When I walked out of my room, I didn't expect to see my mother walking out of my parent's bedroom with suitcases in her hands.

        "Mama," I said as I followed her down the stairs. "You're back."

        "No, I'm not." She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, and I faced her. "I'm just getting the rest of my things."

        My shoulders slacked as I looked at her for a couple seconds. "Mama..."

        Her expression softened. "Iago, por favor. I have to do this."

        She went to the door, and I glanced back to see my dad sitting at the dining room table. His head was down. "Papa." I approached him. "Do something."

        He slowly raised his head, and his expression was numb. One look at me, it crumbled.

        With that, I turned around and ran after my mother. "Mama!" She was putting her suitcases in a car I didn't recognize. "Mama, pare."

        She put the last of her suitcase in and closed the trunk. "Don't make this harder than it has to be, Iago."

        "Don't leave me with him," I said through gritted teeth. "You can't leave, too."

        Santiago and Diego left. I couldn't lose my mother, too.

        She shook her head. "I'm not leaving you." She placed a hand on my cheek. "I'm leaving him." Her hand came down as my jaw tightened. "I'll take you with me—"

        "Then take me with you," I said.

        "I can't," she said. "You have school. Where I'm going isn't ideal."

        "And this is?"

        Our house was toxic. My father was toxic. Not only because he killed a woman and got between me and Estella. If it wasn't for him, I could have been with her now.

        Not Brice.

        I held back my anger at the man who was ruining people's lives, on top of his own.

        "Think of your friends," my mother said. "At least when you're here, you have them. Don't let go of that."

        She squeezed my hand with a small smile before turning around and entering the car. "Mama!" I shouted as the car drove off.

        When I couldn't see her anymore, I took out my phone, and I texted Brice. I couldn't stay in this house. I needed to go somewhere.

        Brice was busy. Then I tried Estella. She was busy, too...with Brice. I almost threw my phone across the driveway, but I held back that urge. Then I texted Oliver and Tyler. Tyler was with Bree, but Oliver was free. I asked if I could come over, and he said yes. With that, I hopped into Verda and drove off. I didn't tell my father I was leaving because he was the last person I wanted to talk to.

        When I reached the Galbraith residence, Oliver was already waiting for me outside. When I stepped out of Verda, that was when I noticed the basketball in his hands, and he stood in front of the hoop.

        "What's up, man?" Oliver met me halfway and pounded my fist.

        "I need to blow off some steam."

        He nodded. "Too bad everyone else is busy." Oliver removed his shirt and I removed mine as we faced each other. We started the game. "Brice is with Estella." I took the ball from him and took a shot. I missed, which wasn't surprising. My mind was jumbled. "Tyler is with Bree." Oliver took the ball from me, and I didn't put much effort in blocking him. He scored. "Yes!" He moved the ball between his hands. "That's what happens in the bachelor's lifestyle." He smiled, but then he stared at me. "Why did you break up with Ximena, again?" I took the ball from him, and he blocked me. "Don't dodge my question, Velasco."

        I smirked as I scored. "Are you Abrams now?"

        Oliver stopped with the ball in his hand. "Seriously, what happened?" I shrugged. "There has to be a reason."

        "It wasn't going to work out," I said. "Neither one of us took the relationship seriously. There are plenty of open relationships that still have love, commitment and intimacy. You don't have to be monogamous to be committed. But Ximena and I weren't it. It was temporary, and the time ran out."

        "I get it," Oliver said. No, he didn't. "Let's get a drink."

        He patted my back as we walked inside. We each grabbed a bottle of Gatorade before returning to the driveway.

        We leaned against the front of Verda. "What about you?" I crossed my arms with my attention shifting to him. "Why are you still single? What happened to Sadaf?"

        "I'm wondering the same thing." He capped his Gatorade. "I haven't been seeing her at school much, and she hasn't been responding to my texts and calls."

        "Something's probably up."

        Sadaf didn't seem like the type of girl who would ghost people. She was too mature and compassionate for that. If she wanted to end this flirtation with Oliver, she would have told him.

        "Yeah," Oliver said. "I really like her, but I feel like it's not going to happen. It doesn't matter how many times I slide in her DMs. It's not going to change the truth. I'm not Iranian. I'm not Muslim. I don't even think she can date anyone, yet alone me."

        Oliver and I were bachelors, but I wasn't so sure if it was by choice.

        "It sucks," Oliver said. "Why is life so hard and unfair?"

        I narrowed my eyes at him. Look who was talking. Oliver pushed himself off the car and dribbled the ball. I followed suit. "What do you mean by that?"

        He threw the ball at me, and I caught it. "It means exactly what I said," Oliver said. "Life is hard."

        "How would you know?" I said. "The hardest thing you have to face right now is not being with the girl you like."

        "Chill, Jax."

        "No." I threw the ball back at him, almost hitting him in the face. "I won't 'chill.' You don't know a damn thing about a hard life." It was Oliver's time to glare at me. "All you complain about is not getting Sadaf and your mother and sisters, and it's bull. Your mother is great. She lets you do whatever the hell you want."

        "Why are you attacking me right now?"

        "I'm not attacking you," I said. "I'm speaking the truth. You whine and whine about your sisters, and sure they can be annoying, but so can you." He shook his head at me, looking pissed. "At least they're around. Yeah, your father isn't around much, but he provides for you. You actually have a relationship with him. And the whole Sadaf thing, you think it's hard on you, but what about her? You don't know what she's going through right now." He threw the ball at me, but I dropped it. "So yeah, don't talk to me about a hard life." I chuckled, with no humor. "It must be nice to have such a simple existence."

        Oliver shoved me back, but I caught myself. "Stop acting like you know a damn thing about me. Maybe if you paid attention more, you'll get to know us better. Maybe I'll know why you're acting like such a bitch right now."

        "I'll die to have your 'hard' life, Oliver," I said. "Do you know what my life is? I live in south Creek." His eyes bulged out. "I live with my alcoholic dad and my depressed mother. My brothers have been gone for a while now, and they almost never call. I'm stuck cleaning, cooking and taking care of my parents when it should be the other way around. My only escape is school, hip-hop company and my friends. That's it. Now..." I paused to stop my emotions from running wild. "My mom is gone, too. It's just me and my drunk father." Oliver only stood there, with his lips slightly parted. "So yeah. I don't want to hear about your 'hard' life."

        As soon as I closed my mouth, I expected to hate myself for putting my business out there. But I didn't care. Brice. Tyler. They could all know for all I cared. I was too exhausted.

        "I didn't know, Jax," Oliver said.

        "How would you?" I said. "I didn't tell you guys. None of you will ever get it."

        "You think our life is perfect, but it's not," Oliver said. "We all have our own issues. Some more than others, but we all have them. Stop keeping everything in and acting like you're the only one knocked over by life. Stop pitying yourself. Stop acting like your experience is so special that no one understands you and no one else has been through it." He picked up the ball. "This angsty shit gets old."

        "Fuck this," I said. "Fuck my parents. Fuck my brothers. Fuck everything, even Brice."

        Shit.

        Oliver jerked his head back in surprise. "What does Brice have to do with this?"

        I had no right to be pissed at him. He did nothing wrong. I was the dumbass who let her go. All of this was my fault, and it felt like everything was crashing around me.

        "How does Brice fit into this?" Oliver asked.

        "Don't worry about it." I couldn't look at him, but I could feel his eyes on me. "What?" I refused to meet his gaze.

        He took some time to reply. "Is this about Estella?" My face paled as the blood rushed to everywhere else in my body. I refused to speak or look at him. "It's about Estella."

        "You don't know anything." Our eyes finally locked. "This is about me. I'm the problem."

        Oliver took a step back. "I knew it."

        "You're making assumptions." My voice came out desperate. "This isn't about Estella and Brice."

        It was partially true. I was the one in the wrong. Being pissed at my best friend for being with a girl I let go.

        "Okay," Oliver said with his curls bouncing on his head with each nod. "Then look me in the eye and tell me you don't like Estella. That you don't want to be with her."

        Fuck.

        I wanted to speak. I wanted to rebut him and pretend this conversation never happened. But all I could do was stare at him with my lips parted but having nothing come out.

        "I knew it!" Oliver's eyes became slits. "I always suspected something was up with you two. You were too close and there was too much tension between you."

        "We're friends."

        That was how all of this started—as a friendship. I didn't know how it all spiraled out of control.

        Oliver snorted. "Right."

        "I'm serious," I said. "You can't tell Brice."

        "That one of his best friends likes his girlfriend?" Oliver said. "Hell no."

        "He'll take it out of proportion."

        "For good reason," Oliver said. "You need to stay away from Estella."

        "What?"

        He couldn't be serious.

        "You're too close to her," Oliver said. "You having feelings for her and spending a lot of time with her is a dangerous combination. Especially when she has a boyfriend. A boyfriend named Brice, your best friend." I shook my head. "You have to back off."

        "She's my friend."

        "She's Brice's girlfriend," Oliver reminded me.

        "I knew her first," I said. "How's this fair?"

        "I'm not going to stand back and have you and Estella betray Brice," Oliver said.

        "We're not betraying him."

        "You betrayed him the instant you started liking his girlfriend."

        "Do you think I want this?" I said. "Do you think I want to feel this way when Estella is with Brice, and Brice is my friend?" Oliver didn't respond. "I can't help it."

        At the same time, I didn't want to stop feeling this way about her. It was wrong, and it could mess everything up, but I couldn't let go of this. It was everything I feared and needed.

        "More reasons why you need to stay away," Oliver said. "You can't like someone and expect those feelings to go away when you're spending a lot of time with them."

        "I'm not going to do anything," I said. "We're not going to do anything."

        I wanted to. I wanted to kiss her and hold her and have her with me, but I knew better. Brice was my friend. Most of all, Estella and I were more than some affair.

        "It's for precautions," Oliver clarified. "You need to stop liking Estella. The best way to do that is to let her go."

        I shook my head. "No."

        Oliver glared at me. "What the hell do you mean 'no?'"

        "'No' means no," I said, my voice escalating. "Tell Brice for all I care. I'm out of here."

        I put on my shirt and hopped into Verda as Oliver stood in front of my car. "You're going to screw everything up, Jax."

        I poked my head out. "It's already screwed up."

        With that, I turned my car on and drove off, leaving Oliver in his driveway. My hands shook on the wheel. "Fuck!" I screamed while slamming my fists on the wheel.

        Oliver knew. He was going to tell Brice. Estella was going to be pissed. I groaned before blasting my music, needing to distract myself.

        The instant I got home, I ran up to my room and called my brothers. I needed to talk to someone. They owed me this. They never called. I made a joint call, and the instant I heard both of their voices, relief hit me.

        "Santiago. Diego," I said.

        "Jax, what's up?" Diego asked.

        "Mama—"

        "I don't know if I can talk, Jax," Santiago said. My face fell. "I'm busy with Inés."

        "Yeah," Diego agreed. "I have to meet up with some of my friends."

        "Jax—"

        "Enough!" I cut Santiago off. "Excuse after excuse after excuse. I'm tired of this."

        "Jax."

        "Let me speak," I silenced Diego. "I get it. I know why you left, and why you don't speak to Mama and Papa. But why do you have to abandon me, too?"

        "We're not," Santiago said, in their defense.

        "Oh, really?" I scoffed. "You never call or text. When I call, you either don't pick up or you find excuses to cut our conversation short. Same goes for texting. You don't visit. I have brothers, but I might as well be an only child. You've always had each other's back but never mine."

        It made sense. Santiago and Diego were around each other's age, and they were closer. I got that, but I was still their brother. They shouldn't have treated me like some stranger. Worst of all, they shouldn't have treated me like our parents. I wasn't the enemy here, and a part of me knew that they resented our parents.

        Me, they didn't care enough to feel anything towards me.

        "Can we talk about this a different time?" Diego asked.

        "No," I said. "We're talking about this now. I'm done trying to maintain a relationship with two people who don't care. From now on, I'm not going to call or text."

        "Jax..." they said together.

        "From now on, I'm going to live as if I don't have brothers," I said. "Nothing is going to change, but I'm finally ready to accept the truth."

        "Jax—"

        I hung up, throwing my phone across the bed. I curled into my bed, not knowing what to feel anymore. I didn't know if I was pissed, hurt or relieved. All of it bombarded me at once. One thing was obvious.

        Something had to change—no matter how painful it was.

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* What do you guys think about Jax's confession? Oliver knowing? What will happen next?