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*Will's Point Of View*

It was like a punch to the gut. I should've known, someone should've known...ANYONE SHOULD HAVE FUCKING KNOWN. I even saw the bruise, but Ryan convinced me it wasn't purposeful. I felt like an idiot, a jackass, a nimrod...just an awful brother all together. Someone should have noticed.

But no one did. Which left poor Charlotte to tell me what had been going on.
She had always been stronger than I was, stronger than anyone I'd ever known, but I thought that was because of the divorce. Lola had a knack for being super responsible and even though I'd wondered why she was so similar to a mother towards her brothers, I didn't care enough to find out.

"Will, there was a reason why I was so mad at you when I took the fall." I remembered that day so well. I didn't expect my best friend to come forward and admit to something she didn't do, but believe me, I was grateful. I was just too big of a dick to show it.

"What was the reason?"

"My mom. She- she beat me up pretty bad. I- she was furious, apparently I'd stained her pearly white reputation." My hands clenched at her words. I knew Sally was off her rocker, I mean yeah, my step dad cheated on her and did things no man should. But beating your kid? Crazy.

"Wait- I was the reason she beat you up? That bit-"

"There's a baby present." I grimaced.

"Sorry. Old habits die hard." Suddenly, I made up my mind. "Lola, I'm getting you out of there." She shook her head, smiling at me sadly.

"You can't Will. I've looked at all of the laws and everything- there aren't any loopholes." I thought hard.

"There's gotta be. This isn't safe for you or the boys. Just tell someone." I felt her body freeze next to me.

"No. No. Don't you dare tell a soul Will or I swear to God I'll- I'll-" I saw her having a mini panic attack so I put my arm on her shoulder and she flinched unintentionally.

"I won't unless you want me to. My lips are sealed." She exhaled and relief was evident on her face.

"Thank you. If you told someone they'd move me, Cam and Jason into the foster care system where we'd probably all be separated and Ryan would have to stay with my dad the entire time." I shuddered at the thought of Cam being in the system all alone. He wouldn't get to know his family or have siblings like Lola, Ry and Jase.

"I promise I won't tell anyone." I watched as Cameron held Charlotte's pinky while he slept and saw the small smile that graced her features, a single thought crossing my mind.

To put it simply: Charlotte was beautiful.

I don't mean it in the "OMG YOU'RE SO PERFECT DATE ME" kind of way. I had a gorgeous girlfriend who I loved and was willing to do anything for. Maria was one of a kind, a person that I could rely on to pull me up when I fell down and all of that cheesy shit. Nah, Lola was different. She was beautiful inside and out,: you could tell she was just a nice person from the way she smiled to the way she acted around her brothers. 

"Will, how am I gonna take care of him?" I sighed and moved my shoulder so she could lean her tired head on it. Mind you, I was exhausted too, but family came first.

"I don't know. But you won't be raising this little guy alone okay? I'm going to do it with you." I heard the smile in her voice.

"Really?"

"Definitely. We're a team now." Cam started crying and Charlotte got up and rocked him. As she stood in front of me, I noticed the bags under her eyes and finally understood where they came from. They weren't from long nights studying (though that's what she probably did to pass the time), they weren't from staying up late partying or hanging out with friends or watching Netflix. They were from waiting for a mother to finally show up...when in reality she probably never would.
----
I got a call about half an hour later and moved into the waiting room to answer it. Lola had just started to bottle feed Cam, Ryan and Jason were sound asleep on the couch (probably because it was easily ten at night), and Sally was refusing to claim responsibility for the baby.

"Hello?" 

"Hey man, some people were saying that in Science you and Lottie ditched. Is that true?" I sighed as I heard Logan ask me the question. The blind idiot couldn't see how much my step sister loved him, attached to Ali's hip. He insisted he was over her, but it was plain obvious he wasn't. I was just praying he didn't end up having her as a friends with benefits person. She was no good for him, but he wouldn't listen. 

"Something came up." 

"What did?" I heard Ali's voice in the background. 

"Babe who is it?" Logan said something back to her, quiet enough so that I couldn't hear. Of course he was with her. I wasn't about to tell Charlotte that, because her heart had been broken enough within the past few months. 

"Yo, Will, tell me would you?" 

"It's none of your business. What happened to breaking up with Alison?" He stuttered a little bit when he answered. 

"Uh- I don't know. Nothing. I missed her that's all." I snorted. 

"'Course you did." 

"No need to be a dick man. I like her, what's the big deal?" I clenched my jaw. 

"The big deal is that there's another girl who likes you more than Ali ever will. She's just using you- you and I both know it. So face the facts Logan." 

"Seriously, what crawled up your butt and died?" I noticed how he didn't defend Ali, probably because he knew, deep down, that I was right. He also didn't seem to notice that I said another girl liked him, which was for the better because Charlotte would hate me if I told him. 

"Never mind. Why did you call?" 

"Because I wanted to know what happened!" I didn't want to give him any information, hell, I didn't have to. 

"It's none of your goddamned business." I hung up the phone, too angry to talk to him anymore. It wasn't really his fault, I was just pissed about the entire situation. It wasn't fair that my step sister, my best friend, had to suffer through everything and not tell anyone. It wasn't fair to her that the one guy she had liked for almost as long as I had known her, was dating a slut that was just using him for sex, but he didn't want to face the facts. It wasn't fair that she had to raise two, now three boys all on her own. It wasn't fair to Charlotte that her mother was a drunk and an addict, or that her dad was a dick or that she got beaten up by the one woman who was supposed to love her more than anything in the world. 

"You okay Will?" I saw her at the door with a crying Cameron in her arms. Little wisps of hair were coming out of her bun and her cheeks were flushed. Though her eyes weren't puffy anymore, they had bags underneath and she looked simply worn out. 

"Yeah."

"Want to talk about it?"

"It isn't goddamn fair Lola." She came and sat next to me on a purple, uncomfortable chair. The hospital seating wasn't meant to be cozy, it was meant to be functional. 

"What isn't?" 

"Your life. How do you deal with it?" She shrugged and she burped her baby brother over her shoulder.

"It's easier than it seems when I have Ryan, Jason, my friends at school and now you around." I shook my head in disbelief. 

"How? How the hell do you manage?" 

"I told Ryan something a few days ago that maybe will put everything into perspective." She brushed Cam's light blonde hair away from his eyes and cradled him, treating him like a fragile object, as though if she let go she would never see him again. "The world gave me a huge hand of cards. I got a few pretty bad ones, but some great ones too. I just have to keep my poker face on." 

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School the next day was rough. I fell asleep in English, French and then again in History. But when I looked over at Lola, she seemed awake. During our free period I asked her why she wasn't sound asleep. She answered nonchalantly,

"I don't need a lot of sleep to function anymore." That ended the conversation, but it didn't end the thoughts spinning around in my head. I think Maria could tell there was a lot on my mind, but when she asked me about it, I snapped. 

"It's nothing okay?" A hurt look washed across her face and even though I felt slightly guilty, I couldn't bring myself to feel too bad about it. It was nothing compared to what Lola went through. 

"No need to be rude." I swallowed and rubbed my eyes. 

"Look I'm sorry about that. I just had a long night." She narrowed her eyes. 

"Rigghht. You were with Charlie weren't you?" I detected jealousy in her voice but I brushed it off. The only feelings I had for Charlotte were sibling feelings. She was in love with Logan, and I liked Maria a lot, even though she was getting on my nerves. 

"Yes I was." 

"What did you guys do?" 

"Please drop it Mar." She crossed her arms, her face going red.

"I will not drop it! My boyfriend, who my best friend hated a few days ago, is now buddy buddy with her and suddenly decided to leave with her in the middle of class to go god KNOWS where to do god knows WHAT!" I wanted to feel bad, I really did, but compared to what I let Lola go through all of those years, I just couldn't make myself say sorry.

"I'm not cheating on you if that's what you're implying Maria. She needed my help, I helped her. End of story." My answer was dry and flat, and I looked her straight in the eyes. 

"So she means nothing to you?"

"Define nothing." Maria pushed her books away from her and stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder. 

"Here's the deal honey. It's either me or her. " I jumped up from my seat. 

"Excuse me?" 

"Choose. Me or Charlotte. You can't have both." I threw my hands up in frustration. 

"There's nothing going on between me and Lola!" 

"Oh so now you have a nickname for her?" 

"I've always called her that! You don't freakin understand Maria!" Her eyes flared in anger. 

"Maybe I don't. But what I do understand is this: you're suddenly way to close to her. So it's either me or her. You can't have us both anymore." She walked away from me and I called out,

"What happened to you two being best friends?!" Maria glanced back and rolled her eyes. 

"Things change."