❝ How'd it get so complicated?

Can't even have no conversation❞

- Jack & Jack, 2 Cigarettes.

"Hey, look at this T-shirt, I just got it. How does it look on me? Cool, right?" Tanner asked when he came into the kitchen, a smile on his face.

"I think you're due for a haircut," I replied, spooning some cereal into his mouth.

"Haha," he said dryly before pouring some milk into a bowl.

"That reminds me, mom and dad told me they sent some money to you to give me for my birthday."

Tanner choked back on the cereal he was now eating, "Eat up, you'll be late for school."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "It's Saturday today. I strongly believe that there's no school on Saturdays."

"Wow. Is it?" He looked at his phone, before chuckling awkwardly.

I narrowed my eyes at the T-shirt he had on. "Tanner?"

He hummed in response, turning his back to me.

"You spent my money, didn't you?"

"It's bedtime," he answered.

"No, it's 10am, Tanner. I'm telling mom and dad."

"Come on, you can't do that! That'll make me seem irresponsible."

"Well, that wasn't very responsible of you. What else did you buy?" I asked, and he scratched the back of his head, "I may or may not have ordered the latest Nike shoes."

My eyes went wide, "Shoes?! And you still have the guts to tell me that! Seriously, Tanner, why would you do that?"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, alright? I swear I'll make it up to you."

I rolled my eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I love you. I'll give you some money."

"Some money? You didn't spend some of my money, you spent all of it."

He groaned and threw is head back, eyes shut as he said, "I'll let you use my car to learn to drive."

"Wait. You're kidding," I said in surprised.

"But—" He said in a loud tone, "I'll have to be the one to teach you and that'll be when I take a leave from work."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Tanner!" I ran to hug him, kissing all over his face.

"You're just lucky I love you. Now leave me and let me finish up my cereal before it gets all soggy," he chuckled.

"What are you doing today?" I asked him as I made my way back to where I sat.

"Well, I'll head to the office for a few hours, and then, I'll stop by at Kendall's."

"You're still dating her?"

"Uh, what did you think?"

"I just thought, that now that you and Zee, you know..." My voice trailed off.

Tanner chuckled, "Kenz has a date tonight."

"With who? You?"

"No, with Tom Holland," he replied and I scowled while he burst into laughter. "Being sarcastic to you is so fun. "But nah, this guy she works with."

"Oh," I nodded. "So, uh, that's it? You're getting married to Kendall? She'll be my sister-in-law?"

"Stop," Tanner laughed. "I don't have to end up with Kendall," he ruffled my hair. "Are you seeing River today?"

I shook my head, "He's doing a photoshoot for his friends today. So, I'll be home. I'll work on my homework."

He nodded then kissed my forehead. "Okay, stay safe, and text me if you need anything."

"Just bring dinner?"

*

I stepped out of the bathroom, taking off my shower cap and sat to straighten my hair. I looked in the mirror and made goofy faces at myself before laughing to myself.

Wow, I was weird, but I did crack myself up sometimes.

I raised my straightner to my hair when my eye caught something through the mirror. It looked like a gift bag, though, I wasn't sure. Curious, I walked up to it, opened it and peered into it.

Kaleb.

I sat on my bed and took out a T-shirt. It was a tie dye T-shirt Kaleb had gotten when he went on some camping trip to Canada. He never gave it to me, no matter how much I had begged him to.

Despite myself, I smiled.

I looked into the gift bag again and took out a mug... with a picture of Kim Kardashian crying on it.

Ha, I knew that idiot binged on Keeping Up With The Kardashian episodes as a guilty pleasure. I'd caught him once, but he denied it, saying that there was nothing reasonable showing on TV.

The last thing in the gift bag was a book that had nothing on the cover. There was a sticky note on it, though, and it said, "Make sure you're relaxed when going through this."

I smiled and sat back on my bed. I flipped through the pages carefully, reading everything he wrote, but it wasn't what I'd expected.

Stickers. Silly nicknames we had for each other. Narrations of adventures, funny, memorable things, with pictures alongside everything. The matching onesies Phoebe had gotten for us while we were still in middle school. Our vacation in New York. The fort we had built for Kaleb's 13th birthday. Khalid's concert.

I missed him so much. This was the longest we had gone without speaking. I felt a tear drop from my eyes, down to my cheek.

Ugh. This sucked. I wiped the tear away and placed the book right beside my pillow.

*

"I'm home! And, I brought dinner!" I heard Tanner call.

"I'm in the kitchen!" I called back.

"Hey, how are you?" He kissed my forehead when he came into the kitchen.

"You told me Kaleb didn't stop by yesterday," I looked him in the eye.

"I'm sorry," he groaned.

"Are you even my brother?"

Tanner chuckled lowly, "Come on, I'm sorry. Yes, he did stop by, but he told me not to tell you that he came."

I sighed.

"I really think you should talk to him," Tanner said.

"He's the one at fault, not me," I replied in a croaky voice.

"Does it really matter? Are you really going to let some girl who doesn't even worth it destroy their friendship?"

"You should ask Kaleb that. He was the one who let it happen even when he promised he wouldn't. He literally called me desperate, and that hurt more than anything. I'd had enough."

"I know... but I think he's really sorry. Maybe he doesn't know how to come up to you."

"That makes no sense," I retorted. "I'm his best friend."

Tanner chuckled, "I'm your brother, and sometimes when you're mad, I still don't know how to approach you."

I looked at him, "Really...?"

He nodded in response, "Yeah."

"I- I didn't know."

"I know," he smiled. "That's why I think you should speak to him. Make it easier for him to explain things to you and apologize. It doesn't matter who's at fault. You're doing it because you value your friendship with him."

I bit my lip and nodded, "Yeah."

*

"Renée, come join the basketball team!" A guy I knew to be Jacob said.

"Shut the hell up, I would never," I replied, causing the other guys to laugh as I continued to make my way through the guy's locker room.

"Hey bubbles, what are you doing here?" I heard Logan ask and I turned to look at him.

"This place stinks," I told him, and he chuckled, "Come back when we've freshened up. What's up?"

"Where's Kaleb? I need to talk to him."

"He should be at the court, still."

"Did you tell him about Sydney?" I asked him.

"I did," he nodded. "He was—"

"Thank you very much," I interrupted, hugging him before pulling away quickly, "Ew. Please go take a shower."

The last thing I heard was Logan's chuckle before I walked to the court and saw Kaleb throwing a ball into the net.

"Whoo!" I cheered.

He looked at me, surprised. "Rae?"

"Can we talk?"

*