan about the gang-" "No you are not. You would put him in danger." My mom whisper-shouted at me. "Not telling him didn't make any difference." I shrugged. She was about to argue when I glared at her. "Look, please be careful. I don't want anything happening to him." She told me. I nodded.

***********
I and my mom were sitting outside when I suddenly heard Ethan call me. "Vanessa Cassandra Macbeth. I want you to come here right now." He called. I hurriedly went inside. "What happened? Are you okay?" I asked. "I am okay. But something happened. You kissed that Stefan guy?" He raised his eyebrows. I could feel my face heat up at the mention of the kiss.

"Yes?" I told him, but it came out more like a question. He raised his eyebrows. "I told you not to tell anyone." I looked at Shirley. "It slipped." She shrugged. "I am glad she told me. I would never let you do it." Ethan dead planned. I don't know why, but it pissed me off.

"Look, brother. You don't get to wake up after one f*cking whole month and act as a protective brother. It was you being protective of me that made you go into a coma for a freaking whole month, in the first place. Plus, do not take that idiot's name in front of me." I hissed. They both looked at me with wide eyes. I could feel their gaze on me as I made my way to the window. "Happy Birthday Nessa!" Shirley came and sat beside me. "Thanks!" I sighed. "So what has Selena planned? I haven't talked to her properly in days." Shirley asked.

"She is not talking with me. Neither is Abby, Tessa, Claire, or Ryan. They all are angry that I kissed Stefan. Turns out, that Playboy was dating Tessa, during that time. I had no freaking idea." I updated her. "What? But I thought Tessa was dating Kevin." She gave me a confused look. "Even I thought the same thing. I would have never kissed him if I knew that she was dating him." I shrugged. "Did you talk to Stefan?" She asked.

"Yeah. Him." I scoffed. "After I had the heated argument with Selena, I came back here, only to find him sitting here. He snapped at me and told me that I was the same as every other girl at school. Then he called me a slut and walked away." I explained. "He called you a what? How dare he?" Ethan interrupted our talk. "I will kill him." He glared at no one. "Don't worry brother, I have made plans for that," I smirked. "You guys are very violent siblings." Shirley chuckled.

"Yep," I said as I walked over to Ethan's bed and gave him a high five. "So is that all, or are there any more things that I missed?" Ethan asked. My body tensed. How the hell was I supposed to tell him that our- his- parents have divorced!?! And also I had to tell him about the Elites. And I had no idea how I was supposed to do that.

They both felt the change in my mood. Shirley nodded at me and went outside. "Nessa, what's wrong?" Ethan asked. "I don't think I should tell you. I mean, you just woke up." I sighed. "Is it that bad, I mean, what is worse than you kissing a guy who comes the next day and insults you?" He joked as I gave him a small smile. "Come on...shoot." He chuckled.

I was still debating in mind about what I should tell him first. The divorce or the Elites? After a moment, I started, "You see, after the incident, mom and dad got into a huge fight over something-" "what something?" Ethan asked. "The world is not as simple as it seems." I sighed. "You know I am the elder one right? I am supposed to tell you that." He chuckled. "But I am way more mature than you are." I scoffed."Yeah, whatever. So, continue." He asked.

"You remember, we used to see those movies where there were mafia gangs?" I asked. He nodded and I continued, "Those gangs are real. I am a part of one." I said. He looked at me like I was a ghost. After a moment, he started laughing. "You are a very great actress Nessa. You should consider acting as your career choice." He chuckled.

"No Ethan. It's true. I can prove it." I said as I walked out of the room to bring my school bag. I locked the door of the room, removed all my books, and opened the chain to a secret compartment. I removed the stainless steel box from inside and used my fingerprint to open the box. I removed the gun from the box and held it in front of Ethan. His eyes widened.

"N-nessa, please tell me that is not what I think it is. Please tell me it is f-fake." He stuttered. I kept the gun back inside the box and locked it. I put all the books inside and unlocked the room door.

"Now, do you believe me?" I asked. He slowly nodded. "S-so all those years, you were suddenly hurt from tripping the stairs or running during soccer practice, they were all..." I nodded. "Does mom know?" He asked. "She was the leader of the Elites before I was," I told him. "L-leader?" He gave me a confused look.

And I explained to him the history of the Elites, the training, the rivalry gangs, and everything, no missing a single detail. I promised myself that I will never keep anything from him ever again. He was my brother.

"So, Shirley knows about all this?" He asked. "Yes, Ethan. She didn't want to be a part of it. But she was still trained and knows everything. But we are not supposed to tell anyone about this." "So why did you tell me?" "Keeping you on the dark didn't keep you safe. If you would have known, then you wouldn't have jumped to save me. You would have been spared all the pain. And it wouldn't have been the first time I was shot. So it would have been a win-win situation in a weird way." I shrugged.

"Even if I would have known, I would still give my life for you without a second thought." Ethan smiled as he pulled me into a hug. "And, you have to promise me,  I more secrets," Ethan demanded. I smiled and nodded. "No more secrets."

"There is one more thing," I told him. He raised his eyebrows and told me to continue. "After the incident, our parents fought that it was all the Elites' fault.-" "Wait a minute. So that why you and dad never talked?" He asked. I nodded. "Oh, God. This goes much deeper than I thought." He sighed. "Yeah. So they had a fight. I tried to stop them but it escalated. Ethan, they divorced." I sighed as I could feel some tears forming in my eyes.

I never talked about this much to anyone. I made everyone think that it didn't affect me but it did. Stefan saw that. He broke down the wall I had created, brick by brick, but my heart wasn't ready to talk it through. But with Ethan, all my walls are lowered as he sees right through me and I don't mind it. Because I know that my brother will never judge me.

"What?" He gasped. "They didn't even wait, Ethan. They went the next day and filed the papers. They didn't even ask me or wait for you." I was pulled into another hug as I sobbed on Ethan's shoulder, wetting his hospital gown. "Why?" Ethan said, still clearly in shock. "I don't know. Dad took your custody and mom got mine. And after Thanksgiving, you are moving to London. Your college is already transferred. I don't want you to go, Ethan." I sighed.

"It's okay, Nessa. I'll talk with dad." "He won't listen. He never really liked the gang part of mom. When he realized that I joined it too, he cut me off. This was the breaking point for him." My dad didn't bother about me. But I knew him. I knew that he had enough.

We stayed there, not moving as Ethan tried to dissolve the new information. After some time, I gathered up the courage and asked him the most dreaded question. "Did you know?" He gave me a confused look. "Did you know that I-I was a-adopted?" I asked him. His eyes widened. "You know?" He asked me. "Did you know, Ethan?" I demanded. He didn't answer.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked. "I didn't want to hurt you. I thought you would abandon me for not being your real brother.-" "I would never do that." I almost shouted. "I know. But...I was scared, Nessa. I didn't want you to feel like an outsider after dad stopped talking to you. I didn't want to lose my little sister." He sighed. "Will you forgive me?" He asked.

I nodded."I forgive you. I kept a huge secret from you. You kept one from me. We are even." I smiled. "But enough with the secrets. No more of that. Promise?" "Promise." He chuckled. "And now, that we have caught up on the missed events, I want to know, do you like Stefan?" He asked out of nowhere. "I don't know. I mean, after that day, I really don't know." I sighed.

"What if that argument never happened? Then?" He asked. "Then...I still don't know. He was there for me. The whole time you were here, I was a mess, Ethan. Plus, the attacks. I was losing it. My nightmares had gotten worse and I was not able to hold myself together. So he stepped in, helped me clear my mess, confronted me after every nightmare, stayed with me, and help me hold myself together. So, yeah. I would have fallen for him." I chuckled, remembering the magical night we had before the argument.

"But he called me a slut. That day, he reminded me of Anthony, Ethan. All the memories which were locked up on the back came back to life. And I hate him for that." I grunted. "Yeah. I understand." Ethan confronted me. "So do you know what all the argument was about?" He asked. I shook my head as I tried to remember all the events surrounding that incident. Nothing made sense other than one thing.

"Well, some photos taken at the right time from the right angle can tell a different story altogether."

"Um...Ethan. Do you mind if I leave? I have some investigation to do." I asked. "Go one, munchkin. Get back your Prince Charming." He smirked. "You know that the argument also led to a silent treatment from Selena right? I am more worried about my friends than 'Prince Charming'." I glared at him as I picked up my bag, walked out of the door, giving a smile to my mom, and headed to my car. I sat in drove off to school.

************
I reached the school when the lunch bell rang. I barged into the cafeteria and scanned around as I saw Sarah and Stefan making out in a corner. I walked over to them, pulled Stefan away from, him, and punched him. "What the F*ck! Who do you think you are?" Sarah screeched which made the whole cafeteria turn their heads towards us.

Ignoring the attention, I grabbed Sarah's phone from her hand. I unlocked the phone with the universal '1234' password which worked. No surprise. Sarah was always a dumb one. I opened her messages. And the next thing I saw gave me the reason for everything happening in the past week.

A/N:

Hey guys!
How are you doing?
Hope you guys liked the chapter...

Can you believe it? Because I cannot!!! This book has 3k reads!!!

Ethan is awake!! *does a secret happy dance* And all the secrets are told. I, personally, love the brother-sister bond that Ethan and Nessa share.
And guess what? Nessa accepted that she would have fallen for the Bad Boy.
What do you guys think happens next? Does she have another argument or does she have a birthday to remember?

See you soon...