A Dirty Game - Chapter Fifteen

Hey guys, I'd like to thank the people who gave me feedback after my desperate plea on the last chapter! You restored my hope! BIG KISS to: Bob, Tamsin G, FaithZ, AG BABY, Angelica, Setsuna and BrittanyPittman =] !!
I was astonished with myself as I was writing this, and the ideas just kept pouring out! I feel like I really hit my artistic peak with some of the scenes; am I giving myself too much credit here?
In this chapter, I think there are themes that may be an issue for some of you...? If you're not happy about them, comment, and let me know. Enjoy, it's a long one!
~*~*~*~
"Hey Ruby, why is there a strange dude staring at us?" Taylor asked her, grinning.
Ruby spun around and raised a hand to her mouth.
"Whoops, sorry Braiden, I got carried away" she apologized.
Braiden shrugged, still trying to figure out what was going on.
"Taylor, this is Braiden, my...good friend" she hesitated, not sure what Braiden was to her. She saw him frown for a second but ignored it. She supposed they'd discuss it later. "And Braiden, this is my brother Taylor."
Ruby never called him her adopted brother because that signified, to her, a lack of love and respect. He'd been in their family for years, and he was her brother. She loved him to pieces; he was the kind who was always there, always ready to give advice, always ready to comfort.
Taylor stepped forward and extended his hand.
"Nice to meet you Braiden" he grinned, shaking Braiden's hand.
Braiden was relaxed now that he knew Taylor was just Ruby's brother. At first he'd been worried that this was an ex of hers because he already felt attached to Ruby in ways that shouldn't be so early into their...good friendship. He swallowed the words bitterly. He didn't like being referred to in such a blasé way. They were more than good friends...right?

Taylor dumped his bag on the sofa and stretched, his Linkin Park shirt riding up to show off a tanned stomach.
"Where's dear old mother?" He asked Ruby. She hesitated.
"She's in Dad's old study."
He heard the catch in her voice and narrowed his eyes.
"His 'old study'? What's happened Rubix Cube?"
Braiden smothered a smile behind a cough when he heard this little nickname. Rubix Cube...nice. Ruby could tell what he was thinking, and he could see she didn't like it. At the moment though, she'd just have to leave it. She towed Taylor out of the room, stopping at the door to excuse herself to Braiden. "Go ahead Rube, I'm in here if you need me", he knew what she was going to do.
They left the den and Braiden settled down on the sofa, pushing Taylor's bag to the end to make space. It rolled and a strap came undone, releasing an object onto the carpet. He bent down to pick it up and found that he couldn't move as he stared. What the hell?
~*~*~*~*~*
Taylor was a statue, cold and unresponsive under her fingers. She kept a hand on his cheek, stroking his face, waiting for him to respond. They stood there for a while, in the living room, against the closed door. He couldn't comprehend what she'd just told him. He didn't WANT to understand the ruins his family lay in. He couldn't believe that no one had told him as soon as it had happened. Finally, after minutes of staring into empty space, he closed his eyes and rested his head back against the wood.
"Ruby..." He whispered.
She could literally feel his heart throbbing, and she knew that he was deeply cut by this. He never called her Ruby. From the very first day that he'd become her brother, he'd known her as Rubix Cube.
"Taylor, I thought one of them had told you. I don't know why they didn't" she shook her head.

He swallowed and ran a hand through his hair, ruffling his carefully styled 'do. He knew why. "You've always been oblivious to the problems between them. When they were arguing, you were doing your nails. When they were ignoring each other, you were out. You never saw the tension between the two. I did. It was clear as day what was going on. Every morning I'd wake up, and hope that they would just get along, smile and pretend. For our sakes. Mum knew that I held no respect for their marriage. They didn't love each other, so why were they still together? I asked Dad once. His eyes were blank, like my question made no sense at all. 'Because we make a powerful couple' he replied. They didn't tell me about this, because they would have been proving me right."

Ruby moved away from him and sat down on the edge of the sofa, her head between her arms. She had been that into herself? That selfish? So concerned with her looks and her social life, that she hadn't noticed the rift between her parents? She'd never once noticed the pain in her mother's voice, the fear in her father's eyes. She felt like she was in so much agony, and the hands holding her head became claws. She just wanted to scratch, and bleed, and hurt. Taylor took hold of her arms and stopped her. There were drops of blood rolling down her cheeks from the gauges in her temples.

"Taylor what's wrong with me?"

"Yes, what IS wrong with you?" An angry voice from the doorway called. They both turned to look at Braiden. Ruby's appearance shocked him, and for a second his face went slack. He was so tempted to just forget this nightmare and tend to her beautiful yet bruised face.
Instead he snapped out of it and stalked into the room. He was fuming, and Ruby could see that by the way his eyes seemed to snap and crackle; by the way his fists were clenched. Braiden didn't get angry...ever. Taylor stared at Braiden's hands, frozen to the spot. Braiden held up the picture frame in his hand, his eyes fixed on Ruby's. There was silence as she realized what it was he was holding, and then she fainted. The two boys gaped as she came around, clutching her stomach.

"Oh for the love of God" she moaned as her stomach heaved. Braiden didn't know what to do, he was still so angry. Still so confused. He watched as Taylor helped her to stand up and followed them out of the room. Taylor called out for the maid, and asked her if she could please clean up the mess. She was wearing jeans and slippers, so Braiden guessed she was off duty and relaxing. Taylor confirmed his thought, when he pulled out a wad of twenties and handed it to the woman before she went to get the cleaning supplies.

"Ruby, try to keep it down" he pleaded as he sat her down on the bottom of the staircase. Braiden was so lost; he didn't know what was going on. The picture seemed forgotten as his instincts kicked in and he bent down by her side to help Taylor. He held her head up while Taylor went to get a glass of water. She refused to meet his eyes, instead staring at the wall and covering her mouth with her hand. Taylor returned and placed the glass to her lips, not moving until she'd gulped it all down. She sighed as he glared at her.
"What? I only did it once" she shrugged.
"Did what?" Braiden asked, finally opening his mouth.
"Stopped eating again" Taylor answered. This shook Braiden to the core, and he joined Taylor in watching Ruby as she bent over and clutched her knees.

"Oh don't give me that condescending glare. I haven't done this since I was 15, give me a break" she rolled her eyes.
~*~*~*~*
The two of them found that Ruby was sticking to her decision to not say anything further. So Braiden took her into the kitchen and watched her eat two bowls of Spaghetti Bolognese, while Taylor went to check on Lacey.
Ruby gave him evil looks as she did it, but she ate, which was all he was concerned about. While she ate he surveyed the scratches, deep gouges, trailing down her face. It looked painful enough to make him wince. He could hardly believe she'd done that to herself. The blood had dried onto her cheeks and her temples, giving her a savage air, yet still not making her look ugly. She could never be ugly to him.
When she was finished she shoved the bowls off the side of the kitchen island, and smirked as they crashed by his feet. She wanted to punish him for making her feel so insignificant, so silly. More than anything, she wanted to punish him for taking Taylor's side without hearing her out. He didn't even flinch as the bowls shattered and scattered across the floor like marbles. Instead he folded his arms and leaned back against the counter.

She said nothing.

He said nothing.

The clock behind him seemed to slow, and it taunted her with each click of its hands. Finally the silence broke her and she sighed.

"I only did it so I could fit into that dress."

Braiden showed no signs of having heard her, but she carried on anyway.

"It's a nice dress, and they didn't have any in my size. Let's not forget that I'm a size 10 here. I just thought, for a week or two, I could not eat. After the party I was planning on going back to my regular diet."

She watched him as he frowned.

"You did this to yourself, for a fortnight?" he asked incredulously. Ruby nodded, and it really looked to Braiden like she saw this as an alright thing to do.

"But, you were drinking yesterday!"

"I can handle my alcohol, unlike some people" she scoffed. Braiden didn't want to acknowledge the joke but couldn't help cracking a smile. He had been really hammered at the party; stumbling everywhere and laughing at everything. She could tell that he was cracking, and she was eager to lighten the situation.

"Remember when that girl came up to you and was all 'oh Braiden, you're so cute' and you took one look at her and starting laughing, WITH Vodka in your mouth?"

"Oh my god, yes! She looked like Shrek's offspring!" He laughed.

"I wonder if she got that stain out of the scrap of material she called her dress..."

Braiden and Ruby ended up laughing together, reminiscing the night of the party. It seemed like her plan to distract him had been successful. He seemed to have forgotten about her 'bulimia' and was instead crinkling his eyes in amusement. She had just started to relax when he abruptly pulled the photo out of his back pocket. He regretted that move as soon as he'd made it because the atmosphere seemed to darken instantaneously, but he had to put his mind at rest. As if by a flick of a switch, Ruby looked everywhere but at him, her eyes darting all over the place. He could feel the anger and the confusion bubbling up again, taking control of his actions, his thoughts. They were bleached a dirty color by what he held in his hands, by what he held in contempt. Ruby refused to look at him, or his hand. So, feeling a sudden need for theatrics, he stepped up to the island, boots crunching pieces of china underfoot, and slammed the frame down in front of her, causing her to flinch.

As if the frame was magnetized, her sight was dragged to the cracked glass. She remembered the picture had been taken just before Christmas, in Switzerland; snow was falling in the background, and lights were strung up on the buildings. The picture was a sick reminder of how she used to be. A sick reminder, though she wished it weren't true, of how she still was.

The picture...was of her and Taylor kissing.

She groaned and hid her face in her arms, sick of feeling like she was a monster. She could feel Braiden looking at her. She could feel it burnt into the top of her head. Something in her snapped, and she all of a sudden wanted to hit something solid and hard.

"I don't get it Ruby. Why would you lie?"

"I never lied to you about anything. I just kept it to myself" she made an effort to reply, finding that her airways were crowded.

"Oh, so telling me that Taylor is your brother, when he evidently isn't, doesn't constitute as a lie?"

Ruby rolled her eyes, and wished he would go away. She could feel the mean in her coming out, the evil Ruby resurfacing. She tried hard to keep it pushed down.

"He is my brother. He's my adopted brother."

Braiden took a moment to take this in.

"Either way, it doesn't explain this picture!"

Ruby raised her head slightly and looked at the picture again. It had been, what, two years ago? She couldn't remember. She did recall that their parents had been ski-ing, and the two of them had been left to wonder about and have a look see. They'd asked a tourist to take a picture of them and then out of nowhere, Taylor had sprung that kiss on her. She hadn't objected, but she'd felt weird inside, like she was doing something wrong. That had been the start of their little 'episode'. She told Braiden this, feeling a need to explain, to get him to understand.

"Who ended it?" he asked, wanting to know, because it had become important to him to know whether Ruby had been the one to realize that what they had done, was wrong.

"I did" she sighed.

Subconsciously he let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding.

"You messed around with your adopted brother in the past, and he's here now? Uninvited? How do I know you're telling the truth, and there isn't still something going on?"

Ruby frowned at what he was saying and this time, when 'evil Ruby' reared its ugly head, she let it roar.

"That's something you should figure out for yourself then isn't it? If you don't believe me, then there's nothing between us anymore. How can you trust me to not leap on him whenever he turns up?" she sneered sarcastically. "Because he's just oh, so irresistible, and I LOVE making the same mistakes over and over again."

Braiden was shocked that she could choose a time like this to be sarcastic. He was feeling more serious than ever before in his life, and he wanted to get that across to her. He wanted her to know that he still needed her, but he also needed clarification first. He couldn't be with her without knowing where they stood.

"Ruby, is it over?"

She pushed back from the island, and stood up, making eye contact with him for the first time since she'd entered the kitchen.

"Figure it out Inspector Clouseau" she spat, and left the kitchen.

Braiden sighed and swore to himself.

This is so messed up.

He'd just started to move when the kitchen door opened and Taylor walked in, looking harassed. He stopped in his tracks when he saw that the room wasn't empty.

"Ah..." he hesitated as he saw the mess, and then the picture, assuming the worst.
Braiden wasn't in the mood at all, so instead of asking questions or explaining the disarray, he just held up a hand.
"Don't ask. How's your mum?" He asked, looking for a subject less dramatic.

Taylor was stunned for a moment but recovered quickly. "She's good. Got sent on a tea errand" he smiled ruefully, holding up a clear breakfast tray. Braiden slid the kettle towards him, watching as he pulled a mug from a cupboard and started to make tea. Braiden was hiding his feelings well behind a mask of friendship and calm. He was bursting with questions, enigmas he wanted answers to, things that just didn't add up in his muddled mind. Ruby wasn't very happy with him at the moment, so the only person he could really get answers from, was Taylor. He didn't have an opinion on Ruby's 'brother', but he felt that, if all of this excitement hadn't happened at the wrong time, he would have liked him. Maybe they would have been friends because Braiden could see Taylor had a sense of humor, and he was a laid back guy too. Two traits he himself owned.

"So...you're here for how long?" he asked, trying not to sound nosy but casual.

"Well originally it was going to be for the weekend, but now...now everything's in a mess, I just don't know. Mum needs Ruby and I, and I'm here now."

Braiden thought that the longer the two were under the same roof, well, there was a chance something could spark up again. He didn't like that one bit. He was quite astounded at the jealousy that coursed through his body like a tsunami; threatening to drown rational thinking. He cleared his throat randomly, not really knowing how to get rid of the feeling.

"Why do you ask?" Taylor eyed him.

"You and Ruby...you, uh..." Lost for words, Braiden gestured to the frame that lay forlorn on the edge of the island. The cracks were very telltale of what had happened to it, spindling and thin around the edges, ironically, framing Ruby's face like a halo. It brought a heavy curve to his mouth; hadn't he, earlier, considered her his dark angel? Without realizing it his hand had floated towards the glass and his fingers traced the cracks. He still did consider her his dark angel. Everyone made mistakes. Even he had, in the past. Technically, seeing Ruby in a different light after this would make him a hypocrite. He may have had bad traits, but one of them was not hypocrisy, never hypocrisy. A sharp pain stabbed his fingers and he lifted his hand to see beads of blood welling up at his fingertips. Okay, maybe that hadn't been the smartest thing to do...
But then, handling broken glass was like being with Ruby. You never knew when you would get cut. You just had to take a chance. And Braiden always had been a chance taker. He moved for the tap and ran his hand under cold water.

"That was a very long time ago" Taylor finally replied, steel in his voice and emphasis on the very. He pulled the tea bag out of the mug, and turned to leave but Braiden stopped him.

"And there is nothing, nothing, going on between you?"

Taylor kept quiet, his expression hard to figure out. Finally, he opened his mouth, pausing.

"Absolutely nothing. You're her boyfriend, should you doubt her so?" He raised an eyebrow, pulled a smirk and then left.

Braiden sighed as he switched the tap off. Taylor was right. Should he doubt Ruby? Wasn't that what he'd gone through his whole life, being doubted, disbelieved? He looked down at his hand, no longer bleeding.

He'd hated being treated like that. Even his own parents...
His friends.

He realized he needed to find Ruby. Before he had been content with waiting for her to calm down upstairs, or wherever she'd stomped off to. Now though, he saw that HE needed to go to HER, and make sure she knew that he believed her, and didn't judge her.