Benjamins POV

The kitchen was completely deserted when I eventually made my way around the corner.

What the hell is Brad doing? And how come Lexi was left all alone?

Just as I get to the top of the stairs, my phone vibrates in my pocket and I quickly slip into my room before I answer it.

Mom? Hmmm...

"Hello Mother, is everything alright?"

"Darling have you spoken to your brother yet? Is he alright?" She says, sounding panicked.

"I saw him briefly this morning, though we didn't have a chance to exchange words. I just got back to the hotel. What's going on?"

I walk over to the panoramic window, looking down at the traffic below me and I hear her sigh.

"Mom?"

"Honey I need you to check on him for me. I received a call earlier today from the hospital."

I remain quiet, waiting for her to continue. I could feel my palms begin to sweat and I quickly take a cigarette out and walk into the ensuite to light up, waiting for the lights and extractor fan to switch on before I do.

"It's Hailey sweetheart." She begins.

"She's woken up Love. She's finally awake." She says and I almost drop the phone. I take a moment to try and absorb her words as I quickly suck down another cigarette.

"Darling? Did you hear me? Are you still there?"

"I'm here. I... (sigh)... So Brad knows?" I reply.

"Yes love, I told him over an hour ago but then the line went dead and I haven't been able to reach him ever since. I'm really starting to worry now. Please check on him for me. I need you to look out for your brother honey." She pleads.

"Alright mother. I'm gonna go check on him now. Get some rest. Love you."

"Love you too sweetheart, always. Stay safe." She says before ending the call.

I place the phone back in my pocket and remove my glasses for a minute to wash my face, before heading down the corridor towards Brad's room.

I knock on the door but he doesn't answer. Fuck it. I push down on the handle and the door swings open. I casually walk in, scoping out the place to make sure he hasn't completely gone mental and fucked his room up. Surprisingly, there wasn't a thing out of place...except for himself.

I see him sprawled on the bed, face down and fully clothed with his shoes still on. He grunts into the bed covers as he hears me walk in, most likely his way of saying fuck off.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I say. As you can tell, I'm not a very empathetic person.

He turns his head to the side, shooting a look of annoyance at me. "What the fuck does it look like I'm doing dickhead."

"Looks like you're being a sad shit." I reply. "Why you laying in bed ay? Something happen?"

"Lad I'm fucking knackered ok? So if it's ok with you, I'm gonna carry on laying here, so please... feel free to piss off."

Mood. Just tell me about Hailey already. God knows I don't want to force it out.

"I'll leave you to it then yea?"

"Whatever." He replies into the bed covers once more.

Alright. I don't have enough patience for this shit.

"Right, I can see why Lexi left your moody ass." I say, hoping it'll get a reaction out of him.

"The fuck did you say?" He says, lifting himself up from the bed to rest on his elbow.

Bingo.

"I bumped into Lexi a few minutes ago. Thought you'd still be following her around." I reply. "So why'd she leave?"

"Cause I don't keep my women on a god damn leash. She's free to go as she pleases Benj, she ain't my girlfriend." He says with a huff as he falls back on to the bed with his hands covering his face.

"Something's clearly up with you, so get up and get your big boy panties on so we can hash it out." I say.

I know what you're thinking but no, I'm not being a massive dick on purpose. As much of a soft cock my brother is, we both prefer opening up when we're angry and ready to punch on. So that's what I'm doing. Pushing his buttons until he cracks.

"Piss of lad." He says, still covering his face with his hands.

I roll my eyes, getting real impatient now. I can see this dragging out longer than it needs to be.

"B?" I say, changing my approach.

"What Benj?"

Here we go. "Mum called earlier... Told me about Hailey." I say.

He doesn't speak or move. I can tell by the movements of his chest that his breathing has spiked but yet he remains silent.

Come on lad. Spit it out.

"I...I don't want to talk about it." He eventually says.

Oh fuck me. "Fine. You know where to find me." I say, turning my back to him as I begin to walk towards his door.

"Benj?" He says hesitantly. Goddamn, it's about time. I turn around and raise an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

He takes a deep breath in. "It's been 5 years lad. 5 fucking years. I...fuck me... I don't know what to do. Please tell me what to do." He says, sitting up on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands.

He slowly looks up at me with pleading eyes. "What would you do?"

I still remember the day at the hospital when they brought her in. I had been at a meeting out of town with a client when I got the call. I rushed to the hospital as soon as I could, but nothing could prepare you for something like that. Seeing my brother in that state, in so much pain. I had already felt it, when I answered his call. I knew something was wrong. Something that I... , wasn't able to fix... and that hurt me more than anything.

I knew exactly what Hailey meant to him and to watch my bestfriend, lose the love of his life while I was fortunate enough to still have mine, was very hard to swallow.

I made the decision early on to keep my distance whenever Audrina was around and in turn, Brad relied heavily on JD. Until one day, he shows up at my apartment, telling me he's moving in... along with his new girlfriend Paige.

As Audrina was living with me at the time, naturally I said no. But not only that... but because of his junkie girlfriend.

Fucking Paige. She was proper scum. I don't know where the fuck he found her, but I wished she never walked into his life. My life.

I knew she was just with my brother for our money and he knew it too. But the fucker was too hooked on drugs at the time, he didn't give a fuck what she wanted in return, as long as she continued to feed his addiction.

We would have countless amounts of arguments just purely over his drug problem. A problem he wouldn't have had if it wasn't for her. Eventually, I grew tired of having the same argument, every fucking day. Although I was still very much against it, I promised I'd stop giving him shit for it under one condition. He was only allowed to do drugs under my watch, under my roof. After a few days of bitching and moaning, he eventually agreed and moved in... and yes... the bitch came along as well, as part of his condition.

Having to watch him lose a little more of himself, as each day passed without Hailey waking up... is something I will never forget.

Now, 5 years on...He's looking up at me with that same look, asking for an answer that I just can't give him.

I take a deep breath in, mentally preparing myself before I slowly make my way to his side. I stand here, in front of him trying to compose an answer. "Get up."

He looks up at me and I can now see how bloodshot his eyes are. His face is pale and his skin looks clammy.

"Come on lad, up." I repeat, gesturing with my hand.

He slowly stands up, looking tired and defeated. I grab a hold of him and wrap my arms around him, gripping tightly and securely, showing him... that I've got his back.

"I can't tell you what to do, only you know." I begin. "But I'm not about to sit and watch you mope around all day, feeling sorry for yourself. Not once did you let me do that, so I won't let you do it either, and even though you were a pain in my fucking ass during that time, I'm so thankful for it."

"Now you know my empathy only goes so far, but despite our issues... You're still my baby brother, so if you need me. You got me." I continue and I feel him tense up slightly. "Right, I'm letting go now before this gets fucking awkward."

I take a step back and he turns slightly away from me as I see a single tear fall from his eye. My phone begins to vibrate in my pocket again.

Good timing.

"I need to take this." I say to Brad before making my way towards the door.

"I suppose I should go and see her at the hospital." He says. "I guess... I should be with her, right Benj?"

I push down on the door handle, pulling the door open, hesitating by the doorway. "Yes. You should."

The door closes softly behind me and I quickly make my way down the stairs to answer the call.

"Vaughn."

"May I please speak with Benjamin?" A lady says on the other end of the call.

"This is Benjamin."

"Good afternoon Mr Vaughn, my name is Dr Lisa Fellar." She says.

"Judging by your silence, I believe you recognise the surname. My mother was indeed Dr Veronika Fellar. The late, Dr Veronika Fellar." She says. "I was informed of your call earlier."

I clear my throat. "Yes thank you for returning my call and my condolences for your loss."

"Thank you." She says nonchalantly. "Ok so, I have thoroughly read your files and noticed you stopped attending your sessions over a year ago. So what is it I can do for you today Mr Vaughn?"

"Please, call me Benjamin." I reply. "The reason for my call was because I feel I may relapse."

"I see...and why do you believe this is the case?"

"Because..." I take a deep breath in as I begin to choke on the thought of her. "Because Audrina's back. That devil woman is back."

The confession makes me physically ill as I hear it replay in my ears.

"Ok Benjamin, I need you to take a deep breath with me." She says and I follow her request. Taking a deep breath in, then back out again.

"Good... That's good Benjamin." She says in a soothing manner. "Now why don't you start at the beginning for me."

Bradley's POV

I wonder why Benji was in such a good mood just now.

Well...a somewhat good mood, considering he acts like he's been suffering from PMS for what seems like 4 years now.

I allowed myself a few minutes to wallow in self pity before telling my self to get the fuck over it and carry on. Now I'm here, staring at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. The person staring back at me looks haggard and pale. Someone that seems to have had the life and humour sucked out of him.

"Fuck me, I look like shit." I say to myself, as I splash some water on my face, attempting to bring some colour back to my face.

I hear a knock at my bedroom door but I don't turn to look. It can only be Benji or JD anyway.

"Lad? You decent?" JD calls out from behind the bathroom door. I only had my jeans on but JD's seen me bare it all before so I knew it wouldn't be a bother. He doesn't wait for an answer, pushing the door open as he strides in.

I bow my head down to splash another handful of water on my face, before looking up at him in the mirror.

"Christ, you look like proper shit." He says, as he stares back at me.

Lovely.

"Ooo Jay, I love it when you talk dirty to me." I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes in the process. "What do you want?... and where's the little Mrs ay?"

I look past the wide open bathroom door, towards the bedroom door, waiting for Julie to turn up.

" Or did Jules finally realise, you were only good for a maximum of what, 3 rounds before your balls seized up?" I say with a smirk.

He rolls his eyes at me. "Shut up dick head. I didn't want to wake her just yet, I doubt she'll be doing any walking anytime soon."

Big Dick Energy Anyone?

I dry my face and hands with the towel before making my way closer to him in the middle of the room.

"So what's up?" I ask as I eye the scratch marks on his back and the fresh hickey on his right peck.

"Just thought I'd check in lad, haven't seen you since last night." He replies. "Thought you'd be with Lexi though. Kinda surprised you're up here by yourself."

"Well I was with her earlier... you know, when you decided to smear Julies bare ass all over the kitchen cupboards." I reply and his eyes go wide. "Yea that's right, we were there, we saw everything so I know she was going commando."

He silently chuckles, giving me a cheeky grin.

"Oh and I also heard everything you said to her." I continue and his grin instantly disappears as he realises what I am talking about. "What was it you said again? Oh Jules... I think you could be my forever. Please give me the honour of calling you my woman..."

I chuckle out loud, trying my best to mimic his speech and he punches me real hard on the shoulder. It fucking hurts but I just can't help but laugh even harder.

"Whatever lad, atleast I got the balls to go for what I want." He comes back at me. "Anyway, why don't you tell me what's going on with you two anyway? Are you guys...?"

"We're not together, if that's what you were gonna ask." I reply. "She doesn't want a relationship, or doesn't do relationships or whatever the fuck she said. I don't know what she wants ay. Think she's currently confused with me to be honest. Which makes two of us."

"What do you mean?" He asks.

Oh right. He doesn't know that mom called.

"I just got a call from mom earlier." I reply, taking a breath in as I ready myself to relay the info back to him. "Hailey's awake."

"Jesus Christ." He whispers, rubbing his face as my words sink in. "But it's been..."

"5 years." I say. "Yea...I know."

I walk out of the en suite and perch myself on the study table nearby. JD follows close behind, standing a few feet infront of me, concern plastered all over his face. He eyes me up and down, not saying a word as I continue to look at him with pleading eyes.

"Lad, I don't want to state the obvious here, but being in a coma for that long would've caused a massive impact on her brain."

"I know." I reply, my head falling down in defeat.

He joins me on the table, sitting by my left side. "Have you spoken to her yet?" He asks.

"No... not directly." I reply, looking at my feet. "Mom just gave me the heads up. I didn't really get to ask too many questions. I got the news when I was with Lexi so I can only imagine what was going through her head at the time."

"Well I'd prepare for the worst B." He says, putting a hand on my shoulder. "After all, you are still her fiance...Technically anyway."

Yea...I guess I am. Fuck.

"But let's be real here." He says, getting up to stand infront of me again. "Best case scenario is that she can talk perfectly fine. Minimal damage to her brain activity and motor skills... But she doesn't remember you."

Yea...Great.

"So what's the worse case then." I ask, knowing full well what the answer was.

He takes a breath in. "Worst case... She's awake but in a vegetative state."

Please god, don't let that be the case. She doesn't deserve this.

I let out a frustrated sigh, before making my way to stand by the window and for a moment, I let my self be hypnotised by the flow of cars down below. Momentarily forgetting all my problems.

"Lad, I'm so sorry." JD says as I now see his reflection in the window.

"I know." I quietly say. "I just want her to live a normal life and if it means she doesn't remember me, then so be it. She's probably better off without me in her life anyway. Afterall, I am the reason she's in there in the first place."

His expression changes to anger and he quickly turns me around to face him. Tightly gripping both my shoulders with his hands.

"Now you listen to me. You quit that shit right now cause you and I both know that ain't true." He says, looking me straight in the eye. "You loved her more than anyone ever could. You were loyal, you were dedicated, you were real fucking good to her...and when it happened, you stuck by her side day and night."

"I know exactly what this did to you, because I was with you all the way. You fought harder than anyone I've ever seen, just for her to stay alive. There is no way you would've known this would happen and there is absolutely no fucking way you would've caused this intentionally so don't you dare fucking tell me that this is your fault. I won't have it, you hear me?" He says, roughly nudging me to get me out of this funk.

"Yea..I hear you lad." I finally reply and he slowly lets me go, giving my shoulder one final tap.