Pat and Nate went to the office to speak to the principal. The principal called Bryson in, and he denied it. Without witnesses and my word against his, it seemed like I was a vengeful person who was trying to get back at their crush. I swear that guy is a complete tool.

The only thing was with his smarminess, he overlooked one detail, Tiffany. Where he goes, she's there. That's the thing about the brothers. They pay attention to details.

They found Tiffany alone at her locker, and Nixon slammed her locker door shut, causing her to jump.

"Hi, Tiffany," Nixon spoke.

"Hi, Nixon."

"It seems we have a matter to discuss."

"What?"

"We know you were there when Bryson hit Maggie," Nathan said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said.

"That's a shame because Maggie already told us," Noah said.

"Told you what?"

"About how you and Bryson ganged up on her. I guess fair is fair, right boys?" Nixon asked, shrugging.

The brothers nodded.

"What are you going to do?" She asked.

He stepped back. "I thought I would start with slamming your head in the lockers, then go from there." He cracked his knuckles.

"You wouldn't?" Her eyes widened.

"I would, and I will."

"But I'm a girl!"

"Do you think I care? Grays don't discriminate. Never have, never will."

It was true the Gray brothers didn't care if you were male or female. They would dole out punishment to whoever crossed them. I remember as kids, Nixon went after a girl in the neighborhood because she went after Nolan. It wasn't pretty.

"Fine. Yes," Tiffany said.

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, he hit her!"

"Works for me. What about you, guys?" Nixon asked his brothers.

"Yep," they said.

"Now, we'll go to the principal's office, and you'll tell him everything that happened between Bryson and Maggie," Nixon told her.

She huffed as they went to the principal's office. Yeah, things weren't looking suitable for Bryson, but they were about to get worse.

The principal called Bryson to the office after Tiffany recanted the entire event. They suspended Bryson from school for two weeks and banned him from the annual senior trip. The principal cautioned Bryson that if he attempted to retaliate against me, not only would they expel him, but he would also have to attend summer school to graduate. He was lucky even to graduate.

They should have expelled him.

Nash had something planned of his own. He waited until I was asleep to take care of what he had planned. Nash told his brothers if I woke up to say that Nash was getting ice cream and text him. He wanted a plausible cover story.

While I slept, he drove over to Bryson's house with Nixon. They pulled up and got out of the car, and Nash knocked on the door only to have Mike answered it.

"What do you want?" You could hear the contempt in Mike's tone. I mean, you couldn't blame him. Nash hit him at his wedding. Although, he messed around with Nash's girlfriend, who is now his wife. It's so convoluted if you ask me.

"I want to see Bryson."

"Yeah, I don't think so."

"Listen, be pissed at me all you want even though you were sneaking around with my girlfriend. But what Bryson did was unacceptable."

"What are you talking about? He said some girl turned him in for cheating."

"You're kidding, right?" Nixon asked him.

"Nah, that's what he said," Mike said.

"Damn, you're dumb." Nixon smirked and got a look from Mike. "Bryson didn't get suspended from cheating. He got suspended from breaking Maggie's nose."

"Why would he break her nose?"

"Because she called him a tool, and he suckered punch her," Nash responded.

"Oh, and he's the one that told Nash about you and Sarah," Nixon said, rubbing salt into the wounds.

Mike's face turned red, and he said, "Hang on, I'll be right back." He closed the door.

"That went well," Nixon smirked.

"You had to throw Bryson under the bus," Nash said.

"Under the bus, the truck, the boat, it's all the same. Bryson's a tool and a liar, and I'm helping him find the truth."

The door opened, and as soon as Nash saw Bryson, he hauled and hit him square in the nose.

"Shit! I think you broke my nose!" He grabbed his nose as blood poured from it.

"Eye for an Eye. Touch Maggie again, and I'll break both your hands, along with your legs." They started to leave when Nash stopped and walked back to him. "Why do you hate her so much?"

"What?"

"Maggie, why do you hate her so much? I mean, there has to be a reason since you humiliated her at homecoming and tried other times to intimidate her. Then you sucker-punched her. So, why?"

It was the one question no one had bothered asking until now.

"Because of what she said in her journal."

"That she liked you more than anything?"

"It was because they said all those things in front of my girlfriend." Bryson pointed at Nixon.

"We did that to get back at Maggie, not to embarrass you," Nixon replied.

"Well, you did. You called me names and made me look like a joke with some creepy stalker." Bryson groaned as he held his nose.

"We call everyone names, including each other."

"Oh."

"Oh? That's all you have to say is, oh? Unbelievable!"

"My bad."

"You're bad? You outed your brother at his wedding, lied countless times, targeted a girl that liked you, and all you can say is my bad. You are a tool," Nash said with furrow brows. He shook his head at Bryson. "Come on, Nix. The longer I stay here, the more I'm prone to catching stupidity."

Nixon laughed as they went back to the car.

I woke up to find myself alone in a dark room. I got up and went downstairs but didn't see anyone around. The Grays must be out somewhere.

My stomach started growling. I can't remember the last time I ate.

I open the fridge and scrounge around for something to eat. I found some lunch meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese, along with mayo. I pulled it all out and closed the fridge. A sandwich will work. I was hungry, but eating something substantial wasn't on the menu.

After I made a sandwich, I took a seat at the table and started eating. The front door opened, and I heard voices, which sounded like Nash and Nixon. I ate my sandwich while they did, God knows what. Then I heard yelling. Okay, no offense, but their screaming gave me a headache, not like my head wasn't already throbbing.

"She's in here!" Nixon said.

Nash ran down the stairs and walked into the kitchen. "What are you doing?"

"Eating," I said. "I was hungry." I gave him a small smile.

He took a seat by me. "How are you feeling?"

"My head is throbbing, but other than that, I'm okay." I shrugged.

"You're looking a little better."

I gave him a look. "I look like a truck hit me."

"Yeah, but you still look cute no matter what, baby girl."

That would have turned me to mush, but my head throbbed too much to get too excited.

"All I want to do is eat and go back to bed."

"Okay. You finish eating, and I'll lay down with you."

"So, how badly did you hit Bryson?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Liar. I have a broken nose, not deaf."

He sighed. "I punched him once and broke his nose."

I gave him a look.

"Hey, he deserved it."

"Oh, I don't doubt that. But why?"

"Because I didn't like what he did to you. Mags, he hurt you. I mean, he hurt you before, but this time it was physical, and I can't stand by and let someone I love and care about get hurt. It's not right."

I exhaled deeply. "It's okay. I get it but promise me this is over. I don't want to fight with Bryson anymore. I want to finish my senior year, graduate, then go to college."

"Fair enough."

I love Nash, but he needs to realize you can't go around beating up people. Yes, there will be jerky people along the way, but you have to learn how to handle said jerky people at some point.