I was about to answer, but a loud thud emanated from downstairs and Aaron was already up. He made his way downstairs and I followed behind.

I watched when he stopped in his tracks when he reached the lounge to find Danny sprawled out on the ground and a visibly angry Justin, hovering over him.

Aaron quickly made his way between them, his eyes glancing at both boys.

"What's going on?" He asked, a seriousness in his tone and, from that, I knew this wasn't a joke.

Justin scoffed at his words before motioning towards Danny with a hand.

"Ask him. Ask him what he's done."

_________________________________________

"Well?" The bitterness in Justin's voice was both clear and shocking. Sure, Justin had always been harsh to the two boys in the room beside him. But, never once, had it been anything other than tomfoolery.

In this particular instance, it was safe to say that no foolery was taking place in this establishment. Rather, it was the exact opposite and I dreaded what was to come.

Danny's eyes glanced between Aaron and Justin, a panic-stricken look on his face. He shook his head aggressively and I was surprised his brain didn't fly out and land on Aaron's floorboards.

Well, that could have been a possibility, if said head-shaker had a brain or a 'thinking device' of some sort.

"N-nothing. There's nothing going on." He blurted out, his voice topped to the brim with fear.

This didn't seem to douse the fire that seared within Justin but, instead, aided its growth to an immeasurable count. He leapt towards Danny with the skill and finesse of a thirsty cobra but, much to his dismay, his target had anticipated his moves and crept hurriedly to hide behind his much stronger counterpart.

Danny was now hiding behind Aaron, peering over his shoulder with anxious eyes. He held his hands up in surrender whilst sneaking a glance at Justin.

"Now now, let's not do anything too hasty, shall we?" He suggested, a tremble in his deep voice.

Aaron folded his arms, rolling his eyes at his friend's cowardly antics. He then turned to look at Justin, his eyebrow slightly raised as he spoke.

"Care to tell me what's going on?" He demanded lazily, but the anger in his tone was not missed. Clearly, he did not like seeing his friends bicker as they were and, that much, I could agree with.

Justin sighed in frustration, but his eyes still remained dead to the core. He glared pointedly at Danny for a quick second before turning to Aaron, a serious look on his face.

"We were watching TV and I asked him to go get me water. 10 minutes or so pass and I'm wondering why he hasn't come back, so I go to the kitchen and see him talking on the phone. With her." Justin spat out, his voice drenched in utter disdain for the 'she' whom he spoke of.

Aaron's eyebrows shot up at this, a surprise look on his face. He turned to look at Danny who winced slightly before turning back to Justin.

"And you're sure about this?" He asked, hesitancy in his voice.

Justin nodded and, with that, he went on to explain the course of events that had led to this moment.

***********

What could be taking him so long?

Justin glanced down at his watch. It was 9.32pm. Surely, it doesn't take that long to grab bottled water out of the fridge, not even for Danny.

Justin bit his lip, contemplating whether it was worth the effort to get up and see what was holding him up. Eventually, he sighed defeatedly before making his way to the kitchen. His hand burned with a fiery desire to make contact with Danny's head for the long wait he had to endure for his water.

"Yeah, I know, but.... uh huh... I understand-"

Justin frowned when he heard Danny's voice seemingly in conversation. He understood soon enough when he entered the kitchen, his eyes falling onto Danny who was stood with his back to Justin. He was looking out the window, a hand leaning on the sink in front of him and the other holding his phone to his ear.

Justin would have made his presence known had it not been for the next words that left Danny's mouth.

"Look, I can't talk right now because I'm with Aaron and Justin and we don't want them hearing, now, do we? So, do me a favour and hang up." The urgency in his voice was easily detected by Justin.

Justin slowly moved further back to hide behind the door. He was not one to pry or be nosy, but when it concerned keeping secrets or lying, he had to know. He despised lying most of all. He listened out tentatively.

Danny sighed heavily, his fingers drumming on the countertop.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound so mean. I just don't want anyone hearing me, you know?" He drawled out apologetically.

Justin narrowed his eyes. What was it that he didn't want them hearing?

After a long pause, Danny laughed slightly, shaking his head.

"Don't, please. Babe, don't be angry with me. You know, I hate the silent treatment." Danny pleaded, a joking tone to his voice.

And, if Justin's eyes narrowed even more than they already were, they'd disappear off his face. Or, at the very least, shoot lasers in Danny's direction.

Just who was he calling babe? And, why didn't he want him and Aaron to know?

After yet another pause, Danny's laugh pierced the air again.

"Oh really? Last time you tried that, I pushed you into the pool. You might wanna be more careful this time." He said, a lingering suggestion in his voice.

Justin looked around, awkwardly. He felt as though he was peeping into a 'private' conversation in which he had no place. He considered leaving, but the need to hear what the phone call entailed overpowered his morals.

Danny scoffed loudly, before shaking his head as though the person on the phone could see him and Justin rolled his eyes at Danny's antics.

"Seriously? You're doubting these muscles? Baby, I'm zero percent body fat and a hundred percent muscle. You'd be wise to remember that." He teased and, although his back was to Justin, he could sense the grin on Danny's face. Justin felt happiness at this but this soured immediately when he remembered that Danny had kept this from him and Aaron. He had never hid anything from them.

Danny shifted his weight from his left to right foot in a nervous manner. He scratched the back of his head, a deep sigh leaving his lips.

"Yeah, I'll talk to you tomorrow then. I'll miss you." His voice was deep and ridden with affection and Justin resisted the urge to march in there and snatch the phone off him to see who he was calling.

He smiled at the nervous tone in Danny's voice. That smile, however, did not last long for they were wiped off with the next words that left Danny's lips.

"Night, Amelia."

*******************

Amelia? Who was Amelia?

I looked around, a confused look on my face, but it was clearly only me sporting that look. The others definitely knew who she was.

Justin moved in quickly towards Danny again as though retelling the memory of the phone call, ignited another fire in him. Aaron moved in quickly to his friend's defence, standing in between them both like a wall. He spared a heated glare towards Danny before setting his eyes back on Justin. Yes, it was clear that he too was angry at Danny, but he defended him nonetheless.

"Calm down, Justin. Don't get blinded by anger and do something you'll regret later. That's usually my job." Aaron said, a ghost of a smile on his face. It was clear he was trying to lighten up the the mood, so Justin could cool down, but his plea was falling upon deaf ears.

Justin shook his head, his grey eyes heated.

"That's my fucking sister, Aaron." Justin spat out, breathlessly.

His sister?

My mind went immediately to when he spoke of his sister.

"So, Justin, what's your-" I was cut off by Justin who was looking at me blankly.

"You know you remind me a lot of my sister" he said, looking back down to his food.

I smiled brightly, feeling accomplished for wringing a response out of him.

"It's nice to know you think of me as a sister" I chirped, grinning.

He looked at me again blankly.

"My sister ran away with her boyfriend. I hate my sister." He said, turning around to talk to someone else.

I would have smiled at the memory had it not been for the present and more pressing predicament that was unravelling before my eyes.

Aaron nodded his head, a pained look in his eyes. He kept his gaze fixed on Justin, a calming tone to his voice.

"I know, I agree with you, Justin. It was wrong. Amelia is off-limits." He said gently.

Justin glared at Aaron to which Aaron's eyes widened in somewhat realisation.

"That's not to say she's not attractive or anything. I mean, she is attractive, so-" I cut of Aaron's incessant rambling with an elbow to the rib.

"Not helping, Aaron." I gritted out. Anger swelled inside me and I wasn't sure if it was for the fight that was presently occurring or because of my jealousy.

Aaron scowled at me, rubbing his abdomen before settling his eyes back on Justin.

"What I meant to say was, I'm pretty sure that Danny has a reasonable explanation that will clear everything up. Don't you, Danny boy?" Aaron turned to Danny, a hopeful look in his eyes to which Danny, visibly, gulped. Danny nodded his head, slowly moving out from behind the security of Aaron's back.

At this, Justin's anger seemed to subside slightly. He looked towards the floor in anger, making a muscle tick in his jaw.

"What happened to Kyle?" He asked, his voice void of emotion. His eyes deceived this purpose and raged with all the feelings his mouth could never muster to say.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as to who Kyle was. Confusion that was quickly cleared up by the male, at my side. Aaron leaned down slightly.

"Kyle's the prick that Amelia left with around a year ago." He explained in a lowered voice.

I snorted in displeasure, eyeing him with a flat stare.

"She probably left with him to get away from your ogling eyes, Mr. 'She's so attractive'." I said, doing my best to mimic his voice at the end, but I could tell I miserably failed by the smirk on his face.

He raised an eyebrow at my words.

"Jealous much?" He teased.

I mock-laughed before glaring at him.

"Yeah, jealous of all the people who don't have to deal with you, that's for sure. Besides, declaring your love for one girl and then eyeing another, all in one day wouldn't exactly bode well with anyone." I retorted, holding my chin up high.

Aaron's smile widened at this and he folded his arms.

"Relax, princess. I can still look at the menu; I just can't order anything from it, unfortunately." He bit back to which I sneered.

"Excellent notion. I might just have a look at the menu myself when I get the time." I said, an innocent smile on my face. I knew it would set him off and I was right about that.

His expression darkened in anger and he opened his mouth to say something. But, he stopped upon hearing Danny's voice.

"Kyle left her. The bastard left 3 months ago. She called around your house, at that point and I answered it. She sounded stressed and I wanted to help. I knew, you'd cut her off and not listen to what she had to say, so I listened and thought I'd help. I paid for her accommodation. I thought it would end there, but I met her a couple times after, to see if she was settled in and, well, I've kind of taken an interest to her." He explained, shrugging his shoulders nervously. He looked at anywhere but Justin.

Justin's eyes darkened at this, his voice filled with venom as he spoke.

"Met her? Taken an interest? You don't think I know what that means? I'll say it once, Danny. My sister is not those girls in your or Aaron's 'hit list'. Understand?" He grounded out, eyeing both Aaron and Danny with a glare that could probably melt even the sun.

Aaron scoffed at this, a small laugh leaving his lips.

"Hit list? Please, I wish I was that organised." Aaron explained to which I elbowed him in the ribs again.

"Again. Not helping, Aaron." I growled to which Aaron mimed the action of zipping his mouth shut and throwing away the key.

Let's hope that key is never found

Danny shook his head, slight anger in his eyes at Justin's accusation.

"Justin, I wouldn't do that. You know, I wouldn't. I haven't touched her, I swear to it. I just.... I really like her, Justin." Danny breathed out with a slight smile.

Justin eyed Danny warily, checking for any indication that he was lying, but we all knew he wasn't.

Justin stayed silent and Aaron used this as a cue to move closer to him.

"Justin, we know you miss your sister. We miss her too. I guess, she made a mistake by running away with Kyle, but everyone can make mistakes when it comes to love. I mean, my mistake literally just left the house an hour ago." He joked to which we all laughed.

Aaron looked at Danny before continuing.

"I know you trust Danny more than you trust yourself. So, isn't it better that she be with Danny than for her to come back and find a Kyle 2.0 who makes her do some stupid shit again? Think about it." Aaron reasoned looking at both the boys.

Danny looked at Justin with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. A long silence passed before Justin spoke with a heavy tone.

"When you call her next time, tell her to come over, so that we can talk. As for your 'relationship', I'll see to that after I meet her." He concluded to which Danny pulled him into a hug.

Aaron laughed at this, clapping Danny's back.

"Danny, can you tell her to come over on Thursday. We're having a barbeque that day and it would nice if she attended it." Aaron said.

My body stilled as the word 'barbeque' left his mouth.

We had discussed that I would disclose about my illness and it's present state at the barbeque to all my friends and family and I hardly felt ready for it. And, it was in 2 days.

I yanked Aaron's arm down to bring him closer, so I could talk to him.

"The barbeque? I thought, we were going to plan it together." I questioned, suddenly feeling uneasy.

Aaron laughed slightly before kissing my forehead.

"Well, change of plans. I've already planned it and it's on Thurday, so wear something pretty, doll face." He clarified, a teasing tone to his voice. I resisted the urge to punch him and bit my lip in thought.

Thursday was gonna be one hell of a day, that's for sure.

_______________________________________