~ Cole ~

Cole, for as long as he had been alive, had never been a morning person. He'd slept through classes, exams, social functions, and that one job interview his brother had tried to set up for him at a law firm internship when he was eighteen. Mornings had never been Cole's thing.

Unfortunately, they were Brendon's, possibly a very real spawn from Hell.

Cole was drowsily making coffee in the kitchen, barely awake, when the front door opened and footsteps marched down the hall. A moment later, Brendon Decker appeared in the doorway.

For being brothers, Cole and Brendon looked like complete polar opposites. Where Cole was every bit as callous and unrefined as his reputation; dark hair and clad with tattoos who could race with the best of them, Brendon was a pompous autocrat shaped like Prince Charming.

Most people often wondered how the brothers were related. Where Cole was every inch his father's lookalike, Brendon took after their mother with golden waves and blue eyes that chilled you to the bone when they focused on you, which was exactly how they were now.

"Cole." Brendon came around the bench to stare down his younger brother. "You said Max was in some kind of trouble. How bad is it?"

"Hello, Brendon. Nice to see you too." Cole mocked.

Brendon scowled. "Don't play the victim with me. I have enough to do without you wasting all of our time. Where is Max?"

"He's upstairs."

"I'll get him."

"He's sleeping, Brendon."

"He can sleep after we've talked." 

"I'm here," a small voice sounded.

Max appeared in the doorway a moment later and Cole knew instantly he hadn't slept a wink. He work an oversized hoodie (probably an old one of Cole's) with the hood drawn up over a pale face. Part of his dark hair stuck out at awkward angles and the size of the bags under his eyes could've rivaled Jupiter. 

"Max," Brendon said. "How are you, little brother?"

Max scoffed as he wandered further into the kitchen. "Like you care."

"Max." Cole warned.

Max sighed dramatically as he turned to face Brendon. "I'm great, Brendon. How are you?"

"Watch your tone," Brendon said. "From what I've heard, you're in far greater trouble than simply an attitude problem."

"Oh, really?" Max turned a challenging look on the eldest Decker brother. "And what exactly have you heard, Brendon?"

Brendon pulled out a manilla folder from his bag and tossed it onto the countertop before Max. A look inside revealed the detailed police report from Max's arrest and outstanding conditions of retribution. Cole knew pulling strings to get this would've been easier than playing the violin for Brendon. 

"That you were arrested for joy-riding  under the influence with a band of misfits without a permit. Not to mention the half-kilo of cannabis stashed under your seat."

Brendon was clearly waiting for Max to explain himself, but the latter simply stared back with a brooding expression.

"Max," Brendon said firmly. "I'm waiting."

"Well it sounds like you already know everything you need to."

"I want to know why you did it. Why you threw away six months of sobriety for such a reckless and impulsive act of stupidity."

Max had opened his mouth to respond but Brendon wasn't done. "Do you realise how badly this could've ended, Max? Cole and I could've been planning your funeral right now."

"Brendon-" Cole started, angry, but Brendon cut him off too. 

He pointed a finger at Max. "You were supposed to be doing better than this. Are supposed to be doing better than this. You couldn't even imagine the strings I had to pull to keep this quiet and out of the press. Do you know what a story like this would do to our lives if this got out? After everything?"

"I'm sorry that I'm such a disappointment to the rest of the family." Max exclaimed. Both of them were beginning to raise their voices now.

"Max-"

"Dammit, kid!" Brendon slammed a hand against the countertop. "This family doesn't need any more negative attention. You have to think. You can't just do whatever you want and assume it'll work out okay. That isn't the way we raised you-"

"Cole raised me!" Max fired back. "Sending money every month and the ocassional text is not raising me!"

Max took a step forward toward Brendon, who was clearly surprised at the turn things had taken. He didn't back down though. 

Max stabbed a finger in his direction. "Cole is the one who's here every week checking in on Mum and me. Cole is the one who asks about my therapy and comes to my doctor's appointments. Cole is the one who takes me to the movies or dinner or whatever just so I can talk about whatever I feel like. Cole is the one who actually means it when he asks how I'm doing instead of just wanting to hear some bullshit story about how I never wanted to use again!"

"I can do those things to-"

"I'm a drug addict, Brendon!"

Despite the situation, Cole felt pride swell in his chest. He could still remember a time when Max absolutely refused to admit he had a problem and now here he was saying it out loud. At least the sobriety counselling had done that for him. 

Max's chest was heaving under the weight of his anger, though Cole could still read the fear in his eyes that Brendon was so ignorant to. 

"I'm an addict," Max repeated, never taking his eyes off Brendon. "And now matter how better I get or how long I'm sober, there is always a pulse beneath my skin telling me that things would be better still if I use. This isn't something that goes away, Brendon. You can't just throw money at my problems and expect them to vanish. There's a reason recovery is a long road."

"I know that Max. I-"

"You wanted to know why I did it." Max interjected. "Well, I guess there's your answer."

Brendon's temper was flaring again. "That's it, then? You did this simply because you wanted to? Need I remind you of the consequences had things turned out differently? We already have a dead father. And Mum-"

"That's enough." Cole said sharply, finally entering the conversation.

He pushed himself off the bench and faced Brendon, chest-to-chest as they were practically the same height with Cole being taller by half an inch or so. "Yelling at him isn't going to change what's happened, Brendon."

Brendon glared at him. "If I could make him understa-"

"You can't." Cole snapped. He narrowed his eyes, "I've told you what the doctors have said. I've heard the stories told at NA. Drug addicts don't see reason. Their addiction will take down them and everyone around them if it goes on long enough. Fighting will only make it worse."

"And pray tell," Brendon said mockingly, "what do you suggest, seeing as you're apparently the only one that matters."

Cole turned to his little brother. "Max, talk to us. How do you feel?"

Max very pointedly looked only at Cole as he spoke. "It sucks that I broke my sobriety." He pulled something from his pocket and it took Cole only a moment to realise it was his six-month sobriety chip. He turned it over in his hand before looking back up. "But I can't deny there's a part of me that feels relieved."

Out of the corner of his eye, Brendon looked perplexed, but Cole simply nodded. "Okay," he said. "Here's the deal. We're upping the amount of meetings you go to weekly. You'll be going three times instead of two. You'll attend mandated group counselling with NA and," he took a deep breath, "you'll be staying with me three nights a week so I can take you to your meetings. I'll be writing the school a letter tomorrow morning to pull you from classes this semester."

Brendon looked like he was going to have a stroke. "What? Are you insane? We can't pull him from school. He needs to graduate so he can-"

"He needs to live." Cole whirled on his brother. "That should be the only thing that matters to you." He turned back to Max. "Go pack a bag. I'll pick you up tomorrow afternoon after school."

The entire state of Max's face had changed. He looked excited, maybe even hopeful, as he grinned and said, "Okay!" before turning and bolting from the room. His footsteps bounded up the stairs until silence settled over the house again.

"No school." Brendon shook his head. "His life is going to turn out even worse than yours."

Cole was still staring in the direction Max had left. "Only the underestimated build empires, Brendon."

Brendon straightened his shoulders beside him. "What now?"

"I'm going to go check on Mum," Cole headed for the door. "See if she's eaten any of the food I made her this morning."

"You know this isn't what she needs." Brendon said behind him. "You need to reconsider my offer for her."

Cole sighed as he left the room. "One problem at a time."

***

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